An X-ray taken of independent videographer Vishal Singh's right hand after an LAPD officer struck him with a baton shows a fracture to the metacarpal of his little finger.
WCHS Eyewitness News Reporter Bob Aaron was assaulted on Aug. 4, 2022, in Putnam County, West Virginia, while reporting on the sheriff's plan to remove abandoned cars on roads and yards.
According to Aaron, who reported the incident in a newscast, he was nearly run over while filming the abandoned cars stationed along a main county road by a man who did not want him filming.
The reporter said the individual got out of his car and ripped the camera from his hands. Aaron, who did not respond to a request for comment from the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, reported that the man broke the camera light off and refused to return the camera until Putnam County Sheriff's deputies were called to the scene.
WCHS reported that Putnam County Sheriff Bobby Eggleton announced his intention to enforce a clean-up plan to remove the vehicles from public and private locations, adding that some had not moved for more than 20 years. Eggleton told WCHS the announcement provoked an “emotional response from residents in the county” who feared authorities would take their property. Eggleton said in a video posted to Facebook that it was not a county ordinance but in accordance with state law.
The sheriff’s office could not be reached for comment.
In an article about the altercation, WCHS said Aaron, 75, was doing fine and that there were pending charges against the man who attacked him.
FOX8 photojournalist Derrick Deon Reid was assaulted by two men on July 28, 2022, while reporting on animal mistreatment claims at a dog boarding facility in Davidson County, North Carolina, according to news reports.
Reid, who was not identified by FOX8 in a report about the assault, was later identified by the Winston-Salem Journal. According to FOX8, Reid was gathering footage on an animal boarding facility previously fined for violating the state’s Animal Protection Act when Marshall Everhart and Zachary Everhart, one of the facility's owners, attacked him.
According to an arrest warrant obtained by the Winston-Salem Journal, Reid sustained broken or loosened teeth and possibly a broken jaw. The warrant also accuses Marshall Everhart of holding Reid against his will and damaging his camera equipment after trying to take the camera from him. Official documents state that he also damaged Reid’s vehicle, causing more than $200 in damage.
The Davidson County Sheriff’s Department, which did not respond to a request for comment from the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, arrested Marshall Everhart after the incident, while Zachary Everhart turned himself in to the sheriff’s office. Officials charged both men with felony larceny, assault inflicting serious bodily injury, kidnapping and injury to personal property.
FOX8 did not respond to requests for comment from the Tracker. In a statement to the Winston-Salem Journal, FOX8 Vice President and General Manager Jim Himes declined to comment on Reid’s condition, citing federal privacy laws.
An unidentified photojournalist with KGW News was assaulted while on assignment in Lents Park in Portland, Oregon, on July 25, 2022.
The station reported that the photographer was covering an community outreach event hosted by the group PDX Saints Love, which was providing a cooling station and water from July 25 to 29 amid a heatwave in the region.
Right now @pdxsaintslove and Portland Street Response are at Lents Park in SE Portland until 7pm. The plan is to hand out water/electrolytes/food and provide a cool spot every day this week from 11am-7pm. Organizers say they need more volunteers and always welcome ice donations. pic.twitter.com/C39pUVVKvy
— Christine Pitawanich (@CPitawanichKGW) July 25, 2022
According to the station, the photojournalist was finishing filming and was holding his camera by his side when one of the individuals attending the event became agitated and charged at him. The man jumped over a picnic table and chased the photojournalist toward his station vehicle, punching him before he was able to get into the car.
Though the photojournalist was able to enter the vehicle, KGW reported that the man opened the door before the journalist could lock it and punched him again. The event organizers then told the man to leave and he walked away.
The station reported that the unidentified photojournalist suffered several cuts and a bruised eye and received treatment by medics at the scene.
A second KGW journalist at the scene, not named in the report, called 911 and told officers which direction the suspect had fled. Portland Police Bureau officers found the man nearby a short while later and placed him under arrest. Joshua David Searswas arrested and charged with misdemeanor assault, which is punishable by a fine of up to $6,250, a year in jail or both.
In a statement to the outlet, KGW News Director Greg Retsinas said: “We are distressed at this unprovoked act of violence against our employees who were working to tell a positive story in the community. Thankfully, community members at the scene stepped in right away to assist and prevent more serious injury.”
Neither Retsinas or KGW reporter Christine Pitawanich, who tweeted about the event, responded to requests for comment.
Kyle Dodd, a photojournalist with FOX45 News, was assaulted while on assignment with a colleague near downtown Baltimore, Maryland, on July 15, 2022.
The outlet reported that Dodd and reporter Mikenzie Frost were working on a story about “squeegee kids” — youths who wash car windows at traffic lights in exchange for money — and Mayor Brandon Scott’s efforts to help get them into stable jobs.
Dodd told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he had visited the intersection of President and Lombard streets the week prior to scope out the location. While most of the squeegee kids left when they noticed Dodd and his camera, he said one of the young men approached him and questioned why he was there. Dodd said he explained that he was a journalist and that he has the right to film in public locations.
Dodd said that on July 15 he set up his camera at the intersection to film additional b-roll while Frost conducted a Zoom interview in their vehicle before attempting to interview the squeegee kids.
“I set up probably about 100 feet away and started to get some shots of them, and as soon as they noticed me, the group of about a dozen of them decided to leave that intersection and go across the street,” Dodd said. “Then four of them broke off from that and started to approach me.”
Dodd said he set up a wide shot on his camera to ensure that if anything happened it would be caught on camera and then walked up to them in order to keep them away from the gear while explaining who he was and what he was doing.
In footage of the incident, the four young men can be seen walking toward the camera with Dodd in the center of the frame. The first of the squeegee kids to reach the camera — whom Dodd identified as the young man he had spoken to the week prior — appears to gesture at the equipment before saying, “This is ours bro, I ain’t gonna lie.”
Dodd said he picked up the equipment and tried to explain why he was filming, but his responses seemed to only escalate the situation as the young men told him that they did not want to be recorded. He was about to offer to leave the area when Dodd said one of the squeegee boys doused what he believes was a cold, sugary beverage on him and the camera.
“At that point, they think that they’ve sent their message,” Dodd said, “and then one of them, as they start to walk away, says, ‘Public space or not, stop playing or we’ll beat the shit out of you.’”
The photojournalist said the camera wasn’t damaged, needing only to be dried off in the car after the incident. Dodd added that he did not file a police report because at the time it didn’t seem serious, but after reflecting on it he realized how much worse it could have been.
“I really didn’t even see this guy even pull out a water bottle and throw it on me or anything,” Dodd said. “It could have been a rock, it could have been a gun, it could have been a lot worse. But at the time I really just wanted to get my job done, get the day done.”
Dodd said he and Frost agreed to leave the area and try reporting on a group of squeegee kids at a different intersection, where they were able to complete their piece.
FOX45 News photojournalist Kyle Dodd, center, walks surrounded by “squeegee kids” upset with being filmed by the Baltimore news crew on July 15, 2022. One of the young men ultimately assaulted Dodd, dousing him with a liquid.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, Podcast host subpoenaed a second time for testimony in murder case,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/podcast-host-subpoenaed-a-second-time-for-testimony-in-murder-case/,2022-07-13 18:55:08.251135+00:00,2022-07-21 23:29:26.639455+00:00,2022-07-21 23:29:26.582217+00:00,"(2022-07-15 19:24:00+00:00) Second subpoena for podcast host testimony, documents quashed",Subpoena/Legal Order,,,,Chris Lambert (Freelance),,2022-07-10,False,Salinas,California (CA),36.67774,-121.6555,"Freelance reporter and podcast host Chris Lambert was issued a second subpoena ordering him to testify during hearings around the 1996 disappearance and murder of a California Polytechnic State University student.
Lambert’s 2019 podcast, “Your Own Backyard,” chronicled his independent investigation of the murder of Cal Poly student Kristin Smart. In the span of 10 episodes, he interviewed new witnesses whom law enforcement officers had cited as “valuable” in their decision to arrest Paul Flores and his father, Ruben Flores, two longtime suspects in the case.
Attorneys for Paul Flores issued a subpoena to Lambert seeking testimony and reporting materials in August 2021, which San Luis Obispo County Superior Judge Craig van Rooyen dismissed, citing California’s journalist shield law. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documented that case here.
The San Luis Obispo Tribune reported that the case was moved to Monterey County Superior Court after van Rooyen ruled that pretrial publicity had made it unlikely that the defendants would receive a fair trial in the county.
On July 10, 2022, Lambert tweeted a photo of a section of the subpoena, which shows that he was ordered both to appear to testify at a hearing as well as provide “items” listed in an attachment. While he did not specify what the items were, the first subpoena demanded confidential interview recordings, emails and notes gathered in the course of producing the podcast.
— Your Own Backyard Podcast (@YOBPodcast) July 10, 2022
Lambert, who could not immediately be reached for comment, told The Tribune his attorney’s advised him against speaking further about the subpoena or providing additional details because of the gag order placed on the case.
According to The Tribune, opening arguments in the case are scheduled for July 18.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution was subpoenaed in July 2022 by a Fulton County special grand jury investigating former President Donald Trump’s possible interference in Georgia’s 2020 presidential election results.
The grand jury conducting the criminal investigation into Trump’s potential involvement is seeking audio recordings of a Jan. 11, 2021, phone call involving the former U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, Bobby Christine.
According to the AJC, Christine was appointed to the role by Trump on Jan. 4, after his predecessor could not find legitimate claims of election fraud. On Jan. 12, 2021, AJC reported on the leaked conference call between Christine and staffers. During the call, Christine said he had dismissed two election fraud cases filed by Trump’s supporters on his first day as a U.S. Attorney.
Prosecutors also issued subpoenas to Trump associates including U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham and his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani.
When reached for comment, an AJC editor said the outlet would be publishing a statement on the subpoena. Fulton County District Attorney’s Office did not respond to requests for comment.
The Fulton County Elections and Administrative Divisions Office in Atlanta in 2021. County prosecutors investigating the 2020 presidential election subpoenaed the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,journalist communications or work product,['PENDING'],None,None,None,None,None,None,Atlanta Journal-Constitution,"election, Election 2020",,,,, Journalist subpoenaed to testify in grand jury hearing on Georgia election interference,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-subpoenaed-to-testify-in-grand-jury-hearing-on-georgia-election-interference/,2022-08-11 21:42:46.054717+00:00,2022-08-11 21:42:46.054717+00:00,2022-08-11 21:42:45.963581+00:00,,Subpoena/Legal Order,,,,George Chidi (Independent),,2022-07-01,True,Atlanta,Georgia (GA),33.749,-84.38798,"Independent journalist George Chidi was subpoenaed in July 2022 to testify before a grand jury in Atlanta, Georgia, investigating possible 2020 election interference by former President Donald Trump and his allies.
Chidi, a former reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution whose work has appeared in The Intercept and the Atlanta hyperlocal news site Decaturish, publishes an award-winning newsletter called The Atlanta Objective.
In his June 29 newsletter, Chidi wrote that he was covering the Dec. 14, 2020, meeting of electors at the Georgia Capitol to cast their official votes for Joe Biden when he observed a Republican elector entering a side room.
“I looked around for [a] minute, asking other reporters what’s going on in there, then I launched a Facebook live and walked in,” Chidi wrote. “I asked the people there what they were doing. One of them, a woman, said they were having a meeting. What’s it about, I asked? ‘Education,’ she replied.”
When someone noted that he was filming, someone else quickly ushered him out of the room, Chidi wrote. After that, someone stood guarding the door.
Chidi wrote that he was immediately suspicious and believed 16 Republican electors were working to submit fabricated election results certifying the state’s electoral college votes for Trump despite Biden’s victory in Georgia, posting his suspicions on Facebook.
A special grand jury began meeting in Fulton County in June 2022 to investigate the alleged election interference, according to The Washington Post, and it has identified more than 100 people of interest to date.
According to Chidi’s newsletter, an investigator for the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office contacted him on June 27 to ask whether he’d be willing to testify before the grand jury. Chidi did not indicate his response.
Chidi was ultimately issued a subpoena which he unsuccessfully fought in court, according to the Saporta Report. However, the journalist was able to limit the scope of the questions to exclude any unrelated reporting.
“Journalists cannot act as agents of the government. Georgia has a longstanding tradition and legal precedent providing for ‘reporter’s privilege’ to prevent journalists from being used as a witness in a case,” Chidi wrote in his newsletter. “The thing is, the reporter’s privilege bends under extraordinary circumstances. And, honestly, how much more extraordinary does it get than a case that might send Donald Trump to prison.”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that prosecutors notified the newspaper to expect a subpoena for the testimony of reporter Greg Bluestein, who was also present at the December 2020 meeting and who reported extensively about the election and its fallout. The outlet said it will file a motion to quash any subpoena issued to one of its journalists. As of publication, it is unclear if a subpoena has been issued to Bluestein.
A judge ordered the editor of the Everett Leader Herald to release names of confidential sources and unpublished reporting materials on June 30, 2022, as part of a defamation case filed by the mayor of Everett, Massachusetts.
According to UniversalHub, a news and information site for the Boston area, Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria sued Joshua Resnek on Oct. 7, 2021, claiming Resnek published “defamatory falsehoods” in three separate articles in the weeks leading up to the mayoral primary.
The official complaint states that Resnek published an article on Sept. 8, claiming that DeMaria had “extorted the City Clerk into paying him $96,000” as part of a real estate transaction. DeMaria, who did not respond to a request for comment by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, is also suing the city clerk, who was a source for the article, and the publishers of the Leader.
In his ruling, Superior Court Associate Justice James Budreau wrote that the First Amendment did not allow the defendant in a libel case to refuse to identify sources on the grounds of reporter’s privilege, but that some protection was provided. The court would “weigh the relevant public interests for each source to determine whether their identities need to be revealed.”
Budreau granted a partial motion to compel Resnek to reveal the identities of 10 out of 12 sources.
After the ruling, Resnek, who did not respond to a request for comment, agreed to reveal the names and contact information of confidential sources, unpublished notes and emails and will not object to any depositions of sources.
Photojournalist Alberto Mariani, a Pulliam Fellow with The Arizona Republic, was detained by Arizona Department of Public Safety troopers while documenting reproductive rights protests at the capitol building in Phoenix on June 25, 2022.
Protests broke out across the country following the U.S. Supreme Court’s controversial ruling overturning Roe v. Wade on June 24, which established that the right to abortion is guaranteed under the right to privacy. The Republic reported that protesters in Phoenix gathered at the Arizona Capitol complex, pounding on the doors and windows of the Senate building while the legislature was in session.
Mariani told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that troopers set up temporary fences around the perimeter of the Capitol the following morning. Hundreds gathered for demonstrations at the complex that evening, Mariani said, and the protests continued peacefully until around 11 p.m. when most of the protesters dispersed.
“Around 11:30 p.m. that night, there were 50 or 60 people around and about five people started pulling down the fences,” Mariani said. “At that moment, once they tore down the fences, a group of 20 or 30 state troopers came out.”
The troopers announced that the assembly was unlawful and ordered everyone to disperse, but Mariani said that within 20 to 30 seconds the crowd — including him and Republic photojournalists Joel Angel Juárez and Antranik Tavitian — were surrounded.
“We were shouting that we were members of the press as we were holding our press badges up in the air, our cameras as well,” Mariani told the Tracker.
Mariani said he was separated from his colleagues and was standing approximately 5 to 10 feet away when a trooper approached and ordered him to get on the ground.
“I followed the order and got on the ground on my knees,” Mariani said. “As soon as I did, that same officer pushed me to the ground and restrained me for a little bit, and I saw from the photos that he was actually trying to handcuff me.”
Arizona Republic Pulliam Fellow @albe_mariani, 1st photo, was also temporarily detained by Arizona State Troopers during tonight’s abortion-rights rally. He was released within minutes after @AntranikTaviti1, 2nd photo, & myself identified him as a member of the press. @azcentral pic.twitter.com/fbxXCBAqi0
— Joel Angel Juárez (@jajuarezphoto) June 26, 2022
Mariani said the trooper “absolutely” knew he was a journalist when he ordered Mariani to the ground, and continued to restrain him for several minutes until his colleagues told another trooper that he was with The Republic.
“It’s just evident that the officers didn’t care whether you were wearing a press badge or not,” Mariani said.
Jack Sorgi, a photographer with LLN Arizona, a newsgathering collective, was also detained by state troopers that night. The Tracker has documented that incident here.
After he was released, Mariani and his colleagues were ordered to the other side of the road along with all other members of the press. He said they were able to continue documenting without further issue as other detainees were arrested and processed.
When reached for comment, DPS Media Relations Specialist Bart Graves provided this statement: “They were in a restricted area and once they identified themselves as news media (via credentials) they were released. Local media are well aware of the rules.”
Find press freedom violations documented by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker at reproductive rights demonstrations across the U.S. here.
Photographer Jack Sorgi was detained by Arizona Department of Public Safety troopers while documenting reproductive rights protests at the capitol building in Phoenix on June 25, 2022.
Protests broke out across the country following the U.S. Supreme Court’s controversial ruling overturning Roe v. Wade on June 24, which established that the right to abortion is guaranteed under the right to privacy. The Republic reported that protesters in Phoenix gathered at the Arizona Capitol complex, pounding on the doors and windows of the Senate building while the legislature was in session.
Troopers set up temporary fences around the perimeter of the Capitol the following morning, according to The Republic.
Sorgi, who documents for LLN Arizona, part of a newsgathering collective, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that hundreds gathered for demonstrations at the complex that day until most dispersed at around 11 p.m.
“Around the 11:15 p.m. mark, that’s when protesters started grabbing on the chain link fence that surrounded the Capitol,” Sorgi said. “[They] started shaking it, eventually pulling the fence down about a dozen feet of the fence.”
Approximately 45 seconds later, Sorgi said state troopers announced that it was an unlawful assembly and dozens of troopers swarmed the area from the north and south sides of the Capitol.
In footage Sorgi captured of the incident, a line of troopers can be seen running out from behind the fences with some shouting “Get on the ground!” and “Back up!”
Following hours of sit-ins and marches a small group remained after 11 PM at the state capitol where they began attempting to take down the fence surrounding the building. DPS quickly swarmed the area and surrounded the group ordering everyone to the floor (myself included) pic.twitter.com/9Tis98JsLB
— LLN Jack | Phoenix Metro (@LLN_Jack) June 26, 2022
The video continues as Sorgi moves away from the advancing troopers toward the sidewalk where multiple individuals who appear to be photographers and legal observers are already kneeling on the ground.
Sorgi told the Tracker he verbally identified himself as press while holding his press pass out in front of him. He also said he was wearing a T-shirt with “media” printed across the front and back.
“Get all the way down man, all the way down,” a state trooper directs him in the footage. “I don’t care what your pass says.”
Sorgi said that after getting on the ground he tried to position his camera at the trooper who was giving him orders, but the trooper told him to put his hands “all the way down” and grabbed his camera by the lens hood and forced it into the ground.
At least one other journalist, Arizona Republic photojournalist Alberto Mariani, was also detained by state troopers that night. The Tracker has documented that incident here.
Sorgi continued to record as multiple individuals nearby were allowed to stand and leave the area. After approximately a minute on the ground, Sorgi said a trooper who appeared to be supervising the others said, “This guy has a camera, get him out of here.” Sorgi was then directed to stand and follow the others across the street.
When reached for comment, DPS Media Relations Specialist Bart Graves provided this statement: “They were in a restricted area and once they identified themselves as news media (via credentials) they were released. Local media are well aware of the rules.”
Find press freedom violations documented by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker at reproductive rights demonstrations across the U.S. here.
LLN Arizona photographer Jack Sorgi, center, was ordered to get on the ground and briefly detained by state troopers while documenting reproductive rights protests in Phoenix on June 25, 2022.
",detained and released without being processed,not charged,Arizona Department of Public Safety,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"court verdict, protest, reproductive rights",,,,, Photographer documenting reproductive rights protests detained at Arizona Capitol,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-detained-at-arizona-capitol-while-documenting-reproductive-rights-protests/,2022-07-05 20:45:49.442183+00:00,2022-08-05 19:15:59.230713+00:00,2022-08-05 19:15:59.178652+00:00,,Arrest/Criminal Charge,,,,"Michael ""Mike"" Gonzalez (LLN Arizona)",,2022-06-25,False,Phoenix,Arizona (AZ),33.44838,-112.07404,"Photographer Michael "Mike" Gonzalez was detained by Arizona Department of Public Safety troopers while documenting reproductive rights protests at the capitol building in Phoenix on June 25, 2022.
Protests broke out across the country following the U.S. Supreme Court’s controversial ruling overturning Roe v. Wade on June 24, which established that the right to abortion is guaranteed under the right to privacy. The Republic reported that protesters in Phoenix gathered at the Arizona Capitol complex, pounding on the doors and windows of the Senate building while the legislature was in session.
Troopers set up temporary fences around the perimeter of the Capitol the following morning, according to The Republic.
Gonzalez, who documents for LLN Arizona, part of a newsgathering collective, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he and his colleague Jack Sorgi arrived to document as hundreds gathered for demonstrations at the complex that day until most dispersed shortly before 11 p.m.
“There was a crowd that decided to stay — I’d say anywhere between 40 to 70 people,” Gonzalez said. “At some point, there was a group of 5 to 10 people who kept on touching the fence, grabbing the fence, checking its integrity to see how much it would take to pull it down.”
Gonzalez told the Tracker that immediately after some of the individuals pulled down a section of the fence, DPS troopers announced that it was an unlawful assembly and ordered everyone to disperse.
“At that same time, DPS from every corner — from inside the building, outside the building, from the street side — stormed in with police cars and riot gear,” Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez said the troopers shouted for everyone to get on the ground, so he knelt on one knee while holding his press pass in front of him and identifying himself as press. In addition to his press badge, Gonzalez said he was wearing a shirt printed with Loud Labs News and was carrying a professional camera.
“A trooper basically storms in, yells at me to get all the way down and basically stands overtop of me as I laid there,” Gonzalez said. He added that he put his camera down in the grass and tried to angle it toward the other journalists who were being detained.
Sorgi and at least one other journalist, Arizona Republic photojournalist Alberto Mariani, were also ordered to the ground by state troopers that night. The Tracker has documented those incidents here.
After a few minutes, Gonzalez was told he could get up and that all members of the press should cross the street and stay out of the troopers’ way.
“My number one priority after my initial detainment was to figure out where Jack was and make sure he was good and that he didn’t actually get fully detained and put in handcuffs,” Gonzalez said. Once he located Sorgi, Gonzalez said the pair continued documenting until the troopers had completed the arrests of multiple demonstrators.
“We’re press photographers and we’re documenting, so a couple of our rights got broken,” Gonzalez said. “For that to happen on public property is kind of a scary thing to think about. If you go on state property or into a state building, you’re supposed to feel protected or safe and I didn’t.”
When reached for comment, DPS Media Relations Specialist Bart Graves provided this statement: “They were in a restricted area and once they identified themselves as news media (via credentials) they were released. Local media are well aware of the rules.”
Find press freedom violations documented by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker at reproductive rights demonstrations across the U.S. here.
Independent videographer Sean Beckner-Carmitchel was repeatedly shoved and detained in a kettle alongside other journalists while documenting reproductive rights protests in Los Angeles, California, on June 24, 2022.
Protests broke out across the country following the U.S. Supreme Court’s controversial ruling overturning Roe v. Wade that morning, which established that the right to abortion is guaranteed under the right to privacy.
The first protests in LA began outside a federal courthouse around noon, the Los Angeles Times reported, and continued into the night. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented the assaults of at least eight journalists in the city that night.
Beckner-Carmitchel told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he arrived at Pershing Square in downtown LA at around 2 p.m., and that the first hours of the protest were energetic but not destructive.
After a group of protesters were able to block the highway, disrupting traffic, Beckner-Carmitchel said the atmosphere shifted and the Los Angeles Police Department officers became more aggressive with the demonstrators and press. He told the Tracker that he was shoved by officers multiple times that evening, and that at one point an officer shoved a protester who then fell into him.
Shortly after 9 p.m., Beckner-Carmitchel posted on Twitter that police had detained him alongside protesters and other journalists using a technique known as kettling, in which police box in a crowd before typically conducting mass arrests.
Kettled. One member of press currently detained. Lots of violence.
— Sean Beckner-Carmitchel (@ACatWithNews) June 25, 2022
The Tracker has documented all of the journalists detained in the kettle that night here.
Beckner-Carmitchel told the Tracker he was released at exactly 9:30 p.m., and that he believed they were detained for 30 to 45 minutes.
“A lot of what I saw was a flagrant violation of the spirit of [Senate Bill 98], if not the letter of the law,” Beckner-Carmitchel said.
In October 2021, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed SB 98, which was written in order to ensure the rights of journalists while covering protests or other civic actions, according to Spectrum News 1. The law states that “law enforcement shall not intentionally assault, interfere with, or obstruct journalists” and explicitly exempts members of the press from dispersal orders.
LAPD did not respond to a request for comment as of press time.
Find press freedom violations documented by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker at reproductive rights demonstrations across the U.S. here.
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to include comment from Sean Beckner-Carmitchel.
Anthony Cabassa, a field correspondent for the conservative bilingual outlet El American, was detained in a kettle alongside at least one other journalist while documenting reproductive rights protests in Los Angeles, California, on June 24, 2022.
Protests broke out across the country following the U.S. Supreme Court’s controversial ruling overturning Roe v. Wade that morning, which established that the right to abortion is guaranteed under the right to privacy.
The first protests in LA began outside a federal courthouse around noon, the Los Angeles Times reported, and continued into the night. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented the assaults of at least eight journalists in the city that night.
In a Twitter post at 9:45 p.m., Cabassa wrote that police had detained him alongside protesters and other journalists using a technique known as kettling, in which police box in a crowd before typically conducting mass arrests.
In my reporting this evening, I (alongside protestors and other journalists) are being detained. This after the group I was following assaulted police and were vandalizing downtown shops.
— Anthony Cabassa (@AnthonyCabassa_) June 25, 2022
I showed police my journalist credentials, they said we cannot leave, as arrests are made. pic.twitter.com/KrIkzR8ukp
“When we approach the police line, we are told that we are not allowed to leave. We showed them our media credentials,” Cabassa said in a video posted with the tweet. “I guess we’re being detained. I believe we are awaiting further instructions on what’s to happen, but as of now we cannot leave, we cannot leave at all.”
Cabassa did not respond to a request for additional comment.
Independent videographer Sean Beckner-Carmitchel, confirmed to the Tracker that he was detained in the kettle alongside Cabassa that night, and that they were released at 9:30 p.m. The Tracker has documented Beckner-Carmitchel’s detainment here.
At around 10:30 p.m., Cabassa posted on Twitter that he had been released without being charged.
The Los Angeles Police Department did not respond to a request for comment as of press time.
Find press freedom violations documented by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker at reproductive rights demonstrations across the U.S. here.
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to include details from independent videographer Sean Beckner-Carmitchel.
In his Twitter livestream, El American correspondent Anthony Cabassa details his detainment while covering a reproductive rights demonstration in Los Angeles on June 24, 2022.
",detained and released without being processed,not charged,Los Angeles Police Department,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"court verdict, kettle, protest, reproductive rights",,,,, Journalist repeatedly shoved while covering LA reproductive rights protests,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-repeatedly-shoved-while-covering-la-reproductive-rights-protests/,2022-06-27 21:11:01.576075+00:00,2022-08-05 19:14:27.673757+00:00,2022-08-05 19:14:27.620206+00:00,,Assault,,,,Lexis-Olivier Ray (L.A. Taco),,2022-06-24,False,Los Angeles,California (CA),34.05223,-118.24368,"Lexis-Olivier Ray, a reporter with the digital news site L.A. Taco, was repeatedly shoved by police officers while documenting reproductive rights protests in Los Angeles, California, on June 24, 2022.
Protests broke out across the country following the U.S. Supreme Court’s controversial ruling overturning Roe v. Wade that morning, which established that the right to abortion is guaranteed under the right to privacy.
The first protests in LA began outside a federal courthouse around noon, the Los Angeles Times reported, and continued into the night. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented the assaults of at least six journalists in the city that night.
Ray told the Tracker that he arrived downtown at Pershing Square that afternoon to report on the protests planned to begin at 5 p.m. After a series of speeches, Ray said the crowd of approximately 1,000 people marched less than a mile to City Hall.
“Eventually that part of the protest kind of ended,” Ray said. “A splinter group broke off and started heading toward the freeway. That’s when things started to escalate.”
Ray said he followed the group as they made their way to an on ramp, where they were met by both Los Angeles Police Department and U.S. Department of Homeland Security officers, who prevented the demonstrators from getting onto the highway. Part of the group split away and ultimately did end up marching onto the interstate and blocking traffic, Ray said. He said it was after the demonstrators exited the highway that he had his first physical altercation with law enforcement.
“A group of LAPD Metro division officers were trying to clear the area and I ended up getting shoved with a baton and an officer shoved me with his hands,” Ray said. In a tweet posted shortly before 8 p.m., Ray can be heard identifying himself as a member of the press as lines of officers advance toward him.
LAPD officers shoved me and jabbed @joeyneverjoe in the stomach with a baton, sending him to the ground. We both identified ourselves as press repeatedly. @LATCO pic.twitter.com/0FRTH7hlu3
— Lexis-Olivier Ray (@ShotOn35mm) June 25, 2022
Multiple officers can be heard shouting, “Leave the area! Leave the area!” Both Ray and a second journalist — documentary photographer Joey Scott — can be heard identifying themselves as press in response.
At approximately 0:06 in the clip, an officer steps forward and shoves Ray backward. “Woah, woah, woah! What are you doing man?” Ray can be heard asking.
After taking a few steps back, Ray appears to walk back toward the officer and says, “I’m press, I have a legal right to be here.”
Moments later, an officer pushed Scott to the ground with a baton, causing damage to his helmet as he fell into a vehicle. The Tracker has documented that incident here.
LAPD just assaulted a journalist & legal observer on South Broadway. pic.twitter.com/Mc3PUmljy0
— JP (Josh Pacheco) ✨🏳️⚧️They/Them (@JoshMPacheco) June 25, 2022
“That really changed the whole tone [of the evening],” Ray said. “That was really upsetting and frustrating.”
Over the course of the evening, Ray told the Tracker, he was shoved by LAPD officers on multiple occasions. During one of the encounters, an officer told Ray and Scott that where they were standing was the media staging ground and to wait there for a public information officer to arrive to answer their questions. Within moments, a line of officers advanced on them and aggressively cornered him until he was pinned against a police car.
Ray said that he was clearly identifiable as a member of the press, wearing an L.A. Taco shirt with “press” printed on the back and was wearing his press pass.
“In terms of press freedom rights, it was probably one of the worst protests I’ve been at,” Ray said.
In October 2021, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 98, which was written in order to ensure the rights of journalists while covering protests or other civic actions, according to Spectrum News 1. The law states that “law enforcement shall not intentionally assault, interfere with, or obstruct journalists” and explicitly exempts members of the press from dispersal orders.
The Los Angeles Police Department did not respond to a request for comment as of press time.
Find press freedom violations documented by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker at reproductive rights demonstrations across the U.S. here.
L.A. Taco reporter Lexis-Olivier Ray, left, moments after a Los Angeles police officer shoved him backward while he was documenting protests in the city on June 24, 2022.
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Protests broke out across the country following the U.S. Supreme Court’s controversial ruling overturning Roe v. Wade that morning, which established that the right to abortion is guaranteed under the right to privacy.
The first protests in LA began outside a federal courthouse around noon, the Los Angeles Times reported, and continued into the night. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented the assaults of at least six journalists in the city that night.
L.A. Taco reporter Lexis-Olivier Ray told the Tracker that he and Scott had followed protesters as they attempted to get onto the highway. After demonstrators exited the highway, Los Angeles Police Department officers advanced toward them to clear the area.
In a tweet posted at around 7:45 p.m., Scott wrote that he had just been shoved to the ground by an LAPD officer.
Got shoved before this. LAPD Metro not honoring press passes. pic.twitter.com/BBlbkY1KuN
— Joey Scott (@joeyneverjoe) June 25, 2022
In a video posted in a subsequent tweet, multiple officers can be heard shouting, “Leave the area! Leave the area!” Both Scott and a second journalist — L.A. Taco reporter Lexis-Olivier Ray — can be heard identifying themselves as press in response. Scott was not immediately available to provide comment.
At approximately 0:06 in the clip, an officer steps forward and says, “It doesn’t matter, you guys gotta get going.”
“I’m press, it does matter,” Scott can be heard responding. “I’m on a public sidewalk.”
At that same moment, one of the officers pushed Ray backward. The Tracker has documented that incident here.
In footage posted by photojournalist Josh Pacheco, Scott can be seen stepping back onto the sidewalk and taking two steps before an LAPD officer appears to push him backward with his baton, sending him sprawling into a car a few feet behind him.
LAPD just assaulted a journalist & legal observer on South Broadway. pic.twitter.com/Mc3PUmljy0
— JP (Josh Pacheco) ✨🏳️⚧️They/Them (@JoshMPacheco) June 25, 2022
“What wasn’t captured in the footage was the attitude: the blatant disregard and hostility the officers had to our legal rights to be there,” Scott told the Tracker. “The more that we identified ourselves and pushed back on their unlawful commands, the more hostile and, obviously, more violent they got toward us.”
In footage from the incident, “press” labels are visible on Scott’s backpack and helmet. In a tweet thread two days later, Scott wrote that his body and ribs were still sore and that his helmet was damaged from the fall.
“Going into this weekend, I was like: Cool. We have these new laws and protections, this should be a lot easier than previous experiences,” Scott said. “And it was the complete opposite. Worse than before the laws were enacted and the supposed training and reform that the department has done.”
In October 2021, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 98, which was written in order to ensure the rights of journalists while covering protests or other civic actions, according to Spectrum News 1. The law states that “law enforcement shall not intentionally assault, interfere with, or obstruct journalists” and explicitly exempts members of the press from dispersal orders.
The Los Angeles Police Department did not respond to a request for comment as of press time.
Find press freedom violations documented by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker at reproductive rights demonstrations across the U.S. here.
Editor's Note: This article has been updated to include comment from Joey Scott.
Documentary photographer Joey Scott, right, with ‘press’ taped on his backpack, is seen moments before a Los Angeles police officer shoves him with a baton while Scott was documenting protests in the city on June 24, 2022.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"court verdict, protest, reproductive rights",,,,, Beverly Hills Courier reporter shoved by officers while covering reproductive rights protests,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/beverly-hills-courier-reporter-shoved-by-police-officers-while-covering-reproductive-rights-protests/,2022-06-27 22:12:38.603865+00:00,2022-08-05 19:14:49.970219+00:00,2022-08-05 19:14:49.915970+00:00,,Assault,,,,Samuel Braslow (Beverly Hills Courier),,2022-06-24,False,Los Angeles,California (CA),34.05223,-118.24368,"Beverly Hills Courier reporter Samuel Braslow wrote that he was assaulted by law enforcement officers on June 24, 2022, while covering demonstrations in Los Angeles, California, in response to the U.S. Supreme Court decision that overturned the landmark reproductive rights case Roe v. Wade.
Braslow chronicled the demonstrations in a Twitter thread and wrote that the crowds eventually made their way to City Hall, where Los Angeles Police Department officers wearing riot gear told protesters to leave the area. According to Braslow, he never heard the officers announce an order to disperse.
Braslow was filming the crowd when LAPD officers shoved him toward another group of officers.
“Police just pushed me and another reporter into other police officers resulting in the other reporter’s detention or arrest. I haven’t seen officers this aggressive in a long time,” Braslow wrote on Twitter.
Another journalist documenting the protest posted a video on Twitter of Braslow’s assault.
Police throwing journalist @SamBraslow backwards just a few moments later. He did have a small bloodstain on his shirt shortly after. pic.twitter.com/Og8Y9bEHiX
— Sean Beckner-Carmitchel (@ACatWithNews) June 25, 2022
Braslow and the LAPD did not return emailed requests for comment as of publication.
Braslow was among several journalists who reported being assaulted or detained by LAPD officers while covering the protests. The Los Angeles Times reported that police officers repeatedly ignored a law signed in October 2021 that protected journalists from interference by law enforcement and expanded the rights of journalists covering protests during the civil protests.
“According to Times reporters, witnesses' videos and interviews with other media members on the ground, journalists were pushed, struck with batons, forced out of areas where they had a right to observe police activity and blocked from entering other areas where police and protesters were clashing and arrests were being made,” the Times reported.
LAPD Chief Michel Moore told the Times that the department would be investigating the complaints made by members of the press.
Find press freedom violations documented by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker at reproductive rights demonstrations across the U.S. here.
Independent video journalist Mason Lake confirmed to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was assaulted by a group of individuals on June 24, 2022, in Portland, Oregon, while covering demonstrations in response to the U.S. Supreme Court decision that overturned the landmark case of Roe v. Wade.
Lake told the Tracker that he was livestreaming the speeches and capturing video of more than a thousand people marching toward downtown Portland when individuals assaulted him for reporting during the event.
“I went out there to stream the event because, sadly, there hasn’t been a lot of coverage in Portland because of all the hate that the press has gotten here lately,” Lake said.
Lake said he was wearing a vest labeled “press” on the front and back for the duration of the demonstration. He identified the individuals as being in black bloc, a technique of dressing in all black to avoid identification.
Lake said individuals came up behind him before shoving him and knocking his phone, which he was using to stream the event, out of his hand. He said his phone was not damaged but he lost a stylus and a phone case that were attached to it.
In Portland, OR over 1000 people gathered for speeches & to march in protest of the SCOTUS overturning Roe v Wade. Live stream link https://t.co/DrxR7Sj9Kx
— Mason Lake Media (@MasonLakePhoto) June 25, 2022
Cuts at the end when I am assulted by bloc for reporting. Another civil right but that one they don't care about.#RoeVsWade pic.twitter.com/lV6q2WPnQv
After he picked up his phone, Lake said one of the individuals grabbed him by the vest and forced him to leave the event.
“Everyone should have the right to be at these events, especially when it's in the middle of the city,” Lake said. “I take real issue with this and I know there’s a real danger in doing this but that’s why I keep coming out.”
Find press freedom violations documented by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker at reproductive rights demonstrations across the U.S. here.
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated with comment from Mason Lake.
Independent photojournalist Jake Lee Green was assaulted by Los Angeles Police Department officers on June 24, 2022, while documenting reproductive rights protests in Los Angeles, California.
Protesters gathered in Downtown LA following the U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade decision. Green told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was photographing the demonstrations and wearing multiple press badges and a shoulder mounted camera when two police officers jabbed him in the side with their batons. Green said he had been filming when the officers jabbed him in the ribs, catching him by surprise.
So, I made it onto the LA Times @latimes Web Site. That’s me getting jabbed in the ribs by an @LAPDHQ Officer. I was wearing my PRESS badge. I decided NOT to go in armor and now I wish I had. My side still hurts. https://t.co/tX0EfNkR0C
— Jake Lee Green (@AeonPhotoCo) June 26, 2022
“I was so focused on setting up my shot that I really wasn’t paying attention when the officers approached me,” Green said. “I told them I was just trying to do my job but I immediately got out of there.”
Green said he repeatedly encountered police throughout the day while covering the protests and noticed them acting aggressively toward reporters.
“My encounter wasn’t as bad as some of my colleagues that night but that use of force was unnecessary,” Green said.
Green was among several other journalists who reported assaults or detainments while covering demonstrations in LA. The Los Angeles Times reported police officers repeatedly ignored a recent law, passed in October 2021, that granted broader protections to journalists covering civil protests and access to areas closed off by police.
“According to Times reporters, witnesses' videos and interviews with other media members on the ground, journalists were pushed, struck with batons, forced out of areas where they had a right to observe police activity and blocked from entering other areas where police and protesters were clashing and arrests were being made.”
LAPD Chief Michel Moore told the Times that the department would be investigating the complaints made by press members. LAPD did not return an emailed request for comment.
Find press freedom violations documented by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker at reproductive rights demonstrations across the U.S. here.
Independent videographer Vishal Singh was assaulted by law enforcement officers and detained in a kettle while documenting reproductive rights protests in Los Angeles, California, on June 24, 2022.
Protests broke out across the country following the U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturning the landmark case of Roe v. Wade, which had previously protected the right to abortion under the right to privacy.
Singh told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that when he arrived at Los Angeles City Hall shortly after 6 p.m. to cover the demonstrations, the crowds seemed relatively calm, despite hundreds of people already gathered.
As the crowds started marching in different directions, Singh said Los Angeles Police Department officers stopped him and two other reporters behind the protesters.
“I asked them if there was a media viewing area,” Singh said, “and we were eventually let go, but I get frustrated with even these momentary restrictions to access because things happen so quickly during protests.”
Journalists temporarily denied entry as officers assault pro-abortion/pro-choice protesters. We asked about the media viewing zone but were met with no actual reply. pic.twitter.com/8EBkk00IRI
— Vishal P. Singh (they/he) 🏳️⚧️ (@VPS_Reports) June 25, 2022
Singh told the Tracker that after officers allowed the journalists to continue following the crowd, he immediately saw a clash between protesters and police. He started filming the encounter when an officer approached him.
“He walked toward me, grabbed me by the shoulders, and shoved me,” Singh said.
LAPD threatens to hit pro-abortion/pro-choice protesters with their vehicle. As folks move out of the way, impatient riot police start shoving people aside, myself included. pic.twitter.com/aCJkyBnUwz
— Vishal P. Singh (they/he) 🏳️⚧️ (@VPS_Reports) June 25, 2022
Singh said he followed protesters for most of the night and saw police becoming increasingly aggressive. At one point, an officer pointed a crowd-control weapon at him.
“I started filming some b-roll from the sidewalk, focusing my frame when I heard yelling coming from the left,” Singh said, “and when I looked over, I’m staring down the barrel of a riot launcher pointed at my head.”
While I'm filming a police vehicle, I look to my left and stare down the barrel of a 40mm riot gun. This is how LAPD responded tonight. With violence. Soon after this clip they opened fire. pic.twitter.com/6V775G64AR
— Vishal P. Singh (they/he) 🏳️⚧️ (@VPS_Reports) June 25, 2022
Singh said as he backed away from the area an officer noticed him filming and shoved him toward a crowd of people. Afterward, he noticed the press pass he was wearing on a lanyard around his neck had fallen off and was lost.
As LAPD opens fire with riot munitions at point blank range on pro-choice and pro-abortion protesters, I try and get a shot of an officer with a 40mm riot gun and another officer shoves me nearly to the ground. pic.twitter.com/P4s9VDc7PZ
— Vishal P. Singh (they/he) 🏳️⚧️ (@VPS_Reports) June 25, 2022
“I got up, and obviously, I was shaken, and at that point, all hell broke loose,” Singh said.
Singh said he saw police officers assault other journalists, including Tina Desiree-Berg and Samuel Braslow. Soon after, he realized officers were forming a kettle around him and other journalists and protesters.
Journalists kettled. pic.twitter.com/VngJUNwtGw
— Vishal P. Singh (they/he) 🏳️⚧️ (@VPS_Reports) June 25, 2022
“I continually asked the officers if an unlawful assembly had been officially issued or if there was a dispersal order,” Singh said, but to no response. According to Singh, he was allowed to leave after an officer read a dispersal order.
Singh was among several journalists assaulted or detained by LAPD officers while covering the protests. The Los Angeles Times reported that police officers repeatedly ignored a law signed in October 2021 that protected journalists from interference by law enforcement and expanded the rights of journalists covering protests during the civil protests:
“According to Times reporters, witnesses' videos and interviews with other media members on the ground, journalists were pushed, struck with batons, forced out of areas where they had a right to observe police activity and blocked from entering other areas where police and protesters were clashing and arrests were being made.”
LAPD Chief Michel Moore told the Times that the department would be investigating the complaints made by members of the press. The LAPD did not return emailed requests for comment.
Find press freedom violations documented by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker at reproductive rights demonstrations across the U.S. here.
Independent journalist Tina-Desiree Berg was repeatedly shoved and struck in the head by a police officer while documenting reproductive rights protests in Los Angeles, California, on June 24, 2022.
Protests broke out across the country following the U.S. Supreme Court’s controversial ruling overturning Roe v. Wade that morning, which established that the right to abortion is guaranteed under the right to privacy.
The first protests in LA began outside a federal courthouse around noon, the Los Angeles Times reported, and continued into the night. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented the assaults of at least eight journalists in the city that night.
Berg told the Tracker she was documenting the arrest of an abortion rights protester when an officer approached her without her noticing. In footage captured by independent videographer Sean Beckner-Carmitchel, Berg can be seen walking toward a group of officers arresting at least one individual while multiple individuals film from approximately six feet back.
Here it is from my angle. pic.twitter.com/89Oi9rQEiL
— Notorious TDB (@TinaDesireeBerg) June 25, 2022
An officer can be heard shouting, “Back up!” before appearing to lunge to the side, grabbing Berg as she attempts to join the others documenting the arrest. The officer then appears to shove Berg back.
Footage captured by Beverly Hills Courier reporter Sam Braslow shows the next moments, in which the officer appears to strike Berg in the head as a second officer approaches. That officer then pushes her, ultimately shoving Berg to the ground.
Police manhandle reporter @TinaDesireeBerg, who gets up and continues to report after being thrown to the ground. pic.twitter.com/1zGFUgz9MW
— Samuel Braslow (@SamBraslow) June 25, 2022
Berg told the Tracker the second officer said she needed to learn her lesson, telling her, “We’re trying to protect you.”
“After that, I said to him, ‘But I’m press, here are my actual credentials.’ And I flipped them around so he saw the credential credential, not just my company one,” Berg said. “I said, ‘You’re not supposed to be doing this, we’re supposed to be allowed to be a safe space away from an arrest and film it.’ And he just said, ‘I don’t care.’”
Berg said she didn’t seek medical treatment after the incident, but felt sore the next few days.
In October 2021, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed SB 98, which was written in order to ensure the rights of journalists while covering protests or other civic actions, according to NPR. The law states that “law enforcement shall not intentionally assault, interfere with, or obstruct journalists” and explicitly exempts members of the press from dispersal orders.
“The last couple of months have been fine, believe it or not. No issues. So, I thought [the Senate bill] was a game changer. Apparently not. A little bit of stress and everything reverts back,” Berg said. “It’s not about me: it’s about the First Amendment, it’s about the importance of preserving press freedom.”
LAPD did not respond to a request for comment.
In a statement to the Times, LAPD Chief Michel Moore said the department will investigate all complaints, including those that allege officers violated journalists’ rights under the new law.
Find press freedom violations documented by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker at reproductive rights demonstrations across the U.S. here.
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to include comment from Tina-Desiree Berg.
While documenting an arrest at a reproductive rights protest in Los Angeles on June 24, 2022, journalist Tina-Desiree Berg, seen in the lower left of the frame, was shoved and struck in the head by police officers.
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Protests broke out across the country following the U.S. Supreme Court’s controversial ruling overturning Roe v. Wade that morning, which established that the right to abortion is guaranteed under the right to privacy.
The first protests in LA began outside a federal courthouse around noon, the Los Angeles Times reported, and continued into the night. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented the assaults of at least eight journalists in the city that night.
Lacoste told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she arrived in downtown LA at around 6 p.m., after the protests had already gotten underway. She said she saw a crowd gathered near City Hall and walked with others and they made their way to a highway entrance nearby. When officers with the Los Angeles Police Department and U.S. Department of Homeland Security barred individuals from entering, Lacoste said she thought the protest had more or less ended.
“I walked around downtown with some other press people that I knew trying to find the protesters for about an hour,” Lacoste said.
She had gotten in a car with a couple of other journalists to head home when she spotted lines of police cars driving by and got out to document what was happening.
“I just put myself in front of the protest line in between the protesters and the police, so I was just filming the police at that point,” Lacoste said. “There were at least 100 protesters at that point, it was a big group, and there were just not enough officers.”
Lacoste told the Tracker the situation became increasingly tense as officers tried to give the crowd orders and after someone launched a firework that landed behind the police line.
In a matter of moments, Lacoste said she saw a second firework explode, and officers aggressively shove a legal observer, arrest an individual who had made a makeshift incendiary device and assault independent journalist Tina-Desiree Berg.
Lacoste said she moved along the police skirmish line until she was detained alongside protesters and other journalists using a technique known as kettling, in which police box in a crowd before typically conducting mass arrests. When she identified herself as press and asked if she could leave, Lacoste said the officer told her she’d have to wait as they cleared the area in waves.
Independent videographer Sean Beckner-Carmitchel, who was also detained that night, told the Tracker they were released at 9:30 p.m. after being held for 30 minutes to an hour. The Tracker has documented all of the journalists detained in the kettle that night here.
“I just didn’t think that the protests would escalate to that magnitude,” Lacoste said. “It was worse than I have seen in a long time.”
Lacoste told the Tracker she tried to play it safe that night in order to avoid injuries like those she sustained while covering protests in the city in 2020, which caused her to be hospitalized. After the night’s events, she decided not to cover any of the other protests that weekend.
In October 2021, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed SB 98, which was written in order to ensure the rights of journalists while covering protests or other civic actions, according to NPR. The law states that “law enforcement shall not intentionally assault, interfere with, or obstruct journalists” and explicitly exempts members of the press from dispersal orders.
LAPD did not respond to a request for comment.
Find press freedom violations documented by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker at reproductive rights demonstrations across the U.S. here.
Photojournalist Julianna Lacoste documented reproductive rights protests in Los Angeles, California, on June 24, 2022. That night, she was detained in a police kettle alongside other journalists.
",detained and released without being processed,not charged,Los Angeles Police Department,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"court verdict, protest, reproductive rights",,,,, Cinematographer detained while documenting LA reproductive rights protest,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cinematographer-detained-while-documenting-la-reproductive-rights-protest/,2022-07-11 21:02:42.815747+00:00,2022-08-05 19:16:26.375343+00:00,2022-08-05 19:16:26.312628+00:00,,"Arrest/Criminal Charge, Assault",,,,Jean (Independent),,2022-06-24,False,Los Angeles,California (CA),34.05223,-118.24368,"A cinematographer who works on documentary and feature film projects was detained in a kettle alongside other journalists while documenting reproductive rights protests in Los Angeles, California, on June 24, 2022.
Protests broke out across the country following the U.S. Supreme Court’s controversial ruling overturning Roe v. Wade that morning, which established that the right to abortion is guaranteed under the right to privacy.
The first protests in LA began outside a federal courthouse around noon, the Los Angeles Times reported, and continued into the night. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented the assaults of at least eight journalists in the city that night.
Jean, who asked to only be identified by her first name out of fear of retaliation, told the Tracker she arrived in downtown LA to document the protests taking place near City Hall. She said she filmed from an overpass as some members of the crowd made their way to a highway entrance nearby, and then followed as members of the crowd made their way back into downtown.
“That was when protesting started happening a little differently — people started going against traffic and so on and so forth,” Jean said. “There came a point though where the protesting was stopped by the police, and this was when the first firework went off.”
Officer tried to stop the protesters from advancing, Jean said, but because of their small numbers they were unable to do so. She said that officers resorted to pushing and shoving her and many protesters while running past.
The group of protesters continued marching to another intersection, where Jean said police assaulted multiple members of the press, including independent journalist Tina-Desiree Berg.
“There was a major dash by poIice to the site of the crowd, and so many others rushed in to see what was happening,” Jean said. “In a video that I documented I was telling an officer that I am trying to see what is happening beyond him and while I am telling him this there is Tina — who’s also trying to do the same — except what I see is another officer with a riot gun strikes her across the face and stuns her.”
Jean said that before Berg was able to react, a second officer shoved her to the ground near Jean’s feet, and she helped Berg stand back up.
Soon after, Jean said she was corralled alongside the rest of the crowd and multiple journalists by police using a technique known as kettling, in which police box in a crowd before typically conducting mass arrests.
Independent videographer Sean Beckner-Carmitchel, who was also detained that night, told the Tracker they were released at 9:30 p.m. after being held for 30 minutes to an hour. The Tracker has documented all of the journalists detained in the kettle that night here.
“After already getting out of the kettle around the other side to head back to City Hall,” Jean said, “they still advanced on us again and threatened to kettle us for not dispersing quickly enough.”
“In general, what I take away from the night was that the initial response was to be forcefully aggressive and not follow basic protocol procedures,” Jean told the Tracker.
In October 2021, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed SB 98, which was written in order to ensure the rights of journalists while covering protests or other civic actions, according to NPR. The law states that “law enforcement shall not intentionally assault, interfere with, or obstruct journalists” and explicitly exempts members of the press from dispersal orders.
LAPD did not respond to a request for comment.
Find press freedom violations documented by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker at reproductive rights demonstrations across the U.S. here.
On June 20, 2022, journalists were told to leave a committee hearing in Uvalde, Texas, where Texas House legislators were scheduled to discuss the law enforcement response to the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in May.
According to The Washington Post, Fire Marshal Juan Hernandez asked reporters to leave the meeting and wait outside City Hall. Hernandez said people were intimidated by the presence of the reporters at the meetings.
CNN correspondent Shimon Prokupecz posted a video on Twitter of journalists gathering equipment before exiting the building while law enforcement officers looked on. In the video, Prokupecz questions Hernandez, asking why reporters needed to leave.
Here is the full video
— Shimon Prokupecz (@ShimonPro) June 20, 2022
You can see the parent and chaplain.
More of the fire marshal telling us to leave. pic.twitter.com/U1wKYnav2e
Hernandez tells Prokupecz reporters were allowed to “hang around outside, but not inside the building.”
“But this is a city-building, right?” Prokupecz said. Hernandez replied that if he wasn’t going to pay the building’s water bill, he had to wait outside.
Reporters covering the aftermath of the massacre at Robb Elementary School and the emerging details of the response by law enforcement say they continue to report facing harassment and stonewalling as they try to gather information.
The City of Uvalde did not respond to requests for comment.
The U.S. House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol subpoenaed British documentary filmmaker Alex Holder for footage and testimony on June 15, 2022.
Holder, the founder of AJH Media Group, began working on a documentary about then-President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign in September 2020, Politico reported. According to a statement Holder published on Twitter, he had “unparalleled access and exclusive interviews” with the Trump family and then-Vice President Mike Pence at the White House and Mar-A-Lago and behind-the-scenes access on the campaign trail and both before and after the insurrection.
My statement in response to being subpoenaed by Congress: pic.twitter.com/LOY53rEynI
— Alex Holder (@alexjholder) June 21, 2022
Rolling Stone reported that several former officials in Trump’s reelection campaign told the magazine they had no idea that a documentary was being filmed during that period.
The subpoena orders Holder to produce raw footage from Jan. 6, 2021; interviews with Trump, Pence, Trump’s children and his son-in-law; and any footage of discussions of election fraud or election integrity around the 2020 presidential election.
According to Holder’s statement, he turned over footage in compliance with the subpoena on June 21, 2022, and will sit for a deposition on June 23.
“When we began this project in September 2020, we could have never predicted that our work would one day be subpoenaed by Congress,” Holder said. “We have dutifully handed over all the materials the Committee has asked for and we are fully cooperating.”
When reached for comment, the law firm representing Holder directed the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker to Politico’s coverage.
The House Select Committee, chaired by Democrat Rep. Bennie Thompson, has now issued at least three subpoenas targeting journalists or their records. The committee subpoenaed freelance photojournalist Amy Harris’ phone records in November 2021 and ordered another British documentarian, Nick Quested, to provide footage and testify in early 2022.
Holder’s documentary, “Unprecedented,” is set to be released in three parts this summer, according to his statement.
A portion of the subpoena issued to documentary filmmaker Alex Holder ordering him to produce footage from his coverage of then-President Trump’s reelection campaign and the Jan. 6 riots at the Capitol.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,journalist communications or work product,['CARRIED_OUT'],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Donald Trump protest, election, Election 2020",,,,, Broadcast photojournalist assaulted after filming fight in Miami Beach,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/broadcast-photojournalist-assaulted-after-filming-fight-in-miami-beach/,2022-06-23 17:16:24.018645+00:00,2022-06-23 17:16:24.018645+00:00,2022-06-23 17:16:23.955785+00:00,,Assault,,,,Unidentified photojournalist 24 (WSVN 7News),,2022-06-15,False,Miami Beach,Florida (FL),25.79065,-80.13005,"A 7News photojournalist was assaulted after filming a fight while on assignment in Miami Beach, Florida, on June 15, 2022.
The outlet reported that the photojournalist — who asked to remain anonymous for security reasons — was out reporting when he saw two men throwing punches at each other.
“[It] looked like they were going to get into and, like, have a fight,” the journalist told 7News. “My kind of news antenna went up. I was like, what’s going on, and then I was just trying to be aware.”
The photojournalist began filming, but when the men realized that they had been recorded they ran across the street and confronted him, the outlet reported.
“They got me in the back of the head right here,” the photojournalist said. He told the outlet that he was repeatedly punched in the head and face. One of the men grabbed his phone from him, but he said he was able to get it back.
When asked if he had told the men he was simply doing his job, the photojournalist told 7News that he hadn’t had time to think about it, as things happened too fast.
The journalist was able to flag down a police officer and filed a report before seeking medical treatment. He told the outlet that he was fine but was still shaken.
“We cover it all the time, you just never think you’re gonna be part of the story,” the photojournalist said.
According to 7News, Miami Beach Police are investigating the incident as a simple battery case.
Neither the outlet nor the police department responded to requests for additional information.
The executive editor of a Chicago-based news publication filed a federal lawsuit against the Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts on June 13, 2022, over access to a meeting of the Tennessee Judicial Conference.
According to the Tennessean, Dan McCaleb, executive editor of The Center Square, learned on June 6 of a new policy put forth by Michelle Long, the Director of the Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts, preventing the public and members of the media from attending the annual meetings.
The annual conference comprises the state’s active and retired judges who meet to consider laws, draft legislation and make recommendations to the state’s general assembly. Court documents obtained by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker shows that Long, named in the lawsuit in her official capacity, approved the policy on Feb. 1, to “ensure the safety and security of conference attendees, staff, and invited speakers during AOC conferences.”
In the lawsuit, McCaleb argues that the policy violates his First Amendment right to assign reporters to cover “future Tennessee Judicial Conference meetings either virtually or in person,” and “limits necessary transparency around the state court rulemaking process.” McCaleb added that the yearly meetings “played a significant and positive role in the rulemaking process regarding federal court policy.”
During an emergency hearing on June 15, two days after McCaleb filed the lawsuit, U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw declined to order this year’s Tennessee Judicial Conference to be opened to the public and media. Instead, according to the Tennessean, Crenshaw sided with the state’s Deputy Attorney General Janet Kleinfelter, who testified during the hearing that the conference meetings would be “entirely educational” for the attendees. While the conference will not be open to the public, McCaleb’s lawsuit will continue in federal court and can argue for future meetings to be open if the meetings discuss public policy.
In response to a request for comment, Barbara Peck, the Director of Communications for the Tennessee State Courts, directed the Tracker to the state’s filing opposing the temporary restraining order filed by McCaleb. In it, Long argues that “while the First Amendment right of access covers certain judicial and quasi-judicial proceedings and records filed in those proceedings, neither the Sixth Circuit nor the Supreme Court has ever recognized a First Amendment right of access to meetings of a state judiciary such as the TJC.”
McCaleb did not respond to requests for comment.
Independent journalist Alissa Azar was detained by Kootenai County Sheriff's deputies and her car searched after she documented multiple arrests at a Pride parade in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, on June 11, 2022.
Portland-based Azar told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she decided to travel to Idaho when she became aware that right-wing and neo-Nazi groups were planning a protest in opposition to the annual Pride in the Park event.
Azar told the Tracker she documented the arrests of two individuals at around 1 p.m., and then continued to report on the general festivities and the actions of the gathered counterprotesters. Azar said she was planning to leave a few hours later when she saw a sheriff running with his baton out, trailed by six or seven individuals.
“I wasn’t sure what was going on but I knew something was happening, so I started running and I followed them,” Azar said. “I followed all the way out of the park and another one to one-and-a-half blocks away, where there were a bunch of police cars in the street. As I got a little bit closer that’s when I saw the group of Patriot Front that was arrested.”
CNN reported that 31 individuals believed to be affiliated with Patriot Front — which the Anti-Defamation League identifies as a white supremacist group — were arrested for conspiracy to riot.
Azar said that while filming law enforcement unmasking and processing each individual, an officer called her by name and told the officer next to him, “There’s your girl, the one filming.”
At approximately 1:38 in her footage, a voice can be heard saying, “Hey Azar, hey Azar.” As the video pans to the right, an officer waves at her while a voice off screen says, “Yeah, that’s her.”
Patriot front arrested. they have a uhaul filled with shields and idk what else https://t.co/c8pCyd0xGW pic.twitter.com/omQuLyPpoe
— alissa azar (@AlissaAzar) June 11, 2022
Azar told the Tracker that she returned to her car when the arrests were finished, which was parked about a mile away.
“I had a bad feeling after being called out by name, but I didn’t notice anyone following me,” Azar said. She opened all of her car doors to allow it to cool off; within five minutes, a Kootenai Sheriff's deputy arrived and began asking her questions.
“I do think it was extremely targeted,” Azar told the Tracker.
The deputy told her that by leaving her doors open she was blocking the roadway and breaking the law, so she closed the doors but the officer continued to question her and asked her to sit on the sidewalk. Azar told the Tracker that throughout the encounter she identified herself as a journalist and was wearing her press badge.
She said two additional police vehicles pulled up within 15 minutes, and an officer questioned her about her presence at the various arrests during the day.
“He said that he was suspicious of my involvement because I was one of the first people there on the scene, but I thought that was very odd because there were a bunch of onlookers there that were witnessing it,” Azar said. “And I was the first person at every arrest that happened that day because that’s kind of what I do: I document all of that.”
She was then told to go back to the sidewalk, where within moments a Sheriff’s deputy told her she was being detained.
“I thought it was a joke,” Azar said.
“Ok. NOW you’re being detained.” I thought this was a joke at first, but they were serious. The sheriff left for a moment as the other cops began taking a ton of pictures of me on their phones. The sheriff came back with his K9 and the cops began searching every inch of the car
— alissa azar (@AlissaAzar) June 12, 2022
The K-9 officer and other deputies proceeded to search her car and belongings. Azar said that while she was sitting on the sidewalk, numerous other officers took photos of her with their cell phones.
Officers did not find anything in her car, Azar said, and she was ultimately released without charges after about an hour. She told the Tracker she has not decided whether to file a complaint with the Sheriff’s department.
More than 30 members of a white nationalist group were arrested at a Pride event in Idaho on June 11, 2022. Shortly after documenting their arrests, independent journalist Alissa Azar was herself detained by law enforcement.
",detained and released without being processed,not charged,Kootenai County Sheriff's Office,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, Sarasota Herald-Tribune prohibited from publishing deputies’ names,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/sarasota-herald-tribune-prohibited-from-publishing-deputies-names/,2022-06-16 17:52:08.137028+00:00,2022-06-29 20:17:53.865521+00:00,2022-06-29 20:17:53.763091+00:00,(2022-06-27 16:17:00+00:00) Judge strikes down prior restraint against the Sarasota Herald-Tribune,Prior Restraint,,,,Melissa Pérez-Carrillo (Sarasota Herald-Tribune),,2022-06-10,False,Sarasota,Florida (FL),27.33643,-82.53065,"A Florida judge granted an emergency injunction on June 10, 2022, barring the Sarasota Herald-Tribune and reporter Melissa Pérez-Carrillo from publishing the names of deputies involved in a fatal shooting in April, the outlet reported.
According to the Herald-Tribune, the State Attorney’s Office provided the outlet with the last names of the three deputies involved in a court-ordered eviction that resulted in the shooting death of a Sarasota resident as part of a routine public records request.
The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office argues that two of the deputies’ identities are confidential under Marsy’s Law, which provides certain protections to crime victims and was added to the Florida Constitution in 2018. Whether the law can be used to shield law enforcement officers in this way is at the center of a case being heard by the Florida Supreme Court stemming from a fatal police shooting in Tallahassee in May 2020.
Chief Circuit Judge Charles Roberts granted the request from the Sheriff’s Office and the 12th Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office at 6:30 p.m. on a Friday evening without notifying the Herald-Tribune, the outlet reported.
Attorneys for the Herald-Tribune filed an emergency motion to dissolve the injunction on June 13 on behalf of the newspaper Pérez-Carrillo. The motion, which was reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, contends that the order amounts to an unconstitutional prior restraint violating both the United States and Florida constitutions.
“It’s important for us to follow through on this action because we are committed to fulfilling our First Amendment right to responsibly report news about this case which is important and of public interest,” Jennifer Orsi, executive editor at the Herald-Tribune, told the Tracker. “We believe that once our arguments are heard, this injunction will be lifted.”
The law firm representing the Herald-Tribune told the Tracker that a hearing on the motion to dissolve has been scheduled for June 21 before Judge Charles Williams.
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to include comment from Sarasota Herald-Tribune Executive Editor Jennifer Orsi.
A portion of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune’s motion to lift an unconstitutional prior restraint against the newspaper and one of its reporters, which was put in place on June 10, 2022.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,struck down,Sarasota Herald-Tribune,,,,,, St. Joseph journalist deposed after reporting on hospital,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/st-joseph-journalist-deposed-after-reporting-on-hospital/,2022-07-07 21:50:19.558072+00:00,2022-07-07 21:50:19.558072+00:00,2022-07-07 21:50:19.502955+00:00,,Subpoena/Legal Order,,,,Clayton Anderson (St. Joseph News-Press),,2022-06-02,False,St. Joseph,Missouri (MO),None,None,"A regional medical center in St. Joseph, Missouri, subpoenaed St. Joseph News-Press reporter Clayton Anderson and a news director on June 2, 2022, after Anderson reported on an ongoing worker’s compensation lawsuit against the hospital.
On May 18, the News-Press published Anderson’s article on a discrimination and worker’s compensation lawsuit filed against Heartland Regional Medical Center, operating as Mosaic Life Care, by a former employee who sustained an injury while working as a medical technician and was later terminated from the hospital.
According to Kansas City NPR-affiliate KCUR, Anderson’s reporting referenced a spreadsheet showing the number of employees injured while working at the hospital and were later terminated or let go. A judge sanctioned Mosaic during the trial for discrepancies found in the spreadsheet.
In an email, Anderson told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that about two weeks after publishing the article he received a phone call from Mosaic Life Care asking for reporting materials and recorded interviews with sources. He said he declined to provide any information.
The hospital issued Anderson a subpoena for reporting materials and to sit for a deposition, arguing that Anderson and Steven Booher, the News-Press’ director of news content, received confidential information from the plaintiff’s lawyers. The law firm representing Mosaic Life Center did not respond to a request for comment.
In his deposition on June 14, Anderson answered questions about his motivation for reporting on the lawsuit. According to the transcript, reviewed by the Tracker, he denied having seen a confidential spreadsheet containing the names of former hospital employees.
The plaintiff’s lawyer E.E. Keenan, who was not representing Anderson but was present during the deposition, said he objected to the subpoena. “The news media should be free, under the First Amendment, to do their job without having to go through something like this,” Keenan said.
Anderson told the Tracker that he continues reporting on the lawsuit, and the subpoena has not impacted his objectivity.
“I think, if anything, this has just made me more aware of how business tend to work, but I am not spooked, and it has not impacted my news judgment,” he said.
A portion of the subpoena issued to St. Joseph News-Press reporter Clayton Anderson.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,other testimony,['CARRIED_OUT'],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, St. Joseph News-Press news director deposed after reporting on hospital lawsuit,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/st-joseph-news-press-news-director-deposed-after-reporting-on-hospital-lawsuit/,2022-07-11 19:40:22.102158+00:00,2022-07-11 19:40:22.102158+00:00,2022-07-11 19:40:22.056412+00:00,,Subpoena/Legal Order,,,,Steven Booher (St. Joseph News-Press),,2022-06-02,False,St. Joseph,Missouri (MO),None,None,"A regional medical center in St. Joseph, Missouri, subpoenaed St. Joseph News-Press News Director Steven Booher and a reporter on June 2, 2022, after the newspaper reported on an ongoing worker’s compensation lawsuit against the hospital.
On May 18, the News-Press published an article on a discrimination and worker’s compensation lawsuit filed against Heartland Regional Medical Center, operating as Mosaic Life Care, by a former employee who sustained an injury while working as a medical technician and was later terminated from the hospital.
According to Kansas City NPR-affiliate KCUR, the New-Press’ reporting referenced a spreadsheet showing the number of employees injured while working at the hospital and were later terminated or let go. A judge sanctioned Mosaic during the trial for discrepancies found in the spreadsheet.
The hospital issued Booher a subpoena for reporting materials and to sit for a deposition, arguing that Booher and Clayton Anderson, the News-Press reporter who wrote the article, received confidential information from the plaintiff’s lawyers. In his deposition on June 14, Booher refused to produce unpublished and unaired materials gathered while reporting on the lawsuit. According to the transcript, reviewed by the Tracker, he said the News-Press would consider producing the materials if ordered to by a judge. Neither Booher nor the lawyers representing Mosaic Life Center responded to requests for comment.
The plaintiff’s lawyer E.E. Keenan, who was not representing Booher but was present during the deposition, asked Booher if subpoenas issued to reporters had the potential to have a chilling effect on journalism.
“It would. It would definitely have that effect, and most likely it would affect our news judgment about stories that we do cover, and eventually it would have a detrimental effect on our business,” Booher said in the deposition.
Keenan objected to the subpoenas during the depositions. “The news media should be free, under the First Amendment, to do their job without having to go through something like this,” he said.
While covering the aftermath of two recent mass shootings, journalists have reported hurdles to their news coverage, including harassment and threats of arrest by law enforcement.
On May 24, a gunman killed 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. About a week after, on June 1, a CNN crew visited the Uvalde school district headquarters, where police officers told the journalists they were trespassing and threatened to arrest them if they stepped back on the property. Correspondent Shimon Prokupecz recorded the interaction with Producer Matthew Friedman and posted the video on Twitter:
The school district office called the police to ask the media to leave their property. pic.twitter.com/uhwWLZe3ya
— Shimon Prokupecz (@ShimonPro) June 1, 2022
The following day, on June 2, Houston Chronicle reporter Julian Gill tweeted a video showing members of Guardians of the Children biker club following and surrounding him outside of the funeral of one of the children killed in the shooting. Gill also reported that the individuals attempted to physically obstruct cameras within the designated areas.
Several members of this biker club, Guardians of the Children, just followed, blocked and surrounded me as I tried to approach the cemetery to meet a photographer. One member says they’re working with police: “They asked us to be here.”
— Julian Gill (@JulianGi11) June 2, 2022
Short post: https://t.co/OfZCAZbUZx pic.twitter.com/5d6wsLKQ0k
According to Newsweek, the Uvalde Police Department reportedly asked members of at least three biker groups to keep journalists “in line” during a funeral for one of the victims.
In a statement to the outlet, a board member of Guardians of the Children, one of the groups gathered outside Rushing-Estes-Knowles Mortuary, denied the group obstructed anyone or that they were asked to be there by law enforcement.
On June 3, the Texas Tribune reported that Uvalde City Hall locked its doors during regular business hours and refused to “immediately provide any public records to reporters.” According to the Tribune, the move came as residents and journalists aim to hold Pete Arredondo, the chief of the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Police Department, accountable for waiting more than an hour for backup instead of immediately ordering officers to charge the gunman inside Robb Elementary School.
Nearly two weeks before the Uvalde school shooting, a gunman killed 10 people in a Buffalo, New York, supermarket. Los Angeles Times reporter Connor Sheets said he was in Conklin, New York, a few days after the shooting when Sheriff’s deputies escorted him away from the alleged shooter's high school. The next day, deputies demanded that he also leave the school district’s central office and once again escorted him away from the building. "This restriction of media access seems to be part of the post-mass-shooting playbook," Sheets wrote in a tweet.
Two days after the Buffalo shooting, police demanded I leave and escorted me away from the alleged shooter's (closed) high school. They did so again the next day at the school district office. This restriction of media access seems to be part of the post-mass-shooting playbook. https://t.co/EpzgoZu8Hu
— Connor Sheets (@ConnorASheets) June 2, 2022
“These kinds of practices limit access to public information and can make it harder for journalists to do their jobs,” Sheets told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
A media area is designated during a May 28, 2022, gathering to remember victims of a mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas. Journalists report harassment and threats of arrest while covering the aftermath of gun violence.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, Subpoenaed news reporter will not have to testify in MN murder trial,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/subpoenaed-news-reporter-will-not-have-to-testify-in-mn-murder-trial/,2022-06-22 20:21:00.210599+00:00,2022-06-22 20:21:00.210599+00:00,2022-06-22 20:21:00.145488+00:00,,Subpoena/Legal Order,,,,Lou Raguse (KARE 11),,2022-05-30,True,Minneapolis,Minnesota (MN),44.97997,-93.26384,"A Minnesota District judge quashed a subpoena on June 20, 2022, that sought testimony from KARE 11 News reporter Lou Raguse in an upcoming murder trial in Minneapolis.
According to the Star Tribune, Dan Allard, Assistant Hennepin County Attorney, filed a motion to compel Raguse to testify during the trial of Jamal Smith. Smith is accused of fatally shooting a man after an altercation on a Minneapolis highway.
Raguse did not respond to a request for comment, but his attorney, Leita Walker, confirmed to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker by email that the subpoena was initially served on or around May 30, 2022. Walker said that prosecutors filed a motion to compel after being notified that the law required them to first apply to the court before subpoenaing a journalist.
According to the Star Tribune, Raguse recorded a video interview with Smith while he was in jail in April 2022, where Smith denied having fired the fatal shot. Allard argued that Raguse’s testimony could place Smith in the vehicle during the shooting.
During a hearing on the motion, Walker argued that the prosecutor misstated or ignored law protecting journalists, and that reporters could not be compelled to reveal confidential sources or information under Minnesota state law.
Hennepin County Judge Nicole Engisch sided with Raguse in denying the motion to compel, quashing the subpoena. According to the Star Tribune, Engisch’s six-page order stated, “The court does not find that the state’s argument here outweighs Mr. Raguse’s First Amendment interest and legal privilege to avoid being compelled to testify on unpublished information gathered as part of his work as a journalist.”
An unidentified individual aimed what appeared to be a firearm at FOX 32 reporter Joanie Lum and an unidentified photographer during their live report in Chicago, Illinois, on May 25, 2022.
The outlet reported that the news crew was doing a live report about gun violence in the city at the corner of Clark and Hubbard Streets at around 7 a.m. when an individual walked behind Lum pointing what looks to be a handgun at the camera as he went past. In footage of the incident, the individual appears to mime firing two shots at the camera.
Lum does not appear to notice the individual, continuing her report on Chicago’s reaction to the elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, with the words, “our own gun violence here in Chicago.”
Neither journalist was injured, according to the outlet.
Police are attempting to identify the individual, whom they are referring to as a “person of interest” and who is accused of aggravated assault with a firearm, according to FOX 32.
Neither Lum, FOX 32 nor FOX News’ national office responded to requests for comment.
Police are attempting to identify a man on suspicion of aggravated assault with a firearm after he aimed what appeared to be a handgun at a FOX 32 news crew in Chicago, Illinois, on May 25, 2022.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, Individual aims firearm at FOX news crew during morning broadcast,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/individual-aims-firearm-at-fox-news-crew-during-morning-broadcast/,2022-05-31 17:41:46.080899+00:00,2022-05-31 17:41:46.080899+00:00,2022-05-31 17:41:46.010283+00:00,,Assault,,,,Unidentified photojournalist 23 (WFLD FOX 32),,2022-05-25,False,Chicago,Illinois (IL),41.85003,-87.65005,"An unidentified individual aimed what appeared to be a firearm at FOX 32 reporter Joanie Lum and an unidentified photographer during their live report in Chicago, Illinois, on May 25, 2022.
The outlet reported that the news crew was doing a live report about gun violence in the city at the corner of Clark and Hubbard Streets at around 7 a.m. when an individual walked behind Lum pointing what looks to be a handgun at the camera as he went past. In footage of the incident, the individual appears to mime firing two shots at the camera.
Lum does not appear to notice the individual, continuing her report on Chicago’s reaction to the elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, with the words, “our own gun violence here in Chicago.”
Neither journalist was injured, according to the outlet.
Police are attempting to identify the man, whom they are referring to as a “person of interest” and who is accused of aggravated assault with a firearm, according to FOX 32.
Neither Lum, FOX 32 nor FOX News’ national office responded to requests for comment.
Police are attempting to identify a man on suspicion of aggravated assault with a firearm after he aimed what appeared to be a handgun at a FOX 32 news crew in Chicago, Illinois, on May 25, 2022.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, Outlets sue after media barred from attending Iowa school board meeting,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/outlets-sue-after-media-barred-from-attending-iowa-school-board-meeting/,2022-08-09 18:49:36.240383+00:00,2022-08-09 18:52:14.484039+00:00,2022-08-09 18:52:14.425262+00:00,,Denial of Access,,,,Josh Lamberty (WQAD-TV),,2022-05-25,False,Bettendorf,Iowa (IA),41.52448,-90.51569,"Journalists from four news companies were blocked from attending a school board meeting in Bettendorf, Iowa, on May 25, 2022, according to a lawsuit the outlets filed against the school district.
The meeting — which was held the day after the elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas — was about school violence and was attended by more than 300 parents.
KCRG News reported that school employees were stationed at the doors of the Quad-Cities Waterfront Convention Center to prevent members of the press from entering a meeting, including journalists from the Quad-City Times, KWQC-TV, WQAD-TV and WHBF-TV.
KQAD reporter Josh Lamberty posted to Facebook that he was outside the convention center but that he wasn’t being allowed to attend the meeting. Lamberty also shared a photo of a sign on the door which reads: “Out of respect for an open honest work session for our Middle School parents and staff, we ask for no recording, live streaming or media at tonight’s work session.”
The news outlets, joined by the Iowa Freedom of Information Council, filed a lawsuit against the Bettendorf school board and other officials on Aug. 1.
The lawsuit asks the Scott County District Court to rule that the school district violated Iowa’s open meeting law, issue an injunction prohibiting such actions in the future and fine the school board members who took part in the meeting.
Iowa FOI Executive Director Randy Evans told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that while they weren’t eager to resort to pursuing a legal remedy, they couldn’t let the closed meeting go unchallenged.
“We don’t want government boards and councils in Iowa to believe that the open meetings law is something they only have to follow when it’s convenient,” Evans said. “Cutting journalists off is really cutting the information chain to citizens in two pieces.”
In a letter to the school board president and superintendent dated June 3, the media organizations and nonprofit expressed “profound disappointment” with the school officials’ decision to keep journalists out of the meeting.
“The topic discussed on the evening of Wednesday, May 25, was one of the fundamental responsibilities of the Bettendorf Community School District — ensuring the safety and wellbeing of the district’s 4,700 students during each school day,” the letter stated. “Barring both journalists and other interested people from the meeting on May 25 is a direct violation of the statute of the Iowa Legislature clearly articulated in the first paragraph of the open meetings law.”
Evans told the Tracker they did not receive a response from the school district.
When reached for comment, Bettendorf School District Director of Communications Celeste Miller said in a statement that school officials do not believe the outlets’ claims have any merit.
“The May 25 Work Session was to provide a forum for parents, staff and interested community members to come together to discuss with each other the District’s strengths, weaknesses, solutions, and barriers,” the statement reads. “The District has presented the information obtained at the Work Session to the School Board at its open meetings and will continue to do so.”
The news outlets did not respond to requests for comment.
A Reuters reporter had his phone confiscated and was prohibited from using any electronic devices during a flight to Oslo, Norway, on May 22, 2022, while traveling with the Department of Defense.
Idrees Ali, who has been a foreign correspondent covering the Pentagon since 2015 and is not a U.S. citizen, was told of a new policy on May 19 that would impact his ability to use his cellphone during the eight-hour flight to Oslo with Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks. As of publication, the Pentagon has not responded to a request for comment or for a copy of the policy to review.
According to Politico, the policy states that non-U.S. citizens traveling with government officials who have “top-secret” security clearance are prohibited from using any devices during the flight. As a foreign correspondent, Ali has traveled to secure locations in the past with top government officials, including trips to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Officials for the Pentagon had been “working on a resolution” with Ali before the departure date, but after arriving at Joint Base Andrews airport on the 22nd, Ali was told that no resolution to the issue was found and he would not be allowed to use his cell phone or laptop computer for the flight duration.
Shortly after taking off, a DoD official instructed Ali to hand over his phone. Ali documented the incident on Twitter and shared a photo of the pouch he placed his phone in before it was confiscated.
Yesterday on an official trip with Deputy U.S. Defense Secretary Hicks, my phone was confiscated by a DoD official, locked up and I was stopped from using electronics because of a new policy that bars non-US reporters from using devices on govt planes. (Pic taken by US citizen) pic.twitter.com/2cREYUp5Qd
— Idrees Ali (@idreesali114) May 23, 2022
Officials returned the cellphone to Ali after landing in Oslo. Reporters, including Ali, are set to visit the United Kingdom and Germany as Hicks meets with military and government leaders.
DoD and Air Force officials did not respond to requests for comment from the Tracker, but in a statement to Politico, Air Force spokesperson Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder said the policy was under review and would not impact Ali for the remainder of the trip.
“We respect the role of a free press and welcome them aboard our flights. We regret the inconvenience we caused this reporter, and we will be reviewing the policy going forward,” Ryder said.
In an emailed statement to the Tracker, a Reuters spokesperson said the news agency had “expressed our concern about the rule change regarding members of the press who are non-U.S. citizens being able to access electronic devices during travel with the U.S. Department of Defense. The matter has now been resolved.”
Independent photojournalist Josh Pacheco lost a camera during a skirmish while covering a reproductive rights rally that was met with a counterprotest in Los Angeles, California, on May 14, 2022.
JP told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that they arrived at the “Bans Off Our Bodies” rally outside of Los Angeles City Hall at about 11 a.m. to document the event and was heading toward the staging area where speakers were set to deliver remarks.
“I didn’t even make it to the stage because as soon as I got there, I immediately walked into a confrontation,” JP said.
A group of individuals had locked arms to create a barrier to keep counterprotesters, who were demonstrating nearby, from engaging with those at the rally. The groups clashed after one individual pushed through the barrier.
Counter protesters are in s standoff with pro choice protesters pic.twitter.com/abtTXHyZiP
— JP (Josh Pacheco) ✨🏳️⚧️They/Them (@JoshMPacheco) May 14, 2022
“At that point, I put my GoPro in my pocket because there was a scrum between protestors and their counters,” JP said.
JP, who was also carrying additional camera equipment, captured footage of the groups clashing but lost the GoPro, valued at about $400, in the process.
A Florida republican campaigning for a U.S. House of Representatives seat released an ad on May 5, 2022, boasting about the use of his company’s crowd-control munitions against members of the press.
Cory Mills, who served in the Trump administration's Department of Defense and is now running for Florida’s 7th Congressional District, posted the campaign ad to YouTube and Twitter. The Floridian reported that Mills also made a“six-figure” ad buy in the Orlando media market to air the video on television.
BLM democrats in Congress are “investigating” us for providing riot control gear to law enforcement around the country to stop the riots in 2020.
— Cory Mills 🍊 (@CoryMillsFL) May 5, 2022
Sadly for them, we are really proud of what we do.
If they want to cry about it, we can help them shed real tears.
Watch 👇🏼 pic.twitter.com/tZDuzjnoOt
“I came home and started a company making riot control munitions for law enforcement — you may know some of our work,” Mills says in the ad while smiling. A clip then plays of demonstrators and members of the press being shot at with crowd-control munitions and chemical irritants at various protests nationwide.
“Now the liberal media’s crying about it,” Mills continues. “If the media wants to shed some real tears, I can help them out with that.”
On YouTube, the video description reiterates that point, writing, “Cory Mills is always happy to help the liberal media shed some tears.”
The Committee to Protect Journalists, a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, released a statement that it was “deeply disturbing to hear a candidate for public office state that he would enjoy targeting journalists with tear gas.”
“Threatening members of the media simply for engaging in critical reporting creates an atmosphere where attacks on journalists are normalized and perceived as acceptable, and sends a message to journalists that they ought to be afraid of public officials,” CPJ Advocacy Manager Michael De Dora said. “This has no place in our political discourse and is dangerous, regardless of the tone with which it is said.”
Mills' campaign office did not return a request for comment.
A YouTube screenshot of Cory Mills’ congressional campaign ad, where he boasts about the use of his company’s crowd-control munitions against members of the press. Press advocacy groups called the rhetoric dangerous.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,Media,election,,,,, Subpoena seeking testimony from Oregon independent journalist dropped,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/subpoena-seeking-testimony-from-oregon-independent-journalist-dropped/,2022-05-11 18:21:25.235862+00:00,2022-05-11 18:21:25.235862+00:00,2022-05-11 18:21:25.187376+00:00,,Subpoena/Legal Order,,,,Hannah Merzbach (Independent),,2022-05-05,False,Bend,Oregon (OR),44.05817,-121.31531,"The Deschutes County District Attorney in Bend, Oregon, issued a subpoena to independent journalist Hanna Merzbach on May 5, 2022, seeking testimony for an ongoing criminal case against a local rock climber. The subpoena was dropped the next day.
In an email to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, Merzbach said the subpoena demanded she testify as a witness during a three-day criminal trial for local climber Shawn Ian Snyder. Merzbach interviewed Snyder for a September 2020 article about rock climbing regulations at Smith Rock State Park in Terrebonne, Oregon.
When the DA’s office delivers you a subpoena at the local coffee shop to testify about a source… pic.twitter.com/jpdUh66Hu9
— Hanna Merzbach (@HannaMerzbach) May 5, 2022
Before this trial, Snyder had been accused of removing climbing bolts in Yosemite State Park and was arrested and banned for removing climbing ropes and gear from Smith Rock, which he said “puts a stain on a beautiful, natural place.”
According to Merzbach, the DA’s office wanted her to testify on a specific quote attributed to Snyder in her article. In the quote, he admitted that while unacceptable, he had “determined that physical threats and actions are the only methods that work” when communicating with other climbers about installing climbing equipment in the park.
Merzbach told the Tracker that the subpoena was dropped on May 6 after lawyers from the Oregon chapter of the Reporters Committee for Freedom Press intervened. RCFP is a member of the Tracker’s advisory board.
In a tweet referring to the incident, Ellen Osoinach of RCFP wrote, “Fact. Journalists should never have to testify against sources they worked to develop relationships of trust with.”
Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva announced that Los Angeles Times reporter Alene Tchekmedyian was under a criminal leak investigation during a press conference on April 26, 2022.
The statement came nearly a month after Tchekmedyian first reported on internal documents detailing an alleged cover-up within the sheriff's department around an inmate abuse case. During the press conference, Villanueva displayed a picture of Tchekmedyian and two other individuals, saying all three were connected to the leak.
Today, Tuesday, April 26, 2022, @LACoSheriff Alex Villanueva held a press conference to discuss a recent lawsuit by a disgruntled employee. To read the press release and view the video and materials used, click the following link https://t.co/gFBDoqk9ZL
— LA County Sheriffs (@LASDHQ) April 27, 2022
When pressed to say whether Tchekmedyian was specifically under criminal investigation, Villanueva responded that Tchekmedyian received information and put it to use. “What she receives legally and puts to her own use and what she receives legally and the L.A. Times uses — I'm sure that's a huge, complex level of law and freedom of the press and all that. However, when it's stolen materials, at some point, you actually become part of the story. So, that's up to the L.A. Times to decide that."
Times Executive Editor Kevin Merida immediately condemned Villanueva's comments in a statement to the outlet.
"His attempt to criminalize news reporting goes against well-established constitutional law. We will vigorously defend Tchekmedyian's and the Los Angeles Times' right in any proceeding or investigation brought by authorities," Merida said.
The sheriff’s attack on reporter @AleneTchek drew immediate condemnation from the newspaper.
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) April 26, 2022
“His attempt to criminalize news reporting goes against well-established constitutional law,” said @meridak, executive editor of The Times, in a statement. https://t.co/ZDmiTaktrG pic.twitter.com/yiJPDWGNUd
Times’ General Counsel Jeff Glaser published a letter of protest, warning Villaneuva that any attempt to prosecute the reporter would be "an abuse of your official position," and the outlet would “seek every available remedy against you, the Department, and every individual official involved in any such unlawful conduct."
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press also condemned Villanueva's comments, calling it “blatantly retaliatory conduct.”
"Publishing newsworthy information about an alleged law enforcement cover up that sought to block an investigation into the use of excessive force is constitutionally protected activity, and clearly in the public interest," said Katie Townsend, RCFP’s Deputy Executive Director and Legal Director.
Hours after the press conference, Villanueva addressed the public outcry in response to his comments.
"Resulting from the incredible frenzy of misinformation being circulated, I must clarify at no time today did I state an L.A. Times reporter was a suspect in a criminal investigation. We have no interest in pursuing, nor are we pursuing, criminal charges against any reporters."
(1/3) Resulting from the incredible frenzy of misinformation being circulated, I must clarify at no time today did I state an LA Times reporter was a suspect in a criminal investigation. We have no interest in pursuing, nor are we pursuing, criminal charges against any reporters. pic.twitter.com/43Ro4kK8HM
— Alex Villanueva (@LACoSheriff) April 27, 2022
Villanueva also wrote that the sheriff's department would conduct a thorough investigation around the disclosure of evidence.
LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva indicated LA Times reporter Alene Tchekmedyian was part of a criminal leak investigation during an April 26, 2022, press conference for her reporting. He later called it ‘misinformation’.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, Denver Gazette barred from publishing article based on mistakenly released documents,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/denver-gazette-barred-from-publishing-article-based-on-mistakenly-released-documents/,2022-04-29 14:10:08.048915+00:00,2022-08-11 13:56:09.539366+00:00,2022-08-11 13:56:09.476406+00:00,(2022-04-28 19:07:00+00:00) Judge lifts gag order on Denver Gazette article based on mistakenly released documents,Prior Restraint,,,,Julia Cardi (The Denver Gazette),,2022-04-25,False,Brighton,Colorado (CO),39.98526,-104.82053,"A judge issued an order on April 25, 2022, barring The Denver Gazette from publishing an article based on court documents that were mistakenly released to reporter Julia Cardi. The outlet’s attorney has filed a motion asking the judge to vacate the order, arguing that it is unconstitutional.
According to the newspaper’s motion, on April 14 Cardi requested a number of recent public filings in the cases of each of the police officers and paramedics charged in connection with the the death of Elijah McClain in August 2019. The clerk at the Adams County Courthouse provided her a stack of documents that included filings in the case of former Aurora police officer Nathan Woodyard, which a judge had sealed from public access.
Cardi wrote on Twitter that she notified the Attorney General’s office on the morning of April 25 that the Gazette would be publishing an article based on the mistakenly disclosed records. By that afternoon, she wrote, she received the order barring them from moving forward with the piece and telling her to destroy any copies of the documents.
A few weeks ago I went to the clerk’s office in the Adams County courthouse and asked for recent public filings in the cases of each of the police officers and paramedics charged in connection with Elijah’s death, since a hearing was scheduled the next day.
— Julia Whitsett (@juliawhitsett23) April 27, 2022
“So now we fight for our right to publish information that is in the public’s interest to know,” Cardi wrote. “I have to admit the version of me at 9 a.m. on Monday had no idea what this situation would turn into. But all we can do now is put up the best fight we can.”
Neither Cardi nor the Gazette respond to requests for further comment.
District Court Judge Priscilla Loew, who issued the protective order, wrote that the disclosure of these materials to the public would threaten grand jury secrecy and the defendant’s right to a fair trial and impartial jury.
Gazette attorney Steven Zansberg filed a motion to lift the gag order on April 26, stating that Cardi obtained the documents lawfully and that barring the newspaper from publishing information of legitimate public concern violates its First Amendment rights.
Zansberg told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that Loew ordered all parties to respond to the newspaper’s motion by April 28, and he said he expects a hearing to be set shortly.
“The judge’s order demanding the parties to file responses by noon [on April 28] said that the court agrees that this was a matter of utmost importance and needed to be resolved quickly,” Zansberg said. “It is a big deal, there’s nothing worse. And that’s what the Supreme Court says about prior restraints: They are the least tolerable and most objectionable form of censorship.”
Zansberg noted that the response from the former police officer in the matter, Woodyard, also asserted that the prior restraint was unconstitutional and should be lifted. The Tracker was unable to access that filing as of publication.
The Attorney General’s Office did not respond to requests for comment.
A portion of the order barring The Denver Gazette from publishing information obtained from mistakenly released court documents related to the trial of a former police officer.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,struck down,,Black Lives Matter protest,,,,, "Social media journalist arrested during San Clemente protest, held overnight",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/social-media-journalist-arrested-during-san-clemente-protest-held-overnight/,2022-05-19 19:51:34.040791+00:00,2022-07-29 19:22:06.783594+00:00,2022-07-29 19:22:06.714242+00:00,,Arrest/Criminal Charge,,,,Jessica Rogers (Independent),,2022-04-23,False,San Clemente,California (CA),33.42697,-117.61199,"Los Angeles-based independent photojournalist Jessica Rogers, who said she shares her work through social media, was arrested and charged with ignoring police orders while documenting protests in San Clemente, California, on April 23, 2022.
The protest was held in remembrance of Kurt Reinhold, a homeless Black man who was fatally shot by Orange County Deputies after jaywalking in front of a hotel in September 2020. According to police, 30-45 individuals had gathered to participate in the demonstration.
Rogers told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she was photographing the march as it advanced toward City Hall, where participants paused to kneel for a moment of silence. As she was taking photos from the curb at about 3:45 p.m, Rogers said multiple deputies with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office came forward and placed her under arrest.
“I immediately said, ‘I am press, here’s my press badge, I am a photographer,’” Rogers told the Tracker, referring to her National Press Photographers Association press badge. “And they told me I was being arrested for being in the street, which later I found out is not true because they are trying to charge me with resisting arrest.”
At 3:45pm on a Saturday I was targeted/arrested by OCSD while photographing the Kurt Reinhold action in San Clemente. While taking photos a large group of sheriffs came into the crowd, grabbed, & arrested me. My @NPPA press badge was in plain sight & I verbally stated I was press pic.twitter.com/zBYMmH7g13
— Jessica (@jessrayerogers) April 24, 2022
Sgt. Scott Steinle, a public information officer for the Sheriff’s Office, clarified that both Rogers and a second individual who was taking photographs, Juan Gomez, were charged under California Penal Code 148 (A)(1). The law criminalizes willfully resisting, delaying or obstructing a public officer.
“They went out into the public roadway somewhere between four and six different times. Each time, Sheriff’s Department personnel contacted these two individuals who were told to return to the sidewalk area,” Steinle said, noting that that area has a 45-mile per hour speed limit.
Steinle also refuted assertions that the pair were targeted because they were documenting the protest.
“As a member of the press you are supposed to be performing your duties in a responsible manner, and it’s completely irresponsible when you’re told by law enforcement that you are causing a hazard and putting yourself in a hazardous situation to continue to do so,” Steinle said. “They were told numerous times and subsequently they forced our hand and we had to make an arrest.”
Before transporting her to a staging location nearby, Rogers said deputies allowed her to hand off her camera and cell phone to one of the protest organizers. Once she was taken to a law enforcement facility in Santa Ana, Rogers told the Tracker she was transferred in and out of multiple cells, repeatedly questioned about why she was arrested and denied water or access to a working phone for more than 13 hours.
“I shut down,” she said. “I realized that they can and will do whatever they want to me in there.”
Rogers said she was released the following morning at 5:15 a.m. Rogers said her release paperwork orders her to appear for a preliminary hearing on July 22, but her online arrest record lists her next appearance date as May 23. She said she is unsure of the reason behind the discrepancy. If convicted, she faces a fine of up to $1,000, one year in jail or both.
Orange County Sheriff’s deputies detain social media journalist Jessica Rogers at a demonstration in remembrance of Kurt Reinhold, a homeless Black man killed by police, in San Clemente, California, on April 23, 2022.
",arrested and released,charges pending,Orange County Sheriff's Office,2022-04-24,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, protest",,,,, WOIO photojournalist assaulted while covering police standoff,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/woio-photojournalist-assaulted-while-covering-police-standoff/,2022-04-27 18:30:48.340088+00:00,2022-04-27 18:35:44.368534+00:00,2022-04-27 18:35:44.299780+00:00,,Assault,,,,Unidentified photojournalist 22 (WOIO 19 News),,2022-04-22,False,Cleveland,Ohio (OH),41.4995,-81.69541,"An unidentified photojournalist with WOIO 19 News was assaulted by individuals while covering an arrest in Cleveland, Ohio, on April 22, 2022.
WOIO reported that one of its news crews was reporting on a tense standoff in Cleveland’s Kinsman neighborhood connected to a viral video of two men pointing guns at a police officer.
Investigative reporter Kelly Kennedy said in a report for the outlet that a few nearby residents were angry that there were journalists filming.
“When we got to the scene, some neighbors were really angry when they saw our cameras and one man actually tried to grab one of our photographers’ cameras and then he actually knocked over another TV station’s camera and broke it,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy reported that the police then handcuffed the man. “So, it was a kind of scary situation out there — that’s kind of what you have to go through sometimes in the field,” she said.
Neither WOIO nor Kennedy responded to emailed requests for additional comment.
Kennedy wrote on Twitter that everyone was okay, and that the incident was just one example of the kind of harassment journalists face daily when just trying to do their jobs.
This is just one example of the kind of harassment we face day after day as journalists just for doing our jobs. Thankfully everyone was okay, but it was definitely a scary situation. @cleveland19news pic.twitter.com/PBuIscEena
— Kelly Kennedy (@KellyEKennedyTV) April 23, 2022
A police report identified that photojournalist as WKYC 3 Studios’ Craig Roberson; the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documented his equipment damage here.
According to the police report released to the Tracker, the man was charged with felony vandalism for damaging the $9,000 WKYC camera, which is punishable by 6 to 18 months in prison and up to a $5,000 fine.
A screenshot from a WOIO report shows two men harassing another photojournalist attempting to document a police standoff in Cleveland, Ohio, on April 22, 2022. One of the men later assaulted a WOIO photojournalist.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, WKYC photojournalist’s camera damaged while covering police standoff,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/wkyc-photojournalists-camera-damaged-while-covering-police-standoff/,2022-04-27 18:35:08.819726+00:00,2022-04-27 18:35:08.819726+00:00,2022-04-27 18:35:08.737944+00:00,,Equipment Damage,,,camera: count of 1,Craig Roberson (WKYC 3 Studios),,2022-04-22,False,Cleveland,Ohio (OH),41.4995,-81.69541,"WKYC 3 Studios photojournalist Craig Roberson was harassed by individuals and his camera damaged while covering an arrest in Cleveland, Ohio, on April 22, 2022.
WOIO 19 News reported that journalists from multiple broadcast stations were covering a tense standoff in Cleveland’s Kinsman neighborhood connected to a viral video of two men pointing guns at a police officer.
Kelly Kennedy, an investigative reporter with the WOIO team on scene, said in a report for the outlet that a few nearby residents were angry that there were journalists filming.
“When we got to the scene, some neighbors were really angry when they saw our cameras and one man actually tried to grab one of our photographers’ cameras and then he actually knocked over another TV station’s camera and broke it,” Kennedy said, referring to Roberson’s equipment.
According to the police report, the $9,000 WKYC camera was destroyed and broken into multiple pieces. The man was charged with felony vandalism, punishable by 6 to 18 months in prison and up to a $5,000 fine.
When reached for comment, WKYC President and General Manager Micki Byrnes confirmed that Roberson’s camera was damaged and that he was unharmed; Roberson did not respond to an emailed request for comment.
WOIO’s Kennedy wrote on Twitter that everyone was OK, and that the incident was just one example of the kind of harassment journalists face daily when just trying to do their jobs.
This is just one example of the kind of harassment we face day after day as journalists just for doing our jobs. Thankfully everyone was okay, but it was definitely a scary situation. @cleveland19news pic.twitter.com/PBuIscEena
— Kelly Kennedy (@KellyEKennedyTV) April 23, 2022
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documented the WOIO assault here.
A screenshot from a WOIO report on April 22, 2022, shows a photojournalist looking on after an individual threw his camera equipment to the ground in Cleveland, Ohio.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, Reporter assaulted in Detroit by contractor profiled in news segment,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-assaulted-in-detroit-by-contractor-profiled-in-news-segment/,2022-04-26 20:35:09.115243+00:00,2022-04-26 20:35:09.115243+00:00,2022-04-26 20:35:09.052571+00:00,,Assault,,,,Rob Wolchek (Fox 2 News Detroit),,2022-04-19,False,Detroit,Michigan (MI),42.33143,-83.04575,"Rob Wolchek, an investigative reporter for Fox 2 News, was assaulted on April 19, 2022, while on assignment in Detroit, Michigan.
Wolchek told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he often profiles bad contractors for his "Hall of Shame" segment, and had featured fence contractor Seth Chuhran in a 2020 segment after he was arrested for allegedly failing to build fences for paying customers.
Fox 2 News video of the incident shows Chuhran leaving a police station before assaulting Wolchek. Wolchek said he happened to be at the police station to interview a detective working on Chuhran's case when he saw him arrive at the police station.
"We saw [Chuhran] drive up to the station and thought, ’OK, let's try to talk to him when he comes out,’" Wolchek said.
The video shows Wolchek holding a microphone and attempting to ask him questions before Chuhran walks toward him and swings at the microphone.
Wolchek said he has been reporting on Chuhran, who has been arrested more than six times, for nearly two years.
Wolchek said that he felt safe trying to interview Chuhran in front of the police station but was not aware officers had witnessed the incident and did not expect Chuhran to get arrested.
"I've been doing this a long time, and it's not that unusual, particularly after these guys who are exposed and put on the news to retaliate with aggression when they see me again," Wolchek said.
Wolchek filed a police report, and Chuhran was charged with assault and battery under a city ordinance. He said the microphone was not damaged.
Two journalists with the news arm of progressive political organization Occupy Democrats were forcibly removed from a press conference at Miami Dade College in downtown Miami, Florida, on April 12, 2022.
Executive Editor Grant Stern told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he and Reported Opinion Columnist Thomas Kennedy were alerted to a press conference with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñes via email from the governor’s press office. Stern said both he and Kennedy sent emails confirming that they would attend the press conference, but received no response. Stern told the Tracker that due to Kennedy’s activist activities prior to his work for Occupy Democrats, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement compiled a dossier on Kennedy and his known associates in 2020 and functionally blacklisted him from attending the governor’s press conferences.
When reached for comment, Kennedy said that politicians in Florida too often pick and choose which press to engage with, and that his emails to RSVP for press conferences are routinely ignored.
“Then, when we get [to the press conference] they tell us we’re not on the list or we haven’t gone through the proper credentialing. They could say ‘no,’ which I think is unfair and selective, especially when it’s not a campaign event, but they don’t even bother to do that,” Kennedy said.
When the pair arrived on April 12, they were directed to the media area at the back of the room alongside other members of the press.
Before the event began, DeSantis’ press secretary, Christina Pushaw, approached the press area with other staff members and multiple law enforcement officers. In footage shared on Twitter by NBC reporter Marc Caputo, another woman can be seen approaching Kennedy and asking him whether he is a member of the press; Kennedy responds that he is.
As with other Miami pressers, @GovRonDeSantis kicks his off with the customary removal of @tomaskenn & @grantstern
— Marc Caputo (@MarcACaputo) April 12, 2022
Here’s Tomas
1/2 pic.twitter.com/v8cjHQK2ml
The woman says that Kennedy isn’t on their RSVP list and that because he did not go through their screening process he must step out of the room. At least three police officers then roughly guide Kennedy out of the room as he voices a question for DeSantis.
In footage posted by Miami Herald reporter Bianca Padró Ocasio, Pushaw can be seen pointing out Stern to a man who appears to also be acting as security for the event as Kennedy is led away. Moments later Stern is directed to leave the press conference as well.
“Do you suspect me of committing a crime?” Stern can be heard asking an officer before walking out of the room. “I sent an RSVP, I am a member of the press: I am an editor of a national publication called Occupy Democrats.”
Stern told the Tracker he asked the officers for the names and badge numbers before the pair left to report on their removal.
DeSantis’ office did not respond to an emailed request for comment.
The governor’s office has barred press from covering press conferences or bill signings on at least three other occasions since March 2020, including an incident in August 2021 when Stern was forcefully removed from a press conference with DeSantis and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. The Tracker documented that incident here.
“Miami Herald reporter Bianca Padró Ocasio captured footage of police escorting two Occupy Democrats journalists out of a gubernatorial press conference at Miami Dade College on April 12, 2022.”
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,,Gov. Ron DeSantis A restraining order filed against two LA Times reporters to stop news story dissolved by judge,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/a-restraining-order-filed-against-two-la-times-reporters-to-stop-news-story-dissolved-by-judge/,2022-08-11 19:13:51.696338+00:00,2022-08-11 19:13:51.696338+00:00,2022-08-11 19:13:51.633286+00:00,,Other Incident,,,,"Jack Dolan (Los Angeles Times), Brittny Mejia (Los Angeles Times)",,2022-04-11,False,Los Angeles,California (CA),34.05223,-118.24368,"Michael Mario Santillanes, a cosmetic surgeon who was the subject of a Los Angeles Times investigation, filed a restraining order against two reporters who investigated claims that Santillanes continued to practice medicine after his license was revoked in 2020. After first granting the order against reporters Jack Dolan and Brittny Mejia, a California U.S. District judge then permanently dissolved it on April 11, 2022.
According to the LA Times, the judge cited “omissions and inconsistencies” in Santillanes’ story and accused him of “attempting to mislead the court.”
When filing the request, Santillanes did not identify Dolan as a reporter, and claimed he was a menacing “Russian Thug.” Santillanes also implied that Mejia did not exist and was a made-up identity created to stalk his former clients on the review website, Yelp.
He didn’t tell the judge I’m a reporter for the LA Times. He told her I was an enormous Russian thug dating his ex-wife. She signed the restraining order without Googling, apparently. With @brittny_mejia https://t.co/g9wF5JZcz2
— Jack Dolan (@jackdolanLAT) August 3, 2022
The LA Times reported that Santillanes' fictitious claims and the eventual restraining order — typically granted for immediate relief from violence, threats or harassment — derailed the reporters’ investigation.
Neither Dolan nor Mejia responded to a request for comment from the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. The outlet’s General Counsel Jeff Glasser told the newspaper that this was the first time he had seen someone try to use a civil restraining order to prevent a news story.
“I was concerned that it posed a danger to our newsgathering,” Glasser said.
After the Times filed documents to challenge the restraining order, a court hearing was held in Santa Ana in early May 2022. During the hearing, an LA Times attorney said the paper found a computer system breach the day after Santillanes filed for a restraining order. Dolan’s direct deposit paycheck had also been rerouted and transferred to a prepaid debit card, and his work email account was accessed more than a dozen times illegally.
This story marked a number of firsts. First court declaration. First time prepping to testify. First purchase of identity theft protection
— Brittny Mejia (@brittny_mejia) August 3, 2022
An ex-doctor’s wild campaign against reporters w/ @jackdolanLAT https://t.co/JpGDsSQC3i
Judge Sandy N. Leal, who had initially granted the temporary restraining order, stopped the hearing after two days, permanently dissolving the restraining order and dismissing the case. Leal also invited the Times to file a motion requesting that Santillanes pay the paper’s legal fees, which it did. On July 11, Leal ordered Santillanes to pay $117,000 in attorney fees.
The U.S. House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol subpoenaed British documentary filmmaker Nick Quested for footage and testimony in mid-2022, according to The New York Times.
CNN reported that Quested, executive director and owner of Goldcrest Films, was embedded with the Proud Boys, which the Southern Poverty Law Center designates as a hate group, for months leading up to the riot on Jan. 6, 2021. Leaders of the Proud Boys were involved in the early clashes at the Capitol and five of them have been charged with seditious conspiracy.
In an interview with CNN, Quested said, “I spoke to the authorities in an interview beforehand, but when they were using my work in the way that they did, I felt it was only appropriate for them to subpoena me.”
Quested told CNN that recognizing that he had likely filmed numerous crimes being committed, he decided to turn the footage over to the FBI.
“I didn’t feel there was any journalistic jeopardy giving that to authorities,” Quested said.
Quested told Politico that he sat for an hours-long deposition on April 5, 2022. The documentarian also mentioned a possible second subpoena from the U.S. Department of Justice.
Quested, who gave live testimony at a hearing on June 9, did not respond to requests for additional information on when the subpoena was issued or what materials were requested.
The House Select Committee, established on June 30 chaired by democrat Rep. Bennie Thompson, has now issued at least three subpoenas targeting journalists or their records. The committee subpoenaed freelance photojournalist Amy Harris’ phone records in November 2021 and ordered another British documentarian, Alex Holder, to provide footage and testify before the committee on June 15, 2022.
Nick Quested, a documentary filmmaker, testifies on June 9, 2022, before the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 riots at the Capitol. Quested said he was speaking in compliance with a subpoena.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,journalist communications or work product,['CARRIED_OUT'],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Donald Trump protest, election, Election 2020",,,,, Subpoena withdrawn for former NYT reporter in trial of Clinton campaign lawyer,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/dc_sussmann-trial_lichtblau_subpoena_04-2022/,2022-05-26 19:16:22.127875+00:00,2022-07-18 21:24:55.337572+00:00,2022-07-18 21:24:55.273143+00:00,,Subpoena/Legal Order,,,,Eric Lichtblau (The New York Times),,2022-04-01,True,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"As part of a trial involving a former Hillary Clinton campaign lawyer, a subpoena demanding testimony from a former New York Times reporter was submitted in April 2022 then withdrawn on May 24, legal counsel for the Times confirmed to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in an email.
According to the Times, the subpoena called for Eric Lichtblau to testify in the trial of Michael Sussmann, who was charged with making false statements to the FBI in 2016 in his role as a Clinton campaign attorney.
Prosecutors say that Sussmann met with former FBI General Counsel James Baker and shared information about data that allegedly linked the Trump Organization to Alfa Bank, a Russian bank affiliated with the Kremlin.
Prosecutors say Sussmann wanted to prompt an FBI investigation into the connection so that journalists could report on it. Sussmann’s defense team says he approached the FBI to notify them that an article was already underway.
Lichtblau, then a reporter for the Times, co-authored an article in October 2013, six weeks after Sussmann met with the FBI, noting that officials had not been able to confirm a clear link between the Trump Organization and Alfa Bank.
Fox News reported that before the defense lawyers withdrew the subpoena, Lichtblau had initially agreed to testify during the trial but then filed a protective order to limit testimony to only interactions between him and Sussmann and bar any questions about other sources.
According to the Times, Lichtblau’s testimony could have “shed light on what he told Mr. Sussmann regarding how soon an article might be published before he sought the F.B.I. meeting.”
Kevin Sheehan, a reporter for the New York Post, was assaulted by a man who was being evicted from his makeshift dwelling in Riverbank State Park in New York City on March 28, 2022.
According to the Post, the man, Rewell Altunaga, has lived in the park for several months. His eviction came the day after city officials issued a "notice of clean up" in the area of the park where Altunaga was living. Sheehan, who was reporting on the New York Police Department eviction of the area with a colleague, captured the assault on video.
The video shows Altunaga climbing down from a tree and grabbing a tree branch before walking toward Sheehan. Altunaga then asks Sheehan, "Why are you taking pictures?" before hitting Sheehan twice with the tree branch, once on his head, and knocking his phone out of his hand. Sheehan did not respond to requests for comment from the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, and it is unclear if his phone was damaged.
In the video, Sheehan tells three police officers present about the assault. "This guy just hit me with a stick. You guys can't just let him walk away. That's assault," he said.
The video shows NYPD police officers arresting Altunaga after he hit another Post journalist, photographer G.N. Miller, with a garbage bag, causing Miller’s camera to smash to the ground. The Tacker has documented that assault and equipment damage here.
According to the Post, Altunaga was charged with second-degree assault and released without bail on March 30. A judge also ordered that he remain clear of journalists Sheehan and Miller. NYPD has acknowledged but not responded to a request for more details.
G.N. Miller, a photographer for the New York Post, was assaulted by a man who was being evicted from his makeshift dwelling in Riverbank State Park in New York City on March 28, 2022.
According to the New York Post, the man, Rewell Altunaga, has lived in the park for several months. His eviction came the day after city officials issued a "notice of clean up" in the area of the park where Altunaga was living. Miller, who was reporting on the New York Police Department eviction of the area with a colleague, captured the assault on video.
Miller did not respond to requests for comment from the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. Miller’s colleague, Post reporter Kevin Sheehan, was also assaulted by Altunaga. Sheehan filmed NYPD police officers arresting Altunaga after he hit Miller with a garbage bag, causing Miller’s camera to smash to the ground.
According to the Post, Altunaga was charged with second-degree assault and released without bail on March 30. A judge also ordered that he remain clear of journalists Miller and Sheehan. NYPD has acknowledged but not responded to a request for more details.
An unidentified photojournalist for CBS Denver News was assaulted while on assignment in Denver, Colorado, on March 21, 2022, according to the reporter accompanying him at the time.
Kelly Werthmann, a CBS Denver News anchor, was with the photojournalist and witnessed the assault. Werthmann said in a newscast after the assault that the incident occurred as the photojournalist gathered video footage of the Union Station and the Regional Transportation District bus terminal in downtown Denver.
“While we were out there earlier today, our photographer was simply trying to get video of the area, and that’s when a man, unprovoked, came over and hit him upside the head and threatened to kill him,” Werthmann said.
Working on a stay about safety around Union Station & the @RideRTD bus terminal here. Just minutes after setting up his camera, my photographer was assaulted. @DenverPolice here now taking the report. Thankfully my photog is ok, for the most part. pic.twitter.com/CEgQso19KA
— Kelly Werthmann 🌻 (@KellyCBS4) March 21, 2022
Werthmann declined a request for comment from the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker but confirmed over email that the photojournalist was not seriously harmed. She also confirmed that no equipment was damaged during the incident, and both continued reporting on their assignments for that day.
According to the outlet, the assault comes after a recent wave of violent incidents surrounding Union Station, including a shooting in the station’s underground bus terminal on March 19.
A CBS Denver News photojournalist was assaulted by an unidentified man on March 21, 2022, at Denver's Union Station, shown in this 2017 file photo.
REUTERS/Rick Wilking
The City of Minneapolis issued Minnesota Reformer Deputy Editor Max Nesterak a subpoena on March 18, 2022, in connection with a pending lawsuit against the city and multiple law enforcement officials.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported that Nesterak was one of three journalists ordered to produce a broad range of materials and communications relating to their coverage of protests following the police killing of George Floyd in May 2020. The subpoenas were filed in connection with an excessive use of force lawsuit filed by freelance photojournalist Linda Tirado, who was permanently blinded in one eye after police shot her with a crowd-control munition on May 29.
Nesterak, who declined to comment on advice from counsel, confirmed on Twitter that he was one of the journalists served with a subpoena.
In a subsequent post, Nesterak included a photo of the subpoena, which orders him to bring “all videos, photographs, recordings, communications, documents, or other items in your possession (including social media posts) that are related to you being hit in the chest as stated in your tweet from 11:32 p.m. on May 27, 2020.” The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented that incident here.
And I got hit in the chest by a rubber bullet from police. Covered me in dust that’s been making me cough for a half hour. I’m home now. pic.twitter.com/sYShFOjvQO
— Max Nesterak (@maxnesterak) May 28, 2020
The subpoena also orders Nesterak to produce any images or documents pertaining to his coverage of the protests from May 26-31, 2020, and any communications he may have had with Tirado or her legal counsel, excepting anything that he has “a good faith basis to assert is protected by a legally recognized journalistic privilege.”
According to MPR News, the city issued similar subpoenas to Andy Mannix of the Star Tribune and Jared Goyette, who was a freelance journalist during the protests and now works for Fox 9.
The City Attorney’s Office shared a statement with the Tracker that said the individuals subpoenaed were identified by Tirado as having relevant information.
“It is incumbent upon the City Attorney’s Office, as it would be any attorney, to obtain information relevant to their client’s case, whether or not the individuals possessing that information happen to be journalists.”
In a statement shared with the Tracker, Reformer Editor-in-Chief J. Patrick Coolican said the outlet intends to fight the subpoena.
“This ham-handed effort to intimidate journalists with a burdensome legal action will not achieve its intended effect,” Coolican said. “Quite the contrary. We will continue to aggressively pursue our reporting, and protect our newsgathering rights from interference by government officials.”
The City of Minneapolis issued Minneapolis Star Tribune reporter Andy Mannix a subpoena on March 18, 2022, in connection with a pending lawsuit against the city and multiple law enforcement officials.
The Star Tribune reported that Mannix was one of three journalists ordered to produce a broad range of materials and communications relating to their coverage of protests following the police killing of George Floyd in May 2020. The subpoenas were filed in connection with an excessive use of force lawsuit filed by freelance photojournalist Linda Tirado, who was permanently blinded in one eye after police shot her with a crowd-control munition on May 29.
Mannix declined to comment on advice from counsel.
According to the Star Tribune, the subpoenas order the journalists to produce any images or documents pertaining to their coverage of the protests from May 26-31, 2020, and any communications they may have had with Tirado or her legal counsel, excepting anything that he has “a good faith basis to assert is protected by a legally recognized journalistic privilege.” The journalists were also ordered to appear for depositions via Zoom videoconferencing in late March.
Mannix was also asked for materials related to his thigh injury from a projectile that struck him while he was covering protests on May 26, 2020, the day after Floyd’s death. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documented that incident here.
I Was just shot with this in the thigh. pic.twitter.com/igcJ3e7iQ4
— Andy Mannix (@AndrewMannix) May 27, 2020
According to MPR News, the city issued similar subpoenas to Max Nesterak of the Minnesota Reformer and Jared Goyette, who was a freelance journalist during the protests and now works for Fox 9.
In a statement shared with the Tracker, the City Attorney’s Office said: “The individuals subpoenaed were identified by Plaintiff Linda Tirado as having information relevant to her claims.
“It is incumbent upon the City Attorney’s Office, as it would be any attorney, to obtain information relevant to their client’s case, whether or not the individuals possessing that information happen to be journalists.”
Suki Dardarian, senior managing editor and vice president of the Star Tribune, said in a statement to the outlet, “We are reviewing the issue, but we expect to challenge the subpoena.”
A portion of the subpoena issued to Minneapolis Star Tribune reporter Andy Mannix, who was struck with a crowd-control munition while covering protests in Minnesota in May 2020.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,journalist communications or work product,['DROPPED'],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, Journalist subpoenaed in connection with blinded photojournalist’s lawsuit,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-subpoenaed-in-connection-with-blinded-photojournalists-lawsuit/,2022-03-23 14:53:02.849522+00:00,2022-06-03 14:33:41.125810+00:00,2022-06-03 14:33:41.051856+00:00,(2022-06-02 10:33:00+00:00) Subpoenas dropped following settlement in blinded photojournalist’s lawsuit,Subpoena/Legal Order,,,,Jared Goyette (Freelance),,2022-03-18,False,Minneapolis,Minnesota (MN),44.97997,-93.26384,"The City of Minneapolis issued journalist Jared Goyette a subpoena on March 18, 2022, in connection with a pending lawsuit against the city and multiple law enforcement officials.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported that three journalists were ordered to produce a broad range of materials and communications relating to their coverage of protests following the police killing of George Floyd in May 2020. The subpoenas were filed in connection with an excessive use of force lawsuit filed by freelance photojournalist Linda Tirado, who was permanently blinded in one eye after police shot her with a crowd-control munition on May 29.
Goyette, who was a freelance journalist at the time and now works for Fox 9, declined to comment further than confirming to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was one of the three journalists subpoenaed. He is also a plaintiff in a separate class-action suit against the city and law enforcement, which recently reached a partial settlement with Minnesota State Patrol.
According to the Star Tribune, the subpoenas order the journalists to produce any images or documents pertaining to their coverage of the protests from May 26-31, 2020, and any communications they may have had with Tirado or her legal counsel, excepting anything that he has “a good faith basis to assert is protected by a legally recognized journalistic privilege.” The journalists were also ordered to appear for depositions via Zoom videoconferencing in late March.
The journalists were each also asked for materials related to their own injuries from projectiles that struck them while covering the protests sparked by Floyd’s death. Goyette was struck in the eye with a crowd-control munition while covering protests on May 27. The Tracker has documented that incident here.
I got hit in the eye and then tear gassed. pic.twitter.com/wXm1P5yPKb
— Jared Goyette (@JaredGoyette) May 27, 2020
According to MPR News, the city issued similar subpoenas to Andy Mannix of the Star Tribune and Max Nesterak of the Minnesota Reformer.
In a statement shared with the Tracker, the City Attorney’s Office said: “The individuals subpoenaed were identified by Plaintiff Linda Tirado as having information relevant to her claims.
“It is incumbent upon the City Attorney’s Office, as it would be any attorney, to obtain information relevant to their client’s case, whether or not the individuals possessing that information happen to be journalists.”
Katie Keleher, a multimedia journalist with NBC-affiliated station KJRH-TV, was shot with a pellet gun while reporting in downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma, on March 16, 2022.
KJRH reported that Keleher was preparing for a live shot just before 10 p.m. near the corner of Reconciliation Way and Main Street when a group of people pulled up in a car. One of the individuals pointed a pellet gun out of the window and shot at Keleher and her photographer.
“We picked that area because as journalists, we think about our safety first, and I felt safe in that spot,” Keleher told the station. “All of a sudden, I felt something hitting my back and I just froze. Just little pellets and I just remember my jaw dropping and I just froze in fear."
Keleher wrote on Twitter that she was struck in the back with around five pellets, but that her photographer, whom she identified as Marisa, wasn’t hit.
The past couple of days are a lot to process.
— Katie Keleher (@KKeleherKJRH) March 18, 2022
I was shot at by a pellet gun while preparing for my 10pm live shot in downtown Tulsa Wednesday night. I was hit in the back about five times. My photographer, Marisa, was not hit. But she did catch it on camera. (1/4)
“Thankfully, the puffy jacket I was wearing softened the blow. If not for that, I would probably have bruises all over my back,” Keleher wrote in a follow-up tweet.
Keleher told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that while the individuals would have seen the broadcast camera and lighting rig, she didn’t think she was targeted for being a journalist.
“Police video shows them driving down the street further and shooting at someone sitting outside of a restaurant, so I think it was just because I was standing there on the corner,” Keleher said.
The Tulsa Police Department said they are searching for a tan Nissan sedan in connection with the attack and released footage on Facebook on March 21 asking for the public’s help in identifying the shooters.
Michael Perry, senior director of external communication at KJRH’s parent company Scripps, told the Tracker that police have not updated the station with any information since the attack.
According to Fox23, multiple individuals have been shot with pellet guns in recent weeks and the incidents may be part of a social media trend. The TPD did not respond to requests about whether the incidents are related or provide further information.
“Police are saying this is part of a TikTok trend and I’ve seen it happening in other states, and I just don’t understand why anyone would think it was okay to do that, why it’s funny,” Keleher said. “I was pretty scared for a couple days after and it was definitely a terrifying and traumatizing experience and I was just standing on a corner trying to do my job.”
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to include comment from Katie Keleher.
This frame from footage provided to Tulsa Police shows KJRH-TV journalist Katie Keleher moments before individuals in the car behind her shot at her with a pellet gun as she prepared for a live shot on March 16, 2022.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,no,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,shot / shot at,,,,, Louisiana photojournalist assaulted during investigation of mistaken release of convict,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/louisiana-photojournalist-assaulted-during-investigation-of-mistaken-release-of-convict/,2022-03-10 18:58:25.822904+00:00,2022-03-25 13:58:01.612975+00:00,2022-03-25 13:58:01.552044+00:00,"(2022-03-23 09:57:00+00:00) Louisiana photojournalist hit by car, knocked into ditch",Assault,,,,T.J. Pipitone (WWL-TV),,2022-03-03,False,Tangipahoa Parish,Louisiana (LA),None,None,"WWL-TV photojournalist T.J. Pipitone and a colleague were assaulted by an individual while reporting on the mistaken release of a convicted pedophile in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, on March 3, 2022.
In a report for the broadcast station, reporter David Hammer said that he and the photojournalist had gone to the home of Brian David Matherne for comment after he was released more than seven years early from his nearly 30-year sentence. The journalists did not know at the time that Matherne had been imprisoned again after some victims alerted the state Department of Corrections of the error.
“Before we could approach the trailer, we were attacked by the owner of the property — Bruce Verdin — who was arrested by Tangipahoa Sheriff’s deputies,” Hammer said.
WWL-TV reported that Verdin, who is Matherne’s brother-in-law, attacked the journalists with a wrench and attempted to hit the photojournalist with his truck. In footage of the incident, Verdin can be seen repeatedly striking out at the journalists and their camera.
Hammer, who did not respond to requests for comment, identified himself and photojournalist T.J. Pipitone as the journalists attacked in a tweet.
Had quite a day. My @WWLTV investigation got a serial child molester put back in prison after his erroneous early release. Then photographer @TJPIPITONE and I got attacked. See the details next at 10:00 on Channel 4.
— David Hammer (@davidhammerWWL) March 4, 2022
In response to a note asking if they were OK, Hammer wrote that they had suffered “just a couple bumps and bruises.” Pipitone also did not respond to messages requesting comment.
The station reported that the Tangipahoa Sheriff’s Office arrested Verdin on three counts of aggravated battery and a count of aggravated destruction of property. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker was not able to verify whether any of the journalists’ equipment was damaged in the assault.
WWL-TV reporter David Hammer and a colleague were assaulted by an individual while reporting on the mistaken release of a convicted pedophile in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, on March 3, 2022.
In a report for the broadcast station, Hammer said that he and a photojournalist had gone to the home of Brian David Matherne for comment after he was released more than seven years early from his nearly 30-year sentence. The journalists did not know at the time that Matherne had been imprisoned again after some victims alerted the state Department of Corrections of the error.
“Before we could approach the trailer, we were attacked by the owner of the property — Bruce Verdin — who was arrested by Tangipahoa Sheriff’s deputies,” Hammer said.
WWL-TV reported that Verdin, who is Matherne’s brother-in-law, attacked the journalists with a wrench and attempted to hit the photojournalist with his truck. In footage of the incident, Verdin can be seen repeatedly striking out at the journalists and their camera.
Hammer, who did not respond to requests for comment, identified himself and photojournalist T.J. Pipitone as the journalists attacked in a tweet.
Had quite a day. My @WWLTV investigation got a serial child molester put back in prison after his erroneous early release. Then photographer @TJPIPITONE and I got attacked. See the details next at 10:00 on Channel 4.
— David Hammer (@davidhammerWWL) March 4, 2022
In response to a note asking if they were OK, Hammer wrote that they had suffered “just a couple bumps and bruises.”
In a tweet a week after the incident, Hammer confirmed that Verdin smashed Hammer’s cell phone that he was using to film the attack.
The station reported that the Tangipahoa Sheriff’s Office arrested Verdin on three counts of aggravated battery and a count of aggravated destruction of property. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker was not able to verify whether any of the journalists’ equipment was damaged in the assault.
Editor’s note: This article has been updated with information concerning the damage to David Hammer’s cell phone during the incident.
Republican leaders in the Utah State Senate pushed through a rule change limiting press access to the chamber, halls, lounge and committee rooms on Feb. 15, 2022, according to The Salt Lake Tribune.
The rule change requires that journalists receive permission from a “Senate media designee” in order to have access to the Senate floor and adjacent hallways to conduct a specific interview and be escorted out of the area when it is completed. Journalists also must ask permission from the committee chair to film or take pictures from behind the dias. The resolution passed 17 to 5, the Tribune reported.
Traditionally, members of the press were allowed on the floor of both the House and Senate, as well as in some areas that are not open to the public, according to Deseret News. The policies changed during the coronavirus pandemic and the Senate vote made some of the restrictions permanent.
FOX 13 reporter Ben Winslow told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker via email that there had been some rumblings that lawmakers were upset with one or more reporters for eavesdropping on conversations and “skulking” around the chamber.
“Looking back over the years, this may have been building with a few complaints about reporters going into areas lawmakers felt they shouldn’t be in, and it’s not the first time we’ve had to challenge rules limiting press access,” Winslow wrote. “In COVID, access to the chambers unescorted was completely cut off and I don’t see it coming back.”
Sen. Mike McKell, the sponsor of the measure, cited security concerns as the primary concern behind the policy shift, according to the Tribune, though members of the press are required to submit to yearly background checks as part of the credentialing process.
McKell also dismissed concerns that the change limits the media’s access, citing the Senate’s daily media availability.
“The Senate has a long-standing tradition of holding media availability. That’s not going to change. That happens every single day after floor time,” McKell told the Tribune. According to the newspaper, senators have spent an average of about 13 minutes taking questions during such sessions during the 2022 legislative session.
McKell did not respond to requests for further comment.
According to the Tribune, other Senate Republicans noted that committee meetings and floor debates are now routinely livestreamed, a measure put in place during the pandemic.
The policy change was met with criticism from local journalists and national press freedom organizations, particularly as Republican legislators in both Iowa and Kansas announced similar policy shifts limiting press access to the senate floor in 2022.
“Given that it can be difficult to locate any particular member of the Senate, rushing as they are between the floor, committee hearings and offices, this access has been crucial to journalists in their efforts to give their audience a full picture of what’s happening,” the Tribune’s Editorial Board wrote. “Removing it can only serve to help senators avoid public scrutiny.”
Winslow told the Tracker he spoke against the bill during the public comment period, highlighting that often he needs only 30 seconds to get clarification on a bill and that the rule is impractical.
“We sometimes roll into a committee hearing mid-way through a bill and how do I get the permission of the committee chair without interrupting everything?” Winslow wrote. “One senator said there was a logic to my argument there. They still voted to pass the rule.”
Winslow did note that, despite the new rules, none of his station’s photographers have been prevented from filming from locations they have used in the past.
“One committee chair saw us walk into his hearing mid-meeting and he stood up and walked over to motion the photographer up, which is a really nice sign that they still want us there,” Winslow wrote. He added that the policy change has built up momentum for formalizing a Capitol press corps that may ultimately lead to improved access and credentialing.
Bridger Beal-Cvetko, a reporter at Salt Lake City-based newspaper The Deseret News, said he also hasn’t experienced any changes to access, but that he is concerned that the new rule paves a path for blocking access down the line.
“The worry that a lot of people have is that it’s great that they allow access most of the time, but if there’s a controversial bill or an unpopular discussion that’s happening they could decide not to give the same level of access, and that’s concerning to a lot of people,” Beal-Cvetko told the Tracker.
The Associated Press reported that the rule changes are now advancing through the Utah House.
On May 5, 2022, a United States District Court judge quashed a subpoena issued to ABC News seeking footage, documents and journalist communications as part of a criminal lawsuit involving a cast member from the television show "The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City."
According to court documents, ABC News aired a documentary featuring cast member Jennifer Shah and her alleged involvement in a telemarketing fraud scheme. Shah issued a subpoena to ABC News on Feb. 11, 2022, requesting seven categories of documents, including all video footage, documents, interviewer notes and identification of all government agents and members of the prosecution who provided the news outlet with information.
According to court documents, Eileen Murphy, the senior editorial producer of the documentary, said thousands of documents and materials were collected as part of the reporting process. ABC News staffers also interviewed non-confidential and confidential sources but did not interview any prosecutors involved in the case.
Lawyers for ABC News filed a motion to quash the subpoena on Feb. 25, 2022, stating the information requested was protected under journalists' privilege and was "unreasonable or oppressive" under the Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure, Rule 17.
U.S. District Judge Sidney H. Stein heard oral arguments on April 25. In granting the motion to quash on May 5, Stein wrote that the request did not overcome journalistic privilege and did not meet the requirements set out in United States v. Nixon, that materials must be “relevant, specifically identified, admissible, and not otherwise procurable by due diligence."
WJAR-TV multimedia journalist Joanna Bouras was pushed into a concrete wall by an individual while reporting from the scene of a shootout in Providence, Rhode Island, on Feb. 10, 2022.
The Providence Journal reported that Bouras was covering a domestic disturbance that resulted in a gunfight between police and a 61-year-old man in the early hours of Feb. 10. A part of the house caught fire during the confrontation, and the man was found dead after the blaze was extinguished.
WJAR spokesperson Jessica Bellucci told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that police on the scene informed Bouras and photographer Bray Beardsley that the man’s family was on the way to the house and asked them to move their vehicle around the corner.
Shortly after 5 p.m., the man’s son — identified as Joshua Maclean — confronted Bouras as she was filming, yelling at her and pushing her hard enough to cause her “to fall into a concrete wall,” the Journal reported.
“Bray did not see Joshua Maclean approaching because he had panned the camera to show the house in the background,” Bellucci said. “As the crew had chosen to set up close to police, officers responded in seconds, apprehending and arresting Maclean.”
Bellucci confirmed that Bouras was not injured in the attack and plans to press charges.
Police Cmdr. Thomas Verdi told the Journal that Maclean has been charged with simple assault. Providence Police Department Public Information Officer Lindsay Lague told the Tracker they are only able to release police reports following in-person requests at their records bureau.
Bouras thanked the Journal for reporting on the story in a tweet, writing, “I want to be EXTREMELY clear, no one should EVER touch a TV Reporter or anyone who is trying to do their job.”
Thank you @projo for bringing light to this. I want to be EXTREMELY clear, no one should EVER touch a TV Reporter or anyone who is trying to do their job. https://t.co/QKeVWi79Px
— Joanna Bouras (@JoannaBouras) February 12, 2022
Bouras did not respond separately to a request for further comment.
The City of Minneapolis approved a $100,000 settlement on Jan. 27, 2022, over a public records lawsuit brought by Tony Webster, a local independent journalist.
Webster told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was pleased with the outcome but believes the city missed an opportunity to enact changes to public records law.
"In a public records lawsuit, getting the records is of course a win, and paying the legal costs makes it all that much better," Webster said. "But at the same time, I'm disappointed. I wanted a court's finding that the City broke the law, and I wanted an order requiring them to make improvements to their processes to ensure that it doesn't happen again."
Webster said he started examining the disciplinary process for Minneapolis police officers in 2019. He filed public records requests with the Minneapolis Police Department but sued after waiting more than seven months and not receiving a single file.
The police department eventually produced more than 3,300 disciplinary files through the lawsuit, which Webster used in published investigations on police accountability.
The city council approved the settlement unanimously and it was later signed by the mayor.
"I believe in the Public's right to know what their government is doing on their behalf," Minneapolis City Council President Andrea Jenkins told the Tracker. "Subsequently, I also believe that there are times when FOIA requests encompass large amounts of information that is not always easily accessed and compiled. I think that reasonable concessions could be made on behalf of some requesters to allow time to meet the requests being made."
Webster, who said the settlement amount will go toward paying legal fees, said he is still optimistic it will prompt widespread change.
“I'm hopeful that the settlement will send a signal to records officials that they need to take their obligations under the law more seriously,” he said. “There are consequences to thwarting the public's right to know.”
The city of Worcester was ordered to pay $95,000 in legal fees and $5,000 in punitive damages after a Massachusetts judge ruled on Jan. 26, 2022, that the city acted in bad faith when it violated public records statute by illegally withholding police records from the Telegram & Gazette in 2018.
Superior Judge Janet Kenton-Walker ruled in favor of the T&G in June 2021 and found that the city improperly withheld thousands of pages of police investigations and disciplinary records from the newspaper.
T&G executive editor David Norman said in the outlet’s article on the ruling that it was “not only a victory for the newspaper alone, but a victory for the people of Worcester. “We will continue to work for them by holding those in power accountable.”
In January, Kenton-Walker ruled that the city attempted to justify withholding the requested police department records by “cherry-picked certain language” and “taking language out of context” from past litigated cases.
“Counsel may not misrepresent to the court what cases and other materials stand for.”
The punitive damages will be deposited into a public fund to help improve public records. According to the T&G, this appears to be the first punitive penalty of its kind since the state passed an act to improve public records in 2016.
“Hopefully this ruling will cause other public bodies to think twice before denying public records based on weak and strained legal arguments,” Jeffrey J. Pyle, the lawyer who represented T&G, told the newspaper.
City Solicitor Michael E. Traynor said in a statement to the outlet that the city did not agree with the ruling but will not appeal the decision. “The city always acts in good faith and we maintain our position that we did so in this case,” he wrote. “However, the court has spoken and we will move on.”
Traynor did not respond to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker’s request for comment.
A Tennessee state representative filed a joint resolution on Jan. 20, 2022, to reprimand the Associated Press following its investigation of racism in the United States military.
The resolution was introduced by Rep. Bud Hulsey, a Republican, in response to AP’s May 2021 investigation, “Deep-rooted racism, discrimination permeate US military.” The resolution states AP journalists engaged “in the lowest form of yellow journalism and should be held accountable by the American public and their elected officials” with a reprimand from the General Assembly.
Tennessee outlet WJHL said there are no other instances of state officials reprimanding news organizations. Hulsey’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
AP spokesperson Lauren Easton told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that “The Associated Press stands by its reporting,” and referred the Tracker to an AP article on Tennessee’s Black lawmakers efforts to “raise awareness about structural racism.”
Kat Stafford, the lead reporter on the AP investigation, tweeted on Jan. 21 that the resolution was a “career first” and that the AP stands behind the reporting.
A career first: A Republican state legislator in Tennessee introduced a resolution Thursday in response to our AP investigation of racism in the U.S. military. He accused us of “incendiary journalism” & wants the legislature to “reprimand the AP.” We stand by our reporting. pic.twitter.com/PIWx7hbixa
— Kat Stafford (@kat__stafford) January 21, 2022
Stafford also wrote that she and her colleagues spent nearly a year on the investigation and interviewed dozens of service members and experts. “We poured over copious documents & FOIAs. We did our homework.”
In response to Stafford’s tweets, AP Executive Editor Julie Pace echoed support for the investigation, tweeting “Indeed - we stand by our reporting, and our reporters.”
Indeed - we stand by our reporting, and our reporters. https://t.co/KCnInXcJvh
— Julie Pace (@JuliePace) January 23, 2022
Note: This article was amended to include comment from the Associated Press.
A North Dakota police investigator seized a cell phone belonging to Tom Simon, a Williston-based reporter for Coyote Radio 98.5 and Williston Trending Topics News Radio Live, during a school board meeting on Jan. 10, 2022. The phone was ultimately returned.
Simon told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he had been covering the departure of the school district’s former superintendent since October 2021. Multiple individuals contacted Simon with details from a closed executive session of the school board. In the wake of his reporting, Williston police initiated an investigation at the behest of the school board president and enlisted the help of the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation to identify Simon’s sources.
The BCI obtained a search warrant for Simon’s cell phone on Jan. 4 but waited six days — until the next school board meeting — to execute it. Simon told the Tracker that BCI police investigator Charissa Remus approached him during the Jan. 10 meeting and asked him to come with her to answer some questions.
While Remus asked him to identify his sources, Simon said a second agent seized his cell phone from the table where he had left it. Remus then presented Simon a copy of the signed search warrant and asked him to tell her the device’s passcode. Simon refused to identify his sources but provided the passcode, not knowing whether he had the right to refuse.
Under the state’s shield law, police cannot seize a journalist’s work product without a court hearing to determine if the “failure of disclosure of such evidence will cause a miscarriage of justice.” No such hearing was held in Simon’s case.
The AP reported that North Dakota Newspaper Association Attorney Jack McDonald contacted state Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem about the seizure the following day, and Stenehjem immediately ordered that the phone be returned to Simon.
According to documents reviewed by the Tracker, Simon’s phone was returned to him just before 3 p.m. on Jan. 11 without having been searched or its contents downloaded. Simon’s attorney, Kevin Chapman, told the Tracker they are working with a computer expert to confirm whether the phone’s contents were accessed while it was in custody.
“Having it returned quickly does not solve the problem,” Simon told the Tracker. “Once the veil of secrecy is pierced, the message to the sources or future sources is that law enforcement can still find out who they are, and that message is difficult to stomach.”
Simon said he was particularly concerned by the decision to hold off serving the warrant until it could be done in front of his presumed sources in order to intimidate them.
Judge Benjamen Johnson also signed a search warrant sent to Verizon Wireless for Simon’s phone records, which the Tracker documented here. On Jan. 11, Remus, the BCI agent, wrote a letter to Verizon telling them to “PLEASE DISREGARD IMMEDIATELY.” The police investigation has since been closed.
Stenehjem told the AP that some people involved in the chain of events did not know that Simon was protected by the shield law and expressed regret over the mistake.
In a statement shared with the Tracker, Stenhjem said, “This office reviewed the matter and determined that the phone was lawfully taken pursuant to a valid search warrant issued by a judge.
“The attorney general advised the agent that in light of a state statute that requires a further court warrant to view the contents of the phone in cases like this.”
A spokesperson for Stenehjem’s office told Fargo-based outlet InForum that moving forward all current and future BCI agents will receive training on the state’s shield law and it will be incorporated into the curriculum at the Law Enforcement Training Academy.
Chapman told the Tracker he is researching potential civil rights claims but said they have not decided if or when they will file a lawsuit.
“There has to be a freedom of the press. Reporters should be able to feel free to go get the news and to do investigative journalism without law enforcement breathing down their necks and then pressuring them for their sources,” Chapman said. “This is a perfect example of overreaching on behalf of law enforcement into the rights of private citizens and it simply cannot stand.”
A portion of the search warrant for the cell phone belonging to radio reporter Tom Simon, who was reporting on a school board’s handling of the departure of the district’s former superintendent.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,returned in full,False,law enforcement,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, "Journalists removed from Iowa Senate floor, overturning a century-old practice",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalists-removed-from-iowa-senate-floor-overturning-a-century-old-practice/,2022-01-10 19:20:53.491707+00:00,2022-01-10 19:20:53.491707+00:00,2022-01-10 19:20:53.450703+00:00,,Denial of Access,,,,,,2022-01-07,False,Des Moines,Iowa (IA),41.60054,-93.60911,"Republican leaders in the Iowa Senate issued new rules moving reporters off the Senate floor and into a gallery upstairs, overturning a longstanding practice, the Des Moines Register reported on Jan. 7, 2022.
According to the Register, for more than a century journalists have been permitted to work at press benches along the front wall of the chamber which allow a clear view of debate and access to the senators. When the new session begins on Jan. 10, journalists will be seated in a public gallery on an upper level without access to the Senate floor.
Senate Republican spokesperson Caleb Hunter said in an email to statehouse reporters that the Senate struggled with the changing definition of “media” when considering journalists’ access to the chamber, according to the Register.
"As non-traditional media outlets proliferate, it creates an increasingly difficult scenario for the Senate, as a governmental entity, to define the criteria of a media outlet," Hunter wrote. Hunter did not respond to an email requesting further comment.
Iowa Capitol Press Association President Erin Murphy, Vice President Kathie Obradovich and Secretary Katarina Sostaric criticized the move in a statement published by the association.
“Media access to the people who make laws is a critical component of representative government. Primarily for this reason, the Iowa Capitol Press Association is extremely disappointed in th Iowa Senate’s decision,” the statement said. “In moving reporters off the floor, the Iowa Senate becomes one of only a handful of state legislative chambers across the country to limit access in this way, according to information from the National Conference on State Legislatures.”
The Iowa House has pledged to maintain press work stations on the chamber floor. The Washington Post reported that, unlike the Washington press corps covering Congress and the White House, space for journalists at the Iowa Capitol is allocated by the party controlling each chamber. Both the Iowa House and Senate, as well as the governor’s office, are controlled by Republicans.
Senate Minority Leader Zach Wahls told the Post that Senate Democrats oppose the change and will introduce a measure to overturn it, but that it will be an uphill battle.
Republican leaders in the Kansas Senate issued new rules moving journalists off the Senate floor and into a gallery, overturning a longstanding practice.
Mike Pirner, the director of communications for Kansas Senate President Ty Masterson, sent the new media rules to reporters on Jan. 4, 2022. A copy of the guidelines, which asks reporters to only use the specific designated section of the gallery, was shared with the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
The email also stated that when the public gallery is full they will provide floor access to journalists, and that photographers and videographers may seek permission for floor access during a session.
Kansas Reflector reporter Tim Carpenter, who has covered the statehouse for 15 years, said he was covering the second day of the new session from the Senate gallery when he saw the rules enacted. Pirner approached a pair of journalists working on the floor on Jan. 11 and told them they had to leave.
Carpenter said Pirner informed journalists that while they can come down to the floor when the Senate isn’t in session to take pictures or ask questions, they are not to disrupt senators completing their work and not to “loiter.”
Steve Morris, a Republican Kansas senator from 1993 to 2013, criticized the change in an op-ed for the Reflector, noting that reporters have had a place on the Senate floor for decades.
“There is no compelling reason to change the time-honored policy of allowing their close access to debates and other public workings of the Senate,” Morris wrote. “Senate leadership’s decision to move Kansas Statehouse reporters farther away from the action sends the wrong message and won’t help the people of Kansas better understand the discussions and votes.”
In its editorial, The Kansas City Star’s Editorial Board called the move “the latest front in GOP’s war on the press,” writing that journalists’ access to legislators in order to ask follow-up questions and fact-check is vital for accuracy and transparency.
When reached for comment via email, Pirner rejected claims that the shift limits journalists’ access to senators, noting that the only change is where reporters can be seated while the Senate is in session.
“Immediately when the gavel comes down, reporters may come on the floor and talk to any Senator they wish — and do so,” Pirner told the Tracker. “Any report that we are denying access or banning reporters from accessing Senators is completely inaccurate.”
According to Pirner, the Senate president moved the designated area for reporters due to spacing concerns and the rise in digital publications. The Iowa Senate Republicans offered similar reasoning when they moved journalists from the Senate floor to a gallery above this legislative session.
In the Kansas Senate, Pirner said, there are six seats for journalists in the designated gallery; the floor held five.
Carpenter dismissed Pirner’s arguments of overcrowding as “laughable,” noting that in the heyday of the Star and Wichita Eagle each had three or four journalists covering the statehouse; nowadays, he said, a single reporter represents both news outlets.
“There’s nothing that they can do that stops me from covering the statehouse as I see fit,” Carpenter said. But, he worries about the possible escalation of restrictions that bar public scrutiny and enable corruption.
“That’s the danger of taking this ‘stay off the Senate floor’ thing to the next level and the next level and the next level,” Carpenter said. “Then you have a very serious problem because bad public policy is going to be made.”
A North Dakota police investigator obtained a search warrant for the phone records of Tom Simon, a Williston-based reporter for Coyote Radio 98.5 and Williston Trending Topics News Radio Live, on Jan. 4, 2022.
The Associated Press reported that Simon was covering a series of closed-door meetings about the school board’s handling of the departure of the district’s former superintendent. Simon told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that multiple individuals contacted him with details from an executive session of the school board. In the wake of his reporting, Williston police initiated an investigation at the behest of the school board president and enlisted the help of the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation to identify Simon’s sources.
Judge Benjamen Johnson signed a search warrant for the seizure of Simon’s cell phone and a second warrant issued to Verizon Wireless for the reporter’s cell phone records on Jan. 4. Both warrants were reviewed by the Tracker.
During a school board meeting on Jan. 10, BCI agents approached Simon, demanded that he identify his sources, presented him with the signed search warrant and confiscated his cell phone. The Tracker has documented that seizure here.
Under the state’s shield law, police cannot seize a journalist’s work product without a court hearing to determine if the “failure of disclosure of such evidence will cause a miscarriage of justice.” No such hearing was held in Simon’s case.
The AP reported that North Dakota Newspaper Association Attorney Jack McDonald contacted state Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem about the seizure the following morning, and Stenehjem immediately ordered the phone returned. That same day, BCI police investigator Charissa Remus wrote a letter to Verizon telling the communications company to “PLEASE DISREGARD IMMEDIATELY.” The police investigation has since been closed.
Stenehjem told the AP that some people involved in the chain of events did not know that Simon was protected by the shield law and expressed regret over the mistake.
In a statement shared with the Tracker, Stenhjem said, “This office reviewed the matter and determined that the phone was lawfully taken pursuant to a valid search warrant issued by a judge.
“The attorney general advised the agent that in light of a state statute that requires a further court warrant to view the contents of the phone in cases like this.”
A spokesperson for Stenehjem’s office told Fargo-based outlet InForum that moving forward all current and future BCI agents will receive training on the state’s shield law and it will be incorporated into the curriculum at the Law Enforcement Training Academy.
Simon’s attorney, Kevin Chapman, told the Tracker he is researching potential civil rights claims but said they have not decided if or when they will file a lawsuit.
“There has to be a freedom of the press. Reporters should be able to feel free to go get the news and to do investigative journalism without law enforcement breathing down their necks and then pressuring them for their sources,” Chapman said. “This is a perfect example of overreaching on behalf of law enforcement into the rights of private citizens and it simply cannot stand.”
A portion of the search warrant issued to Verizon for phone records belonging to radio reporter Tom Simon, who was reporting on a school board’s handling of the departure of the district’s former superintendent.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,journalist communications or work product,['DROPPED'],None,None,Verizon Wireless,telecom company,warrant,None,,,,,,, "Reporter arrested, phone confiscated while covering NC homeless camp eviction",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-arrested-phone-confiscated-while-covering-nc-homeless-camp-eviction/,2022-01-06 15:20:11.838984+00:00,2022-03-15 13:59:15.798774+00:00,2022-03-15 13:59:15.716600+00:00,"(2022-03-11 09:55:00+00:00) Police return phone, belongings to reporter after obtaining search warrant","Arrest/Criminal Charge, Equipment Search or Seizure",,mobile phone: count of 1,,Matilda Bliss (The Asheville Blade),,2021-12-25,False,Asheville,North Carolina (NC),35.60095,-82.55402,"Asheville Blade reporter Matilda Bliss was arrested alongside a colleague while covering a police eviction of a homeless encampment in Asheville, North Carolina, on Dec. 25, 2021.
Bliss, whose pronouns are she/they, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she had been at Aston Park multiple times throughout the day but had left to run an errand at approximately 9 p.m. Both Bliss and Blade reporter Veronica Coit returned to the park a little before 10 p.m. after receiving texts about a growing police force gathering at the park. A small encampment in the park was the latest focus of ongoing city efforts to clear Asheville’s homeless populations out of public areas, according to the Asheville Citizen Times.
As officers directed everyone in the camp to “move on” under threat of arrest, Coit and Bliss documented their actions from a distance, Bliss told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. The Blade reported that one of the officers then pointed toward Coit and said, “[They’re] taking pictures.”
Five officers then advanced toward Coit and placed them under arrest. Several officers then told Bliss to immediately leave the park or face arrest. Bliss repeatedly identified as a member of the press before she, too, was arrested.
The Blade reported that Bliss was wearing a press badge issued by the outlet at the time of her arrest.
Asheville police just arrested Blade reporters @matilda_bliss and Veronica Coit. Both were on the ground covering the events at Aston Park, displaying press id #avlnews #avlgov
— Asheville Blade (@AvlBlade) December 26, 2021
“According to the last things [Bliss and Coit] observed, and from sources they later spoke with, APD then grew even more violent, dragging campers out of tents and arresting them,” the Blade reported. “Our journalists were clearly targeted first to remove those who could quickly bring the brutality that followed to the public’s attention.”
Coit and Bliss were each charged with second degree trespassing, which carries a penalty of up to 20 days in jail and a $200 fine.
Blade founder and editor David Forbes told the Tracker that while Coit was released shortly after midnight, Bliss was left handcuffed in a police car for more than two hours and was the last person released from custody. Forbes said that to the best of the journalists’ knowledge, Bliss was the only arrestee whose phone was confiscated.
Bliss told the Tracker that when she was released at approximately 1:50 a.m. on the 26th, officers did not return her belongings, stating that they are being held as evidence and that it’s up to the district attorney to approve their release. The Asheville Police Department did not return a call requesting comment.
The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the arrests in a statement on Twitter a few days after the incident:
“Authorities in #Asheville, NC should drop all charges against @AvlBlade reporters Veronica Coit and @matilda_bliss, who were arrested on December 25. We are deeply concerned that @AshevillePolice interfered with their reporting, and unnecessarily confiscated Bliss's phone.”
Forbes told the Tracker that the charges against Bliss and Coit are still pending and they both have hearings scheduled for March 8, 2022.
“It was a hard experience but also I’m not going to back down either,” Bliss told the Tracker. “That’s the only way that this doesn’t happen to other people.”
Veronica Coit, a reporter for the Asheville Blade, was arrested alongside another Blade reporter while covering a police eviction of a homeless encampment in Asheville, North Carolina, on Dec. 25, 2021.
The Blade reported that Coit, whose pronouns are they/them, arrived at Aston Park after reporter Matilda Bliss discovered that a significant police force had gathered there shortly before 10 p.m. A small encampment in the park was the latest focus of ongoing city efforts to clear Asheville’s homeless populations out of public areas, according to the Asheville Citizen Times.
As officers directed everyone in the camp to “move on” under threat of arrest, Coit and Bliss documented their actions from a distance, according to the Blade.
The outlet reported that one of the officers then pointed toward Coit and said “[they’re] taking pictures.” Five officers then advanced toward Coit and placed them under arrest. Several officers then told Bliss to immediately leave the park or face arrest.
Bliss told the Blade she identified herself as a member of the press multiple times before she, too, was placed under arrest. Blade founder and editor David Forbes told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that while Bliss was wearing a press pass issued by the outlet, Coit did not have their lanyard press pass that night.
Asheville police just arrested Blade reporters @matilda_bliss and Veronica Coit. Both were on the ground covering the events at Aston Park, displaying press id #avlnews #avlgov
— Asheville Blade (@AvlBlade) December 26, 2021
“According to the last things [Bliss and Coit] observed, and from sources they later spoke with, APD then grew even more violent, dragging campers out of tents and arresting them,” the Blade reported. “Our journalists were clearly targeted first to remove those who could quickly bring the brutality that followed to the public’s attention.”
Coit and Bliss were each charged with misdemeanor trespassing, which carries a penalty of up to 20 days in jail and a $200 fine. Coit did not respond to requests for comment.
Forbes told the Tracker that Coit was released at approximately 12:15 a.m. on the 26th, but Bliss, whose phone was confiscated, was not released until approximately 1:50 a.m. The Asheville Police Department did not return a call requesting comment.
The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the arrests in a statement on Twitter a few days after the incident:
“Authorities in #Ashville, NC should drop all charges against @AvlBlade reporters Veronica Coit and @matilda_bliss, who were arrested on December 25 We are deeply concerned that @AshevillePolice interfered with their reporting, and unnecessarily confiscated Bliss's phone.”
Forbes told the Tracker that the charges against Bliss and Coit are still pending and they both have hearings scheduled for March 8, 2022.
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to reflect that Veronica Coit, who was previously a freelancer for the Asheville Blade, is now a reporter for the news co-op.
After a San Diego federal judge upheld a subpoena seeking unpublished source material, the podcast producers and creators chose to instead publicly release hours of unaired interviews with a military contractor central to a massive U.S. Navy bribery scandal on Dec. 22, 2021.
U.S. District Court Judge Janis Sammartino authorized attorneys for six naval officers charged with criminal bribery to subpoena Audiation, the company that produced the podcast, for all recordings collected while creating “Fat Leonard” on Nov. 18, 2021. The recordings involved Leonard Glenn Francis, a military contractor accused of overcharging the Navy of at least $35 million and bribing uniformed naval officers in one of the worst corruption scandals in Navy history.
According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, Sammartino denied a motion to quash the subpoena made by Project Brazen, the creator of the podcast, on Dec. 21. Sammartino stated that the naval officers’ Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights superseded the producers’ First Amendment rights.
“Francis’ believability as a witness will be a crucial determination for the jury as he is the orchestrator and alleged briber of each of the defendants and was closely connected with all of the activities charged in the indictment,” Sammartino wrote in her decision.
Rather than releasing the material to the lawyers, Audiation and Project Brazen released 20 hours of unedited interviews with Francis.
Today we are making public raw tapes of my interviews with Leonard Francis, the basis of our hit podcast Fat Leonard. We are doing this rather than just handing these tapes to defense lawyers of Navy officers who sought them by subpoena. Here’s a thread about the 1st Amendment.
— Tom Wright (@TomWrightAsia) December 23, 2021
“We disagree with this ruling and believe it sets a bad precedent for media freedom in the U.S.,” Tom Wright, the co-founder of Project Brazen, wrote on Twitter when announcing the release of the recordings. “Our job is to inform the public, as we have done about this huge Navy corruption scandal and the ensuing coverup.”
Independent videographer Sean Beckner-Carmitchel was assaulted while documenting an anti-vaccination protest in Los Angeles, California, on Dec. 18, 2021.
Beckner-Carmitchel told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he arrived shortly after 1 p.m. to document an anti-vaccination mandate protest outside Getty House, the official home of Los Angeles' mayor. Approximately 10 protesters were gathered outside the residence, Beckner-Carmitchel said, and he initially intended on only documenting the demonstration for 30 minutes or so.
An individual approached the journalist at around 1:20 p.m., upset that he had been filmed at a previous protest, Beckner-Carmitchel said.
Beckner-Carmitchel, who told the Tracker he was wearing his National Press Photographers Association press credentials, said the man challenged him to a fight and accused him of publishing private information, or doxxing, multiple individuals.
“Why don’t you go back to what you were doing,” Beckner-Carmitchel can be heard saying in footage from the interaction. “I’m not here to disturb you, I’m not here to disrupt you.”
As police began to arrive at the scene, Beckner-Carmitchel wrote on Twitter that other individuals approached the man who was threatening him and convinced him to walk away and rejoin the protest.
Approximately 10 minutes later, Beckner-Carmitchel wrote that he was attempting to interview Derrick Gates, a Republican candidate for California’s 33rd Congressional District, when the man who threatened him earlier returned and slapped his phone from his hands.
Attempting to interview Republican candidate Derrick Gates; the man who has threatened me earlier slapped my phone out of my hands. No police response. pic.twitter.com/9WytzjYZXO
— Sean Beckner-Carmitchel (@ACatWithNews) December 18, 2021
“It’s OK, buddy, it’s OK. I’m OK with it, really,” Gates can be heard telling the man. “He has a right to ask questions.”
Beckner-Carmitchel told the Tracker his phone was not damaged. He also said that a police cruiser was parked approximately 20 feet away from them during the incident, but officers did not approach them before or after and he did not file a police report.
As many as 20 journalists were investigated by a secretive U.S. Customs and Border Protection division beginning in 2017, according to a December 2021 report by Yahoo News.
The division, known as the Counter Network Division, would identify and vet individuals, including journalists, by pulling their email addresses, phone numbers and photos from their passport applications and running the information through multiple government databases.
Journalists known to have been investigated by the division include then-Politico reporter Ali Watkins, Associated Press reporter Martha Mendoza and Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington, according to the Yahoo News report.
In June 2017, a CBP agent named Jeffrey Rambo contacted Watkins as part of the division’s efforts to combat forced labor, but uncovered in the process that she had had a relationship with James Wolfe, then-director of security for the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Rambo told Yahoo News the vetting procedures were standard and he was not a “rogue agent,” as he was described in a 2018 Washington Post article about his interaction with and investigation into Watkins.
“All these things are standard practices that — let me rephrase that. All of the things that led up to my interest in Ali Watkins were standard practice of what we do and what we did and probably what’s still done to this day,” Rambo told Yahoo News.
Rambo said the division’s investigation into Wolfe, referred to as Operation Whistle Pig, was focused only on whether the security director was leaking classified information to Watkins or other journalists. (Wolfe was subsequently arrested and charged with lying to the FBI about his interactions with reporters.)
According to an FBI counterintelligence memo, 15 to 20 national security reporters were also swept up in the investigation, Yahoo News reported. A memo from the National Targeting Center disclosed that the division reached out to reporters at HuffPost, The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and the AP.
“I’m deeply troubled at the lengths CBP and DHS personnel apparently went to try and identify journalistic sources and dig into my personal life,” Watkins told Yahoo News. “It was chilling then, and it remains chilling now.”
Rambo, his supervisor Dan White and his co-worker were ultimately investigated by the inspector general, which referred its findings to a federal prosecutor for possible charges of misusing government databases and lying to investigators, the AP reported. The Justice Department declined to prosecute them.
AP Executive Editor Julie Pace sent a letter to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Dec. 13 urging the agency to explain why investigative reporter Mendoza was vetted through the government databases and identified as a potential confidential informant, the outlet reported.
“This is a flagrant example of a federal agency using its power to examine the contacts of journalists,” Pace wrote. “While the actions detailed in the inspector general’s report occurred under a previous administration, the practices were described as routine.”
Following Yahoo News’s initial report, Sen. Ron Wyden issued a statement to Yahoo News demanding that the DHS turn over the inspector general’s inquiry into the division’s operation. Wyden, a democrat, is the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, which oversees CBP.
“If multiple government agencies were aware of this conduct and took no action to stop it, there needs to be serious consequences for every official involved, and DHS and the Justice Department must explain what actions they are taking to prevent this unacceptable conduct in the future,” Wyden said.
Rep. Bennie Thompson, democratic chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, issued a statement calling for DHS to release information about the unit.
“If true, this abuse of government surveillance powers to target journalists, elected officials and their staff is deeply disturbing,” Thompson said. “The Inspector General must provide this report to Congress to enable critical oversight work."
According to Yahoo News, Justice Department policies on acquiring information from journalists pertain to issuing subpoenas, not searching through information already in the government’s possession.
“CBP vetting and investigatory operations, including those conducted by the Counter Network Division, are strictly governed by well-established protocols and best practices,” a spokesperson for the agency said in a written statement to Yahoo News.
This is not the first report of CBP monitoring journalists: In 2019, NBC 7 reported that Department of Homeland Security officials in San Diego had created a database of journalists, activists and attorneys who were involved in some way with the migrant caravan and had created dossiers on each individual.
In 2020, DHS compiled intelligence reports about the reporting and tweets of two journalists covering protests in Portland, Oregon, according to a Washington Post article. After the reports were made public, then-Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf ordered the office to cease all collection of information on journalists and announced an investigation into the reports.
On June 8, 2021, a subpoena seeking reporting materials was issued to Derek Dalton as part of his former role as president and general manager of CBS 2 News in Chicago, Illinois.
According to court documents, subpoenas identical to Dalton’s were served on the same date to CBS2 News’ parent company, Viacom CBS, reporter Dave Savini, and a non-entity as part of a lawsuit brought by a mother on behalf of her son who was allegedly beaten in a school bathroom with belts provided by his teacher, and the child’s relative, who is accused of the assault. All demanded footage from an interview with the child and with the relative, who answered questions from Savini after leaving a criminal court. CBS 2 aired a segment with the interviews in February 2019.
Plaintiffs in the lawsuit eventually withdrew the subpoena issued to Viacom-CBS on Oct. 21, redirecting it to CBS Broadcasting, Inc. (CBS2) and reissuing the subpoena to Dalton and Savini. Lawyers to the plaintiff also agreed to narrow the scope of the subpoenas, demanding only the video and audio outtake recordings of the interviews.
In objecting to the subpoenas, attorneys for CBS claimed Dalton was not currently employed by the company and was not an employee when he was issued the subpoena. The current status of Dalton’s subpoena is unknown but a motion to compel CBS2 to produce the footage was ultimately upheld on April 29, 2022.
In her decision to uphold the outlet’s subpoena, United States Magistrate Judge Sheila Finnegan wrote that “there is no federal common-law reporter’s privilege applicable in this case, and CBS 2 cannot withhold the requested audio/video outtakes on this basis.” The court ordered the outlet to produce the unreleased footage by May 13, 2022.
An unidentified San Francisco Chronicle photographer was robbed at gunpoint in West Oakland, California, on Dec. 3, 2021.
The Chronicle reported that the photographer was on assignment when multiple armed assailants stole two cameras before fleeing in a vehicle. An Oakland Police Department spokesperson said in a statement that the robbery was reported just before 3:30pm. Police officials also said the photographer was not injured during the incident. OPD did not immediately respond to requests for further comment.
I regret to report that a Chronicle journalist was robbed at gunpoint today while on assignment in West Oakland. We are relieved the photographer was not physically hurt. https://t.co/I9SJdVLq5M
— Demian Bulwa (@demianbulwa) December 4, 2021
“Any incident in which a person is robbed of their possessions at gunpoint is incredibly troubling,” Chronicle Editor in Chief Emilio Garcia-Ruiz said in a statement following the incident. “We are relieved that our colleague was not physically injured. We are a part of this community, and we will not retreat from providing the news and information it needs.”
This incident follows multiple other armed robberies involving news organizations in the Bay Area this year.
Most recently, on Nov. 24, a security guard hired for a KRON-TV news crew in Oakland was fatally shot during an attempted armed robbery. Kevin Nishita was killed after confronting an assailant who tried to steal the crew’s camera equipment.
Freelance photojournalist Jeremy Portje was arrested and charged with two misdemeanors and a felony while documenting a homeless encampment in Sausalito, California, on Nov. 30, 2021, according to an officer from the Sausalito Police Department.
Portje was filming for a documentary about homelessness in Marin County, according to the Pacific Sun, a weekly newspaper in the county. A witness identified as a volunteer at the encampment told the Pacific Sun that an officer was following Portje and deliberately stood in front of his camera as he tried to film.
The volunteer told the newspaper an officer grabbed Portje’s camera without provocation, and appeared to accidentally hit himself with the equipment.
“The officer reacted to the camera hitting him,” the volunteer told the Pacific Sun. “He started punching Jeremy.”
Portje attempted to defend himself from the blows but was quickly forced to the ground and placed under arrest, the newspaper reported. At some point during the altercation the officer threw Portje’s camera to the ground. No equipment damage was mentioned in initial reports of the incident.
In footage of Portje’s arrest published by the Pacific Sun, the photojournalist can be heard saying, “Why are they doing this? Because I asked them questions?”
Neither Portje nor his attorney responded to requests for comment.
Portje’s camera can be seen lying on the pavement behind him as two officers work to place him in handcuffs while a third keeps the growing crowd back as voices can be heard shouting “let him go” and “don’t hurt him.”
An officer from the Sausalito Police Department told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that Portje was arrested shortly after 5 p.m. and charged with resisting an executive officer, battery on a police officer and battery on a police officer with injury. If convicted on all charges, Portje faces up to $5,000 in fines, three years imprisonment or both.
Charles Dresow, a criminal defense attorney representing Portje, told the Pacific Sun the photojournalist spent the night in jail and was released the following morning on $15,000 bail.
“My journalist client ended up on the ground,” Dresow said. “It’s clear the Sausalito police used force to arrest a journalist. To say this is an outrage of constitutional proportions is an understatement.”
When reached for comment, Sausalito Mayor Jill Hoffman told the Tracker officers were called to the park to respond to a disturbance and that Portje had interfered with police activity, injuring a police sergeant in the process.
“We have shown that we support and respect the right to free speech,” Hoffman said. “What is unacceptable is impeding a police investigation and injuring a member of our department.”
Hoffman confirmed that Portje’s camera equipment was seized as evidence.
The Pacific Sun reported that the three officers who arrested him were the same officers who arrested two homeless people for camping in a park two weeks prior. According to the newspaper, Portje had recently made a public records request for the body camera footage from that incident.
An unidentified reporter for San Francisco-based broadcaster KRON4 News was robbed at gunpoint while reporting in downtown Oakland, California, on Nov. 24, 2021. The security guard accompanying the reporter was shot in the confrontation and later died from his injuries.
KRON4 reported that the news crew was covering a recent robbery where 12 thieves donning masks and hoods raided a nearby clothing store. According to police, an assailant attempted to steal the news crew’s camera equipment at 12:19 p.m.
The armed security guard, Kevin Nishita, was shot in the lower abdomen; the reporter was not physically injured. KRON4 reported that Nishita, a retired police officer, died from his injuries on the morning of Nov. 27.
Police and the broadcast station are offering a reward of $32,500 for information leading to an arrest of those involved in the shooting. The investigation is still ongoing as of press time, according to reporting by KRON4 reporter Will Tran.
Monday.
— Will Tran (@KRON4WTran) November 29, 2021
The search continues for our friend Kevin Nishita’s killers. pic.twitter.com/6qK4NtqoeC
Jim Rose, KRON4’s vice president and general manager, said in a statement that the station regularly uses security guards to protect their reporters in the field. In a statement released after Nishita’s passing, Rose said:
“We are devastated by the loss of security guard and our friend, Kevin Nishita. Our deepest sympathy goes to Kevin’s wife, his children, his family, and to all his friends and colleagues. This senseless loss of life is due to yet another violent criminal act in the Bay Area. We hope that offering a reward will help lead to the arrest of those responsible so they can face justice for this terrible tragedy.”
Multiple other armed robberies took place in the Bay Area earlier this year.
The station did not respond to a request for further comment.
The U.S. House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol subpoenaed phone records belonging to freelance photojournalist Amy Harris on Nov. 24, 2021. Harris filed a suit against the committee in December calling for the subpoena to be quashed.
According to Harris’ lawsuit, Verizon notified her on Dec. 2 that it had received a subpoena compelling the telecommunications company to produce: “All subscriber information and all call, text messaging, and other records of communications associated with Ms. Harris’ phone number for a period of almost three months between November 1, 2020 and January 31, 2021.”
Harris, who is a member of the National Press Photographers Association, primarily focused on travel and music photography prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Cut off from those subjects, the lawsuit states she began documenting protests following the police killing of George Floyd in May 2020 and political protests leading up to the November election.
Harris, who did not respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit, was struck with pepper balls and tear gassed while covering protests in Louisville Kentucky on June 1.
Harris was actively working on a project documenting the Proud Boys, a far-right extremist group, and their leader, Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, during the time frame covered by the subpoena, according to the suit, and was at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, when rioters stormed the building.
In the lawsuit, Harris says that she lost her phone amidst the chaos that day but it was recovered by an unidentified Proud Boys member who left it at the Hyatt Hotel for her to pick up.
The House Select Committee, established on June 30 chaired by democrat Rep. Bennie Thompson, issued a subpoena to Verizon for Harris’s phone records in November, ordering the company to turn over the documents by Dec. 8. Verizon notified Harris that unless it received a court document challenging the subpoena by Dec. 15, it would be forced to comply.
In the lawsuit filed on Dec. 15, Harris’s attorneys argued: “Not only do the telephone records sought by the House Select Committee intrude on the personal and privileged communications of a private citizen, but they also seek information sufficient to reveal the identities of Harris’ confidential sources and would impermissibly intrude on her protected newsgathering activities.”
It was not immediately clear whether the House Select Committee was aware the number belonged to Harris prior to issuing the subpoena, Politico reported.
The suit highlights apparent hypocrisy in the committee’s actions, pointing to Attorney General Merrick Garland’s July policy barring using subpoenas, warrants or court orders to obtain reporters’ records. Additionally, Thompson issued a statement on Dec. 13 stating the importance of not using government surveillance powers to target journalists.
The lawsuit calls for the subpoena to be quashed and for Harris to be awarded costs and attorneys’ fees. As of publication, no hearings have been scheduled in the case.
A portion of the subpoena issued to Verizon for phone records belonging to freelance photojournalist Amy Harris, who was documenting the Proud Boys, a far-right extremist group, and their leader, Henry “Enrique” Tarrio.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,1:21-cv-03290,['ONGOING'],Civil,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,journalist communications or work product,['PENDING'],None,None,Verizon,telecom company,subpoena,None,,"Donald Trump protest, election, Election 2020",,,,, "KATU camera operator assaulted, camera damaged amid Portland protests",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/katu-camera-operator-assaulted-camera-damaged-amid-portland-protests/,2021-11-22 02:26:24.376128+00:00,2022-08-04 20:20:12.922118+00:00,2022-08-04 20:20:12.836434+00:00,,"Assault, Equipment Damage",,,camera: count of 1,Unidentified photojournalist 13 (KATU News),,2021-11-19,False,Portland,Oregon (OR),45.52345,-122.67621,"At least two members of a KATU News crew were assaulted by a group of individuals while covering unrest in Portland, Oregon, following a high-profile jury verdict in Wisconsin on Nov. 19, 2021.
Protests began after a jury acquitted 18-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse of first-degree intentional homicide and four other felony charges for killing two men and wounding a third in Kenosha in August 2020. At that time, the city was the site of heightened Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests after a white police officer shot Jacob Blake, a Black resident, during a summer of ongoing civil unrest that followed the death of George Floyd, a Black man, at the hands of a white police officer in Minnesota in May. In 2020, Downtown Portland saw more than 100 straight days of protests, many centered around the Multnomah County Justice Center.
Protests were centered again around the justice center on Nov. 19. In a video published by KATU, an individual in black bloc — a technique of dressing in all black to avoid identification — can be seen crossing the street to where the news crew is standing and asks what the crew is filming. “The protest,” one of the journalists responds. The individual then asks why, to which the journalist responds, “To send a message for you.”
“You’re not trying to send our message,” the individual says. “You’re not here trying to get our message.”
During the interaction, approximately six other people approach the news crew, which begins to move down the street away from the protest. An individual appears to reach out and grab the journalist who was answering the questions, but a voice can be heard saying, “Let them walk.” At some point during the interaction, a smoke bomb appears to be activated in the center of the group.
Multiple individuals continued to walk alongside the crew, with one wrapping his arm around the first journalist, when a voice calls out “Stop filming,” to which a second person responds, “Yeah, we’re going to turn that camera off right now. We’re advising you to turn that camera off right now. Turn that fucking camera off right fucking now!”
As the camera operator attempts to continue walking away, another individual runs up to him screaming that he will break the camera. In the ensuing scuffle, there is an audible crack of something breaking.
KATU reported that the news crew was uninjured but the camera was damaged. Neither the station’s news director nor general manager could immediately be reached for comment. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker also documented the assault of one KATU photojournalist and damage to their equipment here.
The following day, Portland City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty released a statement upholding the right of the press to film and condemning the attack on the KATU news crew:
"I’m still learning the full details of what occurred last night but want to make it clear that attacking or intimidating the press is never acceptable, such as what happened to a KATU crew last night."
In 2020, the Tracker documented seven assaults of journalists covering protests surrounding the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha. Find documented aggressions against journalists following the November 2021 Rittenhouse verdict here and at Black Lives Matter protests here.
Individuals approach a KATU camera operator demanding that he stop filming during a protest in Portland, Oregon, that followed the high-profile acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse in Wisconsin on Nov. 19, 2021.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"court verdict, protest",,,,, "KATU journalist assaulted, crew harassed in Portland protest",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/katu-journalist-assaulted-crew-harassed-in-portland-protest/,2021-11-22 02:34:25.452322+00:00,2022-08-04 20:20:44.411649+00:00,2022-08-04 20:20:44.339236+00:00,,Assault,,,,Unidentified journalist 4 (KATU News),,2021-11-19,False,Portland,Oregon (OR),45.52345,-122.67621,"A KATU News crew was assaulted by a group of individuals while covering unrest in Portland, Oregon, following a high-profile jury verdict in Wisconsin on Nov. 19, 2021.
Protests began after a Kenosha jury acquitted 18-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse of first-degree intentional homicide and four other felony charges for killing two men and wounding a third in August 2020. At that time, the city was the site of heightened Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests after a white police officer shot Jacob Blake, a Black resident, during a summer of ongoing civil unrest that followed the death of George Floyd, a Black man, at the hands of a white police officer in Minnesota in May. In 2020, Downtown Portland saw more than 100 straight days of protests, many centered around the Multnomah County Justice Center.
On Nov. 19, 2021, protests were centered again around the justice center. In a video published by KATU, an individual in black bloc — a tactic of dressing in all black to avoid identification — crosses the street to where the news crew is standing and asks, “What are you guys filming right now?” “The protest,” one of the journalists responds. The individual then asks why, to which the journalist responds, “To send a message for you.”
During the interaction, approximately six other people approach the news crew, which begins to move down the street away from the protest. An individual appears to reach out and grab the journalist who was answering the questions, but a voice can be heard saying, “Let them walk.” At some point during the interaction, a smoke bomb appears to be activated in the center of the group.
Multiple individuals continued to walk alongside the crew, with one wrapping his arm around the first journalist, when a voice calls out “Stop filming,” to which a second person responds, “Yeah, we’re going to turn that camera off right now. We’re advising you to turn that camera off right now. Turn that fucking camera off right fucking now!”
As the camera operator attempts to continue walking away, another individual runs up to him screaming that he will break the camera. In the ensuing scuffle, there is an audible crack of something breaking.
KATU reported that the news crew was uninjured but the camera was damaged. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documented the assault of the camera operator and the equipment here. Neither the station’s news director nor general manager could immediately be reached for comment.
The following day, Portland City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty released a statement upholding the right of the press to film and condemning the attack on the KATU news crew:
"I’m still learning the full details of what occurred last night but want to make it clear that attacking or intimidating the press is never acceptable, such as what happened to a KATU crew last night."
In 2020, the Tracker documented seven assaults of journalists covering protests surrounding the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha. Find documented aggressions against journalists following the November 2021 Rittenhouse verdict here and at Black Lives Matter protests here.
An individual dressed in black appears to detonate a smoke bomb after confronting a KATU news crew that was documenting protests in Portland, Oregon, following the acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse in Wisconsin on Nov. 19, 2021.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"court verdict, protest",,,,, Multimedia journalist pushed by police officer while covering riot in Portland,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/multimedia-journalist-pushed-by-police-officer-while-covering-riot-in-portland/,2021-11-23 16:20:46.811569+00:00,2022-08-04 20:20:28.861847+00:00,2022-08-04 20:20:28.782531+00:00,,Assault,,,,Grace Morgan (Independent),,2021-11-19,False,Portland,Oregon (OR),45.52345,-122.67621,"Independent multimedia journalist Grace Morgan said that she was shoved by law enforcement officers while covering a protest in Portland, Oregon, following the acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse on Nov. 19, 2021.
National protests began after a jury acquitted 18-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse of first-degree intentional homicide and four other felony charges for killing two men and injuring a third in Kenosha, Wisconsin in August 2020.
At the time, Kenosha was the site of ongoing Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests after a white police officer shot Jacob Blake, a Black resident, nearly three months after George Floyd, a Black man, died at the hands of a white police officer in Minnesota in May.
According to the Associated Press, about 200 protesters gathered in Downtown Portland, near the Multnomah County Justice Center, and blocked streets, broke windows and damaged doors of city facilities. Portland police later tweeted that objects had been thrown at officers and the demonstrations declared a riot.
Press Release: Riot Declared After Violent, Destructive Crowd Gathers Downtown (Photo)
— Portland Police (@PortlandPolice) November 20, 2021
Link: https://t.co/BQKwWdoDyF pic.twitter.com/Fq0KxV0VUQ
Morgan, who was documenting the demonstrations, filmed a group of individuals confronting armed law enforcement officers in a parking garage. She told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she was walking on the sidewalk when a Portland police officer pushed her with with the body of his long form gun and told her to “get on the fucking sidewalk.”
The garage doors keep dramatically opening and closing leading to bouts of short rushes and lots of yelling - an officer shoves me with his gun and tells me to “get on the fucking sidewalk”, while I am indeed on the sidewalk, and pushes me more so towards it. pic.twitter.com/glRPcYgsQL
— Grace Morgan (@gravemorgan) November 20, 2021
“He came running out of a parking garage and turned the corner, and sort of ran into me,” Morgan said. “I immediately put my hands up and said very loudly ‘I’m press, I’m press!’ and that’s when he shoved me backwards with his gun.”
Morgan also said she was wearing a ballistic vest with “PRESS” clearly displayed on the front along with a reflective press badge and several other press credentials on a belt loop when the incident occured.
In 2020, the Tracker documented seven assaults of journalists covering protests surrounding the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha. Find documented aggressions against journalists following the November 2021 Rittenhouse verdict here and at Black Lives Matter protests here.
A Westchester County Supreme Court judge issued an order on Nov. 18, 2021, barring The New York Times from soliciting, acquiring or further disseminating leaked internal documents from conservative group Project Veritas.
The prior restraint was issued as part of a pending libel suit Project Veritas filed against the Times in 2020, which accuses the newspaper of defaming the group in its reporting on a Project Veritas video that made unverified claims of voter fraud in Minnesota, the Times reported.
The judge’s order specifically references a Nov. 11, 2021 article about the Department of Justice’s investigation into the alleged theft of a diary belonging to President Joe Biden’s daughter, Ashley. The article also contained excerpts from memos prepared by a Project Veritas lawyer advising members of the group how to avoid breaking federal law while using questionable reporting methods.
In issuing the prior restraint, Justice Charles Wood ordered the Times to appear before the state’s Supreme Court on Nov. 23 to “show cause” — to explain or prove why the court shouldn’t grant Project Veritas’s motion for an order directing the newspaper to “remove all references to or descriptions of Plaintiff Project Veritas’s privileged attorney-client information” and “return and/or immediately delete all copies.” Until it does so, the order directs the newspaper to “cease further efforts to solicit or acquire” any materials prepared by the Project Veritas lawyer, effectively preventing the outlet from reporting on the group.
“This ruling is unconstitutional and sets a dangerous precedent,” Dean Baquet, the executive editor of the Times, wrote in a statement published by the outlet. “The Supreme Court made that clear in the Pentagon Papers case, a landmark ruling against prior restraint blocking the publication of newsworthy journalism. That principle clearly applies here. We are seeking an immediate review of this decision.”
In a statement published by The Washington Post, Elizabeth Locke, an attorney representing Project Veritas in its suit against the Times, denied that the order amounted to a prior restraint, citing the fact that some of the materials had already been published.
Press freedom advocacy groups quickly refuted the assertion that the order was not prior restraint. Advocacy Director Parker Higgins of Freedom of the Press Foundation, where the Tracker is housed, noted the order not only restricts the Times from publishing further and requests that what has been published be pulled from circulation, but also bars the newspaper from engaging in routine newsgathering activities.
Bruce Brown, executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, also raised immediate concerns with the order.
“Prior restraints — which are orders not to publish — are among the most serious threats to press freedom,” Brown said in a statement. “The trial court should have never entered this order. If it doesn’t immediately vacate the prior restraint, an appellate court must step in and do so.”
A portion of the order granting a motion directing The New York Times to cease efforts to solicit, acquire or further disseminate leaked internal documents from conservative group Project Veritas.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,struck down,The New York Times,,,,,, Family Court judge quashes subpoena issued to former Honolulu Civil Beat reporter,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/family-court-judge-quashes-subpoena-issued-to-former-honolulu-civil-beat-reporter/,2022-08-11 19:29:51.547358+00:00,2022-08-12 14:31:29.094653+00:00,2022-08-12 14:31:29.000906+00:00,,Subpoena/Legal Order,,,,Kevin Knodell (Honolulu Civil Beat),,2021-11-17,False,Kapolei,Hawaii (HI),21.33555,-158.0582,"A Family Court judge in Kapolei, Hawaii, quashed a subpoena in 2022 that requested reporting notes, text messages and emails from former Honolulu Civil Beat reporter Kevin Knodell.
Knodell was issued the subpoena on Nov. 17, 2021, after publishing articles detailing Navy service member Jonathan Stremel’s claims that gender bias impacted a military investigation into child abuse allegations. Knodell extensively interviewed military officials, experts and Stremel’s wife’s lawyer, David Hayakawa, while investigating the claims.
According to Civil Beat, Stremel subpoenaed Knodell during his divorce case, and asked a judge to sanction Hayakawa for sharing full documents with Knodell, arguing the files were confidential.
A copy of the subpoena shows Stremel demanded a list of items, including published and unpublished documents, encrypted text messages between Knodell and his sources, and communications between Knodell and his editors.
Knodell, who now works for the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he is glad the case is finally settled and he can move forward with his life and other reporting.
“From a precedent standpoint, I hope this can be cited in other cases where reporters are harassed or attempts to use them as witnesses in court proceedings are made,” Knodell said.
Civil Beat General Manager Patti Epler told the Tracker that even though Hawaii doesn’t have a shield law and Knodell is no longer on staff, it was still in the news outlet’s best interest to fight against the order.
“The subpoena did not name Civil Beat, but there was no indication that it wouldn’t, and it didn’t seem right not to defend someone who had done good work for us and had done the reporting in good faith,” Epler said.
In a “Behind the Story” article for Civil Beat about the subpoena, Epler wrote that Judge Elizabeth Paek-Harris quashed the subpoena and denied any sanctions against Hayakawa in a March 2022 hearing. Paek-Harris ruled that providing Knodell documents from the divorce case was not a violation of any court rule. The final order was issued in July.
Epler said Civil Beat would continue protecting its reporters from these legal orders.
“It's really on us to defend our staff and argue against any kind of intrusion whether it's from the government or elsewhere.”
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to include comment from reporter Kevin Knodell.
On Nov. 6, 2021, FBI agents raided the Mamaroneck, New York, home of conservative group Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe as part of an investigation into the reported theft of a diary belonging to Ashley Biden, President Joe Biden’s daughter, The New York Times reported.
According to a statement published on Project Veritas’ website, the search came two days after raids had taken place at the homes of multiple individuals affiliated with the group, which describes itself as a non-profit investigative organization. The group is known for its hidden-camera sting operations that typically target liberal politicians and nonprofits, as well as news organizations including CNN and NPR.
O’Keefe, who did not respond to an emailed request for comment, said in an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity that the agents arrived at his home before dawn, placed him in handcuffs, seized two of his iPhones and searched his apartment for more than two hours.
“On my phone were many of my reporter's notes, a lot of my sources unrelated to this story and a lot of confidential information to our news organization,” O’Keefe said. “If they can do this to me, if they can do this to this journalist and raid my home and take my reporter notes, they’ll do it to any journalist.”
In the Fox News interview, Paul Calli, one of the attorneys representing O’Keefe, said the search warrant cited misprision of — or knowingly helping to conceal — a felony, accessory after the fact and transporting materials across state lines as the basis of the warrant.
Calli denied allegations that his client or Project Veritas was involved in the theft of Biden’s diary. O’Keefe confirmed that Project Veritas was approached by individuals claiming to possess the diary in 2020, but said in his statement that they had declined to publish its contents and had turned the diary over to law enforcement.
“It appears the Southern District of New York now has journalists in their sights for the supposed ‘crime’ of doing their jobs lawfully and honestly,” O’Keefe said, in reference to the judicial district in Manhattan. “Our efforts were the stuff of responsible, ethical journalism and we are in no doubt that Project Veritas acted properly at each and every step.”
Trevor Timm, the executive director of Freedom of the Press Foundation, where the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is housed, wrote on Twitter that the raid of O’Keefe’s home was concerning.
“This is worrying from a press freedom perspective—unless & until DOJ releases evidence [Project] Veritas was directly involved in the theft,” Timm wrote. “Because if there is none, then the raids could very well be a violation of the Privacy Protection Act.”
The Privacy Protection Act of 1980 states that a state and federal law enforcement cannot search for or seize journalistic work product or documentary materials under claims of probable cause if the alleged offense consists of the receipt, possession, communication or withholding of the materials or the information they contain.
“If you take it as true that they were given this diary by someone unknown to them and they chose not to publish it, this is kind of a classic journalistic situation,” said Jane Kirtley, a University of Minnesota law professor and former executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. “And what law enforcement should have done is issue a subpoena.”
Kirtley told the Tracker she agreed that regardless of the debates surrounding Project Veritas’ methods, the raid of O’Keefe’s home and the seizure of his phone could set a dangerous precedent.
“When we get in the business of government trying to decide when someone is a journalist and when someone isn’t, there’s always a danger that some definitions will be narrow and they will weed out a lot of people who deserve to have journalistic protections,” Kirtley said. “As troublesome as I find Project Veritas’ activities — and again, I do not defend any illegal conduct on their part at all — that is a separate question from whether or not they should be protected by these laws. And if they aren’t then I think all journalists are at risk.”
Another O’Keefe attorney, Harmeet Dhillon, told the Tracker that agents had executed the warrant despite O’Keefe’s attorneys having “indicated a willingness to cooperate and provide any information necessary.”
Dhillon tweeted on Nov. 11 that District Court Judge Analisa Torres had ordered that the Department of Justice halt its review of O’Keefe’s phones pending a ruling on their request for a special master — typically a retired judge without ties to the case — to be appointed to oversee the search of the devices.
"We are gratified that the Department of Justice has been ordered to stop extracting and reviewing confidential and privileged information obtained in their raids of our reporters, including legal, donor, and confidential source communications," Dhillon told Fox News.
In a statement released on Nov. 14, Brian Hauss of the American Civil Liberties Union expressed concern for the precedent that could be set by the case and urged the court to appoint a special master.
“Project Veritas has engaged in disgraceful deceptions, and reasonable observers might not consider their activities to be journalism at all,” wrote Hauss, who is a senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project. “Nevertheless, the precedent set in this case could have serious consequences for press freedom. Unless the government had good reason to believe that Project Veritas employees were directly involved in the criminal theft of the diary, it should not have subjected them to invasive searches and seizures.”
As of publication date, the court had not yet ruled on a special master.
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York told the Tracker it does not provide comment on pending cases.
For the purposes of the Tracker, O’Keefe identifies as a journalist, has a track record of publication and said the phones seized by the FBI contained his reporter’s notes. For more about how the Tracker counts incidents, see our frequently asked questions page.
Project Veritas founder James O'Keefe, speaking here at the Conservative Political Action Conference in early 2021, was detained by FBI agents at his home and his phones seized on Nov. 6.
",detained and released without being processed,not charged,FBI,None,None,False,None,None,None,in custody,True,law enforcement,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, Federal judge upholds subpoena demanding unreleased materials from Chicago’s CBS2 News,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/federal-judge-upholds-subpoena-demanding-unreleased-materials-from-chicagos-cbs2-news/,2022-05-12 16:45:02.203636+00:00,2022-05-12 19:14:56.227138+00:00,2022-05-12 19:14:56.127340+00:00,,Subpoena/Legal Order,,,,,,2021-10-26,False,Chicago,Illinois (IL),41.85003,-87.65005,"A federal judge in Chicago, Illinois, upheld a subpoena on April 29, 2022, compelling CBS2 News to produce raw, unpublished video and audio footage as part of a lawsuit brought by a mother on behalf of her son.
According to court documents, the subpoena ordered CBS2 News to produce footage collected after a reporter interviewed the child, who was allegedly beaten in a school bathroom with belts provided by his teacher, and the child’s relative, who is accused of the assault.
The subpoena was originally issued to CBS2 News’ parent company, ViacomCBS, in June 2021 but was withdrawn on Oct. 21 after ViacomCBS objected, arguing that the media company was not the custodian of the footage.
On Oct. 26, lawyers for the plaintiff reissued identical subpoenas to a former CBS2 news editor, reporter Dave Savini and redirected ViacomCBS’ original subpoena to CBS Broadcasting, Inc. also known as CBS2 News, for footage gathered for a segment that aired in February 2019.
CBS2 objected to all of the subpoenas, stating that all materials were privileged newsgathering information. Attorneys for CBS2 also cited federal and state reporter’s privilege statutes, saying that collecting the files would be “unduly burdensome to produce.”
Plaintiffs in the lawsuit then filed a motion to compel CBS2 to produce the footage but agreed to narrow the scope, demanding only the video and audio outtake recordings of interviews with the child and accused assailant.
In her decision, United States Magistrate Judge Sheila Finnegan upheld the CBS2 subpoena and granted the motion to compel. Finnegan wrote that “there is no federal common-law reporter’s privilege applicable in this case, and CBS2 cannot withhold the requested audio/video outtakes on this basis.” The court ordered the outlet to produce the unreleased footage by May 13, 2022. The status of the other subpoenas is unknown.
Zachary Petrizzo, an investigative reporter for Salon, was assaulted by a man while documenting a campaign rally for Virginia Republican gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin in Burke, Virginia, on Oct. 19, 2021.
Petrizzo told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he had arrived to cover the event and was speaking with Youngkin supporters and counterprotesters supporting his Democratic opponent, Terry McAuliffe, some of whom had set up a large inflatable chicken in the likeness of former President Donald Trump.
“This guy comes by initially, starts revving his engine in front of these McAuliffe supporters, these older women, turns his wheels towards them, and starts yelling at these women like he has road rage” Petrizzo said. He said the man drove away but quickly returned, and turned his ire toward the reporter.
“I’m standing pretty far away on a grassy patch and he approaches me and strikes me with his left hand, and strikes my camera and my hands,” Petrizzo said. “The whole thing caught me pretty off guard just because I didn’t think he’d lunge and actually strike.”
In a video posted to Twitter following the incident, a man can be seen approaching Petrizzo and shouting, “Get rid of that thing! You stupid fool, get rid of it!” referring to his camera. The man then swings at Petrizzo’s hand and cell phone, which he was using to film.
An irate Glenn Youngkin supporter just came over and punched my hand. pic.twitter.com/PdaMAtxE43
— Zachary Petrizzo (@ZTPetrizzo) October 19, 2021
He told the Tracker he was wearing a large press badge at the time of the attack and that his phone was not damaged.
Petrizzo wrote later that evening that he had filed a police report about the incident and that Fairfax County police were able to identify the man as a resident of nearby Annandale. Petrizzo told the Tracker he does not plan to press charges, but said he was concerned about the political climate that contributed to the assault.
“It highlights a political temperature that seemingly after Jan. 6 has continued to ratchet only louder and higher, in terms of these pro-Trump events,” Petrizzo said. “You really see the anger still that perhaps Trump sparked, but that is very much the Republican base: upset and willing to go to these extreme measures, whether it’s yelling at old women, revving your engine or striking a reporter.”
Freelance journalist Sergio Olmos said he was subjected to secondary screening and questioning about his journalistic credentials while re-entering the United States in Portland, Oregon, on Oct. 18, 2021.
Olmos, who did not respond to a request for comment, wrote on Twitter shortly after 7 p.m. that he “went through an extended security check” by U.S. Customs and Border Protection after landing at Portland International Airport.
Just went through an extended security check at CBP at PDX where the officer asked, with notepad in hand, where I went to journalism school.
— Sergio Olmos (@MrOlmos) October 19, 2021
I said it was none of his business, and so out came my underwear from my backpack.
“The officer asked, with notepad in hand, where I went to journalism school,” Olmos wrote. “I said it was none of his business, and so out came my underwear from my backpack.”
In a subsequent tweet, Olmos said a CBP officer searched his bag for approximately an hour with a supervisor watching, and refused to provide Olmos his name when asked. It was not immediately clear from Olmos’s posts whether he plans to file a complaint with the CBP Office of Internal Affairs.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented nearly 50 instances of journalists stopped at the border for secondary screening, asked intrusive questions about their work or been subjected to searches or seizures of their electronic devices. Find all instances of border stops here.
Painless Television, Inc., a California-based production company, was issued a subpoena by the state’s attorney of Cook County for unaired documentary footage as part of a wrongful-conviction hearing in Chicago, Illinois, on Oct. 18, 2021.
An attorney for the media company, Steven Mandell, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker the subpoena requested both published and unpublished footage from an episode of “Reasonable Doubt,” which aired on Investigation Discovery. The episode investigated assertions that Roosevelt Myles was wrongfully convicted of murder in 1996, and included interviews with his family members and neighbors, including a witness who claimed he could provide Myles an alibi. The episode aired in May 2020 and Myles was released from prison that July. The subpoena was issued by an assistant state’s attorney as part of the post-conviction hearing discovery process.
Mandell said Painless Television produced the documentary for Discovery Channel, which was itself subpoenaed in July 2021. The Tracker has documented that subpoena here.
“One of the things that the prosecutor did was not only ask for the as-broadcast version of the program but also any outtakes, including any footage of witnesses that were not broadcast,” Mandell said. “In response, the producers at Discovery were willing to give the as-broadcast version but maintained — appropriately in my view — that the outtakes were protected by the shield law.”
Discovery and Painless Television are headquartered in New York and California, respectively, states that have some of the strongest shield laws for members of the press in the country, Mandell said. Illinois, on the other hand, has a qualified privilege meaning that it can be overcome or “divested” under certain circumstances.
“We argued that if there’s a public interest involved it’s to protect the press,” Mandell said. “One of the roles the press plays is to shine a light on government, not to assist or facilitate government action. To preserve the flow of information from confidential or even non-confidential sources, the press has to assert its privilege and not be viewed as an arm or an instrument of the police.”
On June 27, 2022, Cook County Circuit Court Judge Carol Howard struck down the subpoenas against both Discovery and Painless Television. According to a court transcript reviewed by the Tracker, Howard found that the state’s attorney had failed to meet the requirements to overcome the reporter’s privilege.
“The State has not set forth the specific information that is sought and why that information is relevant to the proceedings. The State cannot say with any amount of specificity exactly what they are seeking,” Howard said. “And the State simply has not met the third requirement that requires you to exhaust all available sources of the information.”
Painless Television did not respond to messages requesting comment.
A California man pleaded guilty on Oct. 15, 2021 to a federal charge of sending threatening messages to a family member of a journalist reported to be George Stephanopoulos of ABC News. His indictment revealed the man had also messaged nearly 50 politicians and journalists, among them Brian Stelter of CNN.
According to the Department of Justice, Robert Lemke was arrested and charged on Jan. 26 by federal prosecutors with making threatening interstate communications to multiple victims from November 2020 through early January 2021.
Prosecutors said Lemke was angered by the results of the 2020 presidential election and allegedly sent threatening text messages to reporters, their family members and to Democratic New York Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, among others.
“Rather than peaceably disagree, Lemke allegedly threatened to harm those individuals’ families, demanding they retract their statements,” Manhattan U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said.
Prosecutors said Lemke used at least three different phone numbers and various electronic accounts in an attempt to mask his identity when sending the threatening messages.
Following Lemke’s guilty plea, Stelter revealed on his CNN talk show Reliable Sources on Oct. 17 that he was who prosecutors had labeled as “victim-1” in Lemke’s indictment. According to Stelter, Lemke sent him and his brother a series of text messages, including one that read, “You can either choose to dig the hole deeper or stop digging. Because we're not fu***** around.”
Stelter said on his program that in addition to those messages, Lemke sent voice messages and a picture of his father's gravesite before moving on to other victims, which Stelter said included other CNN journalists, politicians and a nonprofit CEO. He did not respond to a request for comment.
In thanking the FBI and prosecutors for their work, Stelter said harassment of journalists was pervasive.
“Threats and harassment hinder a free press,” he said. “So many reporters have stories like this one. They’re usually all bottled up, never shared with the public and never prosecuted by authorities. But this case, with dozens of victims, can be a statement.”
While the indictment does not name ABC chief anchor and Good Morning America co-host Stephanopoulos as one of Lemke’s victims, The New York Times reported that Lemke sent text messages to a relative of Stephanopoulos that read “Your brother is putting your entire family at risk with his lies and other words. We are armed and nearby your house.”
Lemke's sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 14, 2021. He faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson and Education Commissioner Margie Vandeven accused St. Louis Post-Dispatch journalist Josh Renaud of “hacking” a state website on Oct. 13, 2021, after Renaud reported a flaw in the website that exposed educators’ Social Security numbers. The following day, Parson announced an investigation into the alleged hacking and said the state would pursue criminal prosecution and a civil lawsuit against Renaud and the newspaper, the Post-Dispatch reported.
Renaud discovered the vulnerability on a website maintained by the state’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education while using a web application that allowed the public to search teacher certifications and credentials. While no private information was publicly visible, the Social Security numbers of 100,000 educators were contained in the HTML source code of the pages.
After identifying the flaw on Oct. 12, the Post-Dispatch reported the vulnerability to DESE and held Renaud’s report until the information was removed from the state website, according to the article.
In a letter sent to educators the following day, Vandeven characterized the journalist’s actions as hacking, though she did not identify Renaud by name. Vandeven alleged that, “Through a multi-step process, an individual took the records of at least three educators, unencrypted the source code from the webpage, and viewed the social security (SSN) of those specific educators.”
A cybersecurity professor at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, Shaji Khan, told the Post-Dispatch the data on the website had been encoded but not encrypted, making it easily accessible by anyone with a basic knowledge of web design and functionality.
On Oct. 14, Parson also asserted that Renaud was a hacker during a press conference, and said he had referred the case to the Cole County prosecutor and the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Digital Forensic Unit.
“This individual is not a victim. They were acting against the state agency to compromise teachers’ personal information in an attempt to embarrass the state and sell headlines for their news outlet,” Parson said. “We will not let this crime against Missouri teachers go unpunished and we refuse to let them be a pawn in the news outlet’s political vendetta. Not only are we going to hold this individual accountable but we will also be holding accountable all those who aided this individual and the media corporation that employs them.”
According to The Washington Post, the governor’s office indicated that Renaud may have violated a Missouri law against “tampering with computer data” — a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a $2,000 fine — and that another Missouri code allows a civil suit for damages.
When reached via email, Parson’s Communications Director Kelli R. Jones said she could not comment any more than what was already public, but provided the same Missouri statutes and a link to the Office of Administration’s press release.
“This information was not freely available, and there was no authorization given to tamper with computer data,” Jones said.
DESE Chief Communications Officer Mallory McGowin also declined to comment further and pointed to the OA press release, noting it is where the Information Technology Services Division is housed.
In response to an emailed request for comment from Renaud, the Post-Dispatch also declined to comment further, citing the ongoing investigation. In a statement provided by the outlet from Post-Dispatch Attorney Joe Martineau, he said Renaud acted responsibly by reporting his findings.
“A hacker is someone who subverts computer security with malicious or criminal intent. Here, there was no breach of any firewall or security and certainly no malicious intent,” Martineau said. “For DESE to deflect its failures by referring to this as ‘hacking' is unfounded. Thankfully, these failures were discovered.”
Freedom of the Press Foundation said Parson’s threats illustrate a fundamental misunderstanding of digital security.
“Whether expressly or unintentionally, this is an effort to intimidate a reporter who is doing important reporting and uncovering a newsworthy story,” said Parker Higgins, advocacy director at FPF, where the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is housed.
In an editorial responding to Vandeven’s assertions and Parson’s threats, the Post-Dispatch defended Renaud’s actions of alerting the state to the vulnerability and holding the story until the web feature was disabled.
“Predatory hackers don’t behave that way. Responsible journalists do. This is watchdog journalism at its finest,” the Editorial Board wrote. “The reactions by Parson and Vandeven seem designed to distract the public and hide the state’s embarrassment over its own gross negligence.”
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to reflect comments from the Missouri governor’s communications office and Margie Vandeven’s communications team.
A CBS4 Denver photographer was shoved by the University of Colorado’s head football coach after the team’s game on Oct. 2, 2021, at Folsom Field, in Boulder, Colorado.
In a video posted to Twitter, the unnamed CBS4 journalist captured the moment head coach Karl Dorrell shoved the camera down while he jogged off the football field.
things are going well for Buffs football... pic.twitter.com/oD41OS8DkD
— Ryan Greene 📷 (@RyanCBS4) October 2, 2021
CBS4 did not respond to a request for comment but reported that the photographer, who has covered sports for 25 years and had the appropriate press credentials to be on the field at the time of the incident, did nothing to incite the reaction from Dorrell. CBS Denver’s vice president and general manager Tim Wieland criticized Dorrell’s behavior, calling it “unacceptable and unprofessional.”
This is unacceptable and unprofessional. A shove like that to a photojournalist carrying a heavy camera, looking thru a viewfinder, can cause him to lose balance and get hurt or damage the equipment. @RickGeorgeCU https://t.co/zNr251cJ6w
— Tim Wieland (@CBS4Tim) October 2, 2021
Dorrell was not asked about the incident and did not mention it during his postgame press conference, as reported by the AP.
Later that day, the school’s athletic director, Rick George, took to Twitter to issue an apology on behalf of Dorrell, stating, “We treat journalists with respect and apologize for falling short of that today.”
Coach Dorrell sends his apologies to the local journalist who he intercepted after today’s game. We treat journalists with respect and apologize for falling short of that today.
— Rick George (@RickGeorgeCU) October 3, 2021
The following morning, after receiving criticism on social media for not addressing the incident personally, Dorrell issued his own statement on the school’s athletics page, apologizing to the photographer and attributing his reaction to his team’s fourth consecutive loss.
“I want to apologize for the incident at the end of our game Saturday. We do value the media and the coverage they provide for our program, and this was strictly in the heat of the moment,” the statement said. “That’s not who I am, and I hope people who have known me through the years do realize that. I did reach out and spoke directly this morning to the videographer from CBS-4 and personally apologized to him.”
University of Colorado’s athletic director did not respond to an emailed request for comment.
Bangladeshi journalist Farid Alam was physically attacked by individuals while at a press conference for the country’s ruling party, the Awami League, in New York City, New York, on Sept. 22, 2021.
Alam, the executive editor of News Communications Network, attended a news conference hosted by U.S.-based Awami League members, where Bangladesh Parliament member Abdus Sobhan Golap gave a briefing on the United Nations General Assembly.
Alam told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he asked the party leaders about the large delegation that accompanied Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to the General Assembly.
“I asked why they had 141 members in their delegation during a pandemic and why they had chartered a plane. They weren’t happy with my question and attacked me,” Alam told the Tracker.
A video posted to Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists’ Facebook page shows the Awami League members sitting on a stage, addressing Alam’s questions before individuals in the crowd begin shouting and confronting Alam.
When asked to translate the video, Alam said he was told he wasn’t allowed to ask questions. “I told them they held a press conference to answer questions. Then they started threatening me,” Alam said.
The video shows individuals rushing and grabbing at Alam from several directions. He said journalists around him quickly formed a circle in protection.
“They attacked me, kicking me multiple times, punching me,” Alam said. He said one man attempted to snatch his cell phone away and two people stole his wallet amid the struggle.
Alam said he was taken to Elmhurst hospital in Queens and treated for his injuries. Alam's son confirmed that he reported the assault to a New York Police Department detective but has not received an update on the case.
The following day, New York-based Bangladeshi journalists held a protest condemning Alam’s assault and announced a boycott against Awami League sponsored events at Diversity Plaza in Jackson Heights, Queens, a borough of New York City.
The USA Awami League could not be reached for comment.
Chase Peterson-Withorn, the deputy wealth editor for Forbes, was subpoenaed by the Manhattan District Attorney on Sept. 21, 2021, to testify in New York City before a grand jury in an ongoing investigation of former President Donald Trump’s finances.
Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance Jr. first launched the criminal investigation into Trump’s businesses in 2019, after Trump’s former attorney, Michael Cohen, testified before Congress that Trump manipulated the value of his wealth when seeking loans and preparing taxes.
Forbes Chief Content Officer and Editor, Randall Lane, was also subpoenaed and said in an interview on MSNBC’s Morning Joe that they had fought the order for three months until a judge ultimately ordered them to testify on Dec. 16, 2021.
“We think this is wrong, we didn’t want to testify, we don’t want to testify,” Lane said. “Think about the precedent that’s set here — how do you have an autonomous press if you’re supposed to testify about the people you cover regularly?”
After testifying, Lane wrote about the process in an article for Forbes. Peterson-Withorn, who declined to comment further but confirmed Lane’s reporting, testified after Lane for about five minutes. Prosecutors focused their questions on Peterson-Withorn’s 2017 reporting on the value of Trump’s New York City apartment.
“We revealed no new information during the testimony. If we were sitting on anything newsworthy, we would have already shared that with our readers,” Lane wrote in the article.
According to Lane, the questions asked by prosecutors were limited in scope and mostly to “yes or no” answers, but the “creeping use of subpoenas to undermine a free press” sets a dangerous precedent, he said.
“Reporters and prosecutors both serve the public, but in different ways. The latter shouldn’t trample on the efficacy of the former.”
Chief content officer and editor of Forbes, Randall Lane, was subpoenaed by the Manhattan District Attorney on Sept. 21, 2021, to testify in New York City before a grand jury in an ongoing investigation of former President Donald Trump’s finances.
Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance Jr. first launched the criminal investigation into Trump’s businesses in 2019, after Trump’s former attorney, Michael Cohen, testified before Congress that Trump manipulated the value of his wealth when seeking loans and preparing taxes.
Lane, who did not respond to a request for comment on the subpoena, said in an interview on MSNBC’s Morning Joe that he was asked to testify about his 2015 cover story chronicling Trump’s fixation with his estimated wealth and place in the magazine’s ranking of the 400 richest people in America.
In the interview, Lane said he and his attorneys fought hard against the subpoena for three months until a judge ultimately ordered him to testify on Dec. 16, 2021.
“We think this is wrong, we didn’t want to testify, we don’t want to testify,” Lane said. “Think about the precedent that’s set here — how do you have an autonomous press if you’re supposed to testify about the people you cover regularly?”
3 months ago, Cyrus Vance subpoenaed me to appear before the Trump grand jury. The Forbes legal team fought it all the way, but yesterday, I was compelled to testify about our reporting that’s already public, shared with the world. It’s a bad precedent. https://t.co/j2mhspjLx5
— Randall Lane (@RandallLane) December 17, 2021
Lane wrote in Forbes that the testimony lasted about 20 minutes. He answered questions strictly on the accuracy of previously reported stories, he said, including his reporting on Trump’s history with the Forbes 400 list and the methodology used to determine who the magazine names the nation’s richest people.
“To be clear, the original story transparently reported what Trump told us six years ago,” Lane wrote. “We revealed no new information during the testimony. If we were sitting on anything newsworthy, we would have already shared that with our readers.”
Lane added that while his testimony was limited in scope and mostly to “yes or no” answers, the order sets a dangerous precedent with the “creeping use of subpoenas to undermine a free press” and highlighted the recent subpoena of freelance photojournalist Amy Harris by the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 riots on the Capitol.
“Reporters and prosecutors both serve the public, but in different ways. The latter shouldn’t trample on the efficacy of the former.”
Border Report correspondent Sandra Sanchez was detained for 45 minutes and threatened with arrest by Laughlin Air Force Base military police in Del Rio, Texas, on Sept. 19, 2021.
Sanchez was photographing Laughlin Air Force Base signs outside the base’s gates while reporting on the Del Rio encampment, where more than 12,000 Haitian migrants seeking asylum had settled along the banks of the Rio Grande while waiting to cross into the United States from Mexico.
The day before, Department of Homeland Security officials had announced during a press conference that deportation flights carrying Haitian migrants would be departing from the Laughlin base’s airfields, which is located just east of the Del Rio border.
So I almost got arrested today by military police covering this story in Del Rio, Texas. I was detained for nearly an hour. Details in my #BorderReport blog. https://t.co/muGgvD4C8O
— Sandra Sanchez (@SandraESanchez) September 19, 2021
When asked for comment, Sanchez referred the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker to a Border Report blog detailing the incident. According to the post, Sanchez was not on the base when she took still photos and a short video of the military base sign when military police detained her, claiming she had illegally entered federal property.
Border Report stated there were no signs indicating where public property ended and the military base began. According to the blog, military police claimed base property extends north of the gates she was photographing.
A Val Verde County deputy sheriff was called to the base while Sanchez was being held but military police refused to release her. The deputy sheriff did not respond to phone messages seeking comment.
Before releasing her without charges, military police required that they witness her delete the photos and video of the base, the blog said.
Laughlin Air Force Base Public Affairs office did not respond to requests for comment by the Tracker.
Independent videographer and photographer Emily Molli was assaulted while gathering footage of an anti-vaccine rally outside Los Angeles City Hall in California on Sept. 18, 2021.
Molli told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she was doused with an oily substance and her camera equipment was damaged while covering what organizers called a “fight for medical freedom” rally.
She told the Tracker she had not initially planned on covering the rally because of recent violent eruptions that have occurred at these events but changed her mind and began photographing the speakers several feet away from the crowd. Molli estimated there were close to 50 people at the rally in addition to about two dozen others who were watching from the sidewalk.
Molli said she had not taken her cell phone or her usual press credentials and helmet labeled “PRESS” because her last-minute decision to photograph the event had not given her enough time to prepare.
However, after covering these rallies in the past, Molli said she believed other reporters covering the event would recognize her and at the very least her professional camera would identify her as a reporter.
According to Molli, she was gathering footage of the protest for approximately five minutes when an individual walked up behind her and started hovering over her shoulder.
This was the only shot I got at the park before I was accused of doxxing. Delusional. pic.twitter.com/76oKO7hlDT
— Emily Molli (@emilymolli) September 18, 2021
“I decided at that point I should probably just leave and I started walking away, when more people caught up with me,” Molli said.
The group continued to follow her, accusing her of “doxxing” people in the crowd and being part of the far-left-wing movement antifa.
“In the past, people would sometimes recognize me as a reporter and leave me alone but I knew there was no getting through to these people,” she said.
Molli said she tried to calm the group by telling them she supported freedom of expression and the right to peacefully assemble but by then a man had tried to take her camera out of her hands.
“I was filming just in case something happened — most of the time it does,” Molli said. “As I’m waiting to cross the street someone pumps up a super soaker full of glitter, some kind of oil, and water and shoots me in the back, the back of the head, and my camera.”
Molli managed to get away from the group and walked over to a police officer in a patrol car that had just arrived at the event. She reported the assault and equipment damage to the officer but was directed to file a police report online.
Knowing she wasn’t going to get a name or description of the masked individual who had doused her for the report, Molli said she walked away, but a woman continued to follow her, shoving a sign in front of her camera.
Molli told the Tracker she approached a man across the street from the rally and asked to borrow his cell phone to call her colleague. Molli, who distributes her work through wire services or directly to clients, said she essentially lost a full day of work after her camera was soaked. The substance got onto the camera lens and into the air vents but she will not know the full extent of the damage until she tries to use it again.
Molli said she did not intend to file a police report about the incident.
Erica Chiang, editor-in-chief for The Southland Journal, was told to stop filming and ordered to leave a city council meeting in Country Club Hills, Illinois, on Sept. 13, 2021.
Chiang told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she covered the city council meeting without incident until the public comments portion of the meeting. In an account for the Journal, Chiang wrote that when an alderman attempted to respond to an attendee’s comment, Mayor James Ford interrupted.
“That caused the crowd to get a little upset, and maybe two or three people were like, ‘Let him speak, let him speak,’” Chiang said. “So that prompted the mayor to try to shut down the meeting to the public.”
Ford ordered the room to be emptied, but Chiang said she remained seated and continued filming; when the mayor noticed her, he said she needed his permission to record and ordered that she be removed as well.
“I’m a member of the press,” Chiang can be heard saying in her recording of the incident. “This is a public meeting, I have every right to record a public meeting. I don’t need permission; it is a public meeting.”
According to the Illinois Open Meetings Act, “Any person may record the proceedings at meetings required to be open by this Act by tape, film or other means. The authority holding the meeting shall prescribe reasonable rules to govern the right to make such recordings.”
“It was a surprise that he would say I couldn’t record without his permission, considering the Open Meetings Act clearly spells out what I can and cannot do,” Chiang told the Tracker. “I was not obstructing, I was seated and I was just recording with my phone out as I had been.”
Chiang said she has been in contact with an attorney about the incident and is considering next steps.
Ford did not respond to an emailed request for comment.
Independent journalist Alissa Azar tweeted that she was chased and assaulted by a mob of Proud Boys wearing helmets and carrying shields as she covered a protest in Olympia, Oregon, on Sept. 4, 2021.
This is the moment I was attacked. You can’t see actually it happen but you can hear me screaming for them to get off of me as they celebrate my assault and encourage more. evac’d & out safely. I don’t wanna recap at the moment so I’ll update later. https://t.co/0c6bWzcm0J
— alissa azar (@AlissaAzar) September 5, 2021
Business Insider reported that the protest was organized near the state capitol as an anti-COVID-19 demonstration.
Video posted on Twitter shows the gang suddenly change direction and head towards Azar, shouting her name, surrounding her and pulling her to the ground.
She said on Twitter she had been walking with a group but had separated from them to walk a short distance when she was suddenly targeted by a group of about 50 Proud Boys.
In another video, members of the mob can be heard shouting “get her” and “whip her ass,” and then are seen leaving the scene laughing. Many of them are masked and wearing helmets and body armour.
Azar, who did not respond to a request by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker for a comment, tweeted right after the attack that people in a nearby bar in Olympia helped her get away. “I ran as fast as I could. They caught me and pulled my hair and shoved me to the ground then bear maced me.”
In a separate tweet she added: “Not OK and shaking, but safe now and have protection.”
The Olympia Police Department did not respond to a U.S. Press Freedom Tracker request for a comment.
The Mississippi State Department of Health removed freelance journalists from its media distribution lists in 2021, restricting their ability to attend press conferences and receive other announcements.
Kamesha Laurry, a legal fellow for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the group, which provides pro bono representation and other legal resources for journalists, became aware of the change in policy after a freelance journalist called the RCFP legal hotline in September 2021. According to Laurry, the journalist said the policy was limiting her access to the health department’s press conferences. RCFP is a member of the Tracker’s advisory board.
According to RCFP, the policy change bans freelance journalists from live press conferences, including about the ongoing pandemic, and other timely announcements. RCFP attorneys sent the State Department of Health a letter on June 24, 2022, objecting to the policy, saying it was revised without explanation and in violation of the First Amendment.
“No public justification was given for the change,” RCFP wrote. “Instead, members of the MSDH communications team told freelance journalists that they could, instead, stream press conference recordings via MSDH’s website hours after the live event occurs.”
The RCFP letter also argues that the policy is unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment, which provides equal protection and due process.
“Indeed, freelance journalists are members of the press just like their ‘affiliated media’ peers and should not be placed at a disadvantage simply because they are not working full-time for a single media outlet or newsroom,” RCFP wrote.
The Mississippi State Department of Health did not respond to a request for comment.
NBC News correspondent Shaquille Brewster was interrupted and confronted by a man while reporting live on the aftermath of Hurricane Ida in Gulfport, Mississippi, on Aug. 30, 2021.
In the news segment, as Brewster begins reporting on the scene, a white pickup truck pulls up and a man in a white shirt runs toward the news crew. Brewster then moves slightly toward his left so that the camera pivots away from the man, but as he continues to speak, the man’s shouting can be heard off camera. As Brewster tosses it back to MSNBC anchor Craig Melvin, the man enters the frame and yells in Brewster’s face, seemingly reaching for him or his microphone, before the segment cuts away.
“Brewster used his forearm to shield himself as the man walked back up to him and incoherently rambled ‘report accurately!’ before the producer and the photographer were able to separate the men,” according to an NBC News article on the incident. “The heckler then left.” Brewster confirmed these details with the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
After the incident, Melvin provided an update on air. “You probably saw or heard a few moments ago, one of our correspondents was disrupted by some wacky guy during his live shot there in Mississippi. Pleased to report that Shaquille Brewster is just fine. Shaq is okay.”
“Appreciate the concern guys,” Brewster wrote on Twitter after the incident. “The team and I are all good!”
Appreciate the concern guys. The team and I are all good!
— Shaquille Brewster (@shaqbrewster) August 30, 2021
In a tweeted news release from Aug. 30, the Gulfport Police Department requested the “public's assistance in identifying a suspect that was causing a disturbance during a live news feed” and within the hour, the department reported that the individual has been identified.
According to a 3:14 p.m. tweet the following day, Gulfport police stated that “arrest warrants were issued... charging [the man] with two counts of Simple Assault, one count of Disturbance of the Peace, and one count of Violation of Emergency Curfew.” The man was booked into the Montgomery County jail, according to NBC News.
The Gulfport Police Department did not respond to requests for comment.
Traverse City Record-Eagle reporter Brendan Quealy was shoved to the ground and punched in the face while covering an anti-mask demonstration near Traverse City, Michigan, on Aug. 26, 2021.
Quealy told the Record-Eagle that he arrived at the Silver Lake Recreation Area at 6:15 p.m. to cover an event organized by a group called Citizens Liberating Michigan. When the event began, one of the organizers announced to the crowd of 80 to 100 that filming would not be permitted, and specifically addressed Quealy.
“There’s no reporting, Brendan,” the organizer said, according to the Record-Eagle. “We don’t authorize that. So, you guys feel like standing in front of him? Because we’re on private property here because we have that rented. That would be great.”
Two men approached him, Quealy told the outlet, telling him to leave and pushing him. One of the men then shoved him into a wooden fence and punched him in the face with both fists before others in the group intervened to stop the attack.
The Record-Eagle reported that the Grand Traverse County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the incident.
“We are interviewing witnesses and a report will be forwarded to the prosecutor’s office probably Monday or Tuesday,” Sheriff Tom Bensley told the newspaper. “I know the concern you have.
“There are some people out there that are not happy with the news outlets. We’ve had two incidents in a short period of time,” Bensley said, referencing the June 7 assault of a television crew at an event with Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
The Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to an emailed request for further information.
Quealy declined to comment when reached via email, citing the sheriff’s ongoing investigation. He told the Detroit Free Press: “My job is to chase the news, to accurately report it and that's what I was doing.”
Record-Eagle Executive Editor Nathan Payne denounced the assault and the rise in aggression toward journalists doing their jobs in a statement to the outlet.
“Our journalists have an important job rooted in public service,” he said. “They should be able to go to work without fear of being attacked for doing nothing more than asking questions, gathering facts and telling truths.”
Freelance journalist Shane Burley was shot with an airsoft gun projectile while on assignment for digital outlet Truthout documenting clashes between right- and left-wing protesters in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 22, 2021.
Far-right demonstrators had planned for the “summer of love” protest in support of the “political prisoners” of the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection to take place downtown, The Intercept reported, but had moved the location that morning to an abandoned Kmart parking lot in east Portland following the announcement of several counterprotests.
The Portland Police Bureau announced ahead of the dueling demonstrations that officers would not intervene in any resulting clashes.
“You should not expect to see police officers standing in the middle of the crowd trying to keep people apart,” Chief Chuck Lovell said in a statement. “People should keep themselves apart and avoid physical confrontation.”
Burley told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he started the day covering the antifa counterprotest in downtown Portland, where approximately 200 young people in black bloc had gathered. When some in the crowd began talking about making their way to the far-right demonstration in the neighborhood of Parkrose, Burley said he drove over as well.
“I pull up into the parking lot on the south side and can see that [the Proud Boys] are mostly in front of the Kmart on the north side,” Burley said. “So I stop, I see KGW — which is an NBC affiliate — and I stop and I say, ‘Hey, I’m a reporter on assignment. What’s the safe way to go in here?’ And they’re like, ‘There is no safe way. They just flipped a van over there.’”
Burley said he parked at a Wendy’s across the street and then ran over to begin documenting the demonstration.
“Within a few minutes of being there, a couple of activist people came up behind me and they were shouting or something and then people started shooting what I think is paintballs,” Burley said. “I’m holding a bulletproof helmet, so I just put that in front of my face but I get hit five or six times.”
Shortly after 5 p.m. Burley posted a clip to Twitter of the incident, which begins with him swearing as he is struck.
I got hit with a paintball. They are shooting paintballs and pepper spray at press and demonstrators. pic.twitter.com/CgFYB5otcO
— Shane Burley (@shane_burley1) August 23, 2021
In another tweet, Burley clarified that he was not sure what type of projectile had struck him, but may have been a rubber ball fired from a paintball gun. He retweeted a video posted by Portland Tribune reporter Zane Sparling showing someone in fatigues firing a paintball gun at people off-screen.
“I was hit by this, they were aiming them at protesters and next at press. I clearly had a press badge on, as did all the press shot,” Burley wrote. The Tracker was not able to confirm whether other journalists were struck during the demonstration.
Burley told the Tracker he felt deliberately targeted because in addition to his press badge, the helmet he held in front of his face was labeled “PRESS” and he shouted out that he was press before and while he was being shot.
“There’s no way that he didn’t think that I was press, plus it was a press group that they opened fire on,” Burley said. “None of this was justifiable.”
Burley said he has not filed a police report about the incident.
Independent journalist Maranie Staab was assaulted multiple times and several pieces of her equipment were damaged while she was covering clashing demonstrations in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 22, 2021.
Far-right demonstrators had planned for the “summer of love” protest in support of the “political prisoners” of the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection to take place downtown, The Intercept reported, but had moved the location that morning to an abandoned Kmart parking lot in east Portland following the announcement of several counterprotests.
The Portland Police Bureau announced ahead of the dueling demonstrations that officers would not intervene in any resulting clashes.
“You should not expect to see police officers standing in the middle of the crowd trying to keep people apart,” Chief Chuck Lovell said in a statement. “People should keep themselves apart and avoid physical confrontation.”
Staab told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she was covering the planned demonstration for the Russian video news agency Ruptly and had arrived at the demonstration before its 2:30 p.m. start. Staab said that approximately 200 demonstrators had gathered, and the general mood was calm as the crowd listened to speeches from a platform.
At around 4 p.m., Staab said, tensions rose when left-wing counterprotesters in black bloc arrived; far-right demonstrators began firing airsoft guns and antifascists responded with fireworks and clouds of mace.
Staab told the Tracker that when both sides fell back, many of the journalists present found themselves in the middle of a no-man’s land between the two groups.
“I was first sprayed with something from behind — I didn’t see the person so I only saw it in a video — with what I thought was WD-40,” Staab said, referring to a rust-prevention spray. “It definitely wasn’t mace. Someone else said it was hornet spray or wasp spray or something.”
Footage of the incident shows an individual quickly running past her and deliberately targeting her with the spray.
Not long after the initial attack, Staab said, an antifa protester approached her and began belittling her personally, accusing her of endangering the community with her recent trip to Colombia and calling her a “slut.”
“That group has never liked being documented. There’s been 10 to 15 that have been on the ground pretty consistently for the past year,” Staab said. “There are people that take particular issue with me.”
Antifascists threatened to "smash cameras" of journalists, and targeted @MaranieRae personally.
— Ford Fischer (@FordFischer) August 23, 2021
She approached to speak to their group, and they shot paint and mace at her and threw her on the ground.
As she recovered, one shot more paint at both her and press helping her. pic.twitter.com/XKgDxvFc5D
Staab said the demonstrator told her to stop filming the group, but she refused.
“Pretty immediately someone grabbed my cell phone out of my hand — it was on a little, small gimbal — threw it on the ground and smashed it,” Staab said. “Then someone pulled me down by my camera strap, which was on my right arm.”
Staab said when she tried to get up, individuals also threw a paint-filled balloon at her and maced her. Several other journalists then led Staab away from the counterprotesters and aided her in rinsing her eyes.
“It is only because of my colleagues that I got out of there OK,” Staab said.
Journalist @MaranieRae has been injured, receiving treatment from medics now during street clashes between Proud Boys and Antifa in Portland. pic.twitter.com/RjBK5rP4YX
— Zane Sparling (@PDXzane) August 22, 2021
Footage captured by News2Share co-founder Ford Fischer shows that while the journalists were helping Staab, another individual approached the group of journalists and sprayed them with purple paint. Some of the paint obscured Fischer’s lens, hindering his ability to continue covering events that day. The Tracker has documented his equipment damage here.
In Fischer’s footage, Staab’s press credential can be seen on a lanyard around her neck. Staab told the Tracker she sat on a curb for at least an hour to an hour and a half recovering from the mace before she was able to safely leave the area and return home.
In addition to the deliberate damage to her cellphone, Staab said the gimbal it was on is gone, her fall caused a crack in her camera lens and her Canon DSLR body was damaged by the paint balloon.
“This rounded out a year for me and others where we’ve been assaulted by the police, by persons on the right and now this,” Staab said. “To me this is really just an underscore of how dangerous this job has become.”
Staab told the Tracker she doesn’t intend to file a police report about the incidents.
A demonstrator sprayed the camera of Ford Fischer, co-founder and editor-in-chief of News2Share, with paint while he was documenting demonstrations in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 22, 2021.
Far-right demonstrators had planned for the “summer of love” protest in support of the “political prisoners” of the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection to take place downtown, The Intercept reported, but had moved the location that morning to an abandoned Kmart parking lot in east Portland following the announcement of several counterprotests.
The Portland Police Bureau announced ahead of the dueling demonstrations that officers would not intervene in any resulting clashes.
“You should not expect to see police officers standing in the middle of the crowd trying to keep people apart,” Chief Chuck Lovell said in a statement. “People should keep themselves apart and avoid physical confrontation.”
Fischer told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that far-right demonstrators had gathered and started drinking beer in the parking lot, with speeches beginning at approximately 2:30 p.m. After an hour and a half, Fischer said, tensions rose and conflicts began breaking out when some counterprotesters in black bloc arrived at the Kmart.
“Very suddenly everything changed tone,” Fischer said. “You had Proud Boys who were beginning to shoot paintballs and so forth at these antifascists, who were shooting mace and fireworks.”
At approximately 4:10 p.m., according to Fischer’s livestream, one of the counterprotesters approached independent journalist Maranie Rae Staab and began shouting at her. When Staab attempted to speak with the counterprotester, another protester grabbed and destroyed her phone while others threw her to the ground, maced and struck her with a paint balloon.
“We, the rest of the media, sort of pulled her away from them,” Fischer said. “As she was recovering, one person in black bloc approached and sprayed all of the press with paint again.”
Fischer said it appeared that the individual was using a fire extinguisher filled with paint, adapting what he said was a common leftist tactic of using paint balloons to mark “combatants” or damage electronic devices.
Antifascists threatened to "smash cameras" of journalists, and targeted @MaranieRae personally.
— Ford Fischer (@FordFischer) August 23, 2021
She approached to speak to their group, and they shot paint and mace at her and threw her on the ground.
As she recovered, one shot more paint at both her and press helping her. pic.twitter.com/XKgDxvFc5D
Fischer told the Tracker that his 4K video camera was caught in the paint spray, covering the lens with drops of paint that hindered the auto-focus and disrupted his coverage of the clashes.
“The end result is that a lot of the footage that came since then was blurry and obscured by paint,” Fischer said. “It was not long after that assault that the Proud Boys piled on this individual who appeared to be a leftist in a vehicle transporting water bottles.
“While there was a lot of incredible photography of that incident, I think that my video is probably still the best recording of that and frankly it’s quite impeded, it’s probably not as decisive or clear as to who did what as it would have been if that hadn’t happened.”
Fischer said that while he was able to clean most of the paint off the lens, there is still paint in the mechanisms on the side of the camera and he will need to have it professionally cleaned.
Fischer told the Tracker he has not filed a police report about the incident.
While documenting opposing demonstrations in Portland, Oregon, a demonstrator sprayed the camera of Ford Fisher, co-founder and editor-in-chief of News2Share, disrupting his ability to cover the clashes.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,protest,,,,, Reporter subpoenaed to give evidence at Missouri murder trial,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-subpoenaed-to-give-evidence-at-missouri-murder-trial/,2021-09-15 19:30:33.057676+00:00,2021-09-15 19:30:33.057676+00:00,2021-09-15 19:30:33.019763+00:00,,Subpoena/Legal Order,,,,Gladys Bautista (KRCG 13),,2021-08-20,False,Columbia,Missouri (MO),38.95171,-92.33407,"A judge in Missouri has allowed a reporter to be subpoenaed to give evidence at a murder trial.
The prosecutors have subpoenaed Gladys Bautista, a former reporter for CBS affiliate KRCG 13 in Columbia, Missouri. Bautista, now a reporter for WLKY in Louisville, Kentucky, will be asked to return to Columbia to attend the trial, according to a report by KRCG.
The Boone County prosecutor’s office confirmed that the court had signed an order for the subpoena on Aug. 20, 2021.
Prosecutors charged Joseph Elledge with first-degree murder in the 2019 death of his wife, Mengqi Ji.
Prosecutors said exclusive interview footage with Bautista showed Elledge was lying when he said he didn’t know his wife’s whereabouts after reporting her missing.
The murder trial is scheduled to begin on Nov. 1, the report said.
Bautista and KRCG did not reply to requests from the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker for a comment.
Twitter temporarily suspended the account of Christina Pushaw, press secretary to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, on Aug. 20, 2021, for violating rules on abusive behavior after a series of her tweets incited harassment and online violence against an Associated Press reporter, according to the outlet.
Florida-based AP reporter Brendan Farrington published a story on Aug. 17, noting that a major funder of the DeSantis campaign invests in Regeneron, a COVID-19 treatment drug that DeSantis has promoted in Florida.
According to the AP and the Tampa Bay Times, Pushaw retweeted Farrington’s article and wrote “Drag them” in a now-deleted post.
AP reported that the press secretary wrote in another tweet that if Farrington didn’t change a story, she would “put you on blast.” She also retweeted a message that said “Light. Them. Up.” in reference to the AP.
Pushaw’s Twitter account was locked for 12 hours after Farrington tweeted that he had received online threats and hate messages about the story. He said: “For your sake, I hope government doesn’t threaten your safety. I’ll be fine, I hope. Freedom. Just please don’t kill me,” according to the AP report. According to the outlet Florida Politics, Farrington said he received death threats.
Pushaw denied trying to direct the governor’s followers to target the AP reporter. She said her “drag them” comment was social media slang and was not meant as a violent threat. She said she deleted it because she didn’t want it to be misinterpreted, according to the AP.
When asked for comment, Pushaw told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: “Criticizing unethical and misleading reporting isn’t ‘harassment’.”
AP’s incoming CEP, Daisy Veerasingham, wrote to DeSantis saying the actions of the press secretary were “both dangerous and in conflict with Florida’s constitutional protections for freedom of speech and of the press.”
Veerasingham also wrote that this kind of harassing behavior can “cause great harm.”
DeSantis responded with an official letter calling the AP story “a false narrative” and the blowback “deserved.”
Brian Carovillano, AP’s vice president and managing editor, said: “This is not pushback, it’s harassment. It’s bullying. It’s calling out the trolls at somebody who is just doing his job and it’s putting him and his family at risk.”
The Tracker approached Twitter and Farrington for comments, but received no response. AP referred the Tracker to the published story.
Farrington’s tweets are now restricted, so the Tracker was not able to see his posts about the incident.
Danny Rivero, a reporter for south Florida’s NPR and PBS stations, WLRN Public Media, was assaulted after taking a photo of anti-mask demonstrators in Miami, Florida, on Aug. 18, 2021.
Rivero, who did not respond to messages requesting comment, wrote on Twitter he was covering protests against coronavirus mandates outside the Miami-Dade County Public Schools headquarters. At 6:45 p.m., Rivero said he had just been assaulted by a man he identified as a member of the Proud Boys, a violent far-right group.
Was just assaulted for doing my job at an anti-mask mandate protest @MDCPS headquarters by this Proud Boy in the yellow, for taking this photo. (I took many photos of many people on the scene.)
— Danny Rivero (@TooMuchMe) August 18, 2021
Some @MiamiPD officers came and pushed the Proud Boys off of me. No arrests. pic.twitter.com/GIm9Zn7bUw
In Rivero’s police report about the incident, reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, he said that he was approached by three suspects, one of whom grabbed him by the arm and pushed him, telling him, “I will fuck you up!"
“The police escorted me across the street, and for a minute all eyes were on me on both sides of the line. But it’s not about me, it’s about the story,” he wrote in a follow-up tweet. Rivero added that he was “totally fine” and was able to continue conducting interviews and photographing the demonstrations.
The Miami Police Department confirmed to the Tracker that Rivero filed a police report about the incident on Aug. 19.
Frank Stoltze, a correspondent for the NPR station KPCC and LAist, was threatened, shoved and kicked while covering an anti-vaccine protest outside LA’s City Hall on Aug. 14, 2021.
Demonstrators had gathered for a rally advertised as a “stop socialism, choose freedom march against medical tyranny” to protest COVID-19 vaccination requirements and mask mandates, Stoltze wrote in an account for LAist. Stoltze, who did not respond to an emailed request for comment, wrote that demonstrators carried pro-Trump flags, signs calling for the recall of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and other signs and banners.
While the demonstration on the south lawn of the City Hall grounds remained peaceful, Stoltze told LAist that some fights broke out on the edges of the rally.
“Just a few steps into the park, I noticed a man with a bloody bandage on his head,” Stoltze wrote. “I asked what had happened and he said he’d gotten into a fight with ‘antifa.’”
Stoltze wrote that he identified himself as a journalist and asked the man if he’d be willing to be interviewed; the man declined. When Stoltze asked if he’d be willing to speak anonymously, the men with the injured man immediately started cursing at and threatening Stoltze.
Something happened to me today that’s never happened in 30 yrs of reporting. In LA. @LAist I was shoved, kicked and my eyeglasses were ripped off of my face by a group of guys at a protest - outside City Hall during an anti-vax Recall @GavinNewsom Pro Trump rally. pic.twitter.com/6s2Jfm8Xrg
— Frank Stoltze (@StoltzeFrankly) August 15, 2021
“One shoved me in the chest. Another came from behind, grabbed my hat, and ripped my prescription sunglasses off my head,” Stoltze wrote. “As I turned to leave, I told them I was going to find a cop. They called me an anti-gay slur and ‘little bitch.’”
Footage captured by journalist Andrew Kimmel shows part of the attack; as Stoltze walked away from the group of men, they followed him. Someone also ran up behind Stoltze and kicked him. According to Stoltze’s written account, the same man later knocked his phone out of his hands while Stoltze tried to film the man harassing others. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker was unable to determine whether Stoltze’s phone was damaged.
“I was attacked,” Stoltze wrote. “I’m fine. But I’m mad as hell.”
The LAPD confirmed that Stoltze filed a police complaint, HuffPost reported. According to LAist, no arrests have been made in connection with the assault.
Independent journalist Tina-Desiree Berg was assaulted while covering an anti-vaccine protest outside LA’s City Hall for the online outlet Status Coup on Aug. 14, 2021.
Demonstrators had gathered for a rally advertised as a “stop socialism, choose freedom march against medical tyranny” to protest COVID-19 vaccination requirements and mask mandates, LAist reported. Demonstrators carried signs from a cross-section of movements, including pro-Trump banners, signs calling for the recall of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and other signs and banners. While the demonstration on the south lawn of the City Hall grounds remained peaceful, according to LAist, some fights broke out on the edges of the rally.
Berg told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she arrived approximately 45 minutes before the violence began and was standing across from the Los Angeles Police Department headquarters with a few other journalists. In footage Berg posted shortly after 2:30 p.m., a group of men can be seen gathering in a line as multiple people call out “Fuck antifa!”
At 0:22 in the clip, a man can be seen running up to Berg, pulling down his mask and saying “Hey bitch” before appearing to strike out at Berg and her camera; Berg said the man punched her and struck her camera. Another demonstrator intervenes and pulls the man away as Berg makes her way back to the sidewalk.
A few moments later, as a brawl appears to break out between the anti-vaccine demonstrators and counterprotesters, a second man runs up to Berg and attempts to pull the mask off her face while shouting, “Unmask them! Unmask them all!”
Anti-vaxxers in LA yell "Fuck Antifa" as one ATTACKS journalist @TinaDesireeBerg, who was injured as a result while reporting. More footage to come from fights that broke out. pic.twitter.com/hHfuesJ38L
— Status Coup News (@StatusCoup) August 15, 2021
A photo of the incident shows the man pulling down Berg’s goggles and face mask; Berg’s press credentials can be seen on a lanyard around her neck.
Berg told Democracy Now that she will not let the increasing violence, especially incidents targeting the press, prevent her from covering protests across California.
“People need to see what’s going on and if I let [the Proud Boys] control what I do then they sort of win the conversation,” Berg said. “They don’t want the press, they don’t want people filming them, they don’t want to be exposed for their violent actions. And so the intention of what they’re doing is to try to silence me and other journalists like me from covering what they’re doing and I absolutely am not deterred from doing it. I will be much more aware, take more security precautions.”
Berg told the Tracker she has not filed a police report about the incident, but plans to speak with the special investigations unit about it and the assault she witnessed of videographer Rocky Romano on July 3.
This article has been updated to include comment from the journalist.
Jake Lee Green, an independent video journalist for News2Share, a collective that sells footage to news outlets, was slapped, kicked and sprayed with a chemical irritant while covering an anti-vaccination rally in Los Angeles, California, on Aug. 14, 2021.
Green told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was covering the “stop socialism, choose freedom march against medical tyranny” rally, a demonstration outside LA’s City Hall, where demonstrators gathered to protest against mask and vaccination mandates.
When counterprotesters arrived, Green moved away from the gathering to record a brawl that had broken out on the outskirts of the rally. Footage of the incident shared on Twitter shows an individual slap Green, who was wearing a black ballistic helmet and flak jacket, both labeled “PRESS.”
Video footage shows the same person then swinging a helmet at Green while a second individual kicked Green and then grabbed at his camera in an attempt to pull it away. In footage captured by Green, he is heard identifying himself as a journalist.
Green said he backed away from the crowd to readjust his camera equipment and refocus his camera on the escalating violence when someone sprayed him with pepper gel.
“I couldn't see anything and then I felt someone grab my camera, start pulling at it, and that’s when my mic broke off and damaged the screen on the side,” Green said.
Green said the attack damaged his microphone but he attempted to keep recording until the pain from the irritant became unbearable.
Green told the Tracker he did not file a police report about the incident. At least two other journalists were assaulted by individuals during the rally.
A San Luis Obispo County superior judge quashed a subpoena seeking testimony and reporting materials from freelance reporter and podcast host Chris Lambert during hearings around the 1996 disappearance and murder of a California Polytechnic State University student.
Lambert’s 2019 podcast, “Your Own Backyard,” chronicled his independent investigation of the murder of Cal Poly student Kristin Smart. In the span of 10 episodes, he interviewed new witnesses whom law enforcement officers had cited as “valuable” in their decision to arrest Paul Flores and his father, Ruben Flores, two longtime suspects in the case.
On Aug. 10, 2021, during preliminary hearings in the case, Paul Flores’ defense attorneys served Lambert, who was present in the courtroom covering the hearings as a member of the press, with an order to testify. The order also demanded he turn over confidential interview recordings, emails and notes gathered in the course of producing the podcast. Flores’ attorney argued Lambert had used “the cloak of a journalist” to try to influence the proceedings.
Lambert’s attorney, Diana Palacios, filed a motion to quash the order on Aug. 23, citing First Amendment privileges granted to the press as well as California’s reporters’ shield law, which protects journalists from testifying and disclosing confidential sources or unpublished materials.
On Sept. 8, San Luis Obispo County Superior Judge Craig van Rooyen, the judge overseeing the case, dismissed the subpoena. He recognized Lambert as a member of the press and agreed that both the First Amendment and the shield law protected him from testifying in the case.
Van Rooyen also recognized that the order, had it been upheld, would have been a breach of confidence.
“It is the chilling effect that the shield law means to avoid,” he said.
Lambert had been covering the preliminary hearings for his blog, “Hallway Blog,” but decided to suspend the posts until the end of the hearings.
Lambert declined a request for comment through his publicist when reached via email.
A man walking around downtown Portland, Oregon, aimed an airsoft gun modeled on an AR-15 rifle at freelance photojournalist Justin Yau on Aug. 8, 2021. The man was later arrested on charges of menacing and disorderly conduct, local NBC affiliate KGW reported.
According to KGW, right- and left-wing demonstrators had clashed earlier that day at a religious gathering in Tom McCall Waterfront Park led by a Christian musician known for his opposition to COVID-19 restrictions. The groups, which had also clashed the previous night, had brawled and used various weapons, including bear spray, airsoft guns and paintball guns, The Oregonian reported.
At about 11 p.m., several journalists including Yau and freelance journalists Nathan Howard and Sergio Olmos photographed a man walking through downtown with what they described as an AR-15 rifle. In footage captured by Olmos, the individual can be seen aiming the weapon directly at Yau as he continues to photograph the encounter. Yau did not respond to messages requesting comment.
A far-right extremist points his rifle at @wweek journalist Justin Yau (@PDocumentarians) during a confrontation between anti-fascists and right-wing militia in Portland, Oregon on Sunday Aug. 8, 2021.
— Nathan Howard (@SmileItsNathan) August 9, 2021
For @GettyImages pic.twitter.com/IgMeGEzBra
According to The Oregonian, the man, identified as Mark Lee, called 911 claiming several people were following him and was told to walk to a nearby police precinct. Lee left the station that night, but police launched an investigation into the incident that ultimately led to Lee’s arrest on Aug. 12 on three counts of menacing and one count of second-degree disorderly conduct.
Police confirmed that Lee’s weapon was an airsoft gun, a sports gun designed to shoot plastic projectiles. The weapon was seized, along with a military-style tactical vest, gas mask and seven knives, KGW reported.
The city of Jackson, Mississippi, was ordered to pay more than $170,000 in legal fees to local broadcaster WLBT’s parent company, Gray Television, on Aug. 6, 2021, after it was determined that the city violated the state’s public records law.
WLBT reported that in 2019 the station’s chief investigative reporter, C.J. LeMaster, sent the Jackson Police Department seven requests for public records including emails, memos and crime statistics; the department never produced documents for five of the requests and waited nearly 600 days to produce portions of another request. Mississippi’s Public Records Act requires public bodies to provide records within seven days of a request being filed.
The station filed an ethics complaint in October 2019 and when the city did not produce any additional records for 10 months, a hearing was held in November 2020. Emmy Parsons, an attorney representing WLBT, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that LeMaster testified during the hearings that communications with the city were inconsistent and there appeared to be problems with the system used to handle records requests.
On Aug. 6, 2021, the Mississippi Ethics Commission unanimously approved a final order against the city, requiring that it pay $170,397.50 to reimburse the station’s legal fees and a civil penalty of $900, $100 for each violation, in accordance with the state’s Public Records Act. The order also mandated that Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba designate public records officers for the city and its departments and undertake other measures to prevent further violations.
“Confidence must be based upon trust which can only come from transparency. JPD and the rest of city government must be open and honest with the people it serves,” wrote Tom Hood, the ethics commission’s executive director, in the order. “The city’s officials and employees, especially those in JPD, need to learn that the Public Records Act is not a nuisance. Rather, it is a fundamental obligation of municipal government just like police protection, fire protection, water and sewer services. Without transparency in government there can be no confidence among the governed, and without the support of the community, those in government cannot succeed.”
Parsons told the Tracker, “WLBT station leadership and C.J. [LeMaster] were clear that this was a fight that was not only worth having but was necessary to have, and they were really committed to it throughout.”
“The hope at the end of the day with all of this is not just that WLBT receives the last remaining records that it is entitled to with regards to these seven requests, but that it serves as a wake-up call to the city that it is falling down on its job to provide records responses in compliance with the law and it needs to take that obligation seriously and prioritize that obligation,” Parsons said.
The city of Jackson did not respond to an emailed request for comment.
Grant Stern, executive editor of the news arm of the progressive political organization Occupy Democrats, said he was forcefully removed from a press conference at the Hialeah Gardens Museum in Hialeah Gardens, Florida, on Aug. 5, 2021.
Stern told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was alerted to a press conference with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and other Republican lawmakers via email from the governor’s press office. The email noted that the press conference was open to all and did not require an RSVP. When he arrived, Stern said, he identified himself as a reporter for Occupy Democrats and was granted entry.
“I went into the press conference like anybody else and I was there recording with my audio recorder,” Stern said, “and everything else I did with a cell phone or hand-held camera, recording all of these speeches.”
Approximately 30 minutes into the press conference, Stern said, a congressional staffer approached him and asked him to identify himself and who he worked for. Stern said he identified himself again and offered to show them his Twitter profile and author bio, as he does not carry press credentials with him. When the staffer asked him to leave, Stern said he had complied with the procedure to enter and would leave only if asked to do so by a museum employee.
During the Q&A session at the end of the press conference 15 minutes later, he said, Stern began to ask a question about the House’s proposed Jan. 6 commission. In his footage of the incident, Stern’s camera suddenly begins shaking and moving backward as he attempts to finish his question. Stern said four officers dragged him out of the room on his heels and ordered that he leave the museum.
I tried to ask @GOPLeader McCarthy a question after he decried Cuban police pickup up people in the streets.
— Grant Stern is fully vaccinated (@grantstern) August 5, 2021
Why does he oppose the bipartisan #January6thCommission?
A Congressional staffer had four cops pick me up and drag me from the room.
I still asked the question. pic.twitter.com/HDqrhvARaC
“I start asking a question and I feel a hand on the small of my back through my backpack,” Stern said. “My first thought was whether someone was trying to steal my journalistic equipment and then I realized that they were searching me for weapons.”
Stern said the officers then grabbed him, pulled him out of the room and turned off his phone recording with such force they scratched the face of his cellphone in multiple places; he said he intends to replace the screen as a result of the damage.
“They dragged me clear out of the room, told me to go away, involuntarily turned off my camera and pushed me out of the front door,” Stern said. “They did not make any attempt to identify me, to arrest or detain me further, to ask me any other questions.”
A spokesperson for McCarthy told The Independent that “congressional staff had nothing to do [with Stern’s] removal.” McCarthy’s office did not respond to a request for additional comment.
Stern told the Tracker his left knee capsule was ruptured as the officers pushed and dragged him, and he will need occupational therapy to restore full mobility.
The Hialeah Gardens Police Department did not respond to an emailed request for comment.
Dylan Brogan, the senior reporter at the digital outlet Isthmus, was one of three journalists subpoenaed on Aug. 5, 2021, to testify at the upcoming trial of two women charged with assault in Madison, Wisconsin.
Brogan told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker the subpoena is connected to the assault of state Sen. Tim Carpenter at a Black Lives Matter protest in June 2020. On June 23, protesters were hostile to anyone who was filming or photographing and members of the crowd directed their ire at Carpenter when he stopped to take a photo of the demonstration, Brogan wrote in an article at the time. A group of approximately 10 individuals then beat the senator as he attempted to identify himself.
According to a court filing in opposition to the subpoenas, the Dane County district attorney’s office issued subpoenas to Brogan, WORT 89.9 reporter Chali Pittman and WKOW-TV reporter Lance Veeser via mail to compel their eyewitness testimony. An attorney representing the journalists notified Assistant District Attorney Paul Humphrey they would not comply with the subpoenas as served, as they were issued improperly and violated the state’s shield law.
“The Wisconsin Legislature has enacted a reporters’ privilege law that absolutely prohibits compelling a news person to testify about confidential sources and conditionally prohibits the issuance of a subpoena compelling a news person to testify about ‘[a]ny news, information, or identity of any source of any news or information,’” the filing reads.
The district attorney’s office argued that it had been unable to identify other witnesses and therefore the journalists’ testimony is vital to the case against the defendants, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
On Sept. 9, 2021, Judge Josann Reynolds ruled in favor of the prosecutors and granted an order compelling the three journalists to comply with the subpoenas and appear to testify starting Oct. 18, according to the Journal Sentinel.
“The public already knows everything that I know. Putting a journalist on the stand to provide some sort of narrative to supposedly aid in a criminal prosecution compromises all the ethics of being a journalist,” Brogan said.
District Attorney Ismael Ozanne told the Tracker via email that his office was pleased with the ruling.
“It is my understanding the court made a very good record of the decision in this case on this matter,” Ozanne wrote. “This is not a situation in which an informant’s identity needs to be kept confidential. I don’t believe telling the truth compromises a person’s reputation.”
The reporters are considering appealing the ruling, Brogan told the Tracker, but the financial burden is daunting.
“We’re a small little reboot of a paper,” Brogan said of Isthmus. “The appeal process: we’re trying to figure it out, but it’s very expensive. On principle we want to fight this but I’m not sure we can afford it.”
Brogan told the Tracker that if they are unable to move forward with an appeal or the appeal fails, he will likely comply with the subpoena.
A portion of the subpoena for senior reporter Dylan Brogan, who was covering a June 2020 Black Lives Matter protest for the digital outlet Isthmus.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,other testimony,['PENDING'],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, Broadcast reporter ordered to testify in assault trial connected to BLM protest,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/broadcast-reporter-ordered-to-testify-in-assault-trial-connected-to-blm-protest/,2021-09-20 16:42:09.341180+00:00,2022-07-29 23:29:25.501000+00:00,2022-07-29 23:29:25.427979+00:00,,Subpoena/Legal Order,,,,Lance Veeser (WKOW-TV),,2021-08-05,False,Madison,Wisconsin (WI),43.07305,-89.40123,"Lance Veeser, a broadcast reporter at WKOW, was one of three journalists subpoenaed on Aug. 5, 2021, to testify at the upcoming trial of two women charged with assaulting state Sen. Tim Carpenter at a Black Lives Matter protest in June 2020 in Madison, Wisconsin.
On June 23, protesters were hostile to anyone who was filming or photographing and members of the crowd directed their ire at Carpenter when he stopped to take a photo of the demonstration, Isthmus reported at the time. A group of approximately 10 individuals then beat the senator as he attempted to identify himself.
Veeser did not respond to an emailed request for comment. Veeser posted an image to Twitter on the night of the attack, writing, “I believe this is State Senator Tim Carpenter. Minutes earlier he told us the protesters assaulted him. Then he collapsed walking towards the Capitol. We called paramedics.”
I believe this is State Senator Tim Carpenter. Minutes earlier he told us the protesters assaulted him. Then he collapsed walking towards the Capitol. We called paramedics. An ambulance is here now. pic.twitter.com/uUSdKyQ1hp
— Lance Veeser (@lanceveeser) June 24, 2020
According to a court filing in opposition to the subpoenas, the Dane County district attorney’s office issued subpoenas to Veeser, WORT 89.9 reporter Chali Pittman and Isthmus senior reporter Dylan Brogan via mail to compel their eyewitness testimony. However, neither the police report about the incident nor the prosecutor’s motion in support of the subpoenas make any mention of Veeser witnessing the actual assault.
An attorney representing the journalists notified Assistant District Attorney Paul Humphrey they would not comply with the subpoenas as served, as they were issued improperly and violated the state’s shield law.
“The Wisconsin Legislature has enacted a reporters’ privilege law that absolutely prohibits compelling a news person to testify about confidential sources and conditionally prohibits the issuance of a subpoena compelling a news person to testify about ‘[a]ny news, information, or identity of any source of any news or information,’” the filing reads.
The district attorney’s office argued that it had been unable to identify other witnesses and therefore the journalists’ testimony is vital to the case against the defendants, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
On Sept. 9, 2021, Judge Josann Reynolds ruled in favor of the prosecutors and granted an order compelling the three journalists to comply with the subpoenas and appear to testify starting Oct. 18, according to the Journal Sentinel.
District Attorney Ismael Ozanne told the Tracker via email that his office was pleased with the ruling.
“It is my understanding the court made a very good record of the decision in this case on this matter,” Ozanne wrote. “This is not a situation in which an informant’s identity needs to be kept confidential. I don’t believe telling the truth compromises a person’s reputation.”
Brogan and Pittman told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker the journalists are considering appealing the ruling, but are concerned about the financial burden.
Chali Pittman, a reporter and news and public affairs director for WORT-FM, was one of three journalists subpoenaed on Aug. 5, 2021, to testify at the upcoming trial of two women charged with assault in Madison, Wisconsin.
Pittman told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker the subpoena is connected to the assault of state Sen. Tim Carpenter at a Black Lives Matter protest in June 2020. On June 23, protesters were hostile to anyone who was filming or photographing and members of the crowd directed their ire at Carpenter when he stopped to take a photo of the demonstration, Isthmus reported at the time. A group of approximately 10 individuals then beat the senator as he attempted to identify himself.
According to a court filing in opposition to the subpoenas, the Dane County district attorney’s office issued subpoenas to Pittman, Isthmus reporter Dylan Brogan and WKOW-TV reporter Lance Veeser via mail to compel their eyewitness testimony. An attorney representing the journalists notified Assistant District Attorney Paul Humphrey they would not comply with the subpoenas as served, as they were issued improperly and violated the state’s shield law.
“The Wisconsin Legislature has enacted a reporters’ privilege law that absolutely prohibits compelling a news person to testify about confidential sources and conditionally prohibits the issuance of a subpoena compelling a news person to testify about ‘[a]ny news, information, or identity of any source of any news or information,’” the filing reads.
The district attorney’s office argued that it had been unable to identify other witnesses and therefore the journalists’ testimony is vital to the case against the defendants, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
Pittman told the Tracker none of the three journalists are able to identify the individuals involved in the attack.
On Sept. 9, 2021, Judge Josann Reynolds ruled in favor of the prosecutors and granted an order compelling the three journalists to comply with the subpoenas and appear to testify starting Oct. 18, according to the Journal Sentinel.
This morning, a Dane Co judge ruled to compel me and two other local journalists to testify about the events of this night and specifically, the attack against state Sen. Tim Carpenter.
— chali (@chalipittman) September 9, 2021
Yet, none of us are unable to identify any of the attackers. https://t.co/cqXTKF8CKQ
“I have personal and professional reasons for not testifying beyond just reporter’s privilege,” Pittman said. “I work at a community radio station where I wear a lot of hats: One of them is building ties with communities who may not have always trusted community radio or had their voices well-represented in media. So testifying would make that more difficult.”
District Attorney Ismael Ozanne told the Tracker via email that his office was pleased with the ruling.
“It is my understanding the court made a very good record of the decision in this case on this matter,” Ozanne wrote. “This is not a situation in which an informant’s identity needs to be kept confidential. I don’t believe telling the truth compromises a person’s reputation.”
The reporters are considering appealing the ruling, Pittman told the Tracker, but the financial burden is daunting.
“Our lawyers told us that an appeal this time would cost about $20,000 and we’re a nonprofit radio station hanging on by the skin of our teeth,” Pittman said.
Pittman told the Tracker that if they are unable to move forward with an appeal or the appeal fails, she will comply with the subpoena.
Reporter Eric Baerren was attacked by a parent who wanted him to delete photos from his camera on Aug. 2, 2021, after covering a school board meeting, he told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
Baerren told the Tracker that the school board at Mount Pleasant High School in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, had been discussing wearing masks in school and he had been covering the story for the Mount Pleasant Morning Sun and taking photographs.
He told the Tracker that after the meeting, at about 9 p.m., a man approached him while he was packing up his equipment in front of the school auditorium and asked if he'd taken photos of his daughter during the public comment period.
“I told him I didn't know and he asked me if I'd go through my camera to check. I told him I wasn't going to do that and that if I did, it was while his daughter was giving public comment during a public meeting. He told me that he'd asked me nicely, which I took as an implied threat.”
The parent then “tried to grab my phone out of my hand and kick my camera away from my grasp. From behind me, I heard the district superintendent call for the police, so I got my equipment and stood up to wait for them.”
“Then the man indicated that he wouldn't let me leave until I complied with his wishes, and I then pointed my thumb to the approaching officer.” An officer from the Mount Pleasant Police Department’s Youth Services Unit was on scene, and he responded quickly.
Baerren said that the officer took them into the lobby, and after a brief investigation asked the reporter if he wanted to file assault charges. He declined, and two more officers kept the parent in a corner until Baerren could leave.
Vishal Singh, a videographer who works on Netflix documentaries and has been covering demonstrations in Los Angeles since May 2020, said he was punched multiple times while documenting protests at a restaurant in Los Angeles, California, on July 29, 2021.
Local digital outlet WeHoTimes reported that the West Hollywood restaurant Harlowe had become a target of anti-vaccine protests because of its policy requiring proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test to enter the premises. Similar stipulations have been put in place across the country in order to curb the spread of coronavirus variations, particularly amid unvaccinated populations.
Singh told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he arrived to document the protest at approximately 7 p.m., having reported on violence that broke out at the restaurant the night before. By the time he began filming from across the street, a scuffle had broken out between the protesters and another individual and the crowd began following the man down the street.
I was just severely injured by a mob of anti-vaxxers. They were surrounding and assaulting someone. I went to film and help him escape. They attacked from behind. Possible concussion. Maced. Had to fight them off me by myself. Deployed mace in self defense after I was concussed. pic.twitter.com/NTkn6A8XJT
— Vishal P. Singh (They/He) (@VPS_Reports) July 30, 2021
As the crowd turned down an alley, Singh said they directed their attention on him; in footage of the incident a man can be seen positioning himself behind Singh, bumping the videographer with his shoulder and then punching Singh multiple times as Singh defends himself. In the footage, Singh’s press badge can be seen on a lanyard around his neck.
Singh said a second individual then ripped the mask off his face and the man again punched him, knocking him to the ground. Singh told the Tracker he continued defending himself and used pepper spray to disperse the crowd until he was eventually able to leave the area.
“I felt that if I turned around they would chase me and beat me more, so I really didn’t have a choice but to stand my ground and defend myself,” Singh said.
Singh said he immediately went to a hospital, where he was told he suffered multiple breaks to his eye sockets and nose as a result of the attack.
Singh told the Tracker the day after the incident that he hadn’t yet filed a police report about the incident.
Cameraman Marcin Wyszogrodzki, who works for the Polish TV channel TVN Discovery, was trying to film a live broadcast from Lafayette Square in Washington, D.C., on July 26, 2021, when members of the public prevented his team from broadcasting and threw objects at them.
Wyszogrodzki told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that just before 11 a.m., members of the public in the park began making it difficult for him to film the TVN journalist Marcin Wrona and screaming at both him and Wrona.
Normally, Wyszogrodzki said, they would walk away and film somewhere nearby, but in this case the angry people continued to follow them, he said.
“The worst thing was they didn’t want to give up — they would follow us and there was more and more hate against us. They were trying to rip off the wires from the camera. They were behind my back and pulling wires from the camera.
“It was something unusual. It never should happen when you are doing your work,” he said.
“I felt like it was coming to the point when it might turn out very badly for us,” he said.
One of the assailants had ripped a wire from the back of the camera and someone threw water at them and their equipment, but the camera was not damaged. Only a wire was missing, he added.
Wrona told the Tracker that the crew had been covering a U.S. State Department-sponsored declaration calling for freedom in Cuba, signed by the United States and 19 other countries, and a protest against government repression in Cuba.
“First we were approached by an individual with a bullhorn who was yelling something in Spanish straight in our microphone and camera. I asked him to stop doing it as the viewers would not be able to hear a word of our reporting. We moved a few steps over,” Wrona said.
“Later a group of about five people lined up behind my back, blocking the view with their raised signs. I asked them to lower the signs because we would not be able to show how big the protest is.”
As he was about to go on air, the crowd started “yelling something in Spanish and telling us that we were not welcome there. They started physically pushing us out of the park,” he said, confirming that they were prevented from doing the broadcast. Wrona said the equipment displayed the station logo and Wyszogrodzki was carrying press identification.
When the TVN crew decided to pack up and leave, the crowd started punching them, grabbing equipment, spraying water on them and throwing bottles and other objects at them. The Tracker documented Wrona’s assault here.
They managed to get across H street, still being chased by the crowd, and went towards two Metropolitan Police officers on a bicycle patrol. The officers tried to hold back the crowd using their bikes and then called for backup. Finally about 10 officers escorted them to safety, Wrona said.
“We covered at least three or four blocks and the crowd was still attacking us. Finally the police decided to get us into their squad vehicle and their lieutenant drove us away, although her car was followed by some Cubans.”
TVN is often described as the last independent news channel in Poland.
Wrona also said that there had been some “horrible” follow-up personal attacks on social media, stoked by people spreading false information.
Protesters in Washington, D.C.’s Lafayette Square park call for the support of protesters in Cuba on July 26, 2021. While broadcasting from the demonstration, a news crew for Polish television station TVN Discovery was chased out of the park.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,protest,,,,, "Journalists for Polish news station were assaulted, chased out of DC’s Lafayette Square park during Cuba protest",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalists-for-polish-news-station-were-assaulted-chased-out-of-dcs-lafayette-square-park-during-cuba-protest/,2021-08-17 14:38:26.527437+00:00,2021-10-19 19:37:23.792838+00:00,2021-10-19 19:37:23.750878+00:00,,Assault,,,,Marcin Wrona (TVN Discovery),,2021-07-26,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"Journalist Marcin Wrona, a U.S. correspondent for the Polish TV channel TVN Discovery, was filming a live broadcast on July 26, 2021, from Lafayette Square in Washington, D.C., when members of the public stopped the broadcast and started to throw objects at Wrona and his cameraman, Marcin Wyszogrodzki.
Wrona told U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in an email that individuals in the park repeatedly interrupted their broadcast, which was covering a declaration sponsored by the U.S. State Department calling for freedom in Cuba, signed by the United States and 19 other countries, and a protest against repression in Cuba.
The veteran broadcaster, who has worked in journalism for 33 years, told the Tracker: “First we were approached by an individual with a bullhorn who was yelling something in Spanish straight in our microphone and camera. I asked him to stop doing it, as the viewers would not be able to hear a word of our reporting. We moved a few steps over.
“Later a group of about five people lined up behind my back, blocking the view with their raised signs. I asked them to lower the signs because we would not be able to show how big the protest is.”
Wrona said that as he was about to go on air at 11 a.m., the crowd started yelling in Spanish, telling them they were not welcome there.
“They started physically pushing us out of the park,” he said, confirming that they were prevented from doing the broadcast. Wrona said their equipment displayed the station logo and his cameraman was carrying press identification. The assault of cameraman Wyszogrodzki and damage of the station equipment is documented by the Tracker here.
When the TVN crew decided to pack up and leave, the crowd started punching them, grabbing equipment, spraying water on them and throwing bottles and other objects at them.
“They were calling me an assassin (assassino) and other words in Spanish. I heard people yelling in English that I had blood on my hands,” Wrona said.
The crew managed to get across H street, still chased by the crowd, and went toward two Metropolitan Police officers on a bicycle patrol. The officers tried to hold back the crowd with their bikes, and then called for backup. Finally about 10 officers escorted them to safety, Wrona said.
“We covered at least three or four blocks and the crowd was still attacking us. Finally the police decided to get us into their squad vehicle and their lieutenant drove us away, although her car was followed by some Cubans.”
He added that some people had started posting videos online, calling him a Cuban regime agent, communist, or supporter of the Castro regime. “Some were lamenting that I wasn't severely beaten.”
Wrona, who works for a TV station that is often described as the last independent news channel in Poland, said that he knows what living under communism is like, as he grew up under a communist regime. He said he was in a group of 10 people who built the first independent radio station in Poland after the fall of communism.
He also said that there had been some “horrible” follow-up personal attacks on social media, stoked by people spreading false information.
“There were a few really tough days emotionally after the attack. But I am a reporter; I have to keep doing my job,” Wrona said.
Discovery Inc. was issued a subpoena by the state’s attorney of Cook County for unaired documentary footage as part of a wrongful-conviction hearing in Chicago, Illinois, on July 26, 2021.
An attorney for the media company, Steven Mandell, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker the subpoena requested both published and unpublished footage from an episode of “Reasonable Doubt,” which aired on Investigation Discovery. The episode investigated assertions that Roosevelt Myles was wrongfully convicted of murder in 1996, and included interviews with his family members and neighbors, including a witness who claimed he could provide Myles an alibi. The episode aired in May 2020 and Myles was released from prison that July. The subpoena was issued by an assistant state’s attorney as part of the post-conviction hearing discovery process.
Mandell said Painless Television, Inc., a California-based production company, produced the documentary for Discovery Channel and was itself subpoenaed in October 2021. The Tracker has documented that subpoena here.
“One of the things that the prosecutor did was not only ask for the as-broadcast version of the program but also any outtakes, including any footage of witnesses that were not broadcast,” Mandell said. “In response, the producers at Discovery were willing to give the as-broadcast version but maintained — appropriately in my view — that the outtakes were protected by the shield law.”
Discovery and Painless Television are headquartered in New York and California, respectively, states that have some of the strongest shield laws for members of the press in the country, Mandell said. Illinois, on the other hand, has a qualified privilege meaning that it can be overcome or “divested” under certain circumstances.
Mandell told the Tracker that after the subpoena to Discovery Channel was mistakenly issued to an address in Washington state, it was reissued on March 11, 2022.
“We argued that if there’s a public interest involved it’s to protect the press,” Mandell said. “One of the roles the press plays is to shine a light on government, not to assist or facilitate government action. To preserve the flow of information from confidential or even non-confidential sources, the press has to assert its privilege and not be viewed as an arm or an instrument of the police.”
On June 27, Cook County Circuit Court Judge Carol Howard struck down the subpoenas against both Discovery and Painless Television. According to a court transcript reviewed by the Tracker, Howard found that the state’s attorney had failed to meet the requirements to overcome the reporter’s privilege.
“The State has not set forth the specific information that is sought and why that information is relevant to the proceedings. The State cannot say with any amount of specificity exactly what they are seeking,” Howard said. “And the State simply has not met the third requirement that requires you to exhaust all available sources of the information.”
Discovery Inc. did not respond to messages requesting comment.
Independent journalist Tina-Desiree Berg’s phone was deliberately knocked out of her hands while she was documenting clashing demonstrations in El Cajon, California, on July 25, 2021.
The San Diego Union-Tribune reported far-right demonstrators had gathered in the San Diego suburb to attend the “We Are Israel” rally at which former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and gubernatorial candidate Larry Elder were scheduled to speak. Berg told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she began reporting that day around 2:30 p.m. at a nearby park where counterprotesters were gathering ahead of a planned march to the rally.
I’m in El Cajon, inland from San Diego, where Christian Zionists are staging a rally with Mike Pompeo and Larry Elders. Jewish Voice for Peace and PSL are staging a protest pic.twitter.com/Gde2YHMhTS
— Lefty-Desiree McLefty Face, Milkshake Whisperer (@TinaDesireeBerg) July 25, 2021
Berg said that around 4 p.m. the marchers had made it to approximately a block away from the Prescott Promenade, where the rally was taking place, when they ran into a group of far-right demonstrators who were standing around some sort of a blockade on the street. Berg said she quickly ran up to begin filming the group and their interactions with the marchers.
“As I was standing there filming I decided to pull out my phone camera too to get back-up footage just because there was so much going on,” Berg said. “And I’m standing there and I’m concentrating just on filming so I didn’t see it coming but he came over and he blasted the phone out of my hand and I ran to go get it.”
At 2:08 in footage Berg posted to YouTube, an individual can be seen grabbing at independent videographer Vishal Singh’s press badge and then turning to taunt the crowd. At 0:33 in Singh’s footage of the incident, the same man can be seen deliberately knocking the phone out of Berg’s hands before seconds later returning to where Singh is filming and deliberately knocking the phone from his hands as well.
There is an immediate clash between sides, instigated by the far right extremists. The man in the punisher shirt with the yellow sleeves tries to assault me, then he knocks @TinaDesireeBerg’s phone down, then he knocks my phone down as well. pic.twitter.com/iO76cApYCi
— Vishal P. Singh (They/He) (@VPS_Reports) July 25, 2021
Berg tweeted immediately following the incident that she was also caught in a cloud of bear spray, and in her footage she can be heard coughing and reacting to the spray and puts her camera down at 6:15 in the clip in order to receive treatment. She told the Tracker that her phone was not damaged by the fall, but she decided shortly after the incident to leave without making it to the rally.
“Me and two of the other press guys who were there — I’m not sure who, one of them was from the San Diego Union-Tribune — we never made it down to the event because it was not safe,” Berg told the Tracker.
Berg said in addition to her video camera she was also wearing a press badge around her neck and a flak jacket labeled with “PRESS.” She said she hasn’t filed a police report about the incident.
Vishal Singh, a videographer who works on Netflix documentaries and has been covering demonstrations in Los Angeles since May 2020, was pushed and his phone knocked out of his hands as he documented clashing demonstrations in El Cajon, California, on July 25, 2021, he told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
The San Diego Union-Tribune reported far-right demonstrators had gathered in the San Diego suburb to attend the “We Are Israel” rally at which former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and gubernatorial candidate Larry Elder were scheduled to speak. Singh told the Tracker that he began reporting that day shortly before 3 p.m. at a nearby park where counterprotesters were gathering ahead of a planned march to the rally.
Singh said that around 4 p.m. the marchers had made it to approximately a block away from the Prescott Promenade, where the rally was taking place, when they ran into a group of far-right demonstrators standing around a barricade.
“There was pretty much immediately a clash between the two sides,” Singh said, “and I was one of the first people assaulted.”
Singh told the Tracker that an individual came forward from the barricade and attempted to push him and grab his press badge, but Singh was able to deflect him and told the man not to touch him. In footage Singh posted to Twitter, the clip begins with the man approaching him. At 0:33 in the footage, the individual can be seen deliberately knocking the phone out of independent journalist Tina-Desiree Berg’s hands before returning to where Singh is filming and deliberately knocking the phone from his hands as well.
There is an immediate clash between sides, instigated by the far right extremists. The man in the punisher shirt with the yellow sleeves tries to assault me, then he knocks @TinaDesireeBerg’s phone down, then he knocks my phone down as well. pic.twitter.com/iO76cApYCi
— Vishal P. Singh (They/He) (@VPS_Reports) July 25, 2021
Singh told the Tracker that his phone may have sustained additional damage, but the screen was already cracked from an incident on July 17.
After the clashes continued, Singh said, a far-right demonstrator walked up to the counterprotesters and sprayed a chemical irritant at them. “And then he turned around to me, chased me and bear maced me,” Singh said.
Singh said he hasn’t yet filed a police report about the assaults.
Documentary writer, director and producer Rocky Romano was shoved and sprayed with bear mace and his camera was knocked from his hands while he was covering anti-mask protests in Los Angeles, California, on July 22, 2021.
Romano told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was covering demonstrations outside the Cedars-Sinai Breast Health Services Building in West Hollywood, where demonstrators had gathered to protest the clinic’s requirement that patients wear masks indoors. Similar rules have been put in place across the country in order to curb the spread of COVID-19 variations, particularly among unvaccinated populations.
“The group consisted of anti-maskers holding signs with anti-vaxx and QAnon-adjacent conspiracy theories gathered on the sidewalk by the cancer clinic harassing patients and doctors,” Romano wrote in an email to the Tracker. “Community members arrived and attempted to thwart the efforts of the anti-vaxxers and violence erupted.”
Romano said that at approximately 11 a.m. an anti-vaccine protester struck him, knocking his camera to the ground, when he attempted to ask why the protest was taking place. The individual then kicked the camera into the street, and both Romano and his assailant raced to get it; Romano said he was able to retrieve the camera before his assailant was able to kick it again into the intersection.
I was assaulted and had my camera knocked out of my hand when I tried to inquire as to why the anti-vaccine protestors chose to protest a cancer clinic. Later I was bear maced along with @Katerqburns. @PlasticJesus9 @wysiwygtv @chadloder @misstessowen pic.twitter.com/rALYP6ICHG
— Rocky Romano (he/him) (@directedbyrocky) July 24, 2021
The camera sustained minor damage Romano said, and he was able to continue filming the protest.
Approximately three hours later, Romano said he was covering the main crowd of protesters in front of the clinic when an individual pulled out what he described as a can of bear mace and sprayed Romano, as well as a cancer patient and multiple counterprotesters.
Anti-vax protestor assaults members of the community, a credentialed media person (me), and cancer patient @Katerqburns with bear mace to their faces. Notice the community member assisting the cancer patient to safety. @misstessowen @chadloder @VPS_Reports @PlasticJesus9 pic.twitter.com/rKhGii6MWn
— Rocky Romano (he/him) (@directedbyrocky) July 24, 2021
In footage of the incident Romano posted to Twitter, Romano appears to have been one of the first people targeted with the bear mace. In the footage, Romano can clearly be seen wearing a helmet and flak jacket labeled “PRESS.”
Romano told the Tracker his lungs and eyes were inflamed for four to six hours after he was sprayed, and it took him 24 hours to recover fully. He said he hasn’t yet filed a police report about the incident.
Pat Poblete, a legislative reporter for Colorado Politics, was working in the Capitol newsroom in Denver when he said a woman assaulted him on July 20, 2021.
“I was assaulted. In the Capitol newsroom. Because I am a journalist,” Poblete wrote in a series of tweets. “The woman who attacked me and attempted to make off with @MGoodland‘s property was set off when she found out she was in the press room and echoed the rhetoric the former president directed at journalists.”
I generally try to steer clear of getting personal on the TL but something happened to me today I feel compelled to share
— Pat Poblete (@byPatPoblete) July 20, 2021
I was assaulted. In the Capitol newsroom. Because I am a journalist.
I’m fine, but it’s left me with a lot to get off my chest
At about 10 p.m., Poblete had been writing up a short story when a woman entered the press room, according to Westword, an independent publication in Denver. “I imagine she just wandered in because it was hot outside,” he said in the article. “Then she asked what I did and where we were, and I said we were in one of the CPA [Capitol Press Association] press rooms, and that set her off. She did the whole Trumpy, nine-yards thing about fake news and how you guys are making up lies and journalism is poisoning the community.”
Marianne Goodland, Colorado Politics' chief statehouse reporter, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she was not in the room at the time of the assault, but that things on her desk had been moved, although nothing was damaged.
“To reiterate, I’m physically fine,” Poblete wrote in another tweet. “Mentally is a different story and the what if’s are haunting me. What if I was seriously hurt? What if she had a weapon? What if it was a gun? What if, instead of a 5’4 woman, it was an assailant the same height and weight as me?”
Goodland told the Tracker that Poblete chose not to press charges, but that the newspaper has asked for a copy of the video footage. “We've never had anything like this happen,” she said. “We were just horrified. He has been grateful for all the support he has gotten.”
Guardian reporter Lois Beckett was pushed to the ground by protesters around the Wi Spa in Los Angeles, California, on July 17, 2021.
The spa, located in LA’s Koreatown, became a flashpoint for anti-transgender demonstrators as the result of a viral video that police are now treating as a hoax, Slate reported. Beckett was covering protests and counter protests around the spa on Wilshire Boulevard.
Beckett, a senior reporter at the Guardian’s West Coast bureau, said on Twitter that she was thrown to the ground “as a crowd converged on me and chased me. They threw water at me and screamed about Jesus and said to grab my phone.”
Just got thrown to the ground by right-wing anti-pedophile protesters as a crowd coverged on me and chased me. They threw water at me and screamed about Jesus and said to grab my phone. Police would not let me through the police line but after I got thrown on the ground they did. pic.twitter.com/LDGqkua3fi
— Lois Beckett (@loisbeckett) July 17, 2021
She added that officers initially wouldn’t let her through the police line, but did after she was thrown to the ground. Beckett told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she couldn’t comment immediately.
“I’m doing okay — if I had been left alone to run from the right-wing crowd in the street, rather than let through the police line, not sure that would be the case,” she tweeted later, adding she was wearing her press credential.
The Guardian said in a statement that it was alarmed by the treatment of Beckett, and that it was essential that she and her colleagues in the U.S. be protected as they carry out their jobs. “At a time when journalists and press freedom are under even greater threat around the world, we are concerned for the safety of journalists, who have a right to keep the public informed without facing danger.”
Freelance photographer Joey Scott said he and other members of the media were twice corralled and stopped from moving by police as they covered a protest in Los Angeles on July 17, 2021.
Scott said and other journalists were reporting on protests around the Wi Spa when they were held by police using a crowd-control technique called kettling, which corrals and restricts people from dispersing. The spa, located in LA’s Koreatown, became a flashpoint for anti-transgender demonstrators as the result of a viral video which police are now treating as a hoax, Slate reported.
In the first kettle, Scott and other media were told by the Los Angeles Police Department they would be arrested, but were later let go, he told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. “They wouldn't let us disperse out of the kettle despite telling them this is where we were told to go.”
In the second kettle they were told by a police officer that they had been there all day and refused to leave, so they were being arrested.
Scott said he was wearing press identification and a helmet with PRESS on it.
“Media was threatened with arrest initially but we were able to convince someone else to let us out with our press credentials,” he told the Tracker.
An LAPD spokesperson said arrests had been made on July 17 around Rampart Boulevard and Wilshire Boulevard after people failed to leave the area following a dispersal order.
“We do not have information specific to Joey Scott or statements being made that media would be arrested, so we are unable to confirm it occurred.”
This article was updated to remove a tweet that referenced a different detainment. The Tracker also documented the kettling and detainment of Scott while he covered a protest around the eviction of a homeless encampment in Los Angeles in March.
Photographer and journalist Eric Levai said he was surrounded and had around $1,000 of equipment taken from him after he photographed individuals at the Wi Spa, in Los Angeles, California.
The spa, located in LA’s Koreatown, became a flashpoint for anti-transgender demonstrators as the result of a viral video which police are now treating as a hoax, Slate reported.
Levai, who said he doesn’t wear press identification as he believes it attracts harassment, said it was around noon and he was covering what was happening at the Wi Spa when he spotted a photo opportunity. He stepped forward to take a shot of some masked individuals and a car around 50 feet away.
“I was doing my job and they just attacked me, screaming I was taking their picture,” Levai told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. “Also, when they surrounded me, I kept telling them I was a journalist, but they kept attacking me.
Levai, who works regularly for the Daily Dot and Forensic News, as well as hosting a podcast, told the Tracker that he heard a shout, and then was charged by seven or eight people, who took his backpack including items which he valued in total at around $1,000. The items included a gas mask, goggles and a tripod.
“They grabbed the bag and phone,” he said. “They took pictures of me.”
Levai said he wasn’t injured in the incident, and that he had managed to take the phone with his photos out of the backpack, though another phone was stolen. The masked individuals then took off with his equipment, he said.
He said that going forward he would reconsider wearing a press ID, though he felt it could mean he gets targeted.
Vishal Singh, a videographer who works on Netflix documentaries and has been covering demonstrations in Los Angeles since May 2020, was struck in the hand with a baton by a police officer while covering demonstrations outside a spa in Los Angeles, California, on July 17, 2021.
Wi Spa, located in LA’s Koreatown, became a flashpoint for anti-transgender demonstrators as the result of a viral video which police are now treating as a hoax, Slate reported.
Singh told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he arrived at approximately 10 a.m. to cover what he expected to be another confrontation between anti-transgender demonstrators and pro-LGBTQ counterprotesters outside the spa. Demonstrations had been occuring at the site for days; Singh reported that a Los Angeles Police Department officer shoved him with a baton while he was covering protests there on July 3.
Shortly before 11 a.m., the two groups were about to clash at an intersection a block away from the spa, Singh said, when LAPD officers quickly advanced in order to separate the sides.
“At that point I decided to go down Coronado Street and kind of go around the police barricade and go to the sidewalk and film the far-right side of the protest,” Singh said. Singh said he was a few steps behind a couple of other journalists who were walking the same direction, but an LAPD officer stopped him when he was about halfway across the street and pushed him back, ordering Singh to get on the sidewalk.
“He was basically saying, ‘Get back to the sidewalk.’ I said, ‘Are you serious?’ And he responded, ‘Yes I’m serious, this is our street,’” Singh said.
Within seconds of getting on the sidewalk, Singh said, a group of officers began confronting the pro-LGBTQ counterprotesters. In footage of the incident Singh shared on Twitter later that day, he can be seen on the right-hand side wearing a helmet and tie-dyed shirt.
“I started stepping backwards and I turned my camera to film the side-view shot of the protesters getting brutalized and at that point [the officer] leaned over, stepped forward toward me and with both hands on his baton like a baseball bat hit my outstretched hand that was holding my camera as hard as he could,” Singh said.
Sorry for the stop in coverage. Hand was injured and phone was damaged after @LAPDHQ batoned my hand. Here’s the video from @Exile_in_LA of the assault. pic.twitter.com/LKgG6YKw8y
— Vishal P. Singh (They/He) (@VPS_Reports) July 17, 2021
“My hand immediately fractured around the joints of my ring finger and my pinky finger and my camera phone fell down and was smashed,” Singh said.
Singh told the Tracker the screen of his phone screen was cracked from the fall, the case had been knocked off and it lost all cellular service for days following the incident until he was able to have it repaired. He said he also had to repeatedly turn his phone on and off before he was able to resume filming that day.
“I kept covering the protest right up to when the kettling started,” Singh said. “At that point I was like, ‘OK, I don’t need to get arrested.’ So I left the area and decompressed a little bit and then went to urgent care.”
An X-ray taken of independent videographer Vishal Singh's right hand after an LAPD officer struck him with a baton shows a fracture to the metacarpal of his little finger.
After being directed to a hand specialist, Singh said, he was told he had a significant fracture in his hand and that in addition to six weeks of recovery he would also likely need physical therapy.
Singh told the Tracker he has filed a report with the department and said he plans to file a lawsuit against the department.
The Los Angeles Police Department did not respond to an emailed request for comment.
Los Angeles Police Department officers separate clashing demonstrations in the city on July 17, 2021. An officer struck independent videographer Vishal Singh with a baton during the Wi Spa protest, breaking his hand and damaging his camera phone.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,protest,,,,, Photographer shoved with police baton at LA Wi Spa protest,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-shoved-with-police-baton-at-la-wi-spa-protest/,2021-08-10 16:27:07.884817+00:00,2021-08-12 14:22:05.014724+00:00,2021-08-12 14:22:04.974201+00:00,,Assault,,,,Raquel Natalicchio (ZUMA Press),,2021-07-17,False,Los Angeles,California (CA),34.05223,-118.24368,"Raquel Natalicchio, a freelance photographer, says she was shoved against a wall by a Los Angeles Police Department officer using his baton on July 17, 2021.
Natalicchio was on an assignment for Zuma Press to cover the protests around the Wi Spa. The spa, located in LA’s Koreatown, became a flashpoint for anti-transgender demonstrators as the result of a viral video that police are now treating as a hoax, according to Slate.
She told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that just before she was shoved, the LAPD had declared an unlawful assembly after the two groups of protesters began to clash in front of the spa.
She said that LAPD also showered rubber bullets at trans-rights demonstrators, some even being shot at point blank range — apparently in violation of an April court order banning the use of “less lethal” projectiles against protesters from less than five feet away, and restricting their use to situations in which the targets pose a significant threat of violence.
The LAPD formed several kettles, or tight cordons, around the protesters, telling them to leave the area while pushing them further along the street, so that the protesters were not able to disperse, she said.
Dozens were arrested while attempting to follow police orders to disperse, Natalicchio said.
At around 11 a.m., the photographer was on the sidewalk at Rampart Boulevard and 6th Street, when LAPD officers were pushing back counter protesters, activists and anyone walking on the street or sidewalk, she said.
“I communicated to the officer that I was press and that I would move back as the crowd behind me moved back. He then pushed me with his baton up against a wall while continuing to scream at me to move. Being I had nowhere to go, I stepped forward to turn around and find another way back and he pushed me from behind again into a crowd of protesters.”
An activist posted a video of the second part of the incident on Twitter.
The photographer said the incident had affected her mental health and she worries about her safety when covering actions in which police are involved. “It seems as if the police had no respect for me as a working journalist and treated me as if I was a protester.”
When contacted for comment, LAPD responded by email that the department had no further information to provide at this time.
This article was updated with comment from the Los Angeles Police Department.
Brooklyn, New York-based Iranian American journalist and writer Masih Alinejad was the target of an international kidnapping plot, according to a federal indictment unsealed on July 13, 2021.
Four Iranian nationals allegedly involved in the country’s intelligence network were indicted with conspiring to kidnap Alinejad, who fled the country in 2009 and has been critical of the Iranian government, The New York Times reported. A fifth individual was indicted on charges of providing financial support for the plot, but wasn’t alleged to have participated in the kidnapping conspiracy; he was arrested in California on July 1.
In an op-ed published by The Washington Post in August 2020, Alinejad wrote that “the Iranian government had unleashed a social media campaign calling for my abduction.” According to the Times, the Iranian government had attempted to induce Alinejad’s relatives into luring her into an abduction in 2018 and began plotting her kidnapping in earnest as early as June 2020.
“As alleged, four of the defendants monitored and planned to kidnap a U.S. citizen of Iranian origin who has been critical of the regime’s autocracy, and to forcibly take their intended victim to Iran, where the victim’s fate would have been uncertain at best,” U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said in a news release.
According to the indictment, the defendants used private investigators to surveil Alinejad’s residence in Brooklyn, capturing photographs and video of her and other members of her household. They also reportedly researched means of transporting Alinejad out of the country, including using military-style speedboats to travel from New York to Venezuela, the government of which has friendly relations with Iran.
Alinejad told CNN after the indictment was unsealed that she has been under FBI protection since the end of 2020, and had been staying at different safe houses.
The four defendants were each charged with conspiracies related to kidnapping, sanctions violations, bank and wire fraud and money laundering and face life in prison, but remain at large, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
“This is not some far-fetched movie plot,” William F. Sweeney Jr., the head of the FBI’s New York office, said in the news release. “We allege a group, backed by the Iranian government, conspired to kidnap a U.S. based journalist here on our soil and forcibly return her to Iran. Not on our watch. When we find you, you will be brought here and held accountable under U.S. law.”
In a statement published by The Iranian Students’ News Agency, an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson dismissed the allegations as “baseless and ridiculous,” CNN reported.
Iranian journalist and women's rights activist Masih Alinejad speaks at the 2019 Women In The World Summit. In July 2021, the federal government unsealed an indictment revealing a kidnapping plot against Alinejad.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, Photojournalist charged with grand larceny following filing assault complaint against NYPD officer,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-charged-with-grand-larceny-following-filing-assault-complaint-against-nypd-officer/,2021-07-15 15:12:31.781802+00:00,2022-04-20 15:02:58.757975+00:00,2022-04-20 15:02:58.672066+00:00,(2021-11-01 11:23:00+00:00) Charge of grand larceny against photojournalist dropped,Arrest/Criminal Charge,,,,Gabe Quinones (Independent),,2021-07-06,False,New York,New York (NY),None,None,"Independent photojournalist Gabe Quinones said he was arrested on charges of grand larceny by the New York City Police Department on July 6, 2021.
The department alleges that Quinones attempted to steal an NYPD officer’s baton on June 5, the photojournalist told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. On that evening, Quinones was covering demonstrations in Washington Square Park, which had been the site of both protests and street parties in the weeks preceding. Gothamist reported that for several months the NYPD had attempted to enforce the park’s largely ignored midnight curfew, and had announced a 10 p.m. curfew at the end of May.
Riot cops just cleared Washington Square Park, arresting one person because he has a speaker playing Fuck The Police, and swinging batons at a teenager. Because the park closes at midnight pic.twitter.com/nrGDDEQYba
— Jake Offenhartz (@jangelooff) November 7, 2020
Quinones told the Tracker that officers arrived well before the closure of the park and advanced on the crowds gathered there shortly before 10 p.m. As officers attempted to enforce the curfew and clear the park, Quinones said an officer ran up behind him as he walked down the sidewalk and shoved him into a wall with his baton. The Tracker has documented that incident here.
Quinones told the Tracker he filed a complaint against the officer and was contacted by the NYPD’s Internal Affairs Office to provide his footage and answer questions about the incident.
On July 6, Quinones said officers arrived at his apartment and arrested him on charges of grand larceny, alleging that he had attempted to steal the officer’s baton during the June 5 incident. Quinones denied the allegations unequivocally.
“There’s no humanly possible way that I could have stolen anything,” Quinones said. “I got assaulted by that baton: I didn’t try to steal it. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing when I walked in there.”
Quinones said he was taken to the NYPD’s 6th Precinct where he was held for three to four hours before being released with a hearing scheduled for July 26.
The NYPD didn’t respond to emailed requests for comment.
Reporter Dillon Collier was shot at from close range by a man with two handguns as he covered a story about a house fire in San Antonio, Texas, on July 5, 2021.
Collier, who is an investigative reporter for KSAT News 12 in San Antonio, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he and video journalist Joshua Saunders were assigned to cover a fire that took place overnight Sunday into Monday, after shell casings had been found at the scene and arson investigators were looking into whether someone had shot into the home or started the fire intentionally. Saunders' assault is documented here.
Collier and Saunders arrived to find people standing around the fire-damaged home. As Saunders gathered footage, Collier — who said he was wearing a shirt emblazoned with the station logo — interviewed the owner of the house.
“She was very emotional, said she had grown up there, but had lost track of who had been staying there in recent years, after her father had gotten sick and had been forced to move in with a sibling.” After the interview ended they moved closer to the home to shoot additional footage.
Collier, a two-time Houston Press Club Journalist of the Year, said a female family member came running toward them as Saunders set up his camera, screaming that a relative had a gun and was going to kill them. The journalists quickly moved behind an SUV.
“The man then emerged from the home holding two large handguns, one in each hand. He said something to the effect of us not asking his permission to be there,” Collier told the Tracker. Collier ran away down a sidewalk as the man fired toward Saunders, who had run in the opposition direction.
“I remember him firing two shots at us from very close range, less than 10 feet away,” Collier said. “I then ran to my left and headed east from the home along a sidewalk as the man fired shots in the opposite direction from me, toward where Josh was running.”
An SUV containing family members overtook Saunders. A second car carrying more people associated with the home pulled up to Collier after he had run a few blocks and offered to drive him to safety. Both Collier and Saunders called 911 to report the shooting.
As Collier’s group found Saunders near a parked vehicle, the gunman rode in front of them on bicycle and ditched it on the sidewalk. He then jumped a metal gate and entered a home a block from the burned home.
San Antonio police officers then arrived and set up a perimeter, Collier said. A homicide detective interviewed everyone targeted by the gunman, as a standoff lasting several hours took place.
DEVELOPING In the 200-300 block of Noria for a barricaded man. He fired a handgun at our photographer, me and his own family then took off on a bike and entered another home. Authorities had been here overnight for a suspicious fire #KSATnews pic.twitter.com/eqc0fcKRwX
— Dillon Collier (@dilloncollier) July 5, 2021
“A few hours later the San Antonio police chief showed up and informed the media that the gunman had been killed by officers after firing at them in the backyard of the home he went into,” Collier said.
The San Antonio Police Department didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Collier said he believed he and Saunders had been targeted because they were members of the media. He said KSAT management had repeatedly asked whether they were OK, and had offered them counseling.
Television video journalist Joshua Saunders was shot at while he covered a story about a house fire in San Antonio, Texas, on July 5, 2021.
A man with two handguns fired on Saunders and reporter Dillon Collier from less than 10 feet away as they spoke to the owner of the fire-damaged home. Saunders, an Emmy Award winner, and Collier work for KSAT News 12 in San Antonio. Collier’s assault is documented here.
Collier told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he and Saunders were assigned to cover the fire after shell casings had been found at the scene and arson investigators were looking into whether someone had shot into the home or started the fire intentionally.
After an interview with the owner of the home ended they moved closer to the scene to shoot additional footage. Collier said that after Saunders — who didn’t reply to a request for a comment — had set up the camera, one of the female family members came running out screaming that her relative had a gun and was going to kill them. The journalists moved behind an SUV.
“The man then emerged from the home holding two large handguns, one in each hand. He said something to the effect of us not asking his permission to be there,” Collier said. “I remember him firing two shots at us from very close range, less than 10 feet away. I then ran to my left and headed east from the home along a sidewalk as the man fired shots in the opposite direction from me, toward where Josh was running.”
An SUV containing family members overtook Saunders, who was later rejoined by Collier. Both journalists called 911 to report the shooting.
San Antonio police officers then arrived and set up a perimeter, Collier said. A homicide detective interviewed everyone targeted by the gunman, as a standoff lasting several hours took place.
“A few hours later the San Antonio police chief showed up and informed the media that the gunman had been killed by officers after firing at them in the backyard of the home he went into,” Collier said.
The San Antonio Police Department didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Collier said KSAT management had repeatedly asked whether they were OK, and had offered them counseling.
Documentary writer, director and producer Rocky Romano was struck over the head with a baton while he was documenting protests outside a spa in Los Angeles, California, on July 3, 2021.
Wi Spa, located in LA’s Koreatown, became a flashpoint for anti-transgender demonstrators as the result of a viral video which police are now treating as a hoax, Slate reported. Romano told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker via email that a loose coalition of LGBTQ, antifa and leftist demonstrators had assembled outside the spa shortly before 10 a.m. in support of transgender individuals’ rights.
Romano said he and his team at Winters Rock Entertainment are working on a feature-length documentary on the civil rights movement in LA since the murder of George Floyd in May 2020. Romano said he and his team discussed the potential dangers when they arrived in the area, as had become routine with their coverage of dozens of protests over the past year.
“We knew that there had been threats issued by far right extremists and, as always, we came prepared with our limited protective gear, which thankfully included my helmet,” Romano said. “What we did not know was the extent of the danger we would be facing.”
Shortly after the documentarians arrived, several more groups Romano described as QAnon believers, Trump supporters and religious zealots arrived at the spa. Animosity between the groups of protesters and counter-protesters escalated.
“As tensions rose, fights began to break out and I ended up being hit with a cloud of mace as I filmed,” Romano said. “As the acts of violence began to escalate even more, I began to try and de-escalate certain situations where violence could reach the point of major bodily harm or death.”
“Just as I stepped in to allow a far-right protester to get to his feet after falling to the ground after a confrontation, I was hit from behind by some sort of blunt instrument,” Romano said.
In footage captured by independent journalist Tina-Desiree Berg, an individual in a plaid shirt can be seen advancing down the street toward a crowd of scuffling protesters. Approximately 15 seconds into the clip, the individual appears to deliberately approach Romano, who is wearing a flak jacket labeled with “PRESS” and a helmet while filming, and strike him across the head with what appears to be a club.
More footage from yesterday's WiSpa anti trans demonstration. An anti trans agitator approaches a man wearing a press flack jacket from behind and hits him with a pipe on the back of his head pic.twitter.com/IRoLQYGHNu
— Lefty-Desiree McLefty Face, Milkshake Whisperer (@TinaDesireeBerg) July 4, 2021
The individual can then be seen running back down the street, and appears to taunt Romano and the crowd before turning down a side street and getting into a vehicle parked nearby.
Romano said that the individual dropped the club as he fled and that someone was able to recover it. Romano subsequently identified the weapon as a “Tire Thumper” — a hickory wood baton weighted with three inches of iron rivet embedded inside — which qualifies as a “generally prohibited weapon” under the state’s penal code.
After hitting journalist Rocky Romano in the head with this club, identified as a 'tire thumper,' the assailant dropped it while fleeing.
Following the assault, Romano told the Tracker he didn’t seek medical attention but followed best practices for someone suffering from a concussion. Later that night, Romano said, he could feel that his scalp had split slightly because of the force of the impact.
Romano said he has been in contact with the Los Angeles Police Department and is consulting with Winters Rock Entertainment’s legal counsel about the best way to move forward.
The LAPD didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment.
Winters Rock Entertainment documentarians, Miranda Winters, left, and Rocky Romano film at a protest in L.A. in November 2020. Romano was hit over the head with a baton while filming another protest on July 3, 2021.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,protest,,,,, Man fleeing authorities steals TV station’s car in North Carolina,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/man-fleeing-authorities-steals-tv-stations-car-in-north-carolina/,2021-07-19 17:58:03.512195+00:00,2022-03-11 14:49:29.130795+00:00,2022-03-11 14:49:29.072373+00:00,,Equipment Damage,,,vehicle: count of 1,,,2021-07-03,False,Raleigh,North Carolina (NC),35.7721,-78.63861,"A man fleeing from the North Carolina State Highway Patrol stole a car from TV station WRAL reporter Keenan Willard and photographer Lucas Nelson just after they finished a live report to the 11 p.m. newscast on July 3, 2021.
According to a report on WRAL, the Raleigh, North Carolina NBC affiliate, a man had approached the journalist and photographer and offered them cash to drive him to a gas station in the station’s car. When they refused, he jumped into WRAL’s car and drove down U.S. Highway 64.
A State Highway Patrol trooper saw the incident and pursued the man, who shortly after crashed head-on into a trooper’s car and was taken into custody, WRAL reported.
Willard, who didn’t respond to a request for comment, wrote on Twitter just after the incident that the journalist were shaken up.
First off, I’m okay.
— Keenan Willard (@KeenanWRAL) July 4, 2021
One of the two suspects in the Chatham County manhunt just stole my car and crashed it head-on into a State Trooper after a short chase.
We’re shaken up, but we’re coming back live on @WRAL in a few minutes. pic.twitter.com/kkao3EpfTP
WRAL posted video of the incident as it unfolded, adding it wouldn’t make any further statement about the theft of the car.
Four people were later taken into custody, according to the report.
The NCSHP didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Vishal Singh, a videographer who works on Netflix documentaries and has been covering demonstrations in Los Angeles since May 2020, said he was shoved with a baton and aimed at with a crowd-control weapon by a police officer while covering demonstrations outside a spa in Los Angeles, California, on July 3, 2021.
Wi Spa, located in LA’s Koreatown, became a flashpoint for anti-transgender demonstrators as the result of a viral video which police are now treating as a hoax, Slate reported. A loose coalition of LGBTQ, antifa and leftist demonstrators had assembled outside the spa shortly before 10 a.m. in support of transgender individuals’ rights.
Singh told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was covering the confrontations between the anti-transgender demonstrators and pro-LGBTQ counterprotesters outside the spa, which included the assault of documentarian Rocky Romano and the stabbings of at least two demonstrators.
“After all of that went down, the LAPD came in and declared an unlawful assembly and tried to divide the sides, but not very well,” Singh said.
“At some point I was just walking by the police line and an officer just stepped out of line to push me, and I said, ‘What was that for?’ and they started shoving me and shoving a bunch of other people with batons,” Singh said. He also said that later in the day an officer deliberately aimed a less-lethal weapon at him from only a few feet away.
Me: “Put your gun down!”
— Vishal P. Singh (They/He) (@VPS_Reports) July 3, 2021
LAPD: *raises gun at me* pic.twitter.com/uccqvsuht0
Singh said he was wearing his full collection of protective gear — including a helmet and flak jacket labeled with “PRESS” — in addition to his press badge. Singh can be seen in a photo from that day posted to Twitter by independent photojournalist Ashley Balderrama.
The Los Angeles Police Department did not respond to an email requesting comment.
Independent videographer Sean Beckner-Carmitchel was arrested while filming a homeless camp cleanup operation in the Harbor City neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, on July 1, 2021.
Beckner-Carmitchel told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he has been documenting such cleanup operations, which aim to remove trash and encourage unhoused populations to seek out shelters, for four months as the city has responded aggressively to a rise in homelessness in the county.
Upon arriving at the site alongside two activists, a worker with LA Sanitation & Environment approached Beckner-Carmitchel and told the group that they weren’t allowed to film in that area. After some discussion, he said, they reached an agreement that the group could observe and document the operation from a location a little further back, away from the trucks.
“Not long after, LAPD came over and told us we could not be there,” Beckner-Carmitchel said. “We were told to go one way; we complied. We were told to go the other way, and in the process of complying with that we were all detained and cited.”
Was just detained, cited and released with 56.11MC despite being told the area I was in was fine to stay in. I’ll release footage along with @FilmThePoliceLA who was also detained later but it’s more important to cover the proceedings going on. pic.twitter.com/4Ds9PuWbNi
— Sean Carmitchel (@ACatWithNews) July 1, 2021
In footage Beckner-Carmitchel captured when the Sanitation Department official first approached, his National Press Photographers Association credentials can be seen on a lanyard around his neck. Beckner-Carmitchel also identified himself as press to the officer, he said, and attempted to explain why he needed somewhere to observe the operation.
Beckner-Carmitchel told the Tracker that while the officer was placing him under arrest, the officer deliberately threw his phone to the ground, but the device wasn’t damaged.
Beckner-Carmitchel said the officer placed him in cuffs and sat him in the back of his vehicle for approximately 30 minutes.
Beckner-Carmitchel told the Tracker he was cited with violating Municipal Code 56.11.10(d) — “delaying/obstructing dept sanitation clean up operation” — and was ordered to appear in court on Oct. 28. If convicted, he faces a fine of up to $2,500. Beckner-Carmitchel said he believes the charges will be dropped before his hearing date.
The Los Angeles Police Department didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment.
An NBC Bay Area news crew was threatened with firearms and ordered to hand over their equipment while filming outside City Hall in Oakland, California, on June 28, 2021.
The East Bay Times reported that shortly after 3 p.m. the news crew was interviewing a city official about a recent surge in crime when two unidentified armed individuals confronted the cameraperson. According to The Washington Post, the individuals knocked the camera to the ground during the incident; the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker couldn’t verify whether the camera was damaged as a result of the drop.
A scuffle ensued after the individuals ordered the crew to hand over the equipment, the Times reported. The news crew’s security guard drew his firearm and told the would-be robbers to leave.
“The suspects immediately left the area without the camera,” a police spokesperson said in a statement to the Times. The spokesperson also noted that the suspects hadn’t been apprehended.
“Our colleagues were conducting an interview at Oakland City Hall when they were approached by two armed individuals,” Liza Catalán, a spokeswoman for NBC Bay Area, told the Tracker in an emailed comment. “Thankfully, our colleagues are safe and unharmed.”
Catalán didn’t respond to questions requesting additional information about the incident.
Independent video journalist Mason Lake said a Portland police officer shoved him with a baton and damaged his on-camera microphone while he was covering a protest in Portland, Oregon, on June 25, 2021.
According to The Oregonian, protesters gathered near the Oregon Convention Center after a Portland police officer shot and killed a man outside a Motel 6. Some demonstrators shouted for officers to quit their jobs, while officers stood facing the protesters with shields and batons. The Portland Police Bureau on Twitter said officers throughout the city responded to help with "scene security." A few days earlier on June 16, all of the officers with the Portland Police Bureau's Rapid Response Team resigned together following news of investigations for excessive force, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting.
"The PPB maced & fired 40mm rounds into a crowd of protestors gathered on NE Grand Ave," Lake wrote on Twitter at 12:04 p.m. on June 25, alongside a video of officers shoving and spraying demonstrators. At the 19-second mark, it appears that an officer physically knocked the camera, cutting the audio for the rest of the clip.
"I was on the front line and I was nearly bear-maced before being physically shoved by & officer with a baton," Lake wrote the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in a text message. "He hit/shoved me marking my neck & hitting my on-camera microphone damaging it." He also tweeted a photograph of his neck with a red mark across the middle and said he had multiple “press” markings across his clothes and helmet, as well as a National Press Photographers Association badge on his front strap.
A PPB officer hit/shoved me with a baton, marking the skin on my neck & damaged my on-camera microphone while I was filming them push/mace the crowd of protestors gathered tonight by the Portland Convention Center after a shooting report. #portland #police #assault #press pic.twitter.com/rDlWYPiYSl
— Mason Lake Media (@MasonLakePhoto) June 25, 2021
“The officer issued no orders for press to move or go to designated area,” he added.
PPB didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment.
Independent journalist James Croxton, managing editor of Oregon-based website DoubleSidedMedia, said his life was threatened as he covered an anti-vaccine rally in Springfield, Oregon, on June 23, 2021.
He said he was in the plaza in front of Springfield Library around 4 p.m. to cover the event, which was also advertised as a protest against mask-wearing to combat COVID-19, and against critical race theory. Croxton said there were around 40 protesters at the rally.
“Many of them held signs about keeping critical race theory out of schools and mask mandates,” he wrote in a post for Left Coast Right Watch, a California-based website.
Two men approached Croxton and asked him who he worked for. Croxton wrote in the post that when he replied ”‘Double Sided Media” they muttered “fake press.” He said he was later circled by two protesters, one carrying a large pole. He wrote that the one carrying the flagpole was “notorious” for beating people with it.
He added that a man walked toward him and told him it would be wise if he walked away.
“Knowing I was largely outnumbered and the only member of the press there by this point, I agreed and stated, ‘Sure, I’ll walk away. No problem’,” Croxton wrote.
Two of the men then followed Croxton down the road, he said, and one said: “If you ever come back, it’ll be the last thing you do.”
“I was physically scared for myself. I thought I was about to be ambushed as two grown men—one with a large flagpole as normal—circled me like predatory vultures,” Croxton tweeted after the incident.
“In retrospect, I think this was the most dangerous situation I have found myself in so far. I say this because I was entirely alone and with a bunch of people who still think that 'the press is the enemy of the people,'” Croxton wrote.
Croxton told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he had feared for his life.
“I felt scared due to the fact that I was all alone knowing that if anything happened, nobody was there to either document it or help me.”
He said he hadn’t filed a complaint to the police.
Gavin Stone, an editor for the Richmond County Daily Journal, was charged on June 22, 2021, with criminal contempt of court for violating an administrative order that forbade the use of electronic equipment in the courtroom, according to the charging document reviewed by the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Stone was charged along with Daily Journal reporter Matthew Sasser, who had brought a tape recorder into a courtroom while covering a murder trial. Stone acknowledged that he incorrectly instructed Sasser that he could bring a tape recorder into court, according to court documents and Brian Bloom, the newspaper’s regional publisher, who spoke with CPJ. CPJ is a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
Both Sasser and Stone acknowledged that they violated an August 2019 bar on electronic devices, but said they did not correctly understand that tape recorders were also prohibited inside the courtroom, according to the court document.
The Associated Press reported that, under North Carolina law, courts can punish someone for criminal contempt if they had previously been warned by the court that the conduct was improper.
Stone had in January 2020 received notice in a letter from Chief District Court Judge Amanda Wilson claiming he had violated the August 2019 order by photographing in the courtroom and publishing that image in the Daily Journal.
Resident Superior Court Judge Stephan Futrell, who filed the June 2021 charges against the journalists, sentenced Stone to five days in prison and jailed the editor immediately following the hearing, according to Bloom and the AP. Stone told the Tracker he was released after approximately 24 hours in custody.
Sasser was fined $500, the maximum allowed, according to the same sources. The Tracker has documented his charges here.
An attorney representing the journalists filed an immediate appeal, securing Stone’s release, according to the AP. Futrell lifted the initial penalties and the editor and reporter will appear before an appeals court in August, Bloom told CPJ. If their convictions are upheld, each could face a fine up to $500, 30 days in prison or both, according to the court document.
Matthew Sasser, a reporter for the Richmond County Daily Journal, was charged on June 22, 2021, with criminal contempt of court for bringing a tape recorder into a courtroom while covering a murder trial, according to the charging document reviewed by the Committee to Protect Journalists.
The charging document states that on June 21 and 22 Sasser violated a standing administrative order from August 2019 forbidding the use of electronic equipment in the courtroom.
Resident Superior Court Judge Stephan Futrell fined Sasser $500, the maximum allowed. In the same hearing, Futrell charged Sasser’s editor Gavin Stone with contempt of court for instructing Sasser that he could bring a tape recorder into court, according to the court documents and the newspaper’s regional publisher Brian Bloom, who spoke to CPJ. CPJ is a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
Both Sasser and Stone acknowledged that they violated the August 2019 order, but said they did not correctly understand that tape recorders were also prohibited inside the courtroom, according to the court document.
The Associated Press reported that, under North Carolina law, courts can punish someone for criminal contempt if they had previously been warned by the court that the conduct was improper.
Stone had in January 2020 received notice in a letter from Chief District Court Judge Amanda Wilson claiming he had violated the August 2019 order by photographing in the courtroom and publishing that image in the Daily Journal.
During a June 22 court hearing, Stone was sentenced to 5 days in prison and was jailed immediately. Stone told the Tracker he was released after approximately 24 hours in custody. The Tracker has documented his charges here.
An attorney representing the journalists filed an immediate appeal, securing Stone’s release, according to the AP. Futrell lifted the initial penalties and the editor and reporter will appear before an appeals court in August, Bloom told CPJ. If their convictions are upheld, each could face a fine up to $500, 30 days in prison or both, according to the court document.
Mike Petchenik, a reporter for Atlanta’s WSB-TV, said a security guard at a local mall tried to grab his phone from his hand and assaulted him as he was reporting at the scene of a shooting on June 13, 2021.
WSB-TV reported that two 15-year-olds had approached a Lenox Square Mall security guard and shot him, before fleeing to a nearby hotel where they were captured and arrested. The security guard was taken to the hospital for wounds to his chest and stomach but was recovering, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Petchenik told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was reporting about the incident from off of mall property, but after he walked into the parking lot he saw someone running in his direction out of the corner of his eye.
In a clip Petchenik posted just before 10 p.m., a security guard can be seen walking toward Petchenik and grabbing his phone before the video suddenly stops.
While shooting some video of the crime scene at #LenoxSquare, a security guard grabbed my phone out of my hand. pic.twitter.com/4n6YktaIgR
— Mike Petchenik (@MPetchenikWSB) June 14, 2021
“You don’t know what we just witnessed out here,” the guard can be heard saying in the clip.
“I was able to wrangle my phone back from her and tell her to get her hands off of me at that point,” Petchenik said. “We were within the view and earshot of police officers but they didn’t really do anything other than tell me that I could stand there.”
Petchenik said he identified himself and was wearing a station polo shirt during the incident, but he wasn’t sure whether he had his press credentials.
In response to a comment on the video, Petchenik wrote on Twitter that he understood the security guard was likely frustrated because of the shooting.
“But grabbing my phone and trying to rough me up wasn’t the proper response,” Petchenik wrote. He told the Tracker he decided not to press charges or file a complaint with the security guard’s superiors.
Videographer Vishal Singh said Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department officers hit him in the leg with a pepper ball while he was covering a protest against the department on June 12, 2021.
According to CBS Los Angeles, the sheriff’s department had denied a permit to a group planning a protest to demand that Sheriff Alex Villanueva step down. Despite the ban, demonstrators went ahead with a march, “highlighting the many killings of LASD against the Black and Brown community — such as #DijonKizzee, a Black man who was shot and killed last year for a bicycle violation," Singh wrote on Twitter at 3:45 p.m. that day. Singh’s Twitter post accompanied a video of a demonstrator speaking to officers on a megaphone.
Singh, who has worked on Netflix documentaries and covers protests in Los Angeles, said that at one point, sheriff’s deputies “started pointing me out and calling my name to each other." A video he posted shows a brief conversation Singh had with one deputy.
"One of them recognized me from the raid on the Black Unity autonomous protest camp last year," he wrote.
At 6:14 p.m., Singh tweeted that he was hit in the leg by a pepper ball. In a video accompanying the tweet, the sound of a gun firing can be heard, followed shortly by Singh cursing, but the pepper ball is not seen. Singh told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he wore a press badge while reporting, but he said the officers were "kind of shooting at everybody," and thus he did not believe he was deliberately targeted.
In a letter to the department's board, the ACLU of Southern California said the sheriff's denial of the protest request was "unconstitutional and suggested it was the result of bias," wrote LAist.
Two weeks earlier, on May 28, a federal judge granted a preliminary injunction limiting the sheriff’s department's use of projectiles and chemical agents on protests, "finding that it has indiscriminately fired them at peaceful protesters, legal observers and journalists," according to the Los Angeles Times.
LASD Deputy Eva Jimenez did not respond to the specifics of Singh’s case but told the Tracker that the "deployment and use of less lethal munitions is guided by strict policy and procedure, in addition to current state and federal law. Every application and use of force is thoroughly documented, investigated, and reviewed at multiple levels throughout the chain of command."
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
A subpoena seeking reporting materials was issued to CBS2 News reporter Dave Savini on June 8, 2021, in Chicago, Illinois, as part of a lawsuit brought by a mother on behalf of her son.
According to court documents, subpoenas identical to Savini’s were also served to CBS2 News’ parent company, Viacom CBS, former news editor Derek Dalton and a non-entity on the same date. All demanded footage from Savini’s interview with the child, who was allegedly beaten in a school bathroom with belts provided by his teacher, and the child’s relative, who is accused of the assault. Shortly after the incident, the relative answered questions from Savini after leaving a criminal court. CBS 2 aired a segment with the interviews in February 2019.
Attorneys for CBS objected to the subpoena on behalf of Savini on July 12, stating that all materials were privileged newsgathering information. Attorneys also cited federal and state reporter’s privilege statutes, saying that collecting the files would be “unduly burdensome to produce.”
Plaintiffs in the lawsuit eventually withdrew the subpoena issued to Viacom-CBS on Oct. 21, redirecting it to CBS Broadcasting, Inc. (CBS2) and reissuing the subpoena to Savini and Dalton. Lawyers to the plaintiff also agreed to narrow the scope of the subpoenas, demanding only the video and audio outtake recordings of the interviews. The current status of Savini’s subpoena is unknown but a motion to compel CBS2 to produce the footage was ultimately upheld on April 29, 2022.
In her decision to uphold the outlet’s subpoena, United States Magistrate Judge Sheila Finnegan wrote that “there is no federal common-law reporter’s privilege applicable in this case, and CBS 2 cannot withhold the requested audio/video outtakes on this basis.” The court ordered the outlet to produce the unreleased footage by May 13, 2022.
Authorities in Hubbard County, Minnesota, detained and strip-searched journalist Alan Weisman and charged him with gross misdemeanor trespassing charges, according to Weisman and County Attorney Jonathan Frieden, who both spoke with the Committee to Protect Journalists.
At about 5 p.m. on June 7, an officer with the local sheriff’s department in Hubbard County, Minnesota, arrested Weisman, a freelance journalist on assignment for the Los Angeles Times, while he was covering a protest against the construction of an oil pipeline, Weisman said.
The deputies brought Weisman to the local sheriff’s department, where officers strip-searched him and confiscated his phone, voice recorder, notebooks, and prescription medications, he said. He told CPJ, a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, that authorities released him at about 9:30 p.m., returned his possessions, and did not inform him of any charges filed against him.
In a phone interview, Frieden told CPJ that his office had filed gross misdemeanor trespassing charges against Weisman, but said that the charges had not been formally approved by a judge as of today. He said he was not aware that Weisman was a journalist at the time his office filed the charges, but added that Minnesota state law does not provide special dispensation for journalists in such cases.
Under Minnesota law, the maximum fine that can be imposed for a gross misdemeanor is $3,000.
Law enforcement arrested about 250 people on trespassing, public nuisance, and unlawful assembly charges in relation to the protest, according to news reports.
Weisman told CPJ he did not know why he was arrested. He said that he was standing in an area with other journalists and was wearing two lanyards with press credentials when a sheriff’s deputy tapped him on the shoulder and said he was under arrest.
“It was very clear that I was a journalist,” Weisman told CPJ, saying that he had a notebook in his hand and was conducting interviews at the time. He said that the officer did not give him any warning before the arrest or issue any commands to leave the area.
The officer placed Weisman in a sheriff’s department vehicle along with eight other people who were arrested at the protest, he said. He told CPJ he was able to call his friends and colleagues from inside the vehicle, but said officers repeatedly denied his right to a phone call once he arrived at the station.
He added that officers initially refused to give him his medication while in detention, but eventually did so. When Weisman asked a sheriff’s deputy why he was being released, they said that he was released so he could continue taking his medication on schedule.
In emails to CPJ yesterday, Cory Aukes, the Hubbard County sheriff, said that deputies would not arrest a credentialed journalist who was “obviously documenting the situation,” but said, “that wasn’t the case here.”
Aukes said that if Weisman “was in an area that he had permission to be in, we wouldn’t arrest him.” He added that the issue of whether Weisman will face any criminal charges “is between the Hubbard County Attorney and Mr. Weisman.”
Weisman said that, upon his release, a local religious organization that helps newly released detainees transported him back to his rental car.
Weisman has contributed on environmental issues and other topics to news outlets including the Los Angeles Times, The Atlantic, and The New York Times, among others, and wrote The World Without Us. Weisman is under contract for his next book with Dutton/ Penguin Random House and is a senior producer and the board treasurer at Homeland Productions, an independent, nonprofit journalism collective, according to his biography on that group’s website.
Law enforcement arrested nearly 250 people at an organized protest of the Line 3 pipeline in Hubbard County, Minnesota, on June 7, 2021, including journalist Alan Weisman, who was on assignment for the Los Angeles Times.
",arrested and released,charges dropped,Hubbard County Sheriff’s Office,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"pipeline, protest",,trespassing,,, "Photojournalist pushed by NYPD officer, struck with baton while covering protest",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-pushed-by-nypd-officer-struck-with-baton-while-covering-protest/,2021-07-15 15:05:41.193109+00:00,2021-07-15 15:14:49.748164+00:00,2021-07-15 15:14:49.713883+00:00,,Assault,,,,Gabe Quinones (Independent),,2021-06-05,False,New York,New York (NY),None,None,"Independent photojournalist Gabe Quinones said he was assaulted by a New York City Police Department officer while covering demonstrations in Washington Square Park on June 5, 2021.
The park had been the site of both protests and street parties; Gothamist reported that for several months the NYPD had attempted to enforce the park’s largely ignored midnight curfew.
Riot cops just cleared Washington Square Park, arresting one person because he has a speaker playing Fuck The Police, and swinging batons at a teenager. Because the park closes at midnight pic.twitter.com/nrGDDEQYba
— Jake Offenhartz (@jangelooff) November 7, 2020
At the end of May, the NYPD said that officers, coordinating with the NYC Parks Department, would enforce a 10 p.m. closure of the park on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, according to Gothamist.
Quinones told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that on June 5, officers arrived well before the closure of the park and advanced on the crowds gathered there shortly before 10 p.m.
In a post on Instagram, Quinones wrote: “The officers had instructed us to stay on the sidewalk and that’s exactly where I was when I was attacked. He shoved his baton into my chest causing bruising so I told him ‘I’m press’, before I could pull out the badge he bum rushed me pinning me to a wall and shoving his baton into me further.”
At approximately 12:55 minutes into video footage from news agency FreedomNews.TV and filmed by @scootercasterNY, an NYPD officer appears to push Quinones against a doorframe and then take a baton swipe at him as he runs away.
“After [the officer shoved] me the first time, I sort of fell backward and I instinctively reached out for anything to sort of catch myself and so I grabbed his baton,” Quinones said. “That’s when he shoved me back into the wall.”
Quinones told the Tracker the officer who struck him never spoke to him beyond telling him to get on the sidewalk, where he already was. He said he filed a complaint against the officer and was contacted by the NYPD’s Internal Affairs Office to provide his footage and answer questions about the incident.
On July 6, Quinones said officers arrived at his apartment and arrested him on charges of grand larceny, alleging that he had attempted to steal the officer’s baton during the June 5 incident. Quinones said he was held for three to four hours before being released with a hearing scheduled for July 26. The Tracker has documented that arrest here.
The NYPD didn’t respond to emailed requests for comment.
Kevin Gilman, a journalist for the Minnesota-based social media outlet Watchdog Citizen News, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was shoved by a police officer while reporting on a protest in Minneapolis that started the night of June 3, 2021.
The demonstration in the city’s Uptown neighborhood began after officers with a U.S. Marshals task force shot and killed Winston Boogie Smith Jr., a Black man, on June 3, Minnesota Public Radio reported.
Gilman told the Tracker he was using his phone to record video as a police line was pushing protesters back on West Lake Street at around midnight.
Suddenly, Gilman said, an officer ran forward and, holding a baton with both hands, used it to shove Gilman in his left arm.
“All of a sudden, an officer came running out of the formation at me and cross-checked me with his baton,” Gilman said.
Gilman said he dropped his phone, which he was using to film, when the officer shoved him.
Video Gilman posted on Twitter shows police detaining a woman with a bicycle nearby while more officers in blue uniforms holding long sticks move up the street.
One officer, who Gilman said was with the Minneapolis Police Department, runs toward the camera, and Gilman can be heard shouting “I’m press!”
Then the camera shakes and appears to fall to the ground, pointing up.
Protests erupted today in Minneapolis after another black man was killed in pursuant of a warrant by Minneapolis police. They were making unreasonable arrests with no dispersement orders and attacking press. #BLM #DefundThePolice #JournalismIsNotCrime pic.twitter.com/HXx4PG2eps
— KG (@kevgilman) June 4, 2021
Gilman told the Tracker he had a large bruise on his left arm where the officer’s baton struck him. He said his phone’s screen had minor scratches, though it was still operable and he didn’t need to get it repaired.
In addition to shouting to identify himself as a journalist, Gilman said he was wearing a vest marked “PRESS” and displaying press credentials made by Watchdog Citizen News.
Gilman said he believed he was targeted because he was a journalist. “He went out of his way to go after me,” he said of the officer who shoved him.
A Minneapolis Police Department spokesperson said the journalist could file a complaint if they feel they have been treated improperly by a member of the department. Gilman said he does not plan to file a complaint.
Niko Georgiades, a journalist with the nonprofit media outlet Unicorn Riot, says he was pushed from behind by a police officer as he was livestreaming a protest in Minneapolis on June 3.
Just before midnight, Georgiades was covering protests held in the city’s Uptown area over the fatal shooting of Winston Boogie Smith Jr. Smith, a 32-year-old Black man, was killed that day while members of the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force were pursuing him because he was wanted on a state felony arrest warrant for firearm possession, according to media reports.
Georgiades told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: “The police were clearing protesters off of Lake St. on the first night of protests for Winston Smith.”
Georgiades said that as he watched police make a few arrests, he felt an officer push him from behind. The officer “then came out of the police line directly towards me and continued for about 50 feet. When he realized he was all alone, he stopped and moved back to the police line,” Georgiades said.
The journalist said that about 15 minutes before he was pushed, another officer had approached him and struck his camera. “He pushed his hand down from the top of the camera telling me to ‘get out of here.’ I was not injured in this incident,” said Georgiades.
Georgiades said he felt the officers were deliberately targeting media. “I had my Unicorn Riot press badge hanging around my neck and I had a large camera with lights on it and a microphone with a Unicorn Riot flag on it,” he told the Tracker.
The Citizen Reporter, a Twitter feed covering protests, streamed video that night and tweeted: “@UR_Ninja’s Niko, who is credentialed press, was shoved from behind by a Minneapolis police officer on Lake St. in Uptown about 20 minutes ago. He was following orders when he was shoved.”
The video shows Georgiades carrying a video camera and being pushed by a police officer. The words ‘I’m media” can be heard. In a video Georgiades made himself and posted on YouTube, there are blurred images of him being pushed by an officer who looks to be running. He can be heard to say: “I’m media. What the fuck? I’m not doing anything, I’m media.”
A Minneapolis Police Department spokesperson said: “If the journalist believes that he was mistreated or that officers violated policy, I would encourage him to reach out to the Internal Affairs Unit or the Office of Police Conduct Review Board and file a complaint.” Georgiades said he had not filed a complaint.
Wilson’s death sparked further protests in a city that has seen many such demonstrations since the 2020 murder of George Floyd, a Black man who was pinned to the ground by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. Chauvin was convicted of murder in April.
The area also saw protests in nearby Brooklyn Center after the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright, a Black man, by a white police officer on April 11.
TV and radio stations owned by the Cox Media Group were forced offline by what was believed to be a ransomware attack starting on June 2, 2021, according to several media reports.
The attack affected ABC affiliates WFTV in Orlando, Florida, and WSOC in Charlotte, North Carolina, as well as NBC affiliate WPXI in Pittsburgh, according to an NBC report. NBC’s June 4 report said the stations had been able to produce some broadcasts for their local audiences.
The three stations are part of the Cox Media Group, which owns more than 100 news outlets in 20 media markets. Radio stations owned by Cox were also affected by the apparent attack, a report from Inside Radio said. It found most news radio stations were back on air on June 4, but not the music stations.
In ransomware attacks an outside individual or group of hackers takes control of a company’s IT and digital services, and then demands ransom money from the company to “release” them.
"We are only able to communicate with each other over personal phones and text messages," a WFTV employee told NBC.
"They wouldn't let us say anything on social media about why we weren't on the air," a WFTV employee told NBC. "We feel a need to let our viewers know."
In Pittsburgh, the IT network staff began shutting down company servers as a precaution on June 3, an employee told NBC. "Since then we've been locked out," leaving staff unable to access emails and internal programs used for their broadcasts, the employee told NBC.
The attack meant some systems were still down the following week, including access to some stations’ digital video libraries, according to media reports. Weather computers were also not working for at least two stations, said CNN sources.
Some reports said that journalists were told not to open emails on their phones, and that broadcast software was not working.
Inside Radio reported that two weeks after the attack, Cox music stations were still not back to full service.
It said: “More than a dozen CMG music stations found ... are still offline as the company enters a third week since the hack. Major music brands – like hip-hop/R&B “99 Jamz” WEDR Miami, AC “B98.5’ WSB-FM Atlanta, country “93Q” KKBQ Houston, CHR “The Big Ape” WAPE Jacksonville, soft AC “105.5 The Dove” WDUV Tampa and scores more – are playing this message when listeners attempt to access their stream: ‘This stream is currently unavailable and we are working diligently to bring it back online. Our radio stations continue to broadcast 24/7 and you can listen to us over the air. Thanks for your patience.’”
The Cox Media Group has not confirmed any information about the attack, and it did not respond to a request for a comment from the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
Andy Ngo, who identifies as an independent journalist and photographer and is an editor-at-large for the conservative news site The Post Millennial, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was assaulted while observing a protest in Portland, Oregon, on May 28, 2021.
Ngo is an out-spoken critic of antifa and has covered antifa demonstrations and protests since 2016, primarily publishing the videos taken on his GoPro to Twitter and YouTube. Ngo told the Tracker he does not wear press identification or badges while covering protests, and on the day of the assault was deliberately wearing clothing and ski goggles that would obscure his identity, citing his infamy in Portland’s “antifa community.”
Protesters had gathered in front of the Multnomah County Justice Center in downtown Portland on May 28 shortly before 9 p.m. to mark the one-year anniversary of racial justice protests in Portland, The Oregonian reported.
Shortly before midnight, Ngo said, an individual at the demonstration approached him and began asking him questions. When he did not respond and walked approximately a block away, Ngo said, multiple others again approached and questioned him, including asking why he looked so nervous. One of the individuals then pulled off his goggles and mask, revealing his identity.
Ngo said he attempted to leave, but some of the individuals chased him, knocked him to the ground and punched him repeatedly. Ngo said he then took refuge in The Nines, a nearby hotel. The crowd attempted to follow Ngo into the hotel, Willamette Week reported, and pulled on the front doors shouting, “You wanna kill us? You wanna kill us, Andy?”
In his statement on Twitter, Ngo wrote, “No journalist in America should ever face violence for doing his or her job. Yet on Friday, May 28, Antifa tried to kill me again while I was reporting on the ongoing protests and riots in Portland, Ore. for a new chapter of my book.”
Ngo wrote that a medic from Portland Fire and Rescue escorted him through a back entrance of the hotel to an ambulance. He was then taken to a hospital, where he was treated for multiple injuries; Ngo told the Tracker he received injuries to his left leg, right hand, hip and a burst blood vessel in his eye. Ngo said he has a follow up appointment to check whether a bone in his wrist was fractured. He said he filed a police report about the incident.
The Portland Police Bureau told the Tracker via email that the department does not release information about crime victims, and did not respond to a request for an update on the status of the case.
A 2019 Vox explainer article outlines the history between Ngo, The Proud Boys and antifa, and how Ngo is considered by some to be more of a provocateur than journalist. Ngo has faced significant criticism from activists over the past year, who say that his coverage — particularly his posting of the arestees’ mugshots to Twitter — spurs death threats and harassment.
For the purposes of the Tracker, Ngo identifies as a journalist, has a track record of publication and said he was in the process of documenting a public event when he was attacked. For more about how the Tracker counts incidents, see our frequently asked questions page.
Associated Press reporter Keith Ridler was subpoenaed on May 27, 2021, by anti-government activist Ammon Bundy, who was seeking Ridler’s reporting materials and testimony in a criminal case against Bundy in Idaho, according to an AP spokesperson. A judge quashed the subpoena.
The subpoena was filed two months after Ada County Magistrate Judge David Manweiler quashed a previous similar subpoena from Bundy.
Bundy sought the information in a criminal case against him stemming from protests he led against COVID-19 measures at the Idaho Statehouse in August.
Ridler reported on and photographed Bundy’s arrests, according to the AP. The journalist was one of several people Bundy subpoenaed who were at the Statehouse at the time.
Bundy was set to go to trial in March, but the case was delayed when he missed his trial, and was subsequently arrested, for refusing to comply with court rules to wear a mask due to COVID-19 precautions.
At that time, Manweiler sided with the AP, quashing Bundy’s subpoena for Ridler’s testimony and reporting materials, the AP reported.
Bundy again filed a subpoena for Ridler’s testimony and reporting materials in late May. The news organization filed a motion to quash on June 8, according to an AP spokesperson. The spokesperson confirmed that the judge quashed the subpoena.
On July 1, Bundy was found guilty of trespassing. A spokesperson for the AP declined further comment. The Tracker was not able to reach Bundy for comment.
Minneapolis Star Tribune photojournalist Mark Vancleave said he was threatened and his camera drone was stolen May 25, 2021, as he covered demonstrations in Minneapolis, Minnesota, marking the first anniversary of the police killing of George Floyd.
The death of Floyd, a Black man, sparked months of demonstrations across the country demanding justice and reform of police departments. On April 20, a jury found former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin guilty of second and third degree murder and second degree manslaughter in Floyd’s death.
Vancleave told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that shortly after 7 a.m. on the 25th he arrived at East 38th Street and Chicago Avenue, the intersection where Floyd was killed and which has been turned into a memorial site, to capture some aerial footage ahead of planned demonstrations in the afternoon.
“I flew [the drone] around for maybe 10 minutes or so,” Vancleave said, noting that very few people were in the area at that point. Then, said Vancleave, he returned to where his car was parked, about half a block away, so that he could land the drone and change its batteries and camera lens.
Immediately after he landed the drone, Vancleave said, a man approached him and began asking about the drone.
“Two other dudes walked up behind him and immediately got in my face, saying ‘Who are you? What are you doing here?’” Vancleave said. “They started demanding that I show them the video that I had taken.”
Vancleave said they also asked him to show his press credentials and driver’s license.
“They said they were ‘security.’ And then the first guy who came over just grabbed my drone and started walking away,” Vancleave said.
Had my drone taken by three dudes working “security” about a block from 38th and Chicago this morning. Was threatened and told never to come back to George Floyd Square.
— Mark Vancleave (@MDVancleave) May 25, 2021
Ultimately, Vancleave said, the men took his DJI Inspire 2 drone, threatened him and told him never to return to the area, which has been dubbed George Floyd Square. Vancleave estimated that the equipment, which belongs to the Star Tribune, is valued at approximately $5,000.
“One of the reasons I was there so early is I wanted to be as unobtrusive as possible. As a Minneapolis resident I understand how annoying flying things can be over residential areas, I experienced it over the past year,” Vancleave said. “This was not me being belligerent, ignoring community members. This was guys running up, taking my drone, threatening me and running off.”
Vancleave was struck in the hand with a rubber bullet in nearby Brooklyn Center on April 12, where demonstrators had gathered to demand justice in the killing of Daunte Wright, a Black man, who was fatally shot by a white police officer. Because of the resulting injury to his hand, Vancleave tweeted that using the drone was his only means of covering the demonstrations.
It’s very frustrating. I still can’t bend my finger well enough to grip a camera, so this was my way of making pictures.
— Mark Vancleave (@MDVancleave) May 25, 2021
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police-brutality protests here.
Honduran journalist Thirzia Galeas was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement when she requested asylum at the airport in Atlanta, Georgia, on May 23, 2021, according to the Committee for Free Expression in Honduras (C-Libre).
Galeas is a journalist and human rights activist who worked with C-Libre, a Honduran free expression organization that supports independent journalists. She has also reported in Honduras for the digital news outlet Conexihon.hn and Reporteros de Investigación.
In a written statement, Galeas told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that her life was threatened in December 2020 when C-Libre employees were summoned for a security training. Galeas’ statement was translated from Spanish by Dagmar Thiel of Fundamedios, a partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
The man who was leading the training identified himself as a government employee who worked in the Public Prosecutor’s Office and in government intelligence, Galeas said. She said he gave his name as Lester Obando.
Galeas said that Obando threatened her, telling her that there was a price on her head. She said she asked him why, and he told her it was because she knew a lot of information.
Obando told her that she had been under surveillance for a while, and told her details of what she did when she was on a recent assignment for C-Libre bringing aid to journalists in the city of San Pedro Sula who had been impacted by storms.
Galeas said several other incidents also had raised her concerns. In November 2020, the month before the man threatened Galeas, two other journalists who worked with C-Libre were detained and beaten by members of the Honduran National Police, the organization reported. When the other journalists working for the organization were standing outside of the police building, a person in a military uniform took a photo of the group, according to Galeas.
According to Galeas, Obando indicated that the journalists were detained in order to “disappear” them, or kill them. However, the two journalists were released.
In February 2021, Galeas said there was an assassination attempt on a member of C-Libre, which prompted several C-Libre colleagues to express concerns about their safety to the Committee of Relatives of the Detained and Disappeared of Honduras. Galeas said that was the first time she said that she was afraid.
According to C-Libre, Galeas had faced harassment in Honduras since 2011. In that year, the organization said, she was assaulted by the country’s Presidential Honor Guard as the group arrived at a protest against the murders of journalists in the country. The international press freedom group IFEX reported at that time that Galeas, who was there to observe events, was punched in the face by a soldier.
According to Fundamedios, Galeas entered the United States on a tourist visa and requested asylum because of persecution. She said many journalists have been killed in Honduras.
“I left Honduras for fear of being murdered, of being one more victim,” Galeas wrote in a statement.
The Committee to Protect Journalists, a founding partner of the Tracker, has documented eight journalists in Honduras killed due to their work since 1992. According to C-Libre, 87 journalists have been killed in the country over the last two decades.
Galeas was detained in the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia, for 18 days, according to Fundamedios. Her brother told C-Libre that she was held with about 30 other detainees, some of whom were infected with COVID-19.
Galeas has been released and is awaiting a hearing on her asylum request, she told the Tracker.
ICE did not reply to a request for comment.
Police hit independent videographer Sean Beckner-Carmitchel with crowd-control munitions while he was covering an event that went viral on social media and gathered large crowds in Huntington Beach, California, on May 22, 2021.
According to NBC News, the event, promoted as "Adrian's Kickback," began with a TikTok post from user adrian.lopez517 that invited people to "pop out n celebrate my bday." NBC reported that at least 2,500 people responded the night of May 22, gathering in streets and sidewalks in Huntington Beach and eventually drawing police, who declared an unlawful assembly "due to unruly crowds." The NBC report said police arrested nearly 150 people for vandalism, setting off fireworks, failure to disperse and curfew violations. Police tweeted that an emergency curfew was in effect from 11:30 p.m. to 5:30 a.m.
Beckner-Carmitchel tweeted at 9:15 p.m. that he was in Huntington Beach and reporting on Adrian's Kickback. Two hours later, he tweeted a video of people running along the sidewalk, while police roamed the streets. His tweet said police had fired crowd-control pepper munitions, “enough to where the air is causing people to cough.”
"Police dropped some pepper bullets. Firework thrown at police," he wrote in another tweet at 11:53 p.m. "I was just hit by less lethal munitions."
Police dropped some pepper bullets. Firework thrown at police. I was just hit by less lethal munitions in bio and… back of head. #adrianskickback pic.twitter.com/hlwpk1Ah1Z
— Sean Carmitchel (@ACatWithNews) May 23, 2021
Beckner-Carmitchel told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he wore National Press Photographers Association credentials around his neck and was near Walnut Ave and 3rd Street when he sustained "very intense bruising on the right hip, as well as a laceration on the back of the head."
"My hip hurts right now but I can’t get to my car so I guess I’ll be covering for the rest of the night," he wrote in another tweet.
Huntington Beach police issued a press release stating that "Chief Julian Harvey will be meeting with representatives from various social media platforms, including TikTok, to discuss the events that transpired to...minimize the potential for incidents such as this to happen again in the future."
Public information officer Jennifer Carey told the Tracker she had no additional comment.
A district court judge seized a memory card from a photojournalist for The Daily Iowan, the University of Iowa student newspaper, after she photographed jurors in a Davenport, Iowa, murder trial, in violation of court rules, on May 21, 2021, The Associated Press reported.
The photojournalist, whom the judge asked media not to identify, took pictures of jurors as they were being shown photographs of the body of a slain woman during the murder trial of Cristhian Bahena Rivera, according to The Des Moines Register. The Daily Iowan acknowledged in an editor’s note that its photographer had been removed from the courtroom because of “photographs involving jurors.”
The Register reported that as the jury was dismissed for a lunch break, one juror brought the photographer to the attention of Judge Joel Yates. After clearing the room of everyone but the photographer and an AP pool reporter, Yates asked the photographer, “What were you thinking?”
According to the Register, the photographer said that her editor told her it was OK to take pictures of the jury, and she was not aware of court rules that prohibit covering jurors.
The photographer deleted the photos from the camera in front of Yates, according to the Register. Yates then took the photographer’s memory card, which he said he believed would make sure no photographs of the jurors would be published, the Register reported.
The judge then told the journalist to go home, according to the Register. The paper reported that Yates said she was a young journalist who made a mistake and that the judge asked other members of the media not to identify the journalist because he didn’t want the incident to damage her career.
Multiple requests from the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker for comment from The Daily Iowan were not answered. The publication acknowledged the incident in an editor’s note at the end of a May 22 article.
“The DI [Daily Iowan] recognizes the gravity of the mistake and regrets the error,” the note reads. “The DI has been allowed to and will continue to report on trial proceedings. Judge Joel Yates said during proceedings that it was an honest mistake made by a young photographer, and no further action was taken against the photographer.”
Steve Davis, spokesperson for the Iowa judicial branch, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the photographer violated Iowa Court Rules by taking photographs of the jury.
Chapter 25 of the rules bars media from covering jurors, except when they are returning a verdict or unless it is unavoidable in covering other proceedings in the courtroom. Media rules specifically set for the Bahena Rivera trial state that media coverage of jurors is prohibited, according to a court document posted online by the Register.
The Tracker documents all instances when journalists’ equipment is seized in the course of their work.
Sarah Matthews, senior staff attorney for the Reporters Committee for the Freedom of the Press and a member of the Tracker’s advisory committee, said that rules for photography vary between different courts, and can even vary from one trial to another.
“Before reporters go into courts and start taking pictures, they need to be aware that they need to educate themselves and what their rules are for that particular court,” she said.
Courts have significant discretion for setting rules for media coverage, and for how those rules are enforced, according to Matthews.
Matthews said that the judge’s confiscation of the journalist’s memory card was “troubling” — particularly if there were other photographs on the card besides the ones involving jurors.
“There's any, any number of ways that the judge could have handled it and typically they have a lot of discretion in that area as to how to handle violations of their orders,” she said.
One possibility would be for a judge to just give the photographer a warning, Matthews said, though another judge might have taken a harsher approach by holding the journalist in contempt of court. Matthews said the journalist should have had a hearing in order to have an opportunity to object to the judge taking the equipment.
Local NBC and CW+-affiliate WVIR-TV was among multiple media outlets and journalists subpoenaed on May 20, 2021, for testimony in an ongoing lawsuit stemming from the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017.
Hundreds of white nationalists who had flocked to Charlottesville to protest plans to remove a Confederate statue were met by crowds of counter-protesters, Time Magazine reported in 2017, and the resulting violence led Virginia's governor to declare a state of emergency.
Plaintiff Brennan Gilmore alleged that after witnessing and filming the vehicular murder of anti-racism protester Heather Heyer during the Aug. 12 rally, he was subjected to a series of false articles and conspiracy theories and received numerous death threats against him and his family, The Daily Progress reported. He filed a defamation lawsuit against multiple defendants 一 including Jim Hoft of The Gateway Pundit, Alex Jones and his website InfoWars 一 in March 2018.
Hoft, as part of his defense, alleged that coverage of the rally was skewed by a vast conspiracy involving the press and government actors; he issued numerous subpoenas to non-party individuals and government and law enforcement agencies in an apparent effort to uncover the supposed conspiracy.
WVIR, which didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment, was issued a 19-page subpoena on May 20, 2021, ordering it to provide deposition testimony via Zoom on June 4. Hoft issued an amended subpoena to the broadcaster on May 27.
The subpoena, reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, notified the broadcast station of a broad range of possible subjects for the deposition, including: 1) “the ‘hundreds of top-tier media outlets’ which provided ‘extensive coverage to the Charlottesville residents who were showing up to challenge the spectre of white supremacy;’” 2) the lawsuit and all the topics therein; 3) the KKK and 4) multiple activist organizations and at least 28 named individuals, including former Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta and billionaire philanthropist George Soros, both of whom have been the subject of numerous conspiracy theories from the far-right.
The subpoena also commanded WVIR to turn over documents, videos, photos and communications exchanged by any of its employees or agents in connection with its coverage of the rally, Heyer’s death or the trials of her murderer, James Alex Fields Jr. The amended subpoena contained additional requests for any and all communications and files concerning the rally exchanged between the outlet and past or present employees of the City of Charlottesville, Office of the Commonwealth Attorney for the City of Charlottesville, the Virginia State Police Virginia Fusion Center, or “any person, organization, nonprofit, and/or other entity.”
WSLS and its reporter Ashley Curtis, and NBC4 and its reporter Julie Carey received subpoenas that were nearly identical to that initially served to WVIR. Attorney Leita Walker, representing all five parties, filed a motion to quash the subpoenas on June 14, describing them as “extremely overbroad and unduly burdensome.”
“[The subpoenas] seek virtually every court filing, police report, email, press release, video, photo or other document that the Non-Party Journalists received from anyone一government sources, witnesses to the events, social media, fellow journalists, wire services, etc.,” Walker wrote in the motion, which was reviewed by the Tracker. “[Hoft] is clearly engaged in a massive and massively inappropriate fishing expedition that, in the case of the Non-Party Journalists, seeks information they obtained in the course of their newsgathering activities.”
U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Western District of Virginia Joel Hoppe ruled in favor of the journalists and outlets, quashing the subpoenas on July 20, citing Hoft’s inadequate pleadings, according to The Daily Progress.
Walker didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment.
NBC-affiliate WSLS 10 News was among multiple media outlets and journalists subpoenaed on May 20, 2021, for testimony in an ongoing lawsuit stemming from the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017.
Hundreds of white nationalists who had flocked to Charlottesville to protest plans to remove a Confederate statue were met by crowds of counterprotesters, Time Magazine reported in 2017, and the resulting violence led Virginia's governor to declare a state of emergency.
Plaintiff Brennan Gilmore alleged that after witnessing and filming the vehicular murder of anti-racism protester Heather Heyer during the Aug. 12 rally, he was subjected to a series of false articles and conspiracy theories and received numerous death threats against him and his family, The Daily Progress reported. He filed a defamation lawsuit against multiple defendants 一 including Jim Hoft of The Gateway Pundit, Alex Jones and his website InfoWars 一 in March 2018.
Hoft, as part of his defense, alleged that coverage of the rally was skewed by a vast conspiracy involving the press and government actors; he issued numerous subpoenas to non-party individuals and government and law enforcement agencies in an apparent effort to uncover the supposed conspiracy.
WSLS, which didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment, was issued a 19-page subpoena on May 20, 2021, ordering it to provide deposition testimony via Zoom on June 4.
The subpoena, reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, notified the broadcast station of a broad range of possible subjects for the deposition, including: 1) “the ‘hundreds of top-tier media outlets’ which provided ‘extensive coverage to the Charlottesville residents who were showing up to challenge the spectre of white supremacy;’” 2) the lawsuit and all the topics therein; 3) the KKK and 4) multiple activist organizations and at least 28 named individuals, including former Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta and billionaire philanthropist George Soros, both of whom have been the subject of numerous conspiracy theories from the far-right.
The subpoena also commanded WSLS to turn over documents, videos, photos and communications exchanged by any of its employees or agents in connection with its coverage of the rally, Heyer’s death or the trials of her murderer, James Alex Fields, Jr.
WSLS reporter Ashley Curtis, NBC4 and its reporter Julie Carey and WVIR-TV received nearly identical subpoenas. Attorney Leita Walker, representing all five parties, filed a motion to quash the subpoenas on June 14, describing them as “extremely overbroad and unduly burdensome.”
“[The subpoenas] seek virtually every court filing, police report, email, press release, video, photo or other document that the Non-Party Journalists received from anyone一government sources, witnesses to the events, social media, fellow journalists, wire services, etc.,” Walker wrote in the motion, which was reviewed by the Tracker. “[Hoft] is clearly engaged in a massive and massively inappropriate fishing expedition that, in the case of the Non-Party Journalists, seeks information they obtained in the course of their newsgathering activities.”
U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Western District of Virginia Joel Hoppe ruled in favor of the journalists and outlets, quashing the subpoenas on July 20, citing Hoft’s inadequate pleadings, according to The Daily Progress.
Walker didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment.
WSLS 10 News reporter Ashley Curtis was among multiple journalists and media outlets subpoenaed on May 20, 2021, for testimony in an ongoing lawsuit stemming from the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017.
Hundreds of white nationalists who had flocked to Charlottesville to protest plans to remove a Confederate statue were met by crowds of counterprotesters, Time Magazine reported in 2017, and the resulting violence led Virginia's governor to declare a state of emergency.
Plaintiff Brennan Gilmore alleged that after witnessing and filming the vehicular murder of anti-racism protester Heather Heyer during the Aug. 12 rally, he was subjected to a series of false articles and conspiracy theories and received numerous death threats against him and his family, The Daily Progress reported. He filed a defamation lawsuit against multiple defendants 一 including Jim Hoft of The Gateway Pundit, Alex Jones and his website InfoWars 一 in March 2018.
Hoft, as part of his defense, alleged that coverage of the rally was skewed by a vast conspiracy involving the press and government actors; he issued numerous subpoenas to non-party individuals and government and law enforcement agencies in an apparent effort to uncover the supposed conspiracy.
Curtis, who didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment, was issued a 19-page subpoena on May 20, 2021, ordering her to provide deposition testimony via Zoom on June 4.
The subpoena, reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, notified Curtis of a broad range of possible subjects for the deposition, including: 1) “the ‘hundreds of top-tier media outlets’ which provided ‘extensive coverage to the Charlottesville residents who were showing up to challenge the spectre of white supremacy;’” 2) the lawsuit and all the topics therein; 3) the KKK and 4) multiple activist organizations and at least 28 named individuals, including former Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta and billionaire philanthropist George Soros, both of whom have been the subject of numerous conspiracy theories from the far-right.
The subpoena also commanded Curtis to turn over documents, videos, photos and communications she exchanged in connection with WSLS’s coverage of the rally, Heyer’s death or the trials of her murderer, James Alex Fields, Jr.
WSLS, WVIR-TV, NBC4 Washington and its reporter Julie Carey received nearly identical subpoenas. Attorney Leita Walker, representing all five parties, filed a motion to quash the subpoenas on June 14, describing them as “extremely overbroad and unduly burdensome.”
“[The subpoenas] seek virtually every court filing, police report, email, press release, video, photo or other document that the Non-Party Journalists received from anyone一government sources, witnesses to the events, social media, fellow journalists, wire services, etc.,” Walker wrote in the motion, which was reviewed by the Tracker. “[Hoft] is clearly engaged in a massive and massively inappropriate fishing expedition that, in the case of the Non-Party Journalists, seeks information they obtained in the course of their newsgathering activities.”
U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Western District of Virginia Joel Hoppe ruled in favor of the journalists and outlets, quashing the subpoenas on July 20, citing Hoft’s inadequate pleadings, according to The Daily Progress.
Neither WSLS nor Walker replied to emailed requests for comment.
Phone records belonging to former New York Times reporter Jessica Bidgood were subpoenaed on May 20, 2021, as part of an ongoing lawsuit stemming from the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017.
Hundreds of white nationalists who had flocked to Charlottesville to protest plans to remove a Confederate statue were met by crowds of counter-protesters, Time Magazine reported in 2017, and the resulting violence led Virginia's governor to declare a state of emergency.
Plaintiff Brennan Gilmore alleged that after witnessing and filming the vehicular murder of anti-racism protester Heather Heyer during the Aug. 12 rally, he was subjected to a series of false articles and conspiracy theories and received numerous death threats against him and his family, The Daily Progress reported. He filed a defamation lawsuit against multiple defendants 一 including Jim Hoft of The Gateway Pundit, Alex Jones and his website InfoWars 一 in March 2018.
Hoft, as part of his defense, alleged that coverage of the rally was skewed by a vast conspiracy involving the press and government actors; he issued numerous subpoenas to non-party individuals and government and law enforcement agencies in an apparent effort to uncover the supposed conspiracy. Five additional journalists or media outlets were subpoenaed in the proceedings.
On May 20, 2021, Hoft subpoenaed Verizon, ordering the telecommunications company to produce “all phone records, documents, and/or logs, text message documents, phone contacts, phone photos, phone media, phone video, SUBSCRIBER INFORMATION, and CALL DETAILS for the period of March 1, 2017 through March 1, 2018.”
The subpoena, reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, listed multiple phone numbers of which at least one belongs or formerly belonged to Bidgood, and ordered Verizon to produce the requested documents by June 4.
Bidgood, who didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment, was working for the Times during the dates specified; she is now a reporter at the Boston Globe.
Charles Tobin, an attorney representing Bidgood, told the Tracker that the Times received word of the subpoena for Bidgood’s records on July 14. Tobin filed objections to the subpoena and a motion to quash the same day. According to that filing, by that date Verizon had already mailed records to Hoft’s attorney but Bidgood hoped that the company could take steps to stop their delivery.
The following day, however, Tobin filed a motion on Bidgood’s behalf requesting that the court order Hoft’s attorney to destroy the documents that had successfully been delivered.
“The subpoena did not mention Bidgood by name, however, and it did not otherwise alert Verizon that Bidgood is a journalist and that her telephone records are therefore privileged journalistic work product under the First Amendment,” the motion read.
“The court should therefore order Hoft’s counsel to treat Bidgood’s privileged phone records as ‘Recalled Information’ under the Protective Order and to immediately destroy them, which will preserve the status quo while the Court considers Bidgood’s motion to quash the subpoena and any response and reply thereto,” the motion said.
U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Western District of Virginia Joel Hoppe granted the motion in part on July 16, directing Hoft’s counsel not to view the records and to secure the records in a sealed receptacle until the motion to quash is resolved.
Tobin told the Tracker that they were pleased with how quickly the judge acted to protect Bidgood’s records.
“The Attorney General of the United States just announced that the news media will no longer be subpoenaed for leaks investigations,” Tobin said, referencing recent revelations about Department of Justice subpoenas to multiple journalists and news organizations under the Trump administration. “It’s a giant step forward for the protection of reporters’ source materials and the protection of their relationships with sources. And examples like [Bigood’s] in civil litigation point out the need for greater protection under federal law by shield laws and by enforcement of First Amendment rights.”
NBC4 Washington was among multiple media outlets and journalists subpoenaed on May 20, 2021, for testimony in an ongoing lawsuit stemming from the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017.
Hundreds of white nationalists who had flocked to Charlottesville to protest plans to remove a Confederate statue were met by crowds of counterprotesters, Time Magazine reported in 2017, and the resulting violence led Virginia's governor to declare a state of emergency.
Plaintiff Brennan Gilmore alleged that after witnessing and filming the vehicular murder of anti-racism protester Heather Heyer during the Aug. 12 rally, he was subjected to a series of false articles and conspiracy theories and received numerous death threats against him and his family, The Daily Progress reported. He filed a defamation lawsuit against multiple defendants 一 including Jim Hoft of The Gateway Pundit, Alex Jones and his website InfoWars 一 in March 2018.
Hoft, as part of his defense, alleged that coverage of the rally was skewed by a vast conspiracy involving the press and government actors; he issued numerous subpoenas to non-party individuals and government and law enforcement agencies in an apparent effort to uncover the supposed conspiracy.
NBC4 Washington, which didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment, was issued a 19-page subpoena on May 20, 2021, ordering it to provide deposition testimony via Zoom on June 4.
The subpoena, reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, notified the broadcast station of a broad range of possible subjects for the deposition, including: 1) “the ‘hundreds of top-tier media outlets’ which provided ‘extensive coverage to the Charlottesville residents who were showing up to challenge the spectre of white supremacy;’” 2) the lawsuit and all the topics therein; 3) the KKK and 4) multiple activist organizations and at least 28 named individuals, including former Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta and billionaire philanthropist George Soros, both of whom have been the subject of numerous conspiracy theories from the far-right.
The subpoena also commanded the outlet to turn over documents, videos, photos and communications exchanged by any of its employees or agents in connection with its coverage of the rally, Heyer’s death or the trials of her murderer, James Alex Fields, Jr.
WVIR-TV, NBC4 reporter Julie Carey, WSLS-TV and its reporter Ashley Curtis received nearly identical subpoenas. Attorney Leita Walker, representing all five parties, filed a motion to quash the subpoenas on June 14, describing them as “extremely overbroad and unduly burdensome.”
“[The subpoenas] seek virtually every court filing, police report, email, press release, video, photo or other document that the Non-Party Journalists received from anyone一government sources, witnesses to the events, social media, fellow journalists, wire services, etc.,” Walker wrote in the motion, which was reviewed by the Tracker. “[Hoft] is clearly engaged in a massive and massively inappropriate fishing expedition that, in the case of the Non-Party Journalists, seeks information they obtained in the course of their newsgathering activities.”
U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Western District of Virginia Joel Hoppe ruled in favor of the journalists and outlets, quashing the subpoenas on July 20, citing Hoft’s inadequate pleadings, according to The Daily Progress.
Walker didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment.
NBC4 Washington reporter Julie Carey was among multiple journalists and media outlets subpoenaed on May 20, 2021, for testimony in an ongoing lawsuit stemming from the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017.
Hundreds of white nationalists who had flocked to Charlottesville to protest plans to remove a Confederate statue were met by crowds of counter-protesters, Time Magazine reported in 2017, and the resulting violence led Virginia's governor to declare a state of emergency.
Plaintiff Brennan Gilmore alleged that after witnessing and filming the vehicular murder of anti-racism protester Heather Heyer during the Aug. 12 rally, he was subjected to a series of false articles and conspiracy theories and received numerous death threats against him and his family, The Daily Progress reported. He filed a defamation lawsuit against multiple defendants 一 including Jim Hoft of The Gateway Pundit, Alex Jones and his website InfoWars 一 in March 2018.
Hoft, as part of his defense, alleged that coverage of the rally was skewed by a vast conspiracy involving the press and government actors; he issued numerous subpoenas to non-party individuals and government and law enforcement agencies in an apparent effort to uncover the supposed conspiracy.
Carey, who declined for comment when reached by email, was issued a 19-page subpoena on May 20, 2021, ordering her to provide deposition testimony via Zoom on June 4.
The subpoena, reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, notified Carey of a broad range of possible subjects for the deposition, including: 1) “the ‘hundreds of top-tier media outlets’ which provided ‘extensive coverage to the Charlottesville residents who were showing up to challenge the spectre of white supremacy;’” 2) the lawsuit and all the topics therein; 3) the KKK and 4) multiple activist organizations and at least 28 named individuals, including former Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta and billionaire philanthropist George Soros, both of whom have been the subject of numerous conspiracy theories from the far-right.
The subpoena also ordered Carey to turn over documents, videos, photos and communications she exchanged in connection with NBC4’s coverage of the rally, Heyer’s death or the trials of her murderer, James Alex Fields, Jr.
NBC4, WVIR-TV, WSLS-TV and its reporter Ashley Curtis received nearly identical subpoenas. Attorney Leita Walker, representing all five parties, filed a motion to quash the subpoenas on June 14, describing them as “extremely overbroad and unduly burdensome.”
“[The subpoenas] seek virtually every court filing, police report, email, press release, video, photo or other document that the Non-Party Journalists received from anyone一government sources, witnesses to the events, social media, fellow journalists, wire services, etc.,” Walker wrote in the motion, which was reviewed by the Tracker. “[Hoft] is clearly engaged in a massive and massively inappropriate fishing expedition that, in the case of the Non-Party Journalists, seeks information they obtained in the course of their newsgathering activities.”
U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Western District of Virginia Joel Hoppe ruled in favor of the journalists and outlets, quashing the subpoenas on July 20, citing Hoft’s inadequate pleadings, according to The Daily Progress.
Neither NBC4 nor Walker replied to emailed requests for comment.
Two reporters for The Staunton News Leader, a USA TODAY network paper, were detained while covering a social justice protest in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, on May 19, 2021.
The protest was in response to an announcement earlier that day from the prosecutor’s office that the police shooting death of Andrew Brown Jr., a Black man, on April 21 was justified and that none of the Pasquotank County sheriff’s deputies would face charges. The demonstration was the latest in a wave of protests against racial injustice and police brutality sparked by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in May 2020.
At approximately 9 p.m., law enforcement officers ordered the crowd to disperse under threat of arrest on charges of standing, sitting or lying on a street or roadway, the News Leader reported. Minutes later, as reporters Ayano Nagaishi and Alison Cutler were standing in a crosswalk about a foot away from the curb and filming an arrest across the street, law enforcement officers approached them, asking for the “ladies in the vests,” according to the outlet.
In footage captured on Nagaishi’s livestream, both journalists were placed in zip-tie cuffs and led away by officers. When asked on what charge they were being arrested, an officer can be heard responding, “For standing in the middle of the street, in the roadway.”
#ElizabethCity #AndrewBrownJr https://t.co/9Gf5DxGJHm
— Ayano Nagaishi (@yanonaga98) May 20, 2021
Nagaishi and Cutler were both wearing fluorescent yellow vests that said “NEWS MEDIA” and identified themselves as journalists when law enforcement in riot gear detained them, according to a video on their employer’s website and Casey Blake, the North Carolina Statewide Team Editor, who spoke to the Committee to Protect Journalists in a phone interview.
According to the News Leader, a citizen filmed the journalists’ arrests using Nagaishi’s phone, and Cutler was able to call the news outlet from a police van to confirm they’d been arrested.
Blake told CPJ, a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, that the reporters could not distinguish which law enforcement officials arrested them because the officials were in unmarked riot gear.
Cutler was booked, but was not formally charged; Nagaishi was neither booked nor charged, according to Blake. The reporters were released from police custody at approximately 10:30 p.m., the News Leader reported. The Tracker has documented Cutler’s arrest here.
When reached for comment via phone, an Elizabeth City Police Department officer directed CPJ to Deputy Chief of Police James Avens, who did not immediately respond to CPJ’s voicemail and email requesting comment.
The Daily Advance, based in Elizabeth City, reported that City Manager Montre Freeman said the two reporters were apart from the main group of protesters when they were arrested and that they had refused to comply with officers’ directives.
“Reporters have to decide if they’re going to be a protester or a reporter,” Freeman reportedly said. “They can be both, but they have to follow the directives of the officers out there.”
While a curfew went into effect at 8 p.m., members of the press were explicitly exempted. The livestream footage captured by the Nagaishi also contradicts Freeman’s assertions.
Nagaishi posted on Twitter following their release that both reporters were safe.
I just want to say @alisonjc2 and I are safe. We truly appreciate the support we got from the local community, friends, family and co-workers from @USATODAY Network. You can never make assumptions on what happens when reporting from the ground and this situation was one of them.
— Ayano Nagaishi (@yanonaga98) May 20, 2021
“We truly appreciate the support we got from the local community, friends, family and co-workers from @USATODAY Network,” Nagaishi wrote. “You can never make assumptions on what happens when reporting from the ground and this situation was one of them.”
Two reporters for The Staunton News Leader, a USA TODAY network paper, were arrested while covering a social justice protest in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, on May 19, 2021.
The protest was in response to an announcement earlier that day from the prosecutor’s office that the police shooting death of Andrew Brown Jr., a Black man, on April 21 was justified and that none of the Pasquotank County sheriff’s deputies would face charges. The demonstration was the latest in a wave of protests against racial injustice and police brutality sparked by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in May 2020.
At approximately 9 p.m., law enforcement officers ordered the crowd to disperse under threat of arrest on charges of standing, sitting or lying on a street or roadway, the News Leader reported. Minutes later, as reporters Alison Cutler and Ayano Nagaishi were standing in a crosswalk about a foot away from the curb and filming an arrest across the street, law enforcement officers approached them, asking for the “ladies in the vests,” according to the outlet.
In footage captured on Nagaishi’s livestream, both journalists were placed in zip-tie cuffs and led away by officers. When asked on what charge they were being arrested, an officer can be heard responding, “For standing in the middle of the street, in the roadway.”
Tensions are rising in #ElizabethCity as protestors for #AndrewBrownJr are deemed an unlawful assembly ordered to leave the premises in under five minutes. One man has already been arrested. Stay tuned with @yanonaga98 live as we cover the scene on the ground tonight. @USATODAY pic.twitter.com/JJcnZ962wH
— Alison Cutler (@alisonjc2) May 20, 2021
Cutler and Nagaishi were both wearing fluorescent yellow vests that said “NEWS MEDIA” and identified themselves as journalists when law enforcement in riot gear detained them, according to a video on their employer’s website and Casey Blake, the North Carolina Statewide Team Editor, who spoke to the Committee to Protect Journalists in a phone interview.
According to the News Leader, a citizen filmed the journalists’ arrests using Nagaishi’s phone, and Cutler was able to call the news outlet from a police van to confirm they’d been arrested.
Blake told CPJ, a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, that the reporters could not distinguish which law enforcement officials arrested them because the officials were in unmarked riot gear.
Cutler was booked, but was not formally charged; Nagaishi was neither booked nor charged, according to Blake. The reporters were released from police custody at approximately 10:30 p.m., the News Leader reported. The Tracker has documented Nagaishi’s arrest here.
When reached for comment via phone, an Elizabeth City Police Department officer directed CPJ to Deputy Chief of Police James Avens, who did not immediately respond to CPJ’s voicemail and email requesting comment.
The Daily Advance, based in Elizabeth City, reported that City Manager Montre Freeman said the two reporters were apart from the main group of protesters when they were arrested and that they had refused to comply with officers’ directives.
“Reporters have to decide if they’re going to be a protester or a reporter,” Freeman reportedly said. “They can be both, but they have to follow the directives of the officers out there.”
While a curfew went into effect at 8 p.m., members of the press were explicitly exempted. The livestream footage captured by the Nagaishi also contradicts Freeman’s assertions.
Cutler retweeted a post on Twitter following their release that both reporters were safe.
Ayano said it all in this tweet. Thank you to everyone who supported us in every way, especially our @USATODAY family. We were two of many people who were arrested by police this evening. Tonight was an important night to be present here as a journalist in #ElizabethCity. https://t.co/oaBaUxwkiK
— Alison Cutler (@alisonjc2) May 20, 2021
“Thank you to everyone who supported us in every way, especially our @USATODAY family,” Cutler wrote. “We were two of many people who were arrested by police this evening. Tonight was an important night to be present here as a journalist in #ElizabethCity.”
For the first time in decades the Texas Department of Criminal Justice failed to let journalists cover an execution, even though two reporters had been cleared to do so and were waiting nearby to be called into the state penitentiary in Huntsville on May 19, 2021.
A database maintained by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice confirmed that there had been media in attendance at each of the state’s previous 570 executions. Prison officials said “miscommunication” had kept media from witnessing the 571st execution, of Quintin Jones, who was convicted of the 1999 murder of his great-aunt Berthena Bryant, according to The New York Times.
Joseph Brown, editor of The Huntsville Item in Huntsville, Texas, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he and Associated Press reporter Michael Graczyk had arrived at around 5 p.m., about an hour ahead of the scheduled time for the execution. The Huntsville Item is one of two news outlets regularly called to attend and report on executions in Texas, and Brown said that he is often the reporter on duty.
Brown said the two reporters were sequestered in an office across the street from the penitentiary and were waiting to be told by the prison’s communications director they could be taken over the road.
But according to Brown, the call never came.
Jones had appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court for clemency, but the court declined his appeal and the execution was set to go ahead at around 6:15 pm local time. According to Brown, reporters are usually called in to witness an execution about 10 minutes in advance. “We went 25-30 minutes and still hadn't heard the call. So we started asking questions,” Brown told the Tracker.
Brown said that when the communications director called to see what was happening, “he was informed that the warden was already in the room going through the process. It was already ongoing,” said Brown who then realized the reporters were locked out of witnessing the execution.
Jeremy Desel, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, told the Tracker: “Normally, upon the final notifications that there is no action pending in any court or from the Office of the Governor of Texas, a phone call is made to the Director of Communications to escort the media witnesses into the unit. As a result of a miscommunication between officials at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, there was never a call made to summon the media witnesses into the unit.”
Desel said the department apologized “for this critical error. The agency is investigating to determine exactly what occurred to ensure it does not happen again.”
Editor Brown said he was skeptical about the department’s explanation, based on his experience covering previous executions.
The failure to call in reporters was an “egregious” error he said. “To me, it seems like a pretty big mess up to make. Because stuff like this is very methodical, it's very planned. It's very … to the book,” Brown said. If the department failed to tick one of the boxes in its normal routine this time, “what are the boxes that get missed that we don't know?” he said.
Coverage of executions is a longstanding media oversight tradition. Press advocates say it can be essential for making public issues such as a state’s use of faulty equipment or drugs. Jones was executed by lethal injection.
“It's the same reason why many members [of the media] cover your state legislature and your federal governments, your local councils,” said Brown. “If you don't have that public oversight, then they can almost willy nilly do whatever they want.”
Brown said there were a number of procedural changes that were in place for the first time in the execution of Jones, making it even more imperative to have eyewitness media reporting.
Graczyk, the AP reporter, did not respond to a request for a comment from the Tracker.
Jason Rantz, host of the talk radio show the Jason Rantz Show show on Seattle’s KTTH 770 AM, said he was harassed and attacked by members of a crowd at a May 16, 2021, demonstration in Seattle, Washington, that was called to protest evictions of Palestinians in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah.
According to Falastiniyat, a Seattle-based group and organizers of the demonstration, the event at Westlake Park also commemorated the 73rd anniversary of Nakba, the Palestinian term for the displacement of Palestinians from their villages and homeland in 1948.
Rantz, whose Twitter account describes him as a conversative and that he writes for the station’s partner website MyNorthwest.com, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was covering the rally in the early afternoon when a member of the crowd recognized him and "alerted people in the crowd to harass me — which they did."
A Youtube video he posted online shows Rantz's camera blocked by a cardboard sign, beginning at 1:24 into the clip. Rantz continues to record audio as the video on his camera remains blocked by cardboard. At 3:44, Rantz can be heard repeatedly yelling, "Don't touch me," while someone else says, "Fuck off" and "Get the fuck out." He told the Tracker that a woman hit the back of his head with a Palestinian flag and then repeatedly hit him, forcing him to leave the rally. He later tweeted that he was fine.
Rantz also told the Tracker that he filed a report with police. The Seattle Police Department did not respond to a Tracker request for comment.
Bobeth Yates, a reporter for CBS4 News in Miami, Florida, was attacked on May 12, 2021, while she was working on a story about rising crime rates in South Beach.
Yates was near Fifth Street and Ocean Drive in South Beach to report on the Miami Beach City Commission passing a resolution to stop alcohol sales past 2 a.m. in the city’s entertainment district as a way to curb unruly behavior, the station reported.
Yates was with photojournalist Ebenezer Mends doing research in the busy nightlife area about 9 p.m. when they started recording a fight in front of them. After Mends started filming, some of the people involved in the fight came over and demanded not to be filmed.
When they started pushing the camera and hitting Mends, Yates said in the report, she tried to get in the way.
“To be honest, I've been reporting for a very long time,” Yates said in the report. “I don't want to date myself, but about 20 years and I've never been attacked like this on a story.”
She said both she and Mends were hit. “The first hit came when we tried to kind of block the camera and I kind of stood in between everything because they started really coming on to Ebenezer and attacking him.”
At one point, Yates said, maybe four or five people surrounded Mends. She said she tried to push them back but they hit her and tried to attack Mends and the camera, which was damaged.
“They also threw a bottle of liquid what I believe is some sort of alcohol because it was literally burning our skin, my eyes,” she said.
Yates, who didn’t respond to U.S. Press Freedom Tracker requests for comment, called police and followed the people who harassed her and Mends, the report said.
Miami Beach police officers detained two subjects near Seventh Street and Ocean Drive. The subjects were arrested for criminal mischief, resisting an officer and battery, the Miami Beach Police Department confirmed to the Tracker.
Police also confirmed damage to the Sony PXW-X400 video camera, belonging to the CBS News crew, and stated damage was estimated at $90,000, if the camera needed to be replaced. Mends’ assault and the equipment damage is documented by the Tracker here.
Editor's Note: The date of the assault is May 12, 2021, not May 15, as originally published.
Ebenezer Mends, a photojournalist for CBS4 News in Miami, Florida, was attacked and his camera was damaged while he was working on a story about rising crime rates in South Beach on May 12, 2021.
Mends was with CBS4 reporter BoBeth Yates near Fifth Street and Ocean Drive in South Beach. The journalists were there to report on the Miami Beach City Commission’s passage of a resolution to stop alcohol sales past 2 a.m. in the city’s entertainment district as a way to curb unruly behavior, the station reported.
Mends and Yates were doing research in the busy nightlife area about 9 p.m. when a fight broke out. Mends began recording the fight, but some of the people involved in it came up to him and demanded that he not film them.
When they started pushing his camera and hitting Mends, Yates said in the station’s report, she tried to get in the way.
“To be honest, I've been reporting for a very long time,” Yates said, according to the report. “I don't want to date myself, but about 20 years and I've never been attacked like this on a story.”
She said both she and Mends were hit. “The first hit came when we tried to kind of block the camera and I kind of stood in between everything because they started really coming on to Ebenezer and attacking him.”
At one point, Yates said, four or five people surrounded Mends. Yates said they hit her and tried to attack Mends and the camera, which was damaged.
“They also threw a bottle of liquid what I believe is some sort of alcohol because it was literally burning our skin, my eyes,” she said.
Yates called police and followed the people who harassed her and Mends, according to the station’s report. Neither Yates nor Mends responded to U.S. Press Freedom Tracker requests for comment.
Miami Beach police officers later detained two people near Seventh Street and Ocean Drive. The subjects were arrested for criminal mischief, resisting an officer and battery, the Miami Beach Police Department confirmed to the Tracker.
A charge sheet shared by police with the Tracker confirmed that Mends reported he had received a cut on his head during the incident and that Yates had reported being struck on her arms and being targeted when a liquid was thrown at the journalists. The police report also confirmed damage to the CBS4 crew’s Sony PXW-X400 video camera, which has a replacement value of $90,000. A CBS news report confirmed that the camera was damaged but did not specify the degree of damage.
Editor's Note: The date of the assault is May 12, 2021, not May 15, as originally published.
Idaho reporter Nate Eaton was subpoenaed on May 10, 2021, to give witness testimony as part of a conspiracy case relating to the deaths of two children that he’s covered extensively.
The news director at the local website EastIdahoNews.com, Eaton has been covering the case of Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell, who are on trial for altering evidence in relation to the killings of Vallow's two children whose remains were found on Daybell's property, according to the site’s news reports.
Eaton posted on Twitter an image of a subpoena that requests his testimony in court on June 9. According to the document on the website of the Idaho judiciary, the subpoena was filed with the county’s deputy clerk by John Prior, an attorney representing the defendants in the case.
Well... pic.twitter.com/9S2szhKLhl
— Nate Eaton (@NateNewsNow) May 11, 2021
The Committee to Protect Journalists, a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, emailed Prior for comment, but did not receive any response.
The Clerk of District Court who signed the subpoena, Eileen Parker, referred CPJ to Tammie Whyte, the trial court administrator for the Seventh District, who told CPJ that the process for issuing the subpoena was set forth in Idaho’s criminal rule 17. “I can’t speak for the presiding judge as to whether they’re going to enforce the subpoena or not,” she said in a phone interview.
EastIdahoNews.com Managing Editor Nate Sunderland confirmed to CPJ that Eaton was served the subpoena the day after it was filed, on May 11.
“Nate’s been covering this [case] for a year and a half now, and if he was called to the stand, it would really ruin his opportunity to continue covering it,” Sunderland told CPJ. “That’s our biggest concern—our ability to objectively cover this if we’re suddenly part of the story.”
The Tracker documented 31 subpoenas filed to journalists and news organizations in 2020.
An individual was caught on film assaulting a news team for NBC-affiliate UpNorthLive, based in Traverse City, Michigan. Video posted by the station shows the man throwing one of the news team’s microphones and spitting on a camera during an event with Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on May 6, 2021.
The news team was covering an outdoor event in Greilickville, at which Whitmer signed a bill authorizing spending to protect Michigan’s natural resources, UpNorthLive News reported. The man first heckled the governor, shouting profanities during her speech and yelling “We don’t want you here,” before turning to criticize journalists covering the event, according to the broadcaster’s account.
UpNorthLive reporters Natalie Spala and Cortney Brown covered the signing and were scheduled to interview the governor right after, but the interview was canceled when officials escorted Whitmer away from the heckler to her car, the outlet reported.
According to UpNorthLive, the man “then turned his attention to the UpNorthLive news crew, asking if he should destroy the reporter’s [Brown’s] camera before taking a microphone and throwing it across the parking lot.” Spala's assault is documented here.
Leelanau County Sheriff’s deputies at the scene intervened and arrested the man immediately, but as he was being handcuffed he spat on Brown and the camera she was carrying.
“OK, that’s unnecessary,” Spala can be heard saying in the footage published by UpNorthLive.
Brown confirmed in a Facebook post that she was spat on and verbally threatened by the individual.
In an interview with the outlet, Sheriff Mike Borkovich said, “We have been in contact with this individual before, mostly regarding political-type things. I personally believe that’s not normally what he has done but I do think when you cross the line, people have to know that we will enforce the law.”
Neither of the reporters nor the station’s news director responded to emailed requests for comment.
The man was transported to the Leelanau County Correctional facility, where he was processed and charged with two counts of assault and battery and one count of malicious destruction of property, according to a Facebook post by the Sheriff’s Office.
According to the sheriff’s office, he is currently in the Leelanau County Jail on two counts of assault and battery and one count of malicious destruction of property.https://t.co/HIV7ElZjsa
— upnorthlive.com (@upnorthlive) May 6, 2021
UpNorthLive reported that the man, a 39-year-old Traverse City resident, was released on a $100 interim bond later that night.
Sheriff Borkovich told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the arraignment of the arrested man was scheduled for June 8.
An individual was caught on film assaulting a news team for NBC-affiliate UpNorthLive, based in Traverse City, Michigan. Video posted by the station shows the man throwing one of the broadcast team’s microphones and spitting on a camera during an event with Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on May 6, 2021.
The news team was covering an outdoor event in Greilickville, at which Whitmer signed a bill authorizing spending to protect Michigan’s natural resources, UpNorthLive News reported. The man first heckled the governor, shouting profanities during her speech and yelling “We don’t want you here,” before turning to criticize journalists covering the event, according to the broadcaster’s account.
UpNorthLive reporters Natalie Spala and Cortney Brown covered the signing and were scheduled to interview the governor right after, but the interview was canceled when officials escorted Whitmer away from the heckler to her car, the outlet reported.
According to UpNorthLive, the man “then turned his attention to the UpNorthLive news crew, asking if he should destroy the reporter’s [Brown’s] camera before taking a microphone and throwing it across the parking lot.”
Leelanau County Sheriff’s deputies at the scene intervened and arrested the man immediately, but as he was being handcuffed he spat on Brown and the camera she was carrying.
“OK, that’s unnecessary,” Spala can be heard saying in the footage published by UpNorthLive.
In an interview with the outlet, Sheriff Mike Borkovich said, “We have been in contact with this individual before, mostly regarding political-type things. I personally believe that’s not normally what he has done but I do think when you cross the line, people have to know that we will enforce the law.”
Neither of the reporters nor the station’s news director responded to emailed requests for comment.
The man was transported to the Leelanau County Correctional facility, where he was processed and charged with two counts of assault and battery and one count of malicious destruction of property, according to a Facebook post by the Sheriff’s Office.
According to the sheriff’s office, he is currently in the Leelanau County Jail on two counts of assault and battery and one count of malicious destruction of property.https://t.co/HIV7ElZjsa
— upnorthlive.com (@upnorthlive) May 6, 2021
UpNorthLive reported that the man, a 39-year-old Traverse City resident, was released on a $100 interim bond later that night.
Sheriff Borkovich told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the arraignment of the arrested man was scheduled for June 8.
Journalists from multiple Florida news outlets said they were blocked from covering Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ signing of a controversial election bill on May 6, 2021, in West Palm Beach.
Among those denied access to the bill signing event were journalists from The South Florida Sun Sentinel; West Palm Beach TV stations WPEC CBS12 and WPTV Newschannel 5; and WPLG Local 10 News, an ABC affiliate in Miami. The only news outlet allowed in to cover the event was the Fox News program Fox & Friends, according to multiple journalists.
Steve Bousquet, a columnist for The Sun Sentinel, posted on Twitter that a DeSantis spokesperson told him the signing was a “Fox exclusive.”
NEW: News media is barred from entry at Gov. Ron DeSantis’ signing of controversial elections bill, SB 90. DeSantis spokeswoman Taryn Fenske says bill signing is a “Fox exclusive” pic.twitter.com/NAos6kmtQS
— Steve Bousquet (@stevebousquet) May 6, 2021
Bousquet told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he had no advance notice that access to the event would be exclusive for Fox. He said that he and other reporters came to a Hilton Hotel near the West Palm Beach airport, where a public announcement had said the bill signing would take place.
Bousquet said the event, held in a hotel conference room, resembled a political rally. Reporters could see part of the event through a window, he said, while some watched on their phones as the Fox News broadcast carried the governor signing the bill.
Bill signings are not required to be held publicly, and sometimes governors sign legislation behind closed doors. However, Bousquet, a longtime Florida political journalist, said he had never encountered a similar situation for a bill signing, particularly on a piece of very high profile legislation.
“This was really astonishing because the amount of public interest and public and press attention on that elections bill was among the highest of any piece of legislation, you know, in decades in Tallahassee,” the capital of Florida, he said.
Anthony Man, a reporter for the Sun Sentinel, posted a series of photos from the hotel on Twitter showing a line of people waiting to enter the event where the “governor will sign new Florida election law on Fox News and demonstrate his conservative bona fides for national Republican audience.” The photos showed a banner and T-shirt supporting a 2024 presidential ticket of Donald Trump and Gov. DeSantis.
Almost an hour later, Man tweeted that while outside the venue, he could hear cheering and chants of “Four more years!” from the crowd inside.
From outside @GovRonDeSantis bill signing event, can hear him revving up crowd of supporters who will serve as audience for Fox News segment during which he’ll sign new election law. Hundreds of people on their feet, cheering and applauding. Now chanting “four more years!”
— Anthony Man (@browardpolitics) May 6, 2021
Madeline Montgomery, a reporter for CBS12, tweeted that she had been at the Hilton, where the DeSantis event was planned, since 4 a.m.
It’s an odd situation here in West Palm Beach. The governor is set to speak and sign a bill at the Hilton, but media are not being allowed in. @CBS12 pic.twitter.com/hcdsIHpKBM
— Madeline Montgomery (@MadelineTV) May 6, 2021
Another CBS12 reporter, Danielle Waugh DeRos tweeted a photograph of journalists waiting outside after the event.
Reporters waiting outside DeSantis event in West Palm. We are being told it’s a Fox News exclusive and private ticketed event. Expecting him to sign controversial elections law today but won’t be able to show you @CBS12 pic.twitter.com/z15QXAE5Cx
— Danielle Waugh DaRos (@DanielleCBS12) May 6, 2021
CBS12 reporter Jay O’Brien posted on Twitter at 1:58 p.m. to confirm that his channel’s news team would not be allowed in.
“We were a pool camera, assigned to feed this event to affiliates nationwide,” O’Brien tweeted.
“It’s not just us. Not a single reporter is being let in. This in a ‘sunshine’ state that prides itself on open government.”
The Tracker was not able to confirm whether O’Brien was among the journalists denied access to the event.
Confirmed: @CBS12 News is not allowed into the event where @GovRonDeSantis will sign a controversial elections bill into law, per @MadelineTV who is outside.
— Jay O'Brien (@jayobtv) May 6, 2021
We were a pool camera, assigned to feed this event to affiliates nationwide.
Now, the only camera will be Fox News
WPLG Local 10 News reporter Glenna Milberg was at the event as well, according to a story published by the outlet. Introducing Milberg for a segment on the bill signing, a Local 10 News anchor said DeSantis signed the bill live on Fox News while “locking out local media.”
WPTV journalists were also shut out of the event, according to the outlet. Reporter Matt Sczesny said in one report that local media was excluded from the event, and reporter Linnie Supall called the exclusive access given to Fox an “unprecedented move” by the governor.
In a WPTV video, DeSantis can be seen walking to his car after signing the bill.
“It was on national TV, it wasn’t secret,” DeSantis told reporters.
A spokesperson for DeSantis did not respond to a request for comment.
Fox News told The Tampa Bay Times that the network “did not request or mandate that the May 6th event and interview with Gov. Ron DeSantis be exclusive to FOX News Media entities.”
According to Florida First Amendment Foundation staff attorney Virginia Hamrick, the state’s Sunshine Law, which requires meetings between certain officials to be public, does not apply to the bill signing. However, she said that restricting access to the event raises First Amendment issues. “We're concerned by it,” Hamrick told the Tracker.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, seen in this file photo, gave exclusive coverage of a bill signing to the Fox News program Fox & Friends on May 6, 2021, blocking all local journalists.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,,Gov. Ron DeSantis Two Valley News Live journalists attacked in Fargo by man with screwdriver,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/two-valley-news-live-journalists-attacked-in-fargo-by-man-with-screwdriver/,2021-06-17 19:17:14.398923+00:00,2021-06-17 19:17:14.398923+00:00,2021-06-17 19:17:14.370436+00:00,,Assault,,,,Nachai Taylor (Valley News Live),,2021-05-03,False,Fargo,North Dakota (ND),46.87719,-96.7898,"Two journalists with TV news station Valley News Live, an NBC affiliate based in Fargo, North Dakota, were attacked by a man wielding a screwdriver, who damaged their camera while they were reporting in the city on May 3, 2021.
Valley News Live photojournalist Michael Downs and reporter Nachai Taylor were near downtown Fargo, preparing for a 9 p.m. live report about a building the city commission had decided to demolish, Taylor said in a report that aired on the station following the attack.
In that report, Taylor said she was walking toward Downs when an unidentified man drove a pickup truck onto the curb. The man approached them, swinging a screwdriver, “which was kind of a scary situation,” she said.
Video published by Valley News Live shows a man approaching the camera, gesturing with a screwdriver, then jabbing the tool directly at the camera. Downs’ assault and the equipment damage is documented here.
Taylor said the man was shouting at the journalists to get off his property, though the journalists were on the sidewalk, she reported.
Taylor said after she told the man that she was going to call police, he got in his truck and left. She said the journalists gave statements to police about the incident, including the license plate number of the vehicle the man was driving.
Neither Taylor nor Downs responded to requests for comment from the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
Valley News Live news director Renee Nygren told the Tracker the camera was not operable after the attack. She said it was being repaired, and believed that the damage would be fixable, but was not certain.
Nygren said she does not believe either journalist was physically touched during the attack, but she described the incident as frightening. “It's concerning and really unfortunate that they had to go through that,” she said.
On May 18 Valley News Live reported that Gary Reinhart, the owner of the building slated for demolition, was charged with criminal mischief and disorderly conduct. The station reported that a fire had destroyed the property, after which the city ordered the building demolished by June 30.
The Fargo city attorney’s office told the Tracker it would not comment on charges against Reinhart because the case against him is still open. Reinhart entered a not guilty plea to both charges at his arraignment on June 8, according to North Dakota’s court tracking system.
Reinhart’s attorney declined to comment.
Two journalists with TV news station Valley News Live, an NBC affiliate based in Fargo, North Dakota, were attacked by a man wielding a screwdriver, who damaged their camera while they were reporting in the city on May 3, 2021.
Valley News Live photojournalist Michael Downs and reporter Nachai Taylor were near downtown Fargo, preparing for a 9 p.m. live report about a building the city commission had decided to demolish, Taylor said in a report that aired on the station following the attack.
In that report, Taylor said she was walking toward Downs, who was holding the camera when an unidentified man drove a pickup truck onto the curb. The man approached them, swinging a screwdriver, “which was kind of a scary situation,” Taylor said.
Video published by Valley News Live shows a man approaching the camera, gesturing with a screwdriver, then jabbing the tool directly at the camera.
Taylor said the man was shouting at the journalists to get off his property, though the journalists were on the sidewalk, she reported.
Taylor said after she told the man that she was going to call police, he got in his truck and left. She said the journalists gave statements to police about the incident, including the license plate number of the vehicle the man was driving. Taylor’s assault is documented here.
Neither Downs nor Taylor responded to requests for comment from the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
Valley News Live news director Renee Nygren told the Tracker the camera was not operable after the attack. She said it was being repaired and believed that the damage would be fixable, but was not certain.
Nygren said she does not believe either journalist was physically touched during the attack, but she described the incident as frightening. “It's concerning and really unfortunate that they had to go through that,” she said.
On May 18 Valley News Live reported that Gary Reinhart, the owner of the building slated for demolition, was charged with criminal mischief and disorderly conduct. The station reported that a fire had destroyed the property, after which the city ordered the building demolished by June 30.
The Fargo city attorney’s office told the Tracker it would not comment on charges against Reinhart because the case against him is still open. Reinhart entered a not guilty plea to both charges at his arraignment on June 8, according to North Dakota’s court tracking system.
Reinhart’s attorney declined to comment.
Local police officers arrested Univision Arizona news anchor León Felipe González Cortés and seized his cell phone while he was reporting in Gilbert, Arizona, on April 30, 2021.
González was in Gilbert, about 20 miles southeast of Phoenix, to report on the death of one policeman and critical injury of another the previous day. The officers were hit by a man driving a stolen pickup truck, who was being chased by police, according to The Arizona Republic. The man was later arrested on suspicion of first degree murder, the newspaper reported.
According to a motion filed in Gilbert Municipal Court on June 3 by attorneys for the journalist, González was one of several reporters covering the story in Gilbert that day. But he was the only one “arrested, handcuffed, transported, fingerprinted and charged” with a crime, according to the motion. Gilbert police records charge him with trespassing and interfering with an officer, the motion states; police charge that González was reporting “from the wrong side of police tape.”
González did not respond to a request for comment.
According to The Arizona Republic, attorneys representing González allege that police also seized his cell phone, threatened to access its contents by "brute force" and referred to him in a derogatory way as "compadre," in reference to his Latino heritage.
"[He] was wearing a Univision shirt, was accompanied by a Univision photographer, and he identified himself as a journalist to the Gilbert Police officers working at the scene," according to the motion, which demands that police return the cell phone to González.
In a statement to The Arizona Republic, Univision Arizona President and General Manager Joe Donnarumma said the channel supported its journalist and demanded immediate return of his cell phone, “a mobile journalism tool which was seized on baseless and unreasonable grounds."
"Freedom of the press is a cornerstone of our democracy,” Donnarumma said, “as are the tools, technologies and constitutionally protected newsgathering activities that our journalists employ every day across the country to keep our audiences informed."
Gilbert Police spokesperson Brenda Carrasco told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that González was arrested “after he intentionally walked inside a clearly-marked crime scene during the criminal investigation.” Carrasco said the journalist’s phone was seized “as evidence at the time of his arrest, as the Police Department had probable cause to believe that the phone contained evidence of his criminal conduct.”
A pre-trial conference on the charges against González is scheduled for July 8.
Ryan Devereaux, who reports for The Intercept, was stopped and told “You are not a journalist” by a U.S. Customs and Border Protection official at the Arizona border with Mexico on April 30, 2021, as he returned from covering a protest in Nogales, Mexico.
Devereaux, who was traveling with photojournalist Ash Ponders, said that after a long wait at the border, officials called Ponders first for processing. According to Devereaux, Ponders and a CBP official were deep in a long conversation and disagreement when the official tried to take their phone. The photojournalist managed to lock it.
“The officer reached for it. Ash was then taken to a group holding cell and I was called forward,” Devereaux told the Tracker.
Devereaux said the same officer then asked what he was doing in Nogales. “I told her I was a journalist and working in Nogales that day,” he said.
A second officer appeared and asked Devereaux what he did for a living. “I said I was a journalist who covers border issues and that I was in town covering an asylum protest,” he said. “I had already produced my passport. I was told to produce evidence that I was a journalist. I gave the officers an Intercept business card with my name on it.”
At this point, Devereaux said he was told by a border official that he was not a journalist and was taken to the same cell where Ponders was being held.
“After handing over our belongings, which sat on a table and were not moved, we sat in the cell with a handful of other detainees,” Devereaux said. “Eventually I was told I could go. I was never questioned.”
Devereaux said he was told he could not wait in the area for Ponders but must wait outside.
After being released, Devereux tweeted that CPB officials should not be harassing journalists “I was just taken into secondary screening after being told I was “not a journalist.” @ashponders is still being detained. Going on an hour now.”
.@CBPArizona should not be hassling working journalists passing through the Nogales port of entry for work.
— Ryan Devereaux (@rdevro) April 30, 2021
I was just taken into secondary screening after being told I was “not a journalist.” @ashponders is still being detained. Going on an hour now.
Ponders, whose case is documented here, was strip-searched and held for 2 1/2 to three hours before being released, the photojournalist told the Tracker.
CPB didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Photojournalist Ash Ponders, whose work has appeared in The Intercept, The New York Times and other publications, was stopped for secondary screening and searched at the U.S. border after reporting on a protest in Nogales, Mexico, on April 30, 2021.
Ponders told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that they were strip searched by an admitting officer from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Arizona at the Morley Gate in Nogales on the Arizona/Mexico border. Ponders’ phone was taken away, and they were told by a border agent that they weren’t a journalist, after being asked what they did, and responding with “photojournalist”.
“They did ask what I had been doing in Mexico, and I said I had been covering a march,” Ponders said.
While looking at their passport, an officer asked Ponders what they did for a living in Spanish. “I answered in English. And then someone came up over her shoulder and started...there was like, an immediate anger, frustration on their part.”
The officials wanted to see images from the journalist’s camera, but Ponders had already taken the memory card out of the camera.
Ponders tried to show the officer the commission for the story. “And when I tried to suggest I had a letter from my editor on my phone he yanked it out of my hand (my index finger was on the power button so as he pulled it out of my hand it locked).”
The photographer was traveling with Intercept reporter Ryan Devereaux, who also was stopped.
In a back room, another officer told Ponders to put their cameras and fanny pack on a table, before frisking the photographer.
An officer questioned Ponders, who told her their city of birth, what they were doing in Nogales, and said they had traveled to and from Mexico many times.
Eventually Devereaux was released. When he asked to stay until Ponders was released, too, he was told to wait outside.
“@CBPArizona should not be hassling working journalists passing through the Nogales port of entry for work,” Devereux tweeted just after being released: “I was just taken into secondary screening after being told I was “not a journalist.” @ashponders is still being detained. Going on an hour now.”
Ponders said an officer then had them remove their hat, glasses, mask, shoes and belt, and went through these while another officer watched.
“He then asked me to pull down my pants and he felt around my genitals,” Ponders said. “And then having come up very empty (I’m quite boring) he told me to pull up my pants and get dressed. I did,” said Ponders.
CBP didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Ponders said they were held at the border for between 2 ½ to three hours. An officer had to run outside to give Ponders back their passport, they said.
Ponders, who regularly crosses the U.S.-Mexico border on assignment, said being stopped at the border was a regular occurrence. “It's not every time and it's not even most of the time. But it's enough that it's something that I plan for.”
The Federal Bureau of Investigation subpoenaed Gannett Company, publisher of USA Today, on April 29, 2021, seeking information about people who had read a story the paper published about a shooting that left two FBI agents dead and three wounded. The FBI then withdrew the subpoena in early June.
The subpoena sought Internet Protocol addresses and "other potentially identifying information ‘for computers or other electronic devices’” used by readers to access a Feb. 2 USA Today story headlined: “FBI identifies 2 agents killed in Florida while serving warrant in crimes against children case.” The subpoena said the information “relates to a federal criminal investigation being conducted by the FBI” regarding its agents, who were shot during an attempt to serve a warrant in a child exploitation case.
In a U.S. District Court filing dated May 28, Gannett attorneys wrote, "in making this unconstitutional demand, the FBI has failed to demonstrate compliance with the United States Attorney General's regulations for subpoenas to the press.” Gannett asked the court to quash the subpoena.
A Politico story about the subpoena noted that “The accusation that the FBI defied the Justice Department’s guidelines for seeking news media records comes as the department is facing criticism from journalists, press freedom advocates and even President Joe Biden for a series of court orders obtained last year in leak investigations.”
On June 5, Keith Becker, deputy chief of the U.S. Department of Justice’s criminal division, informed Gannett attorneys that the FBI was withdrawing the subpoena “because the child sexual exploitation offender subject of the investigation has at this time been identified via other means.”
The Department of Justice did not respond to an emailed request from the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker for comment.
Journalist Fenit Nirappil was subpoenaed on April 22, 2021, in a lawsuit involving former Chicago police officers for documents related to his work on two stories for the Medill Innocence Project nearly a decade earlier, according to the Reporters Committee for the Freedom of the Press.
Nirappil, now a journalist for The Washington Post, was a part of a team of Northwestern University students who investigated the conviction of former police officer Ariel Gomez during the 2011-2012 academic year, according to RCFP, which is representing Nirappil. RCFP is a partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
The subpoena was issued by Chicago-based Sotos Law Firm on behalf of four law enforcement officers and officials who are defendants in a federal lawsuit Gomez is pursuing alleging misconduct related to his conviction.
The officers’ legal team sought a broad range of documents from Nirappil related to his undergraduate education, according to a letter RCFP senior attorney Sarah Matthews wrote in response to the subpoena. Matthews is a member of the Tracker’s advisory committee.
Matthews argued in the letter that Nirappil isn’t required to comply with the subpoena, citing First Amendment privilege for journalists.
She also wrote that the subpoena was invalid due to procedural rules. It was improperly served because it was sent through the mail, rather than personally served, she wrote.
The subpoena was also overly broad, including requests for records related to 49 individuals, according to the letter. Matthews wrote that it effectively sought all information related to Nirappil’s undergraduate education.
The subpoena requested Nirappil’s documents by May 5 — an “insufficient” amount of time to reply given the scope of the request, and that he only received the subpoena on May 1, Matthews wrote.
Under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, if the subject of a subpoena for documents files an objection within a certain window of time, they don’t need to comply with the subpoena, according to Matthews.
She told the Tracker Nirappil wasn’t under any further obligation to respond, unless the attorneys representing the Chicago police officers file a motion in court.
Nirappil didn’t respond to a request for comment. He posted on Twitter about the subpoena on May 10.
“I'm not going to roll over when attorneys for law enforcement come after my reporting notes, even if they were from college a decade ago,” he wrote.
I'm not going to roll over when attorneys for law enforcement come after my reporting notes, even if they were from college a decade ago. Thank you for helping me fight this, @rcfp https://t.co/rF7d7MM3y8
— Fenit Nirappil (@FenitN) May 10, 2021
Sotos Law Firm also didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Freelance reporter Cerise Castle said she was detained by LA County sheriff’s officers when she attempted to re-enter a press conference being held on the steps of the Hall of Justice, Los Angeles, on April 20, 2021.
Castle said on Twitter: “I was detained today while covering a press conference hosted by the LA County Sheriff's Department. Yes, I had my press pass.”
I was detained today while covering a press conference hosted by the LA County Sheriff's Department. Yes, I had my press pass. https://t.co/GtTDA37Kuk
— Cerise Castle (@cerisecastle) April 20, 2021
The press conference was part of National Victims’ Rights Week, a series of annual events highlighting services for victims of crime and related issues.
John Schreiber, a photojournalist at local LA stations KCBS 2 / KCAL 9, filmed Castle as LA County Sheriff’s officers detained her and then prevented her from returning to the press conference.
In his Twitter post, Schreiber wrote that he and Castle had stood next to each other at the press conference. “When protesters arrived, we both went over to film” them, he wrote. “Then, saw deputies try to block her from coming back. She was later let back in.”
Castle told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that police held her “for between 5-15 minutes” before sheriff’s officers allowed her to return to the press conference. She said she was wearing a press pass issued by VICE, where she had been previously employed, and currently freelances.
Castle, who has published an investigative series on a history of violence within the LA County Sheriff’s department, said she had been working with a few outlets on stories about the department and was pursuing a chance to ask Sheriff Alex Villanueva a question during a question and answer session at the press conference.
Referring to attempts by officers to block Castle from returning to the press conference, the ACLU Southern California office said: “This conduct is unacceptable, and we strongly support journalists’ demands for an immediate change in practice.”
Such incidents “offend the First Amendment’s unambiguous protection of newsgathering,” the ACLU stated. “Journalists, like the public, have a robust right of access to document government activity free of interference from law enforcement.”
The ACLU statement summarized a series of actions by southern California law enforcement agencies toward journalists in recent months, describing them as unacceptable patterns of behavior.
“Law enforcement practices at protests throughout Southern California exhibit a disturbing trend in treatment of journalists—detaining, arresting, harassing, and otherwise interfering with journalists’ First Amendment rights to gather and disseminate information to the public,” the ACLU wrote. “The public interest requires that law enforcement agencies allow journalists to access and cover protests to the full extent of their First Amendment rights.”
When contacted by the Tracker, the LA County Sheriff’s Office said: “We are unfamiliar with the details surrounding this incident and will need to conduct an inquiry to ascertain more information. At this time we are unable to offer further comment, but what we can say is Sheriff Alex Villanueva strongly supports the First Amendment, the right to peacefully protest, and the people’s right to be informed by the press.”
On April 19, 2021, a Bernalillo County judge ruled that Albuquerque Public Schools violated New Mexico’s Inspection of Public Records Act when handling requests for documents made by two media outlets. The judge ordered the school district to pay the news organizations more than $400,000.
The Albuquerque Journal and local NBC-affiliate KOB 4 had jointly sued the school district, alleging that it failed to meet deadlines in turning over public documents that the news outlets had requested in 2014. The documents related to the abrupt departure of former schools Superintendent Winston Brooks, the Journal reported.
Then-school board president Analee Maestas said at the time of Brooks’ departure that “a serious item of concern to Board members was raised and discussed,” according to the Journal. An outside attorney hired to investigate the issue produced a report for the school board; the news outlets had requested copies of the report, along with other documents and communications related to Brooks’ record as superintendent, his sudden departure two years before the end of his contract with the district and the $350,000 he was paid to buy out his contract.
Judge Nancy Franchini had earlier denied the request for the attorney’s report, saying it was exempt from disclosure because it contained personnel information, according to the Journal. But in her April ruling the judge found that the school district’s actions were “unreasonable,” KOB 4 reported, when it failed to produce other records requested and missed deadlines set out in the state’s public records act on 13 separate instances. Among documents the judge said should be released to the news organizations was a spreadsheet documenting complaints against Brooks, according to the Journal.
Franchini ordered the school district to pay KOB 4 $118,000 and the Journal $293,625, as well as their court costs and reasonable attorney fees, the news outlets reported. According to KOB 4, she also ordered the school district to release the requested records within 20 days.
The Journal reported that the school district has announced plans to appeal the ruling.
“APS works diligently to be transparent in responding to all records requests, and this matter was no different,” school district spokesperson Monica Armenta said. “In this same case, the Court previously sided with APS and found that the District correctly withheld the investigatory report regarding former Superintendent Winston Brooks.”
Both news organizations said they intend to appeal Franchini’s earlier ruling that the attorney’s report on Brooks is exempt from disclosure. But they praised the decision ordering the school district to pay fees for failure to comply with open records rules. In a statement, Journal Editor Karen Moses said the ruling sent a clear message on the importance of adherence to the public records act.
“Noncompliance of the state’s open records law has been a longstanding issue with APS,” Moses said. “And when public bodies fail to follow the requirements for timely production of public records, the community is deprived of information that it is entitled to.”
Michelle Donaldson, the vice president and general manager of KOB 4, also stressed the importance of public records laws in a statement to the outlet.
“A school district cannot pick and choose when to obey the law, especially when it’s writing six-figure checks to outgoing personnel,” Donaldson said. “People cannot have faith in the system when the laws are ignored.”
At least 15 journalists were detained by police while covering protests in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, on the night of April 16, 2021, according to reports given to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, noted on social media or published in other news outlets.
Several hundred protesters marched to the Brooklyn Center Police Department in response to the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright, a Black man, by a white police officer during a traffic stop. Wright’s death, on April 11, occurred as a former police officer in nearby Minneapolis was on trial in the death of George Floyd, rekindling a wave of protests against racial injustice and police brutality that had started nearly a year earlier.
According to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, the protest had been peaceful until around 9 p.m., when, authorities told the outlet, some in the crowd began to throw objects and attempt to break through a barrier around the police station, prompting the declaration of an unlawful assembly and orders for dispersal. Minnesota Public Radio reported that police moved swiftly to corral the protesters and members of the press, deploying flash-bang grenades and pepper spray. According to state officials, a coalition of law enforcement agencies, including the Minnesota State Patrol, the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office and the Brooklyn Center Police Department, was involved in enforcement that night.
Jasper Colt, a photojournalist with the USA Today Network, was one of the journalists detained.
Colt told USA Today that when police issued a dispersal order around 9:30 p.m., he and other journalists did not immediately leave. “We didn’t think we needed to, and we wanted to cover what was happening,” he said.
Then, he told the paper, police rounded up protesters and members of the press in one group and told everyone to lie down on their stomachs. Officers identified people who were members of the media and then brought them to another area, where they took photographs of journalists’ credentials, IDs and their faces.
“They were the ones with the guns, so we were like, ‘OK, well, we have to do this,’” Colt told USA Today.
Colt also detailed the experience in a tweet posted at 12:07 a.m. on April 17. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Tracker.
After quickly dispersing protesters in #BrooklynCenterMN tonight, police surrounded members of the media and made us lie flat on our stomachs. They then photographed our faces, credentials and identification before allowing us to leave the perimeter. pic.twitter.com/v3BUHyvWgV
— Jasper Colt (@jaspercolt) April 17, 2021
Video published by USA Today shows Minnesota State Patrol troopers checking journalists’ credentials. Colt told USA Today that the sheriff’s office made the dispersal announcement over the loudspeaker, and state and local police were involved in the detainment.
The journalists were detained hours after a federal judge had issued a temporary restraining order barring police from arresting or using force against journalists, in response to a motion filed earlier in the week by the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota.
The next day, April 17, more than two dozen media and advocacy organizations sent a letter to Gov. Tim Walz expressing concern about the detainments and other police treatment of journalists since the protests began.
“Journalists must be allowed to safely cover protests and civil unrest. I’ve directed our law enforcement partners to make changes that will help ensure journalists do not face barriers to doing their jobs,” the governor posted on Twitter after meeting with representatives of the media.
When reached for comment, a spokesperson for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety referred the Tracker to a statement from the Minnesota State Patrol, which acknowledged that troopers had photographed journalists, their media credentials and their identification “during recent enforcement actions in Brooklyn Center.” MSP said that though journalists had been detained and released during the protests, no journalists were arrested. The Tracker documents detainments in the arrest category but notes that the journalists were released without being processed.
The agency said that troopers will no longer photograph journalists and their credentials, but will continue to check media credentials.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
An independent photojournalist said he was repeatedly shot with crowd-control munitions and shoved by law enforcement officers while he was documenting protests in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, on April 16, 2021.
Demonstrators had gathered in front of the Brooklyn Center Police Department to demand justice in the killing of Daunte Wright, a Black man, who was fatally shot by a white police officer on April 11. Earlier on April 16, Minnesota District Judge Wilhelmina Wright granted a motion for a temporary restraining order barring all local law enforcement agencies from arresting, threatening to arrest, using physical force against or seizing the equipment of journalists documenting the demonstrations.
The photojournalist asked only to be identified under Photojournalist Docs or “PJ” (the name under which he publishes), citing concerns about police retaliation or private individuals targeting him. PJ, whose recent photos from celebrations in Minneapolis following the Derek Chauvin verdict were published by WeekenderNJ, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he arrived at the protest at around 4 p.m. and remained into the night.
Police had established a barricade consisting of two layers of fencing along the east side of the police department property, down North Humboldt Avenue, according to PJ. The photographer said officers remained behind both fences, near the department building, most of the night.
At around 9:45 p.m., PJ said, he was photographing from the north side of the fence line when a protester breached the barricades further south.
“Before I knew it, things started to change. It went from kind of just a protest to flash bangs going off and them declaring it an unlawful assembly,” PJ said.
About 10 minutes later, PJ said, he moved away from the fence line, toward apartment buildings across the street from the police department, and at least 150 feet away from the main group of protesters. He said that as he continued moving, law enforcement officers started shining lights on him.
“I put my hands up just in case I was blocking the ‘PRESS’ marking on my chest with my camera, so I put my hands up, I let my chest show, and then I would go back to taking photos,” PJ said, adding that he did this multiple times as the light continued to follow him.
PJ said he began photographing as a group of Minnesota State Patrol troopers rushed several clearly marked members of the press who were set up off to the side of the protesters. Within seconds, PJ said, he was struck first on his left buttocks and then again on the back of his left calf with marker rounds, a type of spongy crowd control munition that uses a dye to mark individuals with a bright color, often in order for law enforcement to identify them to be detained.
In footage PJ posted to YouTube, after being struck he can be heard shouting and in closed caption indicates that he was shouting “Press!” as he jogs away from where he had been standing.
“Then I took a direct hit to my left knee with a foam baton round,” PJ said. “More and more lights began to shine on me, and I worried that I would be hit with more munitions.”
4/16/21: I was first targeted & then fired upon by #MNOSN even after US District Judge issued TRO preventing their attacks on the press. Shot multiple times by less-lethal (40mm) & non-lethal (.68cal) munitions @uspresstracker @ACLUMN @GovTimWalz #BrooklynCenter #DaunteWright pic.twitter.com/nnkxvyWqsg
— Photojournalist Docs (@pjdocs) April 18, 2021
Throughout the footage, PJ appears to be standing and walking alone at a significant distance from the unfolding demonstrations.
“If I was really close to the protesters and was inadvertently shot trying to capture photos, that would be different,” PJ told the Tracker. “What really blows me away is that I was very isolated. There was zero reason, no logical reason for this to have happened.”
About three minutes after he was struck the first time, PJ said, his video camera battery died.
“It didn’t take long after that for law enforcement to move in and start sort of kettling people,” he said, referring to a police tactic of surrounding protesters. “A state trooper or a sheriff, I’m not really sure who, rushed up to me and kind of grabbed me by the arm and started pushing me in a direction, saying, ‘You gotta go, you gotta leave.’
“Again, I was kind of isolated, I wasn’t around anyone, I wasn’t interfering or impeding anyone from doing their jobs,” PJ added.
PJ said the law enforcement officer then pushed him in the direction of a parking lot and ordered him to leave; judging from his experiences at earlier protests, PJ said, he believed that if he didn’t comply he would have been arrested. In order to leave the area, PJ said he had to climb over a couple of six- or seven-foot-tall fences. He said he also had to leave behind a step stool he had been carrying with him.
Neither the Brooklyn Center Police Department, the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Department nor the Minnesota State Patrol responded to requests for comment as of press time.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
An independent photojournalist was shot multiple times with crowd-control munitions while documenting protests in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, on April 16, 2021.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2021, protest, shot / shot at",,,,, Minneapolis Star Tribune photojournalist and colleague detained in Brooklyn Center,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/minneapolis-star-tribune-photojournalist-and-colleague-detained-in-brooklyn-center/,2021-05-06 19:46:56.440494+00:00,2021-11-23 19:26:58.604778+00:00,2021-11-23 19:26:58.500915+00:00,,Arrest/Criminal Charge,,,,Renée Jones Schneider (Minneapolis Star Tribune),,2021-04-16,False,Brooklyn Center,Minnesota (MN),45.07608,-93.33273,"Two Minneapolis Star Tribune photojournalists were among a group of journalists detained by police while covering protests in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, on the night of April 16, 2021, according to reports shared with the U.S. Freedom Tracker, or published on social media or other news outlets.
Several hundred protesters marched to the Brooklyn Center Police Department in response to the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright, a Black man, by a white police officer during a traffic stop. Wright’s death, on April 11, occurred as a former police officer in nearby Minneapolis was on trial in the death of George Floyd, rekindling a wave of protests against racial injustice and police brutality that had started nearly a year earlier.
According to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, the protest had been peaceful until around 9 p.m., when, authorities told the outlet, some in the crowd began to throw objects and attempt to break through a barrier around the police station, prompting the declaration of an unlawful assembly and orders for dispersal. At around 10 p.m., according to Minnesota Public Radio, police moved swiftly to corral the protesters and members of the press, deploying flash-bang grenades and pepper spray. State officials said in a news conference that a coalition of law-enforcement agencies, including the Minnesota State Patrol, the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office and the Brooklyn Center Police Department, was involved in enforcement that night.
Minneapolis Star Tribune journalist Renée Jones Schneider told the Tracker she was detained while covering the protest with her colleague, Liz Flores.
Jones Schneider said the journalists were in front of the police department, on the northwest side of Humboldt Avenue. She said they had decided to separate themselves from the crowd of protesters, because they were unsure what the demonstrators planned to do.
Jones Schneider said they heard a dispersal order, which, unlike at protests earlier in the week, didn’t include any specific announcement for members of the media to leave. Suddenly, she said, the crowd ran toward them.
She said she and Flores decided to go up the street to see what was prompting people to run, but when they turned, she said, a large line of police officers was approaching.
Jones Schneider said that they identified themselves as press. They were also wearing large press passes, issued by the Star Tribune, and gas masks, she said.
The police told them they didn’t care that they were press, Jones Schneider said, and directed them to turn and go back up the street. The law enforcement agents then ordered her and people near her to lie on the ground on their stomachs.
Jones Schneider said many other people who were detained near her were also members of the press. She said that police weren’t touching or yelling at anyone in the group, and that she wasn’t worried about getting arrested, but that the situation was surprising.
After a few minutes, Jones Schneider said, the journalists were allowed to get up. Police told the journalists that they wanted to look at their credentials before they let them go. Jones Schneider said they were told to go up the street, where they encountered another line of officers and a different group of journalists. There, she said, police directed them to take out their press credentials and their state-issued identifications, and took photographs of their faces and documents.
The next day, Jones Schneider retweeted a video of two other Star Tribune journalists having their credentials photographed. She wrote that she was screened twice, because law enforcement checked her credentials when she had been detained and forced to lie on her stomach earlier in the night.
This was also @floresliz12 and my experience. However that was our second screening since we were also previously caught in a police kettling closer to the police station and made to lay on our stomaches for about 10 minutes and processed there too. https://t.co/XwpAsOC2Qs
— Renee JonesSchneider (@reneejon) April 17, 2021
Jones Schneider and the other journalists in the group were detained hours after a federal judge had issued a temporary restraining order barring police from arresting or using force against journalists, in response to a motion filed earlier in the week by the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota.
The next day, April 17, more than two dozen media and advocacy organizations sent a letter to Gov. Tim Walz expressing concern about the detainments and other police treatment of journalists since the protests began.
The Minnesota State Patrol didn’t respond to a request for comment about the specific detainment of the Star Tribune journalists.
When reached for general comment, a spokesperson for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety referred the Tracker to a statement from the Minnesota State Patrol, which acknowledged that troopers had photographed journalists, their media credentials and their identification “during recent enforcement actions in Brooklyn Center.” MSP said that though journalists had been detained and released during the protests, no journalists were arrested. The Tracker documents detainments in the same category as arrests, but notes that the journalists were released without being processed.
The agency said troopers will no longer photograph journalists and their credentials, but will continue to check media credentials.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Freelance photojournalist Tim Evans told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was assaulted by multiple law enforcement officers and detained while reporting on a protest in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, on April 16, 2021.
Evans was one of at least 10 journalists detained that night, according to reports given to the Tracker, noted on social media or published in other news outlets.
Several hundred protesters had marched to the Brooklyn Center Police Department in response to the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright, a Black man, by a white police officer during a traffic stop. Wright’s death, on April 11, occurred as a former police officer in nearby Minneapolis was on trial in the death of George Floyd, rekindling a wave of protests against racial injustice and police brutality that had started nearly a year earlier. According to state officials, a coalition of law enforcement agencies, including the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office, the Minnesota State Patrol, and the Brooklyn Center Police Department, was involved in enforcement that night.
Evans, whose work has been published by the European Pressphoto Agency, the Guardian, NPR and other outlets, told the Tracker he arrived to cover the protests earlier in the evening. The demonstration was peaceful, he said, though a few people in the crowd shook the fence around the police station or threw a water bottle at law enforcement. Evans said he heard law enforcement announce an order to disperse at 9:45 p.m. Shortly after 10, he said, law enforcement moved swiftly to form a “kettle,” a crowd-control tactic in which officers block people from leaving.
As law enforcement closed in around the crowd, Evans said, dozens of Hennepin County sheriff’s deputies moved out from behind a fence that surrounded the Brooklyn Center police station, tackling people and spraying them with chemical agents “indiscriminately.”
Evans said that after he’d photographed an officer tackle someone to the ground in front of him, he’d looked to his right, toward a group of other photojournalists. When he turned to look back to his left, he said, he saw a sheriff’s deputy running directly at him. Evans said the officer, about 5 feet away, sprayed him in the face with a chemical agent he believes was mace.
Evans, who was wearing a helmet and goggles, said he dropped to his knees and held up his press credential in one hand and one of his cameras in the other; his credential, he said, is a card he made himself that features his name and photo and states “press” on the top and “photojournalist” on the bottom. In addition to his credential, he said, he had a label fixed to his backpack that identified him as “PRESS.”
Evans said that while he was still kneeling, he took a photograph of another photojournalist being confronted by a law enforcement officer. Right after taking the frame, he said, he heard someone shout, “Get on the ground!”
Evans said he then looked to his left and saw a sheriff charging at him. He said he held out his press credential and shouted to identify himself as press, but the officer proceeded to tackle him onto his back and punch him in the face. Evans said his face was largely protected because the brunt of the blow hit the padded goggles he was wearing.
The officer then ordered him to roll over onto his stomach, Evans said, and told him he was under arrest.
Evans said he complied, continuing to tell the officer he was a journalist. The officer, he said, ignored him and told him to “shut up.” While lying on his stomach, on top of his camera, Evans said he held his press credential over his shoulder. He said the officer grabbed the card, unsnapping the clasp on the lanyard, and threw the pass facedown.
“He rips it off and just, like, throws it into the ground and tells me he doesn’t give a fuck who I am, he doesn’t care if I’m media, and that I should have left when I had a chance,” Evans told the Tracker.
Evans said the officer kneeled on his back and used a shield to push down on him. At that point, Evans said, it seemed clear the officer was not going to release him because he was a journalist, so Evans said he started to try and attract the attention of other law enforcement nearby.
Evans said another officer soon came up to them and asked the deputy if Evans was being arrested. Evans said he tried to tell the new officer that he was press. The new officer told him to “shut the fuck up” and smashed the back of Evans’ helmet, thrusting his face into the dirt. Evans said he could not clearly see this officer, but he believes it was also a sheriff’s deputy.
Evans’ hands were restrained with zip-tie cuffs behind his back, he said. After a few minutes on the ground, he said, he was raised to his feet and brought to sit on a curb.
About 10 minutes later, he said, another officer, who Evans believes was a Minnesota State Patrol trooper, came by and offered to make adjustments so he would be more comfortable. He said he told her he shouldn’t be there because he was a member of the press.
The officer looked at his credential and asked him about who he worked for. Evans said she then went to speak to a lieutenant. When she returned, she said they would let him go, “as long as I agreed to leave the area, and not continue to cover,” Evans said.
“I agreed because at that point, you know, I was not in a position to make demands, I suppose,” he told the Tracker.
He said the officer cut the zip-ties and escorted him to the police perimeter, about a block away, where he was allowed to go.
Evans said he does not believe he was targeted by the first officer, who sprayed the chemical agent at him. “But everything from that point on felt targeted,” he told the Tracker.
Evans said he felt the second officer who attacked him “became more aggressive when he realized that I was a member of the media.”
Evans said the spray left him with rashes on his face, though the impact was mitigated because he was wearing personal protective equipment. His helmet and goggles also protected him from the impact of the punch and having his head shoved into the ground, he said. He said he had scratches on his hands, which he thinks were from the scuffle, but he did not require any medical attention.
The body of one of his cameras was scuffed, the screen protector was broken, and a rubber thumb grip was ripped off, he said. He said his equipment, including his lenses, is all still functional.
Evans’ detainment came hours after a federal judge had issued a temporary restraining order barring Minnesota State Patrol from arresting or using force against journalists, in response to a motion filed earlier in the week by the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota.
Evans wrote a declaration about his experience, which the ACLU presented with a letter to the court the following day. He told the Tracker he is planning to file a formal complaint with relevant law enforcement agencies and is considering other action.
A spokesperson for the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office told the Tracker that the department is aware of the incident and is investigating whether any of its staff were involved. He declined to comment further, pending the determination of the investigation. Minnesota State Patrol did not respond to a request for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Photojournalist Tim Evans was detained while covering an April 16, 2021, protest in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota. Evans said the officer who detained him kneeled on his back and used a shield to push down on him.
",detained and released without being processed,not charged,Hennepin County Sheriff’s Department,None,None,True,0:20-cv-01302,"['ONGOING', 'SETTLED']",Class Action,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2021, chemical irritant, protest",,,,, "Photojournalist threatened, assaulted by Minnesota State Patrol while covering Brooklyn Center protest",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-threatened-assaulted-by-minnesota-state-patrol-while-covering-brooklyn-center-protest/,2021-05-10 15:35:51.521838+00:00,2022-05-26 20:01:41.109110+00:00,2022-05-26 20:01:41.045829+00:00,"(2022-02-08 12:06:00+00:00) Journalists reach settlement agreement with Minnesota State Patrol, rest of suit ongoing, (2021-09-28 00:00:00+00:00) Freelance photojournalist sues following assault while covering Brooklyn Center protest",Assault,,,,Chris Tuite (Independent),,2021-04-16,False,Brooklyn Center,Minnesota (MN),45.07608,-93.33273,"Minnesota State Patrol troopers assaulted and threatened to arrest independent photojournalist Chris Tuite while he documented protests in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, on April 16, 2021, according to a letter to a judge by the ACLU of Minnesota.
Demonstrators had gathered in front of the Brooklyn Center Police Department following the killing of Daunte Wright, a Black man, who was fatally shot by a white police officer on April 11. On April 16, Minnesota District Judge Wilhelmina Wright granted a motion for a temporary restraining order barring all local law-enforcement agencies from arresting, threatening to arrest, using physical force against or seizing the equipment of journalists documenting the demonstrations.
ACLU of Minnesota’s Legal Director Teresa Nelson sent a letter to Judge Wright the following day, saying: “Last night, hours after the TRO took effect, the State Defendants escalated the level of assault and harassment of journalists to an intolerable degree.”
Tuite was listed among the journalists affected in the ACLU letter, which Tuite confirmed in an interview with the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
Tuite told the Tracker that he was taking photos of Hennepin County Sheriff’s deputies arresting freelance photojournalist Tim Evans when he was suddenly confronted by other law-enforcement officers.
“I was taking a photo of an officer kneeling on Evans’ back and that’s when I got grabbed,” Tuite said. “Someone was verbally threatening me and then an officer grabbed me from behind and told me that I was under arrest.” Tuite said that the officer pulled him hard enough to rip the neck of his shirt.
“As soon as that happened another cop came over and grabbed me by the arm and ripped me away from the first cop and told me to go north, which is what I had been trying to do anyway,” Tuite said. “I got around the corner of the apartment complex to the north and got jumped by five more officers, one put pepper spray right in my face and screamed, ‘What the fuck do you not understand? Go fucking north. This was your one free pass. Are you fucking stupid? Go now or I’ll arrest you.’”
Tuite was ultimately directed to a “media checkpoint” at a nearby gas station, where members of the press had their faces, press passes and state identifications photographed before they were permitted to leave the area.
“To get out of their kettle, we had to take off our gas masks and helmets and hand them our media passes and IDs. They took photos of our faces up close and then of our IDs and media passes,” Tuite said. “They told us nothing of what they were going to do with the photos, and they essentially brushed it off as, ‘We just want to make sure you guys are legit.’”
Tuite told the Tracker that his press pass was around his neck and he was carrying several cameras, and that he was certain the officers were aware he was a journalist as they specifically said to him, “Media: Get out of here!”
The Minnesota State Patrol didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Independent photojournalist Jon Farina was shoved by a law enforcement officer while covering a protest in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, for the online outlet Status Coup on April 16, 2021.
Demonstrations were held several days in a row outside the Brooklyn Center Police Department in response to the fatal police shooting of Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man, during a traffic stop on April 11. Wright’s death occurred as a former police officer in nearby Minneapolis was on trial in the death of George Floyd, rekindling a wave of protests against racial injustice and police brutality that had started nearly a year earlier.
Farina, a New York-based journalist, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that on the night of April 16 officers were using rubber bullets on the crowd and chasing people away from the police station.
Farina said he stayed off to the side of the crowd as officers pushed protesters back. He said he eventually found himself by some residential buildings near the police station, where officers were making arrests.
At first, he said, officers didn’t say anything to him.
In a video Status Coup posted to Twitter, multiple law enforcement officers holding shields marked “sheriff” can be seen in a line. An officer, who is wearing a vest that says “sheriff” on the back, turns and approaches the camera. He repeats, “back up, back up.”
“What’s the reason? nothing’s happening,” Farina replies.
“You got a zoom on that thing, back up, back up,” the officer says, referencing Farina’s camera.
The officer moves suddenly close to the camera. Farina told the Tracker that the officer held a baton with a hand at each end and used it to shove the journalist in the shoulder.
Immediately afterwards, Farina said, a second officer came up behind him, grabbed his backpack and used it to pull him back. The second officer can be heard on the video shouting “get out of here!”
Farina backs away as the second officer, who was wearing green, follows and shines a flashlight at him. Farina tries to speak with the officer, who moves toward him and shouts “get out of here!” again.
#BREAKING: Minnesota Police threaten photojournalist @JonFarinaPhoto and @StatusCoup's reporting while attacking and arresting protesters and the press during #DaunteWright protests. pic.twitter.com/J5L3plF6vl
— Status Coup News (@StatusCoup) April 17, 2021
Farina told the Tracker he decided to leave that area then because he felt he might be arrested if he stayed. As he was moving away, he saw other members of the press lying face down. He said he continued moving past them.
Eventually Farina said he came to a checkpoint where law enforcement officers were taking photographs of journalists’ credentials and faces.
Farina said he started to leave but an officer stopped him and asked if other officers had said he could go. Farina said he told him, “This is not how this works. You guys shouldn't be doing this.”
The officer brought over a lieutenant, he said, and Farina continued to explain his objections to being photographed. He said he told them the process was unconstitutional and illegal. They spoke for about a minute, Farina said, and the officers allowed him to proceed.
Farina said he was wearing a lanyard around his neck with press credentials displayed, including cards issued by the National Press Photographers Association, the New York Press Photographers Association and the New York City Police Department.
Farina told the Tracker he believed he was targeted for being a journalist. He said he believed the officers tried to intimidate journalists.
“It's very clear and obvious all journalists were targeted that day,” he said.
The Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Reuters photographer Leah Millis said she was one of a group of journalists detained by law enforcement while reporting on a protest in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, on the night of April 16, 2021.
Several hundred protesters marched to the Brooklyn Center Police Department in response to the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright, a Black man, by a white police officer during a traffic stop. Wright’s death, on April 11, occurred as a former police officer in nearby Minneapolis was on trial in the death of George Floyd, rekindling a wave of protests against racial injustice and police brutality that had started nearly a year earlier.
According to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, the protest had been peaceful until around 9 p.m., when, authorities told the outlet, some in the crowd began to throw objects and attempt to break through a barrier around the police station, prompting the declaration of an unlawful assembly and orders for dispersal. At around 10 p.m., Minnesota Public Radio reported that police moved swiftly to corral the protesters and members of the press, deploying flash-bang grenades and pepper spray. According to state officials, a coalition of law-enforcement agencies, including the Minnesota State Patrol, the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office and the Brooklyn Center Police Department, was involved in enforcement that night.
Amid the unrest, a group of journalists were detained by law-enforcement officers in Brooklyn Center and ordered to lie on the ground, according to reports given to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, noted on social media or published in other news outlets. Find documented detainments from the night of April 16 in Brooklyn Center here.
Millis posted on Twitter early on the morning of April 17 that she had been detained. She later tweeted more details, including that she was ordered to get on the ground with her hands out.
“I tried not to run because I didn't want to be tackled, then they shouted at us to get out and then they forced us to the ground with our hands out. I wear a large "PRESS" patch on my helmet.”
This is how it was last night, too. I tried not to run because I didn't want to be tackled, then they shouted at us to get out and then they forced us to the ground with our hands out. I wear a large "PRESS" patch on my helmet. https://t.co/No8FCGbbH5
— Leah Millis (@LeahMillis) April 17, 2021
Millis also posted a photograph on Twitter of Minnesota State Patrol officers taking a photograph of her with a cell phone. She wrote that she and others were photographed with their identifications before they were released.
Got detained, they photographed us with our IDs before eventually letting us go. Some colleagues got pretty roughed up. #BrooklynCenter #pressfreedom pic.twitter.com/vrTr1pfsil
— Leah Millis (@LeahMillis) April 17, 2021
Millis referred the Tracker to a Reuters spokesperson for comment.
“Reuters condemns the actions of police against its journalist in Minneapolis on April 16,” a spokesperson said. “All journalists must be allowed to report the news in the public interest without fear of harassment or harm, wherever they are.”
Millis and other journalists were detained hours after a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order barring police from arresting or using force against journalists, in response to a motion filed earlier in the week by the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota.
The next day, April 17, more than two dozen media and advocacy organizations, including Reuters, sent a letter to Gov. Tim Walz expressing concern about the detainments and other police treatment of journalists since the protests began.
A spokesperson for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety referred the Tracker to a statement from the Minnesota State Patrol, which acknowledged that troopers had photographed journalists, their media credentials and their identification “during recent enforcement actions in Brooklyn Center.” MSP said no journalists were arrested, though some had been detained and released during the protests. The Tracker documents detainments in the arrest category, but notes that the journalists were released without being processed.
The agency said troopers would no longer photograph journalists and their credentials, but would continue to check media credentials.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Reuters photographer Leah Millis captured this image of demonstrators holding signs in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, on April 16, 2021, days after the death of Daunte Wright. Millis was detained and photographed by law enforcement that evening.
",detained and released without being processed,not charged,Minnesota State Patrol,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2021, protest",,,,, WCCO reporter detained while covering protest in Brooklyn Center,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/wcco-reporter-detained-while-covering-protest-in-brooklyn-center/,2021-05-11 17:15:13.044454+00:00,2021-11-23 19:29:12.092095+00:00,2021-11-23 19:29:12.046868+00:00,,Arrest/Criminal Charge,,,,Reg Chapman (WCCO-TV),,2021-04-16,False,Brooklyn Center,Minnesota (MN),45.07608,-93.33273,"Reg Chapman, a reporter for Minneapolis CBS affiliate WCCO, said he was detained by police with multiple other journalists while covering protests in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, on the night of April 16, 2021.
Several hundred protesters marched to the Brooklyn Center Police Department in response to the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright, a Black man, by a white police officer during a traffic stop. Wright’s death, on April 11, occurred as a former police officer in nearby Minneapolis was on trial in the death of George Floyd, rekindling a wave of protests against racial injustice and police brutality that had started nearly a year earlier.
According to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, the protest had been peaceful until around 9 p.m., when, authorities told the outlet, some in the crowd began to throw objects and attempt to break through a barrier around the police station, prompting the declaration of an unlawful assembly and orders for dispersal. At around 10 p.m., Minnesota Public Radio reported that police moved swiftly to corral the protesters and members of the press, deploying flash-bang grenades and pepper spray.
According to state officials, a coalition of law enforcement agencies, including the Minnesota State Patrol, the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office and the Brooklyn Center Police Department, was involved in enforcement that night.
Amid the unrest, a group of journalists was detained by law enforcement officers in Brooklyn Center and ordered to lie on the ground, according to reports given to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, noted on social media or published on other news outlets. Find reports on the detainments from the night of April 16 in Brooklyn Center here.
Chapman told a WCCO anchor in a segment on the night of April 16 that he and other members of the news team had been detained. He didn’t respond to requests for comment.
The video shows live video, apparently filmed from pavement-level, of multiple Minnesota State Patrol troopers.
Chapman told the anchor they were detained when one group of Minnesota National Guard troops approached protesters from the south while a group of Minnesota State Patrol troopers approached from the north, forming a perimeter around the crowd.
Law enforcement recognized their press credentials but ordered journalists to the ground, Chapman told the anchor in the video. He said officers checked everyone’s IDs and anybody who wasn’t a member of the press was put in handcuffs.
In the video, Chapman said police checked his and others’ IDs and took their photos. He said that they were waiting for the rest of the WCCO crew to be released.
According to a WCCO report, Chapman was detained with other WCCO photojournalists. The Tracker hasn’t been able to verify the identities of the other journalists and WCCO hasn’t responded to requests for more information.
Chapman and other journalists were detained hours after a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order barring state law enforcement from arresting or using force against journalists, in response to a motion filed earlier in the week by the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota.
The next day, April 17, more than two dozen media and advocacy organizations sent a letter to Gov. Tim Walz expressing concern about the detainments and other police treatment of journalists since the protests began. CBS signed the letter on behalf of WCCO.
A spokesperson for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety referred the Tracker to a statement from the Minnesota State Patrol, which acknowledged that troopers had photographed journalists, their media credentials and their identification “during recent enforcement actions in Brooklyn Center.” MSP said that though journalists had been detained and released during the protests, no journalists were arrested. The Tracker documents detainments in the arrest category but notes that the journalists were released without being processed. MSP didn’t respond to a request for comment specifically about the detainment of Chapman and the WCCO crew.
The agency said troopers will no longer photograph journalists and their credentials, but will continue to check media credentials.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Freelance journalist J.D. Duggan said he was detained and shoved to the ground by a law enforcement officer while reporting on a protest in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, on April 16, 2021.
Several hundred protesters had marched to the Brooklyn Center Police Department in response to the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright, a Black man, by a white police officer during a traffic stop. Wright’s death, on April 11, occurred as a former police officer in nearby Minneapolis was on trial in the death of George Floyd, rekindling a wave of protests against racial injustice and police brutality that had started nearly a year earlier.
According to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, the protest had been peaceful until around 9 p.m., when, authorities told the outlet, some in the crowd began to throw objects and attempt to break through a barrier around the police station, prompting the declaration of an unlawful assembly and orders for dispersal. At around 10 p.m., Minnesota Public Radio reported that police moved swiftly to corral the protesters and members of the press, deploying flash-bang grenades and pepper spray.
Amid the unrest, a group of journalists was detained by law enforcement officers in Brooklyn Center and ordered to lie on the ground, according to reports given to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, noted on social media or published on other news outlets. Find reports on the detainments from the night of April 16 in Brooklyn Center here.
Duggan, who has written for outlets including The Intercept and the Minneapolis Star Tribune, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that when lines of law enforcement officers started moving in to surround the crowd, he found himself near a group of other journalists.
Officers surrounded the group and shouted at them to get on the ground, so Duggan said he got down on his knees. Duggan said he shouted out to identify himself as a member of the press.
As he was on his knees, he said, an officer came up behind him, shoved him on his back between his shoulders and yelled at him to lie on the ground.
Duggan said he didn’t see which law enforcement agency the officer who shoved him was with.
Video he posted on Twitter, which appears to be filmed from the ground, shows multiple Minnesota State Patrol troopers standing nearby.
At one point, Duggan says, “I’m press, I’m press. Can I get out of here?”
“Hang tight” a voice can be heard responding.
Minutes later, a voice orders members of the press to stand up, and a trooper checks Duggan’s credential.
Duggan told the Tracker after the journalists were allowed to get up, officers led them across a parking lot and kept the members of the press in a group. He said officers took photographs of his face, his ID and his press credential.
He was allowed to go about 45 minutes after he was first detained, he said.
Duggan said he was displaying his press badge at the time he was detained. His badge is issued by The Minnesota Daily, the University of Minnesota student newspaper where he was a journalist until he graduated in December.
Duggan and other journalists were detained hours after a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order barring state law enforcement from arresting or using force against journalists, in response to a motion filed earlier in the week by the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota.
The next day, April 17, more than two dozen media and advocacy organizations sent a letter to Gov. Tim Walz expressing concern about the detainments and other police treatment of journalists since the protests began. CBS signed the letter on behalf of WCCO.
A spokesperson for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety referred the Tracker to a statement from the Minnesota State Patrol, which acknowledged that troopers had photographed journalists, their media credentials and their identification “during recent enforcement actions in Brooklyn Center.” MSP said that though journalists had been detained and released during the protests, no journalists were arrested. The Tracker documents detainments in the arrest category but notes that the journalists were released without being processed. MSP didn’t respond to a request for comment specifically about Duggan.
The agency said troopers will no longer photograph journalists and their credentials, but will continue to check media credentials.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Freelance photojournalist Joshua Rashaad McFadden, on assignment for The New York Times, said he was detained and hit by law enforcement officers while covering a protest in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota on April 16, 2021.
The fatal police shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center on April 11 rekindled a wave of racial-justice protests that began almost a year earlier. Wright’s death occurred as a former police officer in nearby Minneapolis was on trial in the death of George Floyd. Protests began outside the Brooklyn Center Police Department the day Wright was killed, and continued daily through mid-April.
McFadden told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he and other journalists stuck together as a group as police rushed the crowd.
“We're all literally huddled together in one area, and the police rushed in,” McFadden said. “They rushed the crowd and they detained us.”
The group included other photographers, TV news staff and reporters, McFadden said. He said the journalists were repeating “we’re press, we’re press!” Officers told the journalists “we don’t care” and ordered them to lie on the ground, he said.
McFadden said he was on the ground when one officer came over to him and ordered him to get up, then another officer came over and told him to get back down.
At that point, McFadden said, he was on his knees. He identified himself as a member of the press, he said, and asked the officers, “what do you want me to do?”
Then, McFadden said, another group of officers rushed and trampled over him, knocking him to the ground “like a football tackle.”
He said the officers started hitting him and hitting his camera. He said he was holding his phone in one hand, and felt an officer try to yank the device from him. McFadden said he didn’t want to appear to be confrontational, but he was concerned about losing his phone so he held onto it.
McFadden, who is Black, said a white photographer acquaintance came over and told the officers that McFadden was a journalist and that he worked with the Times.
After the other photographer identified him, he said, the officers allowed him to stand up. He showed them his press pass, which is issued by the National Press Photographers Association. McFadden said the officer told him, “anybody could have made that,” and asked to see his driver’s license, which he had left in his car.
McFadden said it was clear that the officers weren’t going to allow him to go, but they were going to let the other photographer go. He said officers only allowed him to leave when the other photographer volunteered to escort him to his car.
He said he previously had similar experiences, including three days earlier in Brooklyn Center.
“I do know it's because Black members of the press are treated differently,” he said. “And I have to acknowledge that.”
McFadden said the other photographer walked with him so she could help him navigate interaction with law enforcement.
“It's because she knew that at every kind of checkpoint they set up, they were going to either try to hold me or arrest or detain me, or I'll get a million questions if my credentials are real,” McFadden said. He said there was also a risk he could be shot at with rubber bullets while approaching officers from a distance. “If I'm with her I'm able to walk up to the group.”
As they were trying to leave the area, McFadden said, they came upon a checkpoint at a gas station where police had stopped a large number of journalists and were taking photographs of their credentials, IDs and faces. He said officers told the journalists the photographs would be entered into a database.
McFadden said law enforcement again asked him to see his license, and he told them it was in his car. He said that they were stopped at the gas station for about an hour.
McFadden said his shoulder was injured when he was tackled and hit. He also had bruises on his legs, adding to bruises he had gotten earlier in the week when he was hit with crowd-control munitions, and hit with sticks by law enforcement officers while in a car. McFadden said he sought medical attention for the injuries he accumulated through the week. He said he was told to take ibuprofen after he declined other medication, he said.
McFadden’s camera was damaged when he was tackled, he said. The body of the camera was scratched up and he said he needed to get some parts replaced. As a result of the two assaults, he also needed to get the lens repaired.
McFadden told the Tracker he believed he was targeted because he was a journalist.
He said Minnesota State Patrol troopers were involved in the incident. MSP didn’t respond requests for comment by email and phone
McFadden was detained the same evening a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order barring MSP from arresting or using force against journalists, in response to a motion filed earlier in the week by the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota.
The next day, April 17, more than two dozen media and advocacy organizations, including the New York Times, sent a letter to Gov. Tim Walz expressing concern about the detainments and other police treatment of journalists since the protests began.
In response to the court order, MSP released a statement on April 17 that acknowledged troopers had photographed journalists, their media credentials and their identification “during recent enforcement actions in Brooklyn Center.” MSP said no journalists were arrested, though some had been detained and released during the protests. The Tracker documents detainments in the arrest category, but notes that the journalists were released without being processed.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Estelle Timar-Wilcox, news editor for the Macalester College student news site The Mac Weekly, was shoved by a Minnesota State Patrol trooper while covering a protest in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, on April 16, 2021, she told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
The fatal police shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center on April 11 rekindled a wave of racial justice protests that began almost a year earlier. Wright’s death occurred as a former police officer in nearby Minneapolis was on trial in the death of George Floyd. Protests began outside the Brooklyn Center Police Department the day Wright was killed and continued daily through mid-April.
According to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, the April 16 protest had been peaceful until around 9 p.m., when, authorities told the outlet, some in the crowd began to throw objects and attempt to break through a barrier around the police station, prompting the declaration of an unlawful assembly and orders for dispersal. At around 10 p.m., according to Minnesota Public Radio, police moved swiftly to corral the protesters and members of the press, deploying flash-bang grenades and pepper spray.
Timar-Wilcox told the Tracker that she was reporting on the protest that night outside the police station with three other student journalists from the Mac Weekly.
She said they heard police make the unlawful assembly announcement and that about 15 minutes later a line of law enforcement officers came in from many directions to form a “kettle,” a crowd-control tactic in which officers block people from leaving.
Timar-Wilcox said she was standing by an apartment building near the police station with her fellow student journalists and other members of the media, taking photographs and reporting as officers moved up the street. She said that they were on the outside of the kettle.
After the first line of law enforcement officers passed by, she said, a line of Minnesota State Patrol troopers started to come up the street, asking journalists to move back. Timar-Wilcox said she had already backed up and was against the apartment building, but one trooper on the edge of the line tried to get her to move farther back, she said, and shoved her to the ground.
Video Timar-Wilcox recorded of the incident, reviewed by the Tracker, shows many MSP troopers moving past the camera. Voices can be heard saying, “Media, back up,” and “Keep going.”
One voice shouts, “Back up!” The video shakes and the screen briefly goes black, then is angled upward, catching part of a trooper’s bright yellow uniform.
This was the moment the trooper shoved her and she fell to the ground, according to Timar-Wilcox. She said she does not remember specifically where the trooper touched her but believes it was her shoulder or arm.
She said she was not injured. Another journalist helped her get back on her feet and she continued reporting, she said.
A short time after she was shoved, she said, law enforcement directed her and other journalists nearby to stand on a street corner and told them they could not move any closer to the kettle.
Timar-Wilcox said she was wearing a lanyard with her press pass issued by the Mac Weekly, which clearly states “press.” She said she does not believe that she was targeted because she was a journalist.
MSP did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Agence France-Presse photojournalist Chandan Khanna said he was pepper-sprayed by a law enforcement officer while covering a protest in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota on April 16, 2021.
AFP video correspondent Eléonore Sens and reporter Robin Legrand were sprayed at the same time.
Several hundred protesters marched to the Brooklyn Center Police Department in response to the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright, a Black man, by a white police officer during a traffic stop. Wright’s death, on April 11, occurred as a former police officer in nearby Minneapolis was on trial in the death of George Floyd, rekindling a wave of protests against racial injustice and police brutality that had started nearly a year earlier.
According to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, the protest had been peaceful until around 9 p.m. Some time after that, authorities told the outlet, some in the crowd began to throw objects and attempted to break through a barrier around the police station, prompting the declaration of an unlawful assembly and orders for dispersal. At around 10 p.m., Minnesota Public Radio reported that police moved swiftly to corral the protesters and members of the press, deploying flash-bang grenades and pepper spray.
Khanna told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was near a fence around the Brooklyn Center Police Department, taking photographs as law enforcement advanced on protesters. He saw another group of officers open a gate in the fence and a large number of officers came rushing out at the crowd, he said.
Khanna said he rejoined his AFP colleagues, Eléonore Sens and Robin Legrand, and they moved to a well-lit spot in an effort to make clear to law enforcement that they weren’t protesters.
Officers rushed toward them, and Khanna and Sens told the Tracker they shouted to identify themselves as press. Khanna said he continued taking photographs, and he held up his press pass, issued by AFP.
Khanna said one officer sprayed a nearby photographer, Tim Evans, then turned to the AFP journalists and began spraying each of the three of them with the chemical irritant. They continued to shout to identify themselves as journalists, Khanna said.
“I can say with all confidence that he knew that we were press, and he made sure that he sprayed all of us, not just like one person,” Khanna said.
As the officer was spraying them, Khanna said, the dispenser briefly got stuck. The officer shook it and then resumed spraying them, Khanna said. Khanna shared a photograph on Twitter showing a jet of liquid being sprayed directly at his camera.
A photograph, taken and posted on Twitter by photojournalist Alex Kent, shows the officer spraying the three AFP journalists, one of whom was wearing a bright yellow vest marked “PRESS.”
Extra chilli..! https://t.co/ug46xKBJzX
— Chandan Khanna (@Chandanphoto) April 18, 2021
Khanna said a mask he was wearing gave him some protection from the spray, but he said the irritant got into his left ear, was extremely painful and caused him difficulty with hearing. He said the sensation lasted for about three days. The chemical also caused a burning feeling on his wrist that lasted for days, he said.
Sens told the Tracker that when the officer stopped spraying, he shouted at them to “get the fuck out.” She said the journalists tried to stay to continue to document the scene, but officers were yelling at them to leave.
The officer who sprayed them directed them to leave the area, Khanna said. As they went, another officer arrived, grabbed him by the right arm and dragged him, he said, leading the three AFP journalists away from the perimeter of the area where law enforcement were arresting protesters.
As the officer moved them away, Khanna said he saw a number of journalists who had been detained and were lying on the ground. He tried to take photographs using his long camera lens, but he said officers formed a human shield around him to block his view.
Khanna said the officer who had grabbed his arm told him multiple times, “if you point your camera anywhere I'm going to arrest you.”
The AFP journalists were taken to a nearby checkpoint where law enforcement officers were photographing journalists’ faces and IDs.
Khanna, who is an Indian citizen, said the officer at the checkpoint asked to see his passport, which Khanna didn’t have with him. Eventually, Khanna said, he used his phone to pull up a photograph of his passport from an online folder. Then, he said, the officer asked him to show his visa. The officer photographed both documents.
Khanna said he does not know what law enforcement planned to do with the information and remains concerned about what will happen with the photographs of the documents.
Khanna said that the three AFP journalists should have been clearly identifiable as press to the officer who pepper-sprayed them.
“If they say like, you know, ‘we don't know that this was press,’ this is totally false, because they literally know that I'm press and they are telling me not to point camera,” he said.
“It looked very clear that their intention was not to spare anybody,” he said.
Minnesota Department of Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell told the Tracker that it had been determined that the officer who sprayed the AFP journalists was a member of the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office. A spokesperson for Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office declined to comment because the incident was under investigation.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
After being pepper-sprayed himself, photographer Tim Evans captured the Agence France-Presse crew recovering from being hit with the same chemical irritant.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2021, chemical irritant, protest",,,,, "AFP correspondent, news crew pepper-sprayed while covering Brooklyn Center protest",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/afp-correspondent-news-crew-pepper-sprayed-while-covering-brooklyn-center-protest/,2021-05-19 15:54:04.514870+00:00,2022-03-10 21:43:30.076397+00:00,2022-03-10 21:43:30.001336+00:00,,Assault,,,,Eléonore Sens (Agence France-Presse),,2021-04-16,False,Brooklyn Center,Minnesota (MN),45.07608,-93.33273,"Agence France-Presse video correspondent Eléonore Sens and two colleagues were pepper-sprayed by law enforcement while reporting on a protest in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, on April 16, 2021.
AFP photojournalist Chandan Khanna and reporter Robin Legrand were sprayed at the same time.
Several hundred protesters marched to the Brooklyn Center Police Department in response to the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright, a Black man, by a white police officer during a traffic stop. Wright’s death, on April 11, occurred as a former police officer in nearby Minneapolis was on trial in the death of George Floyd, rekindling a wave of protests against racial injustice and police brutality that had started nearly a year earlier.
According to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, the protest had been peaceful until around 9 p.m. Some time after that, authorities told the outlet, some in the crowd began to throw objects and attempt to break through a barrier around the police station, prompting the declaration of an unlawful assembly and orders for dispersal. At around 10 p.m., Minnesota Public Radio reported that police moved swiftly to corral the protesters and members of the press, deploying flash-bang grenades and pepper spray.
Sens told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that when lines of law enforcement officers moved in quickly to form a perimeter around the crowd of protesters, she and her AFP colleagues were blocked on a corner of the street.
Khanna said officers rushed toward them. He said one officer sprayed a nearby photographer, Tim Evans, then saw the three AFP journalists and began spraying each of them with the chemical irritant. They continued to shout to identify themselves as journalists, according to Khanna.
“I can say with all confidence that he knew that we were press, and he made sure that he sprayed all of us, not just like one person,” Khanna said.
Sens said she was less certain about whether they were targeted because they were journalists. “I cannot know that,” she said, though she noted that they were clearly marked as press, repeatedly identified themselves verbally to law enforcement, and were not in the officers’ way. Sens said she was displaying a large press credential issued by the New York Police Department and carried a professional video camera, which has “AFP” written on it.
As the officer was spraying them, Khanna said, the dispenser briefly got stuck. The officer shook it and then resumed spraying them, Khanna said.
A photograph, taken and posted on Twitter by photojournalist Alex Kent, shows the officer spraying the three AFP journalists, one of whom was wearing a bright yellow vest marked “PRESS.”
Sur cette photo notre équipe #AFP se fait asperger de gaz poivre par la police à Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, alors que nous nous étions clairement identifiés comme journalistes. @robin__legrand #DaunteWright https://t.co/jG5JcDPebm
— Eléonore Sens (@EleonoreSens) April 17, 2021
Once the officer stopped spraying, Sens said, he shouted at them to “get the fuck out.” She said the journalists tried to stay to continue to document, but officers were yelling at them to leave.
One officer escorted them away from the area where law enforcement was arresting all of the protesters. She said officers wouldn’t let them film and threatened to arrest them if they didn’t leave.
After the AFP journalists left the first perimeter of officers, Sens said they came upon another line of officers. She said the officers took photographs of their faces, state IDs, and press credentials.
“To me, that was a very shocking part, is that they took photos, and have a record of who were the journalists that night on site to cover the events,” she said.
Sens said she was wearing goggles, a helmet and a mask, which protected her from the effects of the pepper spray. Some of the chemical got on the back of her hand, which caused a burning feeling so intense that she needed to sleep with her hand in a bag of ice, she said.
Minnesota Department of Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell told the Tracker that it had been determined that the officer who sprayed the AFP journalists was a member of the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office. A spokesperson for Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office declined to comment because the incident was under investigation.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Agence France-Press journalist Robin Legrand and two colleagues were pepper-sprayed by law enforcement while reporting on a protest in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota on April 16, 2021.
Several hundred protesters marched to the Brooklyn Center Police Department in response to the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright, a Black man, by a white police officer during a traffic stop. Wright’s death, on April 11, occurred as a former police officer in nearby Minneapolis was on trial in the death of George Floyd, rekindling a wave of protests against racial injustice and police brutality that had started nearly a year earlier.
According to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, the protest had been peaceful until around 9 p.m. Some time after that, authorities told the outlet, some in the crowd began to throw objects and attempt to break through a barrier around the police station, prompting the declaration of an unlawful assembly and orders for dispersal. At around 10 p.m., Minnesota Public Radio reported that police moved swiftly to corral the protesters and members of the press, deploying flash-bang grenades and pepper spray.
One of Legrand’s colleagues, Eléonore Sens, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she, Legrand and photojournalist Chandan Khanna were blocked in a corner of the street when lines of law enforcement officers rushed in to form a perimeter around the crowd of protesters.
Legrand told the Tracker in an email that he and his colleagues shouted to identify themselves as journalists, but an officer sprayed them.
“We shouted "PRESS, PRESS, PRESS", but to no avail; the spraying came before and after that,” he said.
Legrand said he believed they were sprayed “in spite” of the fact that they were journalists.
“We were far from any protester, and had clear markings that we were members of the press but the spraying was indiscriminate I'd say,” he said.
According to Khanna, the officer sprayed each one of the AFP journalists with the irritant. As the officer was spraying them, Khanna said, the dispenser briefly got stuck. The officer shook it and then resumed spraying them, Khanna said.
“I can say with all confidence that he knew that we were press, and he made sure that he sprayed all of us, not just like one person,” Khanna said.
A photograph taken and posted on Twitter by photojournalist Alex Kent, shows the officer spraying the three AFP journalists, one of whom was wearing a bright yellow vest marked “PRESS.”
Sur cette photo notre équipe #AFP se fait asperger de gaz poivre par la police à Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, alors que nous nous étions clairement identifiés comme journalistes. @robin__legrand #DaunteWright https://t.co/jG5JcDPebm
— Eléonore Sens (@EleonoreSens) April 17, 2021
Once the officer stopped spraying, Sens said, he shouted at them to “get the fuck out.”
Legrand told the Tracker the AFP journalists were also ordered to "get on the fucking ground," but he said that they didn’t comply. Legrand said officers yelled at them when they tried to stay to document law enforcement arresting protesters.
After the AFP journalists left the first perimeter of officers, Sens said they came upon another line of officers who took photographs of journalists’ faces and press credentials.
Legrand said he was “pretty shocked” by the process. He said he asked law enforcement for contact information for a press liaison, but they ignored his request.
Legrand said he was wearing a bright yellow vest that said “PRESS” in capital letters on the front. He noted that Sens was also carrying a professional video camera.
Legrand said he turned away when the officer sprayed them and was hit with a minimal amount of the chemical. He said that he had a mild burning feeling on his hands for a few hours, despite attempts to scrub the substance off. He occasionally experienced a burning feeling when putting on or taking out his contact lenses for several days, he said.
Minnesota Department of Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell, who worked with the governor’s office to respond to the concerns about treatment of the media in Brooklyn Center, told the Tracker that it had been determined that the officer who sprayed the AFP journalists was a member of the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office. A spokesperson for Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office declined to comment because the incident was under investigation.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Multiple journalists for Minneapolis CBS affiliate WCCO were detained by police while covering protests in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, on the night of April 16, 2021.
WCCO reporter Reg Chapman told an anchor in a segment that night that he and other members of the news team had been detained as several hundred protesters marched to the Brooklyn Center Police Department in response to the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright, a Black man, by a white police officer during a traffic stop. Wright’s death, on April 11, occurred as a former police officer in nearby Minneapolis was on trial in the death of George Floyd, rekindling a wave of protests against racial injustice and police brutality that had started nearly a year earlier.
According to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, the protest had been peaceful until around 9 p.m., when, authorities told the outlet, some in the crowd began to throw objects and attempt to break through a barrier around the police station, prompting the declaration of an unlawful assembly and orders for dispersal. At around 10 p.m., Minnesota Public Radio reported that police moved swiftly to corral the protesters and members of the press, deploying flash-bang grenades and pepper spray.
According to state officials, a coalition of law enforcement agencies, including the Minnesota State Patrol, the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office and the Brooklyn Center Police Department, was involved in enforcement that night.
Amid the unrest, a group of journalists was detained by law enforcement officers in Brooklyn Center and ordered to lie on the ground, according to reports given to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, noted on social media or published on other news outlets. Find reports on the detainments from the night of April 16 in Brooklyn Center here.
In the live news segment on the 16th, Chapman said the entire news crew was among those detained and released after showing press credentials. The video played live footagevideo, apparently filmed from pavement-level, of multiple Minnesota State Patrol troopers. In a story on its website the following day, WCCO noted that Champman and “other WCCO photojournalists'' were told to get on the ground. The Tracker has documented Chapman’s detention here.
Chapman and WCCO did not return requests for comment, and the Tracker has not been able to verify the identity of the WCCO photojournalists.
Chapman told the anchor they were detained when one group of Minnesota National Guard troops approached protesters from the south while a group of Minnesota State Patrol troopers approached from the north, forming a perimeter around the crowd.
Law enforcement recognized their press credentials but ordered journalists to the ground, Chapman told the anchor in the video. He said officers checked everyone’s IDs and anybody who wasn’t a member of the press was put in handcuffs.
In the video, Chapman said police checked his and others’ IDs and took their photos. He said that they were waiting for the rest of the WCCO crew to be released.
Chapman and other journalists were detained hours after a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order barring state law enforcement from arresting or using force against journalists, in response to a motion filed earlier in the week by the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota.
The next day, April 17, more than two dozen media and advocacy organizations sent a letter to Gov. Tim Walz expressing concern about the detainments and other police treatment of journalists since the protests began. CBS signed the letter on behalf of WCCO.
A spokesperson for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety referred the Tracker to a statement from the Minnesota State Patrol, which acknowledged that troopers had photographed journalists, their media credentials and their identification “during recent enforcement actions in Brooklyn Center.” MSP said that though journalists had been detained and released during the protests, no journalists were arrested. The Tracker documents detainments in the arrest category but notes that the journalists were released without being processed. MSP didn’t respond to a request for comment specifically about the detainment of Chapman and the WCCO crew.
The agency said troopers will no longer photograph journalists and their credentials, but will continue to check media credentials.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Babs Santos, a reporter for Minneapolis-based Fox 9 KMSP, reported live that he was detained while covering a protest in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, on April 16, 2021.
Several hundred protesters marched to the Brooklyn Center Police Department in response to the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright, a Black man, by a white police officer during a traffic stop. Wright’s death, on April 11, occurred as a former police officer in nearby Minneapolis was on trial in the death of George Floyd, rekindling a wave of protests against racial injustice and police brutality that had started nearly a year earlier.
According to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, the protest had been peaceful until around 9 p.m. Some time after that, authorities told the outlet, some in the crowd began to throw objects and attempted to break through a barrier around the police station, prompting the declaration of an unlawful assembly and orders for dispersal. At around 10 p.m., Minnesota Public Radio reported that police moved swiftly to corral the protesters and members of the press, deploying flash-bang grenades and pepper spray.
A group of journalists was detained by law enforcement officers in Brooklyn Center and ordered to lie on the ground, according to reports given to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, as well as reports in news outlets and on social media. Find reports on the detainments from the night of April 16 in Brooklyn Center here.
Santos described his detainment in a live Fox 9 broadcast.
The video posted on Fox 9’s website shows Santos reporting at 10:04 p.m. that law enforcement had made a dispersal order. Santos says that people are moving around him and away from an approaching group of law enforcement.
The broadcast switches to another reporter in a different location, showing multiple law enforcement vehicles pulling up and officers in state trooper uniforms getting out. A line of police on bicycles can be seen riding up the sidewalk
At 10:08 p.m., the video shows a view from the ground of someone lying on their stomach with Minnesota State Patrol troopers visible standing over them.
At 10:14, the broadcast returns to Santos, who says his team, including photographers and security, had been detained as law enforcement moved in and surrounded the crowd.
“We were really caught right in the middle,” Santos said.
The Tracker has not been able to identify other KMSP journalists detained with Santos. Multiple requests for comment from KMSP and FOX were not returned.
When the team was detained, Santos says in the video, they laid down on the ground with their hands in front of them. He says they identified themselves as press to law enforcement and were allowed to leave.
In the video, Santos is wearing a large, bright yellow card on a lanyard around his neck that says “PRESS” and “FOX9.”
At 10:16 p.m., Santos tweeted a video showing a view apparently from ground level in which multiple Minnesota State Patrol troopers were visible. A voice can be heard identifying themselves as press.
In a second video Santos tweeted about half an hour later, voices can be heard shouting “get on the ground” and state troopers and police lights can be seen.
“Moments ago.. briefly detained with our security detail before being released,” Santos wrote.
We are safe. @FOX9 pic.twitter.com/HAV6D1yTCO
— Babs Santos (@TundeTV) April 17, 2021
Santos was also one of many journalists whose credentials and faces were photographed by law enforcement.
Santos and other journalists were detained hours after a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order barring state law enforcement from arresting or using force against journalists, in response to a motion filed earlier in the week by the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota.
The next day, April 17, more than two dozen media and advocacy organizations, including Fox, sent a letter to Gov. Tim Walz expressing concern about the detainments and other police treatment of journalists since the protests began.
A spokesperson for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety referred the Tracker to a statement from the Minnesota State Patrol, which acknowledged that troopers had photographed journalists, their media credentials and their identification “during recent enforcement actions in Brooklyn Center.” MSP said that though journalists had been detained and released during the protests, no journalists were arrested. (The Tracker documents detainments in the arrest category but notes that the journalists were released without being processed.)
MSP didn’t respond to a request for comment specifically about the detainment of Santos. The agency’s earlier statement said that state troopers will no longer photograph journalists and their credentials, but will continue to check media credentials.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Brad Svenson, a Minnesota-based journalist who runs the social media outlet Watchdog Citizen News, said he was hit with a flash-bang grenade fired by a Minnesota State Patrol trooper while covering a protest in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota on April 16, 2021.
Several hundred protesters marched to the Brooklyn Center Police Department in response to the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright, a Black man, by a white police officer during a traffic stop. Wright’s death, on April 11, occurred as a former police officer in nearby Minneapolis was on trial in the death of George Floyd, rekindling a wave of protests against racial injustice and police brutality that had started nearly a year earlier.
Svenson, who videos and live-streams protests, told the Tracker he was in an intersection near the police station shortly after 9 p.m. Law enforcement had deployed a few flash-bang grenades on the crowd, he said.
Svenson said he was standing in a gap in the crowd when a flash-bang came in his direction from behind a fence that surrounded the police station.
In a video Svenson posted on YouTube, a law enforcement officer can be heard announcing a dispersal order. As the camera pans around the crowd of protesters, an explosion like a firework can be seen along with a loud bang.
Svenson told the Tracker the grenade hit him on his right shin, about six inches below his knee, and detonated.
“It was a big enough explosion to rattle me pretty good,” Svenson said.
Svenson said he continued to cover the protest after he was hit. He said he had a patch of skin that looked like a sunburn, and he felt a burning sensation on his leg for about a week and a half.
Svenson told the Tracker he feels that he was targeted because he was a journalist. He said he had the word “press” marked on his vest and helmet. He also displayed press identification, which he made himself, and was carrying a large camera rig on his shoulder.
Svenson said he believes the flash-bang grenade was fired by a Minnesota State Patrol trooper. MSP didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Two Minneapolis Star Tribune photojournalists were among a group of journalists detained by police while covering protests in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, on the night of April 16, 2021, according to reports shared with the U.S. Freedom Tracker, or published on social media or other news outlets.
Several hundred protesters marched to the Brooklyn Center Police Department in response to the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright, a Black man, by a white police officer during a traffic stop. Wright’s death, on April 11, occurred as a former police officer in nearby Minneapolis was on trial in the death of George Floyd, rekindling a wave of protests against racial injustice and police brutality that had started nearly a year earlier.
According to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, the protest had been peaceful until around 9 p.m., when, authorities told the outlet, some in the crowd began to throw objects and attempt to break through a barrier around the police station, prompting the declaration of an unlawful assembly and orders for dispersal. Minnesota Public Radio reported that around 10 p.m. police moved swiftly to corral the protesters and members of the press, deploying flash-bang grenades and pepper spray. According to state officials, a coalition of law enforcement agencies, including the Minnesota State Patrol, the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office and the Brooklyn Center Police Department, was involved in enforcement that night.
Star Tribune photojournalist Liz Flores told the Tracker she was detained with her colleague Renée Jones Schneider. The Tracker has documented Jones Schneider’s detainment here.
Flores told the Tracker that the journalists had been standing near the fence that surrounded the police station when members of the crowd started to shout, “Run!” Flores said that she and Jones Schneider started to move away from the area but that she stopped to take photographs of the scene.
“All of a sudden I saw police everywhere, all around us,” she said.
Flores said she and Jones Schneider soon came across a line of law enforcement officers, holding long sticks, who moved to corral the group of people near them.
Flores said she and Jones Schneider held out their press passes — large cards issued by the Star Tribune — to identify themselves as journalists, but police shouted at them to get down on the ground. Flores said she kneeled and continued to show her press pass. Police directed them to “get on your stomachs,” she said.
While lying on her stomach, she said, she continued to display her press credentials. According to Jones Schneider, many of the people detained with them were also journalists. Find reports on the detainments from the night of April 16 in Brooklyn Center here.
Flores posted an image she took for the Star Tribune on Instagram. After about 10 minutes, Flores said, police let the journalists get up but not leave. She said that police moved the journalists up the street, where they waited in line as officers photographed journalists’ faces, press credentials and identity cards.
Suki Dardarian, senior managing editor of the Star Tribune, told the Tracker in a statement that in 2020 and 2021, the publication’s journalists have been subject to crowd-control munitions and chemical agents, detained, and photographed by law enforcement despite showing ID. She said authorities sometimes ignored the credentials they instructed journalists to wear. “And to make matters worse, it was unclear in some cases what agency the officer represented,” she said.
She said that the publication and other media organizations have spoken with authorities, who have “pledged to improve their treatment of the media.”
Flores and Jones Schneider were detained hours after a federal judge had issued a temporary restraining order barring police from arresting or using force against journalists, in response to a motion filed earlier in the week by the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota.
The next day, April 17, more than two dozen media and advocacy organizations sent a letter to Gov. Tim Walz expressing concern about the detainments and other police treatment of journalists since the protests began.
The Minnesota State Patrol did not respond to a request for comment about the detainment of the Star Tribune journalists. When reached for general comment, a spokesperson for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety referred the Tracker to a statement from the MSP, which acknowledged that troopers had photographed journalists, their media credentials and their identification “during recent enforcement actions in Brooklyn Center.” The MSP said that though journalists had been detained and released during the protests, no journalists were arrested. The Tracker documents detainments in the arrest category but notes that the journalists were released without being processed.
The agency said that troopers will no longer photograph journalists and their credentials, but will continue to check media credentials.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Independent journalist Justin Yau said he was attacked and shoved to the ground by an unidentified individual while covering a protest at Lents Park in Portland, Oregon, on April 16, 2021.
According to Willamette Week, Portland police fatally shot a man in the park that morning after receiving reports of a man pointing a gun. Demonstrators immediately gathered near the scene, yelling “shame on you," at police, which led police to declare an unlawful assembly shortly before noon, according to the article.
Yau, who has been published in the Los Angeles Times, Portland Mercury, ProPublica and Oregon Public Broadcasting, said at around 2 p.m., he was attacked by an individual while photographing the protest. Yau said he had a press credential issued by Willamette Week, which he was then on assignment for, clipped to his collar.
"I was standing and talking to a colleague, when the attacker shoved me to the ground,” Yau told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. “It was an unprovoked surprise attack. The attacker pushed my head while I was on the ground & tried to take my cameras, but was unsuccessful."
Yau said he didn’t know the person, and that accomplices stood by yelling phrases like “Don’t take pictures!” and stopping his colleague from protecting him.
Portland Tribune reporter Zane Sparling tweeted two photographs of the scene, writing that Yau was "bleeding after being shoved to the ground, hit multiple times."
Reporter @PDocumentarians bleeding after being shoved to the ground, hit multiple times while covering a protest in Portland right now pic.twitter.com/F1qVyUL1sa
— Zane Sparling (@PDXzane) April 16, 2021
Yau said the attacker grabbed his glasses, scratching his face in the process, and broke the hood of his 18-25-millimeter lens during the scuffle. Sparling's photograph also shows a pair of broken glasses on the ground.
“The injuries were minimal, [but] breaking my glasses made work really difficult for the rest of the day,” he told the Tracker.
At least 15 journalists were detained by police while covering protests in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, on the night of April 16, 2021, according to reports given to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, noted on social media or published in other news outlets.
Several hundred protesters marched to the Brooklyn Center Police Department in response to the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright, a Black man, by a white police officer during a traffic stop. Wright’s death, on April 11, occurred as a former police officer in nearby Minneapolis was on trial in the death of George Floyd, rekindling a wave of protests against racial injustice and police brutality that had started nearly a year earlier.
According to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, the protest had been peaceful until around 9 p.m., when, authorities told the outlet, some in the crowd began to throw objects and attempt to break through a barrier around the police station, prompting the declaration of an unlawful assembly and orders for dispersal. Minnesota Public Radio reported that police moved swiftly to corral the protesters and members of the press, deploying flash-bang grenades and pepper spray. According to state officials, a coalition of law enforcement agencies, including the Minnesota State Patrol, the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office and the Brooklyn Center Police Department, was involved in enforcement that night.
Aaron Nesheim, a Minneapolis-based freelance photojournalist on assignment for The New York Times, was one of the journalists detained.
Nesheim told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was documenting the protest in the center of the intersection of Humboldt and 67th Avenues just after 9 p.m. when officers advanced on the crowd and ordered everyone to lie down on their stomachs.
“I did not get down. I kept photographing until finally an officer pepper sprayed me,” Nesheim said. “I was wearing a bulletproof vest, and eventually a State Patrol officer grabbed me by the front of the vest and used that to throw me on the ground.”
Nesheim said in addition to his body armor vest, which was labeled with “PRESS” on the front and back, he was wearing a helmet similarly labeled and press credentials issued by the Times and the National Press Photographers Association.
“The [trooper] definitely understood I was a member of the press and was — I guess I would use the word ‘exasperated,’ with the fact I hadn’t just complied and gotten on the ground immediately before he threw me,” Nesheim said.
The force of his fall damaged the 70-200mm lens on one of his cameras, Nesheim said, causing the autofocus not to work properly and requiring repair. The officer ordered Nesheim to stay on his stomach, he said, which he did while continuing to take photos from that vantage point.
“I did stay on the ground, kind of on my side. I didn’t make any moves after that until another officer came in and got me up and started escorting me back to where they were processing the journalists,” Nesheim said.
Law enforcement had established a “media checkpoint” at a nearby Pump n’ Munch gas station, where members of the press had their faces, press credentials and IDs photographed before they were permitted to leave the area. Nesheim confirmed to the Tracker that he had to pass through the checkpoint before he could leave the area.
The next day, April 17, more than two dozen media and advocacy organizations sent a letter to Gov. Tim Walz expressing concern about the detainments and other police treatment of journalists since the protests began.
“Journalists must be allowed to safely cover protests and civil unrest. I’ve directed our law enforcement partners to make changes that will help ensure journalists do not face barriers to doing their jobs,” the governor posted on Twitter after meeting with representatives of the media.
When reached for comment, a spokesperson for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety referred the Tracker to a statement from the Minnesota State Patrol, which acknowledged that troopers had photographed journalists, their media credentials and their identification “during recent enforcement actions in Brooklyn Center.” MSP said that though journalists had been detained and released during the protests, no journalists were arrested. The Tracker documents detainments in the arrest category but notes that the journalists were released without being processed.
The agency’s statement said troopers will no longer photograph journalists and their credentials, but will continue to check media credentials.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Independent photojournalist Alex Kent told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was detained while covering a protest in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota on April 16, 2021.
Several hundred protesters marched to the Brooklyn Center Police Department in response to the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright, a Black man, by a white police officer during a traffic stop. Wright’s death, on April 11, occurred as a former police officer in nearby Minneapolis was on trial in the death of George Floyd, rekindling a wave of protests against racial injustice and police brutality that had started nearly a year earlier.
According to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, the protest had been peaceful until around 9 p.m., when, authorities told the outlet, some in the crowd began to throw objects and attempt to break through a barrier around the police station, prompting the declaration of an unlawful assembly and orders for dispersal. At around 10 p.m., Minnesota Public Radio reported that police moved swiftly to corral the protesters and members of the press, deploying flash-bang grenades and pepper spray.
Amid the unrest, a group of journalists was detained by law enforcement officers in Brooklyn Center and ordered to lie on the ground, according to reports given to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, noted on social media or published on other news outlets. Find reports on the detainments from the night of April 16 in Brooklyn Center here.
Kent told the Tracker in an email that as law enforcement closed in around protesters, he was near an apartment building across from the Brooklyn Center Police Department. Kent said he files images for Shutterstock’s editorial branch.
As he was about to leave the area, he said, he noticed a cloud of pepper spray and saw an officer, who state officials determined was with the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office, spraying the chemical irritant on three Agence France-Press journalists, Eléonore Sens, Chandan Khanna, and Robin Legrand.
Kent said the deputy threatened another couple, then turned toward Kent. He held out his National Press Photographers Association credentials and told the officer he was press, he said, and the officer told him to leave.
Kent said he moved about a half block away when he came upon a line of law enforcement officers blocking the street and “just over a dozen” journalists lying on the ground.
Kent said he held up his hands, holding out his press credential, and told the officers he was a member of the press as he approached. He said they directed him to lie down.
On Twitter, Kent shared photographs posted by USA Today photojournalist Jasper Colt and identified himself in the second photo. The image shows a person lying on the ground, a camera with a long lens visible at their side, a few yards away from a line of Minnesota State Patrol troopers holding sticks.
This is me in the second photo. https://t.co/mM55uYn60r
— Alex Kent (@AlexKentTN) April 17, 2021
After about 10 minutes, Kent told the Tracker, an officer came to check the journalists’ credentials and they were directed to walk to the end of the block.
There, a state trooper asked each journalist to remove their masks and took photographs of their faces, press credentials and IDs.
“I was uncomfortable with the situation, but I didn't dare refuse for the fear of being arrested,” Kent told the Tracker.
Kent posted an image on Instagram, taken by photojournalist Christian Monterrosa, showing an officer in a Minnesota State Patrol uniform taking Kent’s photograph with a cell phone.
The next day, April 17, more than two dozen media and advocacy organizations sent a letter to Gov. Tim Walz expressing concern about the detainments and other police treatment of journalists since the protests began.
A spokesperson for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety referred the Tracker to a statement from the Minnesota State Patrol, which acknowledged that troopers had photographed journalists, their media credentials and their identification “during recent enforcement actions in Brooklyn Center.” MSP said that though journalists had been detained and released during the protests, no journalists were arrested. The Tracker documents detainments in the arrest category but notes that the journalists were released without being processed. MSP didn’t respond to a request for comment specifically about the detainment of Kent.
The agency said in the statement troopers will no longer photograph journalists and their credentials, but will continue to check media credentials.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Block Club Chicago reporter and photojournalist Colin Boyle was assaulted by a Chicago police officer while he was covering a demonstration in northwest Chicago, Illinois, on April 16, 2021. According to its website, Block Club is a local, reader-supported nonprofit newsroom “dedicated to delivering reliable, nonpartisan and essential coverage of Chicago’s diverse neighborhoods.”
According to the Chicago Sun Times, hundreds of demonstrators gathered in front of the city’s Logan Square Monument the evening of April 16 to demand justice for 13-year-old Adam Toledo, who was shot and killed by a Chicago police officer on March 29, 2021. After several speeches and chants, the paper reported, the crowd marched north on Milwaukee Avenue, yelling phrases such as, "No justice, no peace, abolish the police!"
Boyle said he was leaving the demonstration around 9:50 p.m., after several hours of covering a peaceful protest, when he saw an alert on Twitter that said the Chicago Police Department was calling units to return to an intersection where Boyle had been photographing earlier.
Around 10 p.m., he said he arrived on the scene of a standoff between officers and protesters. Boyle said he had been following a group of protesters down West Logan Boulevard toward an area where police had blocked off the street.
"There was a police sergeant telling the police officers to form a line and two seconds later after he made that call, he looked at me and directed me to move," Boyle told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in an interview. Boyle said he began to move, but “under four seconds after the sergeant told me to move, an officer comes power walking up behind me and he says, 'Sir, he's not going to tell you again.'"
Boyle said he was holding a Chicago Police Department press badge in his hand and had press markings across his helmet and vest on front and back. He said he also verbally announced that he was press. Still, he said, the officer marched up to him and "shoved me backwards through a crowd of police officers."
According to Boyle, he repeatedly told the officer he was already moving, but the officer cut him off and said, "Nope, nope, nope. Keep on going." After being pushed through "a wall of his coworkers [officers] who did not intervene," Boyle said he lost balance and fell on his camera gear, breaking a camera hood, busting open a flash, and shaking up a telephoto lens, which he said still rattles from the impact.
"This is how you treat press credentialed by your department, again?" Boyle wrote on Twitter alongside several photographs taken at the scene. "Shameful."
The cop on the right started tossing me as I was leaving upon order. I was pushed to the ground and that broke my camera lens hood. Thanks, @CPD_Media. This is how you treat press credentialed by your department, again? Shameful. pic.twitter.com/rOdJknBudb
— Colin Boyle (@colinbphoto) April 17, 2021
After the incident, Boyle said he shared his frustration with CPD Director Glen Brooks, and a few days later he filed a formal complaint. As of early May, Boyle said, he had received no information on the status of his complaint.
Chicago police did not respond immediately to an emailed request for comment. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Fox News national correspondent Lauren Blanchard, producer Nick Rojas and photojournalist Les Baker were briefly detained by police while reporting on a protest in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, on April 14, 2021, a spokesperson for the network told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
Demonstrations were held several days in a row in Brooklyn Center, a city near Minneapolis, in response to the fatal police shooting of Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man, during a traffic stop on April 11.
The Fox News team was reporting live from the Brooklyn Center protests for Fox affiliates, spokesperson Tessica Glancey said in an email.
The team was outside the Brooklyn Center Police Department as confrontation escalated between demonstrators and police. Blanchard tweeted at 9:48 p.m. that police had declared an unlawful assembly and shortly after that wrote that police were beginning to use flash-bang grenades, a crowd-control device. At 10:13 p.m., she tweeted that law enforcement was blocking protesters as the crowd began to break apart and run.
Seven minutes later, Blanchard posted on Twitter that police had stopped her news crew as they were trying to leave the area.
Blanchard wrote that police ordered them to get out of their cars and to get on the ground, took pictures of their press credentials, and allowed them to leave after about five minutes.
My crew and I were ordered out of cars and to the ground by police. They took photos of all of our credentials. After about 5 mins they let us back into our cars and let us leave. They had people all over on ground arresting as they went. We were not only media crew stopped
— Lauren Blanchard (@LaurenBlanch12) April 15, 2021
In a post on Instagram the next day, Blanchard wrote that her crew was stopped and ordered to get on the ground with their hands up, even though she tried repeatedly to tell law enforcement that they were members of the press.
Video included with the post shows multiple officers approaching them, wearing fluorescent yellow jackets, helmets and large decals marked “state trooper” within the shape of the state of Minnesota. One trooper says, “IDs please, press IDs please.”
Blanchard can be heard identifying herself as working with Fox and says other people nearby her are her security team. Two security contractors accompanied the journalists.
“They were told to leave a long time ago,” one voice can be heard saying, as officers take pictures of their press credentials.
Blanchard wrote that the troopers “scolded us for being there” and told them that journalists had been ordered to leave, though Blanchard said they did not hear that order.
Members of the media were exempt from the curfew order Gov. Tim Waltz issued on April 12 for four counties, including Hennepin County, where Brooklyn Center is located.
According to the spokesperson for Fox, the news team was fine and was able to continue reporting after they moved to a different area.
Minnesota State Patrol did not immediately respond to the Tracker’s request for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Fox News producer Nick Rojas was briefly detained by police while reporting on protests in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, on April 14, 2021.
Rojas was detained with Fox News national correspondent Lauren Blanchard and photojournalist Les Baker, a spokesperson for the network told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
Demonstrations were held several days in a row in Brooklyn Center, a city near Minneapolis, in response to the fatal police shooting of Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man, during a traffic stop on April 11.
The Fox News team was reporting live from the Brooklyn Center protests for Fox affiliates, spokesperson Tessica Glancey said in an email. Glancey referred comment on the incident to Twitter posts made by Blanchard about being detained.
At 10:21 p.m., Blanchard wrote that police ordered the news crew to get out of their cars and to get on the ground.
“My crew and I were ordered out of cars and to the ground by police,” Blanchard wrote on Twitter. “They took photos of all of our credentials. After about 5 mins they let us back into our cars and let us leave. They had people all over on ground arresting as they went. We were not only media crew stopped.”
My crew and I were ordered out of cars and to the ground by police. They took photos of all of our credentials. After about 5 mins they let us back into our cars and let us leave. They had people all over on ground arresting as they went. We were not only media crew stopped
— Lauren Blanchard (@LaurenBlanch12) April 15, 2021
In a post on Instagram the next day, Blanchard wrote that her crew was stopped and ordered to get on the ground with their hands up, even though she tried repeatedly to tell law enforcement that they were members of the press.
Video included with the post shows multiple officers wearing fluorescent yellow jackets, helmets and large decals marked “state trooper” within the shape of the state of Minnesota approaching. One trooper says, “IDs please, press IDs please.”
Blanchard can be heard identifying herself as working with Fox and says other people nearby her are her security team. Two security contractors accompanied the journalists.
“They were told to leave a long time ago,” one voice can be heard saying, as officers take pictures of their press credentials.
Blanchard wrote that the troopers “scolded us for being there” and told them that journalists had been ordered to leave, though Blanchard said they did not hear that order.
Members of the media were exempt from the curfew order Gov. Tim Waltz issued on April 12 for four counties, including Hennepin County, where Brooklyn Center is located.
According to the spokesperson for Fox, the news team was fine and was able to continue reporting after they moved to a different area.
Minnesota State Patrol did not immediately respond to the Tracker’s request for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Fox News national photojournalist Les Baker was briefly detained by police while reporting on a protest in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, on April 14, 2021.
Baker was detained with Fox News producer Nick Rojas and correspondent Lauren Blanchard, a spokesperson for the network told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
Demonstrations were held several days in a row in Brooklyn Center, a city near Minneapolis, in response to the fatal police shooting of Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man, during a traffic stop on April 11.
The Fox News team was reporting live from the Brooklyn Center protests for Fox affiliates, spokesperson Tessica Glancey said in an email. Glancey referred comment on the incident to Twitter posts made by Blanchard about being detained.
At 10:21 p.m., Blanchard wrote that police ordered the news crew to get out of their cars. “My crew and I were ordered out of cars and to the ground by police,” Blanchard wrote on Twitter. “They took photos of all of our credentials. After about 5 mins they let us back into our cars and let us leave. They had people all over on ground arresting as they went. We were not only media crew stopped.”
My crew and I were ordered out of cars and to the ground by police. They took photos of all of our credentials. After about 5 mins they let us back into our cars and let us leave. They had people all over on ground arresting as they went. We were not only media crew stopped
— Lauren Blanchard (@LaurenBlanch12) April 15, 2021
In a post on Instagram the next day, Blanchard wrote that her crew was stopped and ordered to get on the ground with their hands up, even though she tried repeatedly to tell law enforcement that they were members of the press.
Video included with the post shows multiple officers wearing fluorescent yellow jackets, helmets and large decals marked “state trooper” within the shape of the state of Minnesota approaching. One trooper says, “IDs please, press IDs please.”
Blanchard wrote that the troopers “scolded us for being there” and told them that journalists had been ordered to leave, though Blanchard said they did not hear that order.
Members of the media were exempt from the curfew order Gov. Tim Waltz issued on April 12 for four counties, including Hennepin County, where Brooklyn Center is located.
According to the spokesperson for Fox, the news team was fine and was able to continue reporting after they moved to a different area.
Minnesota State Patrol did not immediately respond to the Tracker’s request for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
CNN senior national correspondent Miguel Marquez and his news team were harassed and assaulted by a group of individuals while documenting protests in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, on April 14, 2021. The journalists ultimately had to leave the area.
Demonstrators had gathered in front of the Brooklyn Center Police Department to demand justice in the killing of Daunte Wright, a Black man, who was fatally shot by a white police officer on April 11.
CNN’s public relations office declined to make Marquez or members of the news crew available for comment, but Marquez spoke about the incident during a segment on Reliable Sources, the outlet’s weekly program about the media hosted by Brian Stelter.
“There were a few protesters at the gates to the police station yelling at the police,” Marquez said. “And also then there was the phalanx of law enforcement behind the gates, and we wanted to sort of show all of that in our live shots.”
The crew had moved over, Marquez said, to accommodate the wishes of some of the protesters who said they did not want to be filmed.
“And then another smaller group of protesters came around and started sort of shouting us down,” he said. “They wanted us to move to a place where we couldn’t see the protesters that were taunting the police, and that’s when this water bottle gets thrown at one of our guys.”
Washington Examiner reporter Nicholas Rowan captured that moment in a clip, which he posted to Twitter shortly before 8 p.m.
Protesters throw a water bottle at a CNN crew member and hit him square on the head. They mock him when he falls down. pic.twitter.com/cBfRN9DJOj
— Nic Rowan (@NicXTempore) April 15, 2021
After the bottle hits the crew member squarely in the head, he stumbles backward and appears to trip on the curb, falling to the ground. At least one individual can be heard mocking him for falling, while another calls for a medic.
“We started trying to figure out how to make an exit because it was just getting too intense there. But we didn’t want to look like we were running,” Marquez said. “That’s when somebody hit me with a water bottle and then we just started moving toward our cars.”
Marquez said that as the news crew left, multiple individuals continued to pelt them with whatever objects that they could find until they were able to get into their cars and leave the area. Rowan continued to film as the crew left just after 8 p.m.; in his clip, individuals can be seen throwing objects, including what appear to be eggs, at the crew.
In a tweet posted at 9:45 p.m., Marquez wrote that he and his team were fine and that they would continue to cover the response to Wright’s death.
My team and I are fine and I appreciate your concern. I hope for equal justice under the law and will continue to report on this vital story as it unfolds.
— Miguel Marquez (@miguelmarquez) April 15, 2021
“I cannot blame them for being angry,” Marquez told Stelter. “But a lot of people are very angry, suspicious of the press, the corporate media. All those things come into it at these places.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Independent journalist Naasir Akailvi, of the Minnesota-based social media news outlet the Neighborhood Reporter, said he was detained while covering a protest in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota on April 14, 2021.
Akailvi told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was detained by Minnesota State Patrol troopers at the same time as his Neighborhood Reporter colleague, journalist Tracy Gunapalan. The Neighborhood Reporter covers social justice movements in Minnesota’s Twin Cities region and publishes on social media platforms, Akailvi said.
Demonstrations were held several days in a row outside the Brooklyn Center Police Department in response to the fatal police shooting of Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man, during a traffic stop on April 11. Wright’s death occurred as a former police officer in nearby Minneapolis was on trial in the death of George Floyd, rekindling a wave of protests against racial injustice and police brutality that had started nearly a year earlier.
Akailvi and Gunapalan were returning to their car late on the night of April 14 as the protest was winding down, they told the Tracker. As they were moving away from the police department, close to a nearby church, a group of people were tapping on the windows of law enforcement vehicles and going up to officers, so Gunapalan said the pair stopped to film the interaction.
Suddenly, she said, a line of MSP troopers started running up the street toward them. Gunapalan said the journalists held up their camera and microphone and yelled to identify themselves as press, but the troopers shouted at them to move, so they turned and started running.
Akailvi told the Tracker that as he was running, troopers grabbed him and pushed him to the ground. As he was taken down, he said, a trooper pulled his microphone out of his hand. As his backpack was taken off of him, a battery pack fell out, he said.
Akailvi said he was restrained on the ground with a trooper on top of him, and his hands were restrained in cuffs.
He said he told the troopers that he was press and had a press pass around his neck. Akailvi said a trooper got in front of him and said, “That doesn’t always work, does it?” When he asked another trooper to speak with a supervisor, he said the trooper responded, “You can get the fuck out of here.”
Akailvi said troopers brought him over to where Gunapalan and another independent journalist, Niko Georgiades of Unicorn Riot, were also detained.
Troopers had the journalists pull their face masks down, and they took photographs of the journalists’ faces and press passes, he said. Akailvi said he and Gunapalan wear self-made press cards that have their photographs, identify them as press and say “The Neighborhood Reporter.” Gunapalan said the troopers told the journalists they wanted to keep a record of their faces so they wouldn’t be detained again. The journalists, who were released after their photographs were taken, said they were detained for between 10 and 15 minutes.
After they were released, Akailvi said they went back to find the microphone and battery pack he lost when he was detained. He said the microphone was more than 15 feet away from where he had been pulled to the ground and was broken into multiple pieces. He said that he wasn’t able to find his battery pack.
The Minnesota State Patrol did not respond to a request for comment.
On April 16, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order barring Minnesota State Patrol from arresting or threatening to arrest journalists. In a statement in response to the court order, MSP acknowledged that the agency is prohibited from enforcing dispersal orders against journalists.
“While journalists have been detained and released during enforcement actions after providing credentials, no journalists have been arrested,” the MSP statement said.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Independent journalist Tracy Gunapalan, who reports with the Minnesota-based social media news outlet the Neighborhood Reporter, said she was detained while covering a protest in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota on April 14, 2021.
Gunapalan told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she was detained by Minnesota State Patrol troopers at the same time as her Neighborhood Reporter colleague, journalist Naasir Akailvi. The Neighborhood Reporter covers social justice movements in Minnesota’s Twin Cities region and publishes on social media platforms, according to Akailvi.
Demonstrations were held several days in a row outside the Brooklyn Center Police Department in response to the fatal police shooting of Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man, during a traffic stop on April 11. Wright’s death occurred as a former police officer in nearby Minneapolis was on trial in the death of George Floyd, rekindling a wave of protests against racial injustice and police brutality that had started nearly a year earlier.
Akailvi and Gunapalan were returning to their car late on the night of April 14 as the protest was winding down, they told the Tracker. As they were moving away from the police department, close to a nearby church, a group of people were tapping on the windows of law enforcement vehicles and going up to officers, so Gunapalan said the pair stopped to film the interaction.
Suddenly, she said, a line of MSP troopers started running up the street toward them. Gunapalan said the journalists held up their camera and microphone and yelled to identify themselves as press, but the troopers shouted at them to move, so they turned and started running.
Gunapalan said that she jogged slowly because she was concerned that running away could result in a charge for attempting to evade arrest. She said a trooper grabbed the back of her hood and pushed her to the ground.
“The whole time I kept yelling, ‘I'm press, I'm press, I'm press!’ and they didn't seem to care,” she said.
Gunapalan said she told the troopers that she had a press credential on a lanyard around her neck. She said she was holding a camera and a phone attached to a tripod as she was pushed down.
Police restrained her hands behind her back with cuffs, which were so tight that they nicked the skin on her hand, she said. After a few minutes, troopers got her up off the ground and brought her over to where they had detained another independent journalist, Niko Georgiades of Unicorn Riot.
Troopers had the journalists pull their face masks down, and they took photographs of the journalists’ faces and press passes, Akailvi said. He said he and Gunapalan wear self-made press cards that have their photographs, identify them as press and say “The Neighborhood Reporter.” Gunapalan said the police told the journalists they wanted to keep a record of their faces so they wouldn’t be detained again. The journalists, who were released after their photographs were taken, said they were detained for between 10 and 15 minutes.
The Minnesota State Patrol did not respond to a request for comment.
On April 16, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order barring Minnesota State Patrol from arresting or threatening to arrest journalists. In a statement in response to the court order, MSP acknowledged that the agency is prohibited from enforcing dispersal orders against journalists.
“While journalists have been detained and released during enforcement actions after providing credentials, no journalists have been arrested,” the MSP statement said.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Niko Georgiades, a journalist with the nonprofit media outlet Unicorn Riot, said he was detained by police while covering a protest in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, on April 14, 2021.
Demonstrations were held several days in a row outside the Brooklyn Center Police Department in response to the fatal police shooting of Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man, during a traffic stop on April 11. Wright’s death occurred as a former police officer in nearby Minneapolis was on trial in the death of George Floyd, rekindling a wave of protests against racial injustice and police brutality that had started nearly a year earlier.
Georgiades told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that shortly before midnight, he and other journalists were near the Lutheran Church of the Master, a short distance up Humboldt Avenue from the police station. He said that police had earlier issued a dispersal order for an area near the police station.
Georgiades said the National Guard, which had been in Brooklyn Center to assist law enforcement, were loading up and leaving with their vehicles. A group of people were shouting at the National Guard vehicles and antagonizing them, Georgiades said, which appeared to prompt the Minnesota State Patrol to decide to make arrests.
Georgiades said as a line of the troopers started running toward him, he turned to run as well. After he started running, Georgiades said he slowed down and stopped to identify himself to police as a journalist.
In a video posted on Unicorn Riot’s website, Georgiades can be heard identifying himself as a member of the press as an officer comes up to him and tells him he’s under arrest.
“For what? I’m press” Georgiades says. “I’m not doing anything, I’m press.”
An officer shouts, “stop resisting!” Georgiades told the Tracker that at that point he had his camera in one hand and the officer had straightened out his other arm behind him.
Georgiades responded, “I’m not resisting, I’m press.”
He said that while officers were detaining him, one pulled a wireless microphone out from his pocket, threw it on the ground, and kicked it.
Georgiades said his wrists were restrained in cuffs and he was brought over to where journalists Naasir Akailvi and Tracy Gunapalan, of the social media news outlet the Neighborhood Reporter also were being held.
Georgiades said police photographed the three journalists’ faces and press credentials. He said he was wearing a press card that identified him as a journalist with Unicorn Riot. Police told the journalists they took the photos so that they would not be detained again.
Georgiades said he was detained for less than 15 minutes in total.
After he was released, he said he went back to retrieve his microphone. He said he asked an officer where it was. The officer yelled at him when Georgiades asked why the equipment had been thrown, but did tell him where to look.
Georgiades said he found the microphone under some bushes. He said the mic flag, a label attached to the microphone which has Unicorn Riot’s logo on it, was missing. Yellow foam that covers part of the microphone was damaged.
The Minnesota State Patrol didn’t respond to a request for comment.
On April 16, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order barring the Minnesota State Patrol from arresting or threatening to arrest journalists. In a statement in response to the court order, MSP acknowledged that the agency is prohibited from enforcing dispersal orders against journalists.
“While journalists have been detained and released during enforcement actions after providing credentials, no journalists have been arrested,” the MSP statement said.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Kori Suzuki, media editor for The Mac Weekly, the student news site of Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, was hit with a crowd-control munition while covering a protest in Brooklyn Center on April 14, 2021, he told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
The fatal police shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center on April 11 rekindled a wave of racial justice protests that began almost a year earlier. Wright’s death occurred as a former police officer in nearby Minneapolis was on trial in the death of George Floyd. Protests began outside the Brooklyn Center Police Department the day Wright was killed and continued daily in the city through mid-April.
Suzuki told the Tracker he was covering an evening protest April 14 near the police station with a small group of other student journalists from Macalester College. Some time after it began, he said, the police response to the protest escalated, as law enforcement used chemical agents and crowd-control projectiles on demonstrators.
Suzuki said he was standing with a cluster of five or six journalists next to fencing erected around the police station. Law enforcement officers were directly on the other side of the barrier, he said, shooting pepper balls and other projectiles into the crowd through the fence.
As he was standing there, Suzuki said, a projectile hit one of his legs.
Suzuki tweeted a photograph of the projectile at 10:06 p.m. He wrote that the base was plastic and the tip was foam.
One of the munitions that clipped me. Foam tip, base feels like plastic @themacweekly pic.twitter.com/MqflNVnej6
— Kori Suzuki (@korisuzuk1) April 15, 2021
He told the Tracker he was not injured by the impact of the projectile and did not believe he was deliberately targeted. He said he thought the projectile likely ricocheted off of something else before it hit him, and he could not recall which leg it hit.
Suzuki said he was displaying a press badge issued by The Mac Weekly that has his photograph, name, and says “PRESS.”
Multiple law enforcement agencies were involved with the response to protests in Brooklyn Center. Suzuki said he believes the Brooklyn Center Police Department was deploying projectiles that night.
BCPD did not respond to a request for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Getty Images photojournalist Scott Olson confirmed with the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that his camera equipment was damaged by police officers while he was covering a protest in Brooklyn Center, Minneapolis, on April 14, 2021.
According to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside the Brooklyn Center Police Department that evening to demand justice for 20-year-old Daunte Wright, a Black man who was shot and killed by a white Minnesota police officer during a traffic stop on April 11, 2021. Wright's death occurred as a former police officer in nearby Minneapolis was on trial in the death of George Floyd, rekindling a wave of protests against racial injustice and police brutality that had started nearly a year earlier.
The Pioneer Press reported that demonstrators chanted “Don’t shoot” and other slogans, threw objects at officers and tried to dismantle fences, while law enforcement responded with pepper spray and "marker" rounds. Shortly after 9 p.m., officers declared the protest an unlawful assembly, according to the paper.
"When the police let you know that you might be working a little too close to the action," Olson tweeted the next morning at 10:54 a.m. alongside a photograph of a cracked camera lens and lens hood.
When the police let you know that you might be working a little too close to the action. #DuanteWright #BrooklynCenter #GeorgeFloyd pic.twitter.com/iF7nAEAFjR
— scott olson (@olsongetty) April 15, 2021
Olson confirmed with the Tracker that the equipment was damaged from rubber bullets fired by police, but said in a Twitter message that he does not believe he was the intended target. “As I have learned from covering many similar situations, if you work close you are at greater risk of getting injured or equipment damaged,” Olson said. He declined to comment further.
Brooklyn Center Police Department did not respond immediately to an emailed request for comment. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Minneapolis Star Tribune reporter Andy Mannix was hit in the foot with a less-lethal munition while covering protests in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, on the evening of April 13, 2021, the journalist told the Committee to Protect Journalists in a phone conversation. The munition bounced off his boot, Mannix said.
Toward the end, patrol was firing a lot of projectiles. One bounced off the bottom of my boot as I was walking away.
— Andy Mannix (@AndrewMannix) April 14, 2021
According to the Star Tribune, between 800 and 1,000 protesters had gathered that night outside an FBI field office building, which was guarded by law enforcement that included Brooklyn Center police and the National Guard, to demand justice in the killing of Daunte Wright. Wright, a Black man, was fatally shot in the chest by a white Brooklyn Center Police Department officer on April 11.
Brooklyn Center, which is near Minneapolis, Minneapolis and St. Paul were under a 10 p.m. curfew; journalists were exempt, according to news reports.
At approximately 8:30 p.m. on the 13th, the Minnesota State Patrol declared an unlawful assembly outside of the FBI field office building and soon began using less-lethal weapons on the crowd, the Star Tribune reported.
Mannix said that around this time, a flash-bang grenade was fired and people from the crowd rushed up to the fence surrounding the building, escalating the situation.
“It was kind of on after that,” said Mannix. “[Law enforcement] started firing a ton of flash-bangs,” he said, noting that it was hard to tell in the moment if the munitions were tear gas, pepper-spray bombs or smoke bombs.
Mannix said that around 9 p.m., the state patrol added more officers to the scene and they were firing mortar grenades. Several minutes later, he said, law enforcement fired projectiles and one ricocheted off his foot.
“We’ve seen this a lot in the past year. It doesn’t seem like they’re aiming at anyone in particular, or if they are they’re not aiming at anyone very well because you can just hear [the munitions] buzzing by your ear, or bouncing off a stop sign,” Mannix told CPJ. CPJ is a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
Protests in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement began in Minneapolis last summer following the May 25, 2020, death of George Floyd, a Black man. Former Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, who is white, is currently on trial in the city for Floyd’s death. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Mannix told CPJ that he and his colleague, Star Tribune photographer Carlos Gonzalez, left the area shortly after Mannix was hit with the projectile.
Protesters rally outside the Brooklyn Center Police Department in Minnesota, as it is guarded by law enforcement and the National Guard, on April 13, 2021, days after Daunte Wright was shot and killed by a police officer.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,no,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2021, protest, shot / shot at",,,,, "Photographer arrested, cited while covering Brooklyn Center protests",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-arrested-cited-while-covering-brooklyn-center-protests/,2021-04-19 17:28:32.656010+00:00,2022-05-13 15:43:39.618362+00:00,2022-05-13 15:43:39.542489+00:00,"(2021-05-21 00:00:00+00:00) Charges dropped against photographer arrested, cited while covering Brooklyn Center protests","Arrest/Criminal Charge, Assault",,,,Adam Gray (South West News Service),,2021-04-13,False,Brooklyn Center,Minnesota (MN),45.07608,-93.33273,"Adam Gray, chief photojournalist for UK-based South West News Service, was pushed to the ground, handcuffed, and cited with failure to follow a lawful order while he was covering protests in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, on April 13, 2021.
Protests began following the fatal shooting of a Black man, Daunte Wright, by a white Brooklyn Center Police Department officer on April 11.
Gray was covering police pushing protesters north on Humboldt Avenue away from the police station around 10:30 p.m. when law enforcement directed protesters and press to leave, Gray said in an email sent to the Committee to Protect Journalists. CPJ is a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
Brooklyn Center, which is near Minneapolis, St. Paul and Minneapolis were under a 10 p.m. curfew; journalists were exempt, according to news reports.
At approximately 10:38 p.m., law enforcement rushed people down the block, and shortly after pushed people into the area of a Kisch Oil Company gas station, screaming at them to “get out” and “leave,” Gray said, noting that he was documenting the unfolding chaos.
The photojournalist said that he was walking backward away from law enforcement so that he could keep them in view and take photographs.
“I wasn’t going to turn my back and run because that’s usually when they chase you,” said Gray, who was arrested last year while covering protests in New York City.
Gray said that as the crowd moved away from the approaching law enforcement, it became apparent that police were encroaching in on the crowd, catching Gray and protesters in a “kettle,” a technique where police surround a group from all sides.
“I was very clearly press,” the photojournalist said, noting that he also had two large cameras around his neck in addition to press credentials issued by the New York Police Department.
A video Gray later posted to his Instagram account of the moments leading up to his arrest shows Minnesota State Patrol in full riot gear charging at him and shoving him onto a patch of grass. In the video, Gray can be heard saying that he is a member of the press and was trying to return to his car.
Gray said he had been working near several other journalists, though his colleagues had managed to escape the kettle and subsequent detention.
State Patrol officials ziptied Gray’s hands while he was facedown in the grass before rolling him over and standing him up, the photojournalist said.
Gray said he was then taken to a patrol car where a state patrol officer cited Gray for “failure to obey a lawful order.” While the order was being written, Gray said he heard a voice on the radio that said members of the press should be charged with failure to disperse, rather than unlawful assembly.
While Gray was still in the car, and after the citation was written, a voice came on the radio and instructed law enforcement not to issue citations to the press, and to release them, Gray said. The photojournalist asked the officer who wrote his citation then a senior officer if the citation should be deleted, and the senior officer said to leave it, Gray said.
Gray’s citation, which was reviewed by CPJ, requires him to schedule a court appearance within 30 days of the citation’s issue. Mickey Osterreicher, General Counsel for the National Press Photographers Association, told CPJ via email that he is hopeful that they are in the process of resolving the charge.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
While documenting protests in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, on April 13, 2021, Minneapolis Star Tribune reporter Kim Hyatt said she was grabbed by a law enforcement officer whom she initially identified as a National Guard member and ordered to disperse.
Demonstrators had gathered that night in front of the Brooklyn Center Police Department to demand justice in the killing of Daunte Wright, a Black man, who was fatally shot by a white police officer on April 11. The Minnesota National Guard had been deployed to the Twin Cities for the trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin — who was charged with killing George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in May 2020 — and arrived in Brooklyn Center in the hours following the shooting of Wright to assist police.
In a video Hyatt posted to Twitter shortly after 9:30 p.m., she reported that officers, whom she described as “the guard,” had come around the backside of an apartment building located across the street from the police department and “ambushed everyone” who’d gathered there.
“I was holding up my badge and they still grabbed me and told me to get out of here,” Hyatt said in the video, while displaying a large yellow “PRESS” badge issued by the Star Tribune. In the video she also tugged at her right shoulder, ostensibly indicating that that's where she'd been grabbed. Hyatt did not respond to an emailed request for comment.
They’re making arrests and physically grabbing press and telling us to leave. pic.twitter.com/t4IT3B9ilN
— Kim Hyatt (@kimvhyatt) April 14, 2021
When reached or comment via email, a Minnesota National Guard spokesperson told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that no members of the Guard left the fenced-in area around the police department.
“In other words, they were not in an area with crowds,” Public Affairs Officer Melanie Nelson wrote.
The Brooklyn Center Police Department did not immediately respond to a voicemail requesting comment.
Law enforcement had declared the protest an unlawful assembly before a curfew was due to go into effect at 10 p.m., Hyatt wrote in a subsequent tweet, and officers explicitly ordered members of the press to disperse despite journalists being exempt from the curfew order.
“Still a few dozen people here but most left. Some media remain,” Hyatt tweeted just before 10 p.m. “I’m done for the night after that.”
At a press conference the following day, according to her tweets, Hyatt asked Brooklyn Center Mayor Mike Elliott what he thought about law enforcement ordering the press to leave the area.
“Demanding the media to leave is absolutely, unequivocally unacceptable. I issued the curfew order and my curfew order permits the media to be there past the 10 o’clock hour. The curfew does not apply to the media,” Elliott said.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
CNN producer Carolyn Sung was thrown to the ground and arrested by Minnesota State Patrol troopers while documenting protests in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, on April 13, 2021.
Demonstrators had gathered in front of the Brooklyn Center Police Department to demand justice in the killing of Daunte Wright, a Black man, who was fatally shot by a white police officer on April 11.
According to a letter sent by attorneys to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and other local officials and signed by more than two dozen news and advocacy organizations, Sung had been attempting to comply with a dispersal order when “troopers grabbed Sung by her backpack and threw her to the ground, zip-tying her hands behind her back.”
“Sung did not resist and repeatedly identified herself as a journalist working for CNN and showed her credentials,” the letter continued. Troopers also reportedly ignored her complaints that the zip ties were too tight on her wrists.
At one point, the letter alleges, a trooper yelled at Sung, “Do you speak English?”
“Sung, whose primary language is English, was placed in a prisoner-transport bus and sent to the Hennepin County Jail, where she was patted down and searched by a female officer who put her hands down Sung’s pants and in her bra, fingerprinted, electronically body-scanned, and ordered to strip and put on an orange uniform before attorneys working on her behalf were able to locate her and secure her release, a process that took more than two hours,” the letter said.
The letter also stated that a security guard accompanying Sung was briefly detained, but was released upon showing his credentials.
CNN’s public relations office declined to make Sung available for comment, and the Minnesota State Patrol did not respond to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker’s emailed request for comment as of press time. The status of her arrest and any charges remain unknown.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Independent journalist Naasir Akailvi, who reports on social media as the Neighborhood Reporter, said he was detained and cited while reporting on a protest in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, on April 13, 2021.
Demonstrations had been held for several days outside the Brooklyn Center Police Department in response to the fatal shooting of Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man, during a traffic stop on April 11. Wright’s death occurred as a former police officer in nearby Minneapolis was on trial in the death of George Floyd, rekindling a wave of protests against racial injustice and police brutality that had started nearly a year earlier.
Akailvi told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that late on the night of April 13 he was reporting as police pushed protesters away from the police station up Humboldt Avenue. He told the Tracker that he believed police had issued dispersal orders earlier in the night, but he hadn’t considered leaving because of them. There was a curfew in effect starting at 10 p.m., according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune; it exempt members of the media.
Shortly before 11 p.m., Akailvi said, police had started to form a crowd-control technique called a “kettle,” which blocks people from leaving, in a gas station.
At one point, Akailvi said, he noticed that police were using batons to smash a car’s windows, and he moved closer to film the scene. Within seconds, he said, he felt someone grab him from behind. He said he was taken down to the ground and his wrists were constrained with zip ties.
Akailvi said that he repeated, “I’m press, I’m press,” and told police he had a press pass; he said he wears a self-made card that has his photograph and identifies him as a journalist. According to Akailvi, police responded by saying that a dispersal order had been issued for media.
Akailvi said police took his camera, mic and tripod. He was put in the back of a police car, he said, and told that he would be charged.
The journalist said that while a Minnesota State Patrol trooper who was in the car with him started writing up his paperwork, he heard over the police radio that law enforcement would not be taking members of the press to jail but would issue citations.
He said he was handed a citation for “failure to obey a lawful order” and that his equipment was returned when he was released. As he was leaving, he said, he again heard an announcement over the police radio directing law enforcement not to cite journalists. However, he said, the trooper told him he would need to fight his citation later.
“I still got my citation, and the cops who gave it to me, they said, you’re just going to have to go fight it in court,” Akailvi said.
Akailvi told the Tracker he has not yet taken steps to fight the charge. His citation says that he is required to appear in court, but no date has been set.
The Minnesota State Patrol did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Akailvi was detained again the following night along with a reporting partner while they were documenting continuing Brooklyn Center protests. The Tracker has documented that April 14 incident here.
On April 16, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order barring Minnesota State Patrol from arresting or threatening to arrest journalists and stating that journalists are not required to leave when there is a dispersal order.
In a statement in response to the court order, the MSP acknowledged that the agency was prohibited from enforcing dispersal orders against journalists.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Niko Georgiades, a journalist with the nonprofit media outlet Unicorn Riot, was hit in the knee with a crowd-control round while reporting on a protest in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, on April 13, 2021.
Several hundred protesters marched to the Brooklyn Center Police Department in response to the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright, a Black man, by a white police officer during a traffic stop. Wright’s death, on April 11, occurred as a former police officer in nearby Minneapolis was on trial in the death of George Floyd, rekindling a wave of protests against racial injustice and police brutality that had started nearly a year earlier.
Georgiades said that on the night of April 13, a line of law-enforcement officers were pushing protesters up Humboldt Avenue, away from the area immediately outside the police station.
Video Georgiades streamed live to Unicorn Riot’s Twitter shows that the Minnesota State Patrol made multiple unlawful assembly announcements, and ordered press to disperse.
“Media, you must leave the area,” a voice can be heard saying after one MSP unlawful-assembly order, about 32 minutes and 30 seconds into the video.
About a minute later, a large number of law enforcement, including MSP troopers, can be seen rushing forward toward the crowd, and Georgiades seems to back up out of their way.
Suddenly there is a pop and Georgiades shouts out and curses. “Shot me right in the leg,” he says, and points the camera down, showing a white mark on his jeans.
Georgiades told the Tracker the projectile hit him in the right knee, a few inches from his kneecap.
On the video, after Georgiades is hit, he briefly pans the camera around him and says, “There’s nothing but press up here.” Several people nearby can be seen carrying large cameras and wearing helmets.
At 9:35 p.m., Unicorn Riot tweeted that their reporter had just been shot in the leg with “some kind of impact round.”
A few hours later, Unicorn Riot tweeted a photograph of a bloody wound on Georgiades’ leg.
Content Advisory: Blood
— Unicorn Riot (@UR_Ninja) April 14, 2021
Our field reporter Niko had skin broken and blood drawn by an impact round fired at him by Minnesota police while he was documenting #DaunteWright protests on our stream tonight https://t.co/klgeStSaTB pic.twitter.com/QeeGUcfeUi
Georgiades told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he believed he was hit with a marker round, a type of projectile that leaves chalky powder where it hits. Georgiades said he thought the round might also have contained a chemical agent, like pepper spray, because when he took his pants off at home after the protest and shook them to remove the chalk, he could feel the effects of a chemical agent. He said he still had a scab a week later.
Georgiades said he believes he was targeted because he was a journalist. He said he was wearing a press pass, which identifies him as a journalist with Unicorn Riot, and had a camera on a shoulder rig and carried a microphone, which made him easily identifiable as a journalist. He said he had a light on his camera, which he believes was why he was shot. Police had asked earlier in the protest that he turn off his light, claiming it was impeding their vision.
Georgiades said he wasn’t sure which law-enforcement agency fired the munition that hit him. He said he saw MSP troopers, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources conservation officers and other officers in dark uniforms he couldn’t identify. National Guard troops were also on site.
Neither the MSP nor DNR responded to a request for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police-brutality protests here.
Joshua Rashaad McFadden, a freelance photojournalist on assignment for the New York Times, said law-enforcement officers hit him with batons as he covered a protest in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, on April 13, 2021.
The fatal police shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center on April 11, 2021 rekindled a wave of racial-justice protests that began almost a year earlier. Wright’s death, on April 11, occurred as a former police officer in nearby Minneapolis was on trial in the death of George Floyd. Protests began outside the Brooklyn Center Police Department the day Wright was killed, and continued daily through mid-April.
McFadden told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that police got more aggressive with the crowd as the protest continued into the night, and that he heard law enforcement order press to leave the area. McFadden, who had been hit with projectiles the previous night, said he decided to leave.
He said he wasn’t able to go directly to his car because the street was blocked, so he walked in the opposite direction to a gas station up the street. He said he hesitated to walk to his car alone, and while he was at the gas station, he saw another photographer he recognized — freelance photojournalist Chris Tuite.
The two photographers saw someone with a car heading in their direction, McFadden said, and the driver offered to give them a ride to where McFadden’s car was parked.
Right after they got in the car, he said, a large number of law-enforcement officers started up the street. Police and National Guard vehicles also pulled into the area, he said.
Officers surrounded the car McFadden was in and beat on the windows with batons, he said.
“It almost seemed like the windows were going to break,” he told the Tracker.
He said the officers pointed their weapons at them. McFadden said he assumed they were loaded with rubber bullets, but that they looked like guns. McFadden, who was in the back seat with Tuite, said the officers were shouting at them to get out of the car, but it wasn’t possible because the vehicle was surrounded.
Officers dragged the driver of the car out, he said, and Tuite was pulled from the car. The Tracker has documented Tuite's assault here.
Then, McFadden said, two officers got into the vehicle — one into the driver’s seat and the other in the back next to him. He said the officers started hitting him with their clubs, striking him on his legs and hitting his camera, like they were trying to break it.
McFadden, who is Black, said he identified himself as a member of the press multiple times, but the officers didn’t stop.
When Tuite, who is white, then outside of the car, saw the officers in the car hitting McFadden, he told another officer that McFadden was a member of the press and a photographer for the New York Times.
McFadden said the officers then stopped and got out of the car. He said they tried to have him get out of the car on the opposite side from the other photographer, but McFadden objected because he saw police were making arrests on that side of the vehicle. He was able to exit the car next to Tuite.
McFadden said the officers checked his press credential, issued by the National Press Photographers Association. He said the troopers were skeptical, and said, “anybody could have made this.”
Officers told him they needed to see his driver’s license, which he had left in his car because he didn’t want to lose it. He said the officers allowed him to leave when Tuite said he would walk McFadden to his car.
“I saw them hitting Josh with their batons, including his camera,” Tuite said. “He’s a Black male, and they trusted me more than him. It took me saying 10 times that he was media before they got off of him.”
In total, McFadden said, it was about 45 minutes from when officers began beating on the car windows until when he was let go.
McFadden said he believes he was targeted because he is a journalist. “It just seemed there was a certain amount of disdain for the journalists there.”
McFadden also said that in this April 13 incident, and when he was detained and hit again by law enforcement three days later, officers released him only after a white journalist vouched for him.
“I do know it's because Black members of the press are treated differently,” he said. “And I have to acknowledge that.”
McFadden said Minnesota State Patrol troopers were involved in the incident. He said officers from other law enforcement agencies were also present, though he wasn’t sure which ones. A coalition of law enforcement agencies, including the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office and the Minnesota National Guard, were involved in the response to protests in Brooklyn Center.
The Minnesota State Patrol didn’t respond to the Tracker’s requests for comment by email and phone.
McFadden said he had bruises on his legs from being hit. After he was tackled and hit by law enforcement again on Friday the 16th, he went to the hospital for treatment. He said he was given a tetanus shot because he had a cut on his hand.
The officers damaged his camera lens, which was “wiggly” and no longer fit correctly on the mount, McFadden said. He was able to continue using it through the week, but as a result of the damage sustained in the two incidents, he needed to get it fixed. He said he hadn’t decided whether he would file a complaint or take any other action related to the incident.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Chris Tuite, a freelance photojournalist, said law enforcement officers aimed firearms at him and pulled him from a vehicle as he covered a protest in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, on April 13, 2021.
The fatal police shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center on April 11, 2021 rekindled a wave of racial-justice protests that began almost a year earlier. Wright’s death, on April 11, occurred as a former police officer in nearby Minneapolis was on trial in the death of George Floyd. Protests began outside the Brooklyn Center Police Department the day Wright was killed, and continued daily through mid-April.
Tuite told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was at a gas station near the protests when he ran into a second photojournalist, Joshua Rashaad McFadden, who was on assignment for The New York Times. McFadden told the Tracker that police had gotten more aggressive with the crowd as the protest continued into the night, and that he heard officers order press to leave the area.
The two photographers saw a car coming toward them, McFadden said, and the driver offered to take them to where McFadden’s car was parked. Right after they got in the car, he said, a large number of officers started up the street. Police and National Guard vehicles also pulled into the area, he said.
Officers surrounded the car Tuite and McFadden were in and beat on the windows with batons and the butts of their weapons, Tuite said.
“The state police rolled up with their AR-15s, pointed them at us and then tried to knock the window in using the butt of their guns,” Tuite said.
Both photojournalists, who were in the back seat, were ordered to exit the vehicle but were unable to because the vehicle was surrounded.
“We didn’t know the driver, but they pulled the driver away, arrested him and took him away,” Tuite said. “I screamed ‘Media!’ maybe 20 times, and held my media pass up to the window.”
The officers then pulled Tuite from the vehicle, he said. After again identifying himself as a member of the press, Tuite said the officer standing nearest him finally listened.
At around the same time, two officers got into the vehicle — one into the driver’s seat and the other in the back next to him — and began hitting him with their clubs, striking him on his legs and hitting his camera.
“I saw them hitting Josh with their batons, including his camera,” Tuite said. “He’s a Black male, and they trusted me more than him. It took me saying 10 times that he was media before they got off of him.”
The Tracker has documented McFadden’s assault and damage to his equipment here.
The Minnesota State Patrol didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Officers ultimately allowed the pair to leave once Tuite offered to walk McFadden back to his car. The photjournalists crossed the street to where other members of the press were gathered, Tuite said, and documented a little more of the standoff between law enforcement and the protesters before leaving the scene.
Tuite told the Tracker that a reporter for progressive independent outlet Status Coup, Jon Farina, captured footage of law enforcement stopping cars and ordering the passengers to exit where he and McFadden were stopped, but hadn’t filmed their specific encounter.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Minneapolis Star Tribune photojournalist Mark Vancleave was struck in the hand with a rubber bullet while covering protests in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, on April 12, 2021.
Demonstrators had gathered in front of the Brooklyn Center Police Department to demand justice in the killing of Daunte Wright, a Black man, who was fatally shot by a white police officer on April 11.
Vancleave told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he’d arrived at the police department at around 3 p.m. to document the second day of protests. The scheduled protest ended shortly before a curfew went into effect, at 7 p.m.
“A lot of people left at that time. A lot of other protesters showed up. And things got more tense, more confrontational, more aggressive between the cops and protesters,” Vancleave said. “There was a lot of back and forth between protesters — with people throwing water bottles, fireworks, those kinds of things — and the police, responding with tear gas, concussion or flash-bang grenades, and mace.”
At approximately 9 p.m., Vancleave said, he was struck in the hand with a rubber bullet.
“I was holding my camera in front of me, and was wearing a Kevlar vest and gas mask with a large polycarbonate plastic visor when the rubber bullet struck the hand I was holding the camera with,” Vancleave said. “I had some lacerations on my middle finger and then two broken bones in my ring finger.”
Vancleave told the Tracker he was also identifiable as press by his press ID and a large yellow rectangular “PRESS” card — which the Star Tribune issued all of its journalists last year — though they were partially obscured by his coat at the moment he was struck.
Vancleave said he was working alongside a freelance videojournalist on assignment for PBS Frontline, who was able to help him receive initial aid from field medics. He said that once he was able to locate other staff from the Star Tribune, they transported him to a local hospital, where he was held overnight until he could receive surgery the following day.
On Monday night I was shot in the hand by a rubber bullet fired by police in Brooklyn Center while covering a protest. The impact broke my ring finger in two places requiring surgery. I won’t be able to pick up my camera again for at least six weeks. pic.twitter.com/IcPfjbVug4
— Mark Vancleave (@MDVancleave) April 17, 2021
“I won’t be able to hold any weight in my hand for weeks at least, and I have no idea when I’ll be able to work again,” Vancleave said. “I’m just grateful that I had some colleagues that I had paired up with for just this reason, watching each other’s backs, and had a good enough exit strategy.”
Two other Star Tribune journalists were assaulted during protests that day. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
A few days after he was injured, Vancleave tweeted, “I remain deeply concerned for my fellow journalists working to fairly and accurately report on the crisis unfolding in our communities — particularly as Minnesota law enforcement continues to target journalists with force and disregard [their] constitutionally protected role.”
CNN reported on April 13 that City Manager Curt Boganey was fired over the city’s response to the protest.
The Brooklyn Center Police Department did not respond to a voicemail requesting comment as of press time.
Two bones were broken in the ring finger of Minneapolis Star Tribune photojournalist Mark Vancleave, who was struck with a rubber bullet while covering protests in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, on April 12, 2021.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2021, protest, shot / shot at",,,,, Minneapolis Star Tribune photojournalist pepper-sprayed while documenting protests in Brooklyn Center,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/minneapolis-star-tribune-photojournalist-pepper-sprayed-while-documenting-protests-in-brooklyn-center/,2021-04-22 13:50:58.961581+00:00,2022-03-10 21:44:25.046504+00:00,2022-03-10 21:44:24.985404+00:00,,Assault,,,,Carlos Gonzalez (Minneapolis Star Tribune),,2021-04-12,False,Brooklyn Center,Minnesota (MN),45.07608,-93.33273,"Minneapolis Star Tribune photojournalist Carlos Gonzalez was pepper-sprayed while covering protests in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, on April 12, 2021.
Demonstrators had gathered in front of the Brooklyn Center Police Department to demand justice in the killing of Daunte Wright, a Black man, who was fatally shot by a white police officer on April 11.
Gonzalez told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he’d arrived in the afternoon to document the second night of protests in front of the police department. At around 7:50 p.m., he said, he noticed an agitated woman confronting the police and being held back by others at the demonstration.
In footage Gonzalez posted to Twitter shortly after the incident, the woman can be seen confronting a line of officers in front of the department. Moments later, an officer can be seen shooting a burst of pepper spray at an individual out of frame, then turning and spraying Gonzalez.
I was pepper sprayed in the eye while photographing the scene at the Brooklyn Center Police Department. I had cameras & my press credentials clearly in view. It came from the side w/o warning I was shooting so I didn’t even see it coming. This is a GoPro version of the incident. pic.twitter.com/TIhzsnG1Ri
— Carlos Gonzalez (@CarlosGphoto) April 13, 2021
“I felt the spray come into my eye from my right side, so I didn’t even see it coming,” Gonzalez said. “It was obvious that I wasn’t agitating anyone, that I was documenting and not part of the protest.”
Gonzalez said he didn’t want to speculate on what the officer was thinking but noted that he was clearly identifiable as a member of the press; Gonzalez said he was not only carrying his professional camera but had both his standard press pass and a large yellow “PRESS” card — which the Star Tribune issued all of its journalists last year — around his neck in plain view.
“I walked away almost immediately and was trying to retrieve some pepper-spray wipes that I had in my pack, but my hands were all wet and I couldn’t get them,” Gonzalez said. “Some medics must’ve seen what happened and came over to me quickly and were able to help.
“At that point I was in significant pain for some time, so after I was able to open my eyes again, I went back to my car to collect myself. While there, I started editing some of my pictures and talked to my editor to tell them what happened and that I might have captured it on my GoPro.”
Gonzalez told the Tracker he doesn’t remember whether he returned to document the rest of the protest that night or not, as the days have blurred together.
“Obviously it was a protest and a bunch of things were going on,” Gonzalez said. “But the main point is that myself, my colleagues, all the other press out there — we’re out there working, being professionals. We’re not chanting and yelling and getting in cops’ faces, or anything like that. I think it’s pretty obvious to distinguish who we are.”
Two other Star Tribune journalists were assaulted during protests that day. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
CNN reported the following day that City Manager Curt Boganey was fired over the city’s response to the protest.
The Brooklyn Center Police Department did not respond to a voicemail requesting comment as of press time.
Independent photojournalist Tim Evans was hit in the hand with a crowd-control projectile while covering a protest in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, for the European Pressphoto Agency on April 12, 2021.
Demonstrators gathered outside the Brooklyn Center Police Department one day after Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man, was shot and killed by a white police officer during a traffic stop in the city, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.
After a 7 p.m. curfew took effect, tensions escalated between protesters and law enforcement, and law enforcement later issued dispersal orders and began using rubber bullets, flash-bang grenades and tear gas to disperse the crowd, according to the Star Tribune.
Evans told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was covering the protest as it continued after dark. He said law enforcement agents were deploying crowd-control munitions, including marker rounds, a type of projectile that leaves a colored mark where it hits.
Evans said he was photographing demonstrators as he stood with his back to the police station, about 20 feet from a gate in the fence that surrounded the building.
He said he was holding his camera to his face with his right hand to take photographs when a marker round hit the back of that hand.
Evans said the painful impact made him let go of his camera, which hung from a strap around his neck. He said he retreated from the area for a few minutes to make sure that he wasn’t seriously injured. The marker round left a green chalky substance on Evans’ skin, which he said he wiped off. Evans said he spoke with another photographer who has medical training to check whether the projectile had broken any bones in his hand.
“It hurt, but it was clear that no bones were broken,” Evans said.
Evans said he was able to continue photographing the protest that night. He had a bruise on his hand for more than a week after he was hit, he said. None of his equipment was damaged.
Evans told the Tracker he did not see which law enforcement agency fired the round that hit him. Multiple law enforcement agencies were involved in the response to the protests in Brooklyn Center, including Minnesota State Patrol and the National Guard, according to the Star Tribune.
Evans said he did not know if he was targeted, and believed the munition may have ricocheted off of something before hitting him, because he thought a direct hit would likely have injured him more seriously.
He had a “PRESS” label attached to his backpack, he told the Tracker.
Minnesota State Patrol and the state Department of Public Safety, which were part of a coalition of law enforcement agencies responding to protests in Minnesota, did not answer requests for comment. A spokesperson for the National Guard said the agency “has not used a single less than lethal munition in any of its responses to civil unrest within the last year.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Independent videographer Melissa Lewis said she was targeted and pushed by Portland police while documenting a protest in northeast Portland, Oregon, on April 12, 2021.
According to KOIN News, Portland's CBS affiliate, demonstrators gathered in Laurelhurst Park to hold a vigil for Daunte Wright, a 20-year old Black man who was shot by a white police officer in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, during a traffic stop. Wright’s death, on April 11, occurred as a former police officer in nearby Minneapolis was on trial in the death of George Floyd, rekindling a wave of protests against racial injustice and police brutality that had started nearly a year earlier.
Protesters marched to the Penumbra Kelly Building, the site of numerous previous demonstrations, where, according to Portland Police tweets, some members of the crowd smashed several windows and threw rocks, bottles, and other objects at officers. Police responded by deploying flashbang grenades, and the Portland Police Bureau eventually declared the scene a riot.
At 11:10 p.m., Lewis tweeted a video of a large group of Portland police officers pushing protesters in one direction. "Cops were VERY shove-y tonight," she wrote. " Not tolerant of walking backwards." As an officer is approaching her, as seen in the video, she says, "I'm moving as fast as I can," while recording and walking backwards, but he responds, "No, you're not. Turn around and move."
A few minutes later at 11:23 p.m., Lewis shares another video of the same scene, in which Lewis says the officer walks past her and says, "Melissa, stay still. Don't get in my way."
Lewis lets out a loud laugh, to which the officer responds by turning around and knocking her phone out of her hand. From the ground, the camera shows the officer and Lewis across from each other, at which point she picks up the phone.
"I don’t know that officer AT ALL,” Lewis told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. “I was also on the sidewalk. My phone was knocked from my hands. Then another officer behind me continued to push me with his baton horizontally and into a tree.”
Since July, law enforcement officers from the PPB and federal agencies have been barred by court rulings from arresting, harming or impeding journalists or legal observers of the protests. The Portland Police Bureau has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation in a case brought by the ACLU. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Joshua Rashaad McFadden, a freelance photojournalist on assignment for the New York Times, said he was hit with crowd-control munitions while covering a protest in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, early on the morning of April 12, 2021.
Several hundred protesters marched to the Brooklyn Center Police Department in response to the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright, a Black man, by a white police officer during a traffic stop. Wright’s death, on April 11, occurred as a former police officer in nearby Minneapolis was on trial in the death of George Floyd, rekindling a wave of protests against racial injustice and police brutality that had started nearly a year earlier.
As demonstrations continued late into the night, McFadden told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that law enforcement heavily used crowd-control munitions and chemical agents, like tear gas, on protesters and members of the press.
After midnight, in the early hours of April 12, he said he was standing with other journalists near the police station when a projectile hit him in his left thigh.
McFadden said the projectile burned a hole about four inches wide in his pants and left a powdery substance and brown singe marks on the fabric. He said his leg was badly bruised where the object hit him.
He didn’t know what type of projectile hit him. It may have been a flash-bang grenade or a tear-gas canister, because either can be hot, he said.
“It wasn't just a rubber bullet, I know that,” he said.
McFadden said he was hit with other projectiles on his legs as well, though none were as significant. He said he was wearing a helmet, and when he removed it later, he saw there was a mark on it that he believes came from some sort of projectile, though he wasn’t sure when he was hit.
McFadden said he was standing with a group of journalists who were clearly identifiable as members of the press at the time he was hit. He said he and other journalists were carrying large cameras. He said journalists in the group sometimes shouted out to identify themselves as press to law enforcement, though it was very loud.
He said he believed that he was targeted as a journalist, because he was near others who were obviously members of the press.
Several law enforcement agencies were involved in the response to protests in Brooklyn Center that night. Neither the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office nor the Brooklyn Center Police Department responded to requests for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Independent researcher and scientist Juniper Simonis said a Portland police officer shoved them in the chest as they covered a protest in Portland, Oregon, on April 12, 2021.
Simonis said they have been publishing information for several months about law enforcement’s use of chemical irritants at protests on Twitter, for a research and activist group called the Chemical Weapons Research Consortium, and with other outlets.
According to local CBS-affiliate KOIN6, demonstrators gathered outside the Penumbra Kelly Building in Northeast Portland as a response to the police killing of Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man shot by an officer during a traffic stop in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota. Police declared the gathering a riot after protesters set fires and threw rocks, pieces of concrete, bottles and bricks. Officers responded with flash-bang grenades, tear gas and other crowd-control munitions.
Simonis said they were walking around and taking pictures of the officers at the scene when "at some point, they [officers] decide that they will brutalize the protesters west on Burnside. They roll up with a dozen vehicles and I counted," Simonis told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. "A whole bunch of officers jump off of riot vans and bull rush people. I was documenting them coming off and running."
At 10:20 p.m., Simonis said they were standing on the sidewalk and photographing when an officer comes up to them and "uses a 40mm rifle to shove my chest, while I have press credentials on my chest." Simonis said they were visibly displaying a press badge, a card they made that had their photograph with the publications they write for listed and the word “PRESS” in large letters. Simonis also was carrying a DSLR camera.
Law enforcement officers in Portland had targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations last June, according to a class-action lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The city agreed to a preliminary injunction last July to not to arrest or harm any journalists or legal observers of the protests or impede their work.
The Portland Police Bureau has repeatedly said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation in the ACLU case. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Aaron Nesheim, a Minneapolis-based freelance photojournalist on assignment for The New York Times, said he was deliberately pepper-sprayed by Minnesota State Patrol troopers while documenting protests in Brooklyn Center on April 12, 2021.
Demonstrators gathered outside the Brooklyn Center Police Department one day after Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man, was shot and killed by a white police officer during a traffic stop in the city, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported. Wright’s death occurred as a former police officer in nearby Minneapolis was on trial in the death of George Floyd, rekindling a wave of protests against racial injustice and police brutality that had started nearly a year earlier.
After a 7 p.m. curfew took effect, tensions escalated between protesters and law enforcement, and law enforcement later issued dispersal orders and began using rubber bullets, flash-bang grenades and tear gas to disperse the crowd, according to the Star Tribune.
Nesheim told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the protests had been peaceful, and that there was no provocation in the moments before a trooper doused him in pepper spray.
“As they were trying to get people to move back, one officer reached forward and started pepper-spraying people,” Nesheim said. “He stopped and then saw me with the camera and lunged forward and peppered me right in the face. Thankfully I was wearing a full-face gas mask, which kept it out of my eyes, but it proceeded to burn a pretty good red ring around my face for the rest of the evening.”
Nesheim said he was wearing both a helmet and a body armor vest, which were labeled with “PRESS” on multiple sides, as well as press credentials issued by the Times and the National Press Photographers Association.
In a post to Instagram accompanying some of his photos, Nesheim wrote, “Tonight I was pepper sprayed and tear gassed worse than I’ve ever experienced. Between a burning face and puking out of my gas mask a few times, here's what I managed to capture.
“I would love to say I am surprised by this violation of my rights, but sadly I find it to be par for the course,” he wrote.
The Minnesota State Patrol did not respond to a request for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Freelance journalist Tim Speier was struck in the chest with a flash-bang grenade that detonated while he covered protests in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, on April 11, 2021.
Protests outside the police department began after the fatal police shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright earlier that day, which occurred as a former police officer in nearby Minneapolis was on trial in the death of George Floyd. The events rekindled a nationwide wave of racial justice protests that began almost a year earlier after Floyd’s death.
Speier is a former marine who is now a student at St. Cloud State University and has written for the student publication the University Chronicle. He told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he arrived to cover the protests alongside freelance journalist J.D. Duggan at approximately 9:30 p.m.
“About 30 minutes later, I was trying to get some footage of a smoke grenade going off and there were protesters throwing stuff over me and another reporter who was standing right next to me,” Speier said. “In the footage it looks like an officer lobbed a grenade and when it came down it basically popped on my chest.”
In footage Speier shared from Mercado Media, he can be seen standing at the intersection of 67th and North Humboldt Avenues at the north side of the police department, next to Unicorn Riot reporter Niko Georgiades, while a line of law enforcement officers stand in the background.
Approximately 30 seconds into the clip, a projectile which Speier identified as a flash-bang grenade can be seen striking him directly in the chest and detonating.
Last night, while covering the protest with @JDugganMN at the Brooklyn Center Police Dept., I had a flashbang grenade detonate on my chest. I didn't think it was that bad till I saw the footage from Mercado Media.
— Tim Speier (@timmy2thyme) April 12, 2021
I'm ok, btw. pic.twitter.com/6SIiVvVKO0
Immediately following the impact, the journalist filming the incident approaches Speier and Georgiades to ask whether they were alright, and both appeared to indicate that they were.
“I didn’t think it was that bad till I saw the footage from Mercado Media,” Speier wrote. “I’m OK.”
Speier told the Tracker that his shoulder was a bit sore following the incident, but he was protected from the worst of the impact by the ballistic vest he was wearing. In the footage, Speier can be seen wearing a protective vest labeled “PRESS” and press credentials around his neck, in addition to a helmet and respirator mask.
Speier said he wasn’t sure whether the officer had targeted him and Georgiades, but noted that no protesters were standing near them when the grenade was thrown.
The Brooklyn Center Police Department didn’t respond to requests for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police-brutality protests here.
Freelance journalist Tim Speier said he was filming a smoke grenade on April 11, 2021, in Brooklyn Center, Minneapolis, moments before he was hit in the chest with a flash-bang grenade.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2021, protest, shot / shot at",,,,, Researcher documenting Portland protests hit multiple times with crowd-control rounds,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/researcher-documenting-portland-protests-hit-multiple-times-with-crowd-control-rounds/,2021-05-27 13:18:55.580364+00:00,2022-07-18 21:32:21.860372+00:00,2022-07-18 21:32:21.776673+00:00,,Assault,,,,Juniper Simonis (Independent),,2021-04-11,False,Portland,Oregon (OR),45.52345,-122.67621,"Independent researcher and scientist Juniper Simonis said they were hit in the head by a crowd-control munition fired by federal officers while covering a protest in Portland, Oregon, in the early hours of April 11, 2021.
Simonis said they have been publishing information for several months about law enforcement’s use of chemical irritants at protests on Twitter, for a research and activist group called the Chemical Weapons Research Consortium, and with other outlets.
According to local ABC-affiliate KATU2, demonstrators gathered outside the Portland Immigration and Customs Enforcement building on the preceding Saturday night. Portland police officers arrived around 11:30 p.m. to help Federal Protective Services officers extinguish several burning wooden pallets outside the building that protesters had set on fire. Over the past several months, the ICE building has been the target of numerous protests in support of Black Lives Matter and against police violence and the administration’s immigration policies.
Simonis said they were with a group of journalists in front of the ICE building where plywood sheets covering an entrance had been burned. They said federal officers were firing at the groups through a gap in the plywood sheets.
"They [federal officers] were using cell phones to peek around the corner so they could see where we were," Simonis told the Tracker. "They were targeting us even though it seemed random."
Simonis said the officers fired several times, hitting Simonis in their lower left rib, lower back and face mask, with the last pepper ball ricocheting up and leaving a welt on their forehead.
"I had a bump there that was still tender a month later," Simonis added. Simonis said they were visibly displaying a press badge, a card they made that had their photograph with the publications they write for listed and the word “PRESS” in large letters. Simonis also carried a DSLR camera.
The Department of Homeland Security, which coordinated the federal presence in Portland, didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
James Croxton, managing editor of Oregon-based independent media collective DoubledSided541, was hit by what he described as pepper ball rounds, shot by a Federal Protective Service officer, as Croxton covered a protest in Portland in the early hours of April 11, 2021.
Croxton was covering a “few dozen protesters” gathered near the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland, he wrote in a piece for DoubleSided541 a few days later.
Croxton told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he did not believe he was deliberately targeted by the rounds that he said struck him around midnight that night: “Agent just opened the door and shot out. I happened to be across the street right in his sight.”
The journalist said he was wearing a “PRESS” jacket and badge at the time.
He added: “There’s no doubt that I was shot and injured. Still have the scar.”
Croxton was with independent researcher and scientist Juniper Simonis, who also reported to the Tracker that they were hit by rounds. Croxton works with Simonis on gathering research about law enforcement use of crowd-control munitions.
Croxton posted video on Twitter showing what appear to be FPS agents, along with the sound of firing. “Been hit in the right knee with some sort of projectile. Medics have provided an ice pack,” he wrote.
In his story on Double Sided Media Croxton posted photographs of the rounds that he says hit him as well as photos of what look like injury to his knees caused by crowd-control munitions.
The protest near the ICE facility began around 9 p.m. when protesters gathered around the building, took down a fence and a fire started, Croxton said.
“Just over a half an hour later, what began as a separate small fire on the side of the [ICE] entryway, turned into the entire side of it being engulfed,” he said.
According to reports from the night, the side of the ICE building was on fire and Portland Fire and Rescue officers were sent to the scene to put out the blaze.
“Agents tried to exit. Unsuccessful, they went across their driveway and out the side gate, running towards protesters and shooting both PepperBalls and FN 303 rounds,” wrote Croxton. FN 303 rounds are a “less lethal” form of crowd control munition.
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the Federal Protective Service, has not responded to a request by Tracker for comment.
Freelance videographer Brendan Gutenschwager says he was assaulted by people who claimed to be “acting as security” for an anti-evictions protest in Detroit, Michigan, on April 10, 2021.
According to The Detroit News, protesters, organized by local activist groups Detroit Will Breathe and Detroit Eviction Defense, gathered beside the Detroit Public Safety Headquarters on Third Street and proceeded through downtown.
Gutenschwager, whose videos of protests have been used by Fox News, CNN and ABC News, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that just after 2 p.m. he was filming the march with his phone and posting coverage to his own Twitter feed.
He said he was not wearing a “PRESS” jacket or identification but he identified himself verbally to the protest group as press.
A team of people monitoring the perimeter of the march identified themselves as security, he said. “Within a few seconds of seeing and identifying me, one of these individuals came up to grab my [phone] camera and force me away from the group,” said Gutenschwager.
Gutenschwager said he told the monitors that he was there solely as a journalist documenting things peacefully, “but they took significant issue with me having covered the events at the U.S. Capitol on January 6th earlier this year.”
According to Gutenschwager they accused him of being part of the crowd that attacked the Capitol, “and in assuming I was, said that I was a threat and tried to force me to leave.”
Gutenschwager denied he was a participant in the attack and said he was in Washington D.C. as a journalist that day. One of his videos, of a right-wing Proud Boy member bashing in a window of the Capitol with a stolen police shield, went viral.
“It appeared the anger at the Detroit event was targeted towards me for having been in DC to cover the event,” he told the Tracker.
After the group tried to force him away, “I stayed behind the march from that point forward, but several members of the group became fixated on my presence,” Gutenschwager said.
“Some attempted to keep the peace, telling the other protesters ‘Please don't engage with him. Just let him go.’ Others disagreed,” said Gutenschwager, whose video showed people shouting abuse at him, putting a hand over his phone camera and telling him “you are not welcome here.”
“Someone rammed me into the barricade,” he said. “I was then choked by a man who put both his hands around my neck as my [phone] camera was stolen and thrown over the fence.”
Gutenschwager said his lip was injured and he had scrapes on the right side of his body from the barricade. “I was able to retrieve the camera that had been thrown, at which point I resumed recording as protesters taunted me from the other side of the fence about being bloodied up,” he said.
The phone was not badly damaged so he did not report the incident to the police, he said.
Event organizers Detroit Will Breathe and Detroit Eviction Defense did not respond to requests for comment.
Reporter Don Ford, of KPIX 5, a CBS affiliate station based in San Francisco, California, and his security guard were blinded for “almost an hour” after being sprayed with chemicals while working on a story in Golden Gate Park on April 7, 2021, the journalist told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
The KPIX 5 crew had been recording a segment at around 1:20 p.m. near Stow Lake when they were approached by the suspect, who attempted to steal the crew’s camera. The assailant then sprayed Ford and his security guard with a chemical Ford believed to be pepper spray, before running away. The security guard gave chase, and the assailant dropped the camera, after being hit by his own getaway car. The suspect was then driven off by a second man in a car with Nevada plates.
Ford shared with the Tracker documentation he’d made of the incident just after it happened: “Assignment: Coyotes roaming around Stow Lake in Golden Gate Park. Beautiful sunny warm day with lots of people around. Just me and my guard when we were jumped and pepper sprayed. The attacker used a large canister style Pepper Spray, not the small kind sold in Drug Stores. We weren’t really sprayed, we were doused at close range, directly into our faces.”
He added: “Bad guy grabbed the camera. Guard pulled his weapon and we gave chase before the full force of the Pepper Spray had time to take us down. The bad guy had trouble getting the camera into the car. Camera was still attached to the Tripod. We closed in. Seeing the gun, bad boy dropped the camera, jumped into the car and sped away. Seconds later, we were totally incapacitated with the burning pain.
“SFPD and ambulance arrives and spent the next hour helping us get our sight back. Eventually, we were able to see again.
“I made it home, showered for almost another hour but the pepper is delivered in an oily base that soaks into the skin’s pores. Cops said it may take couple days to fully rid myself of the effects.”
Ford said that the assault happened on his second day back to work, after taking a two-week-long break following a separate assault in March. The Tracker has documented that incident here.
The video camera, a Sony HD professional, was severely damaged, Ford said.
When reached for comment by the Tracker, a San Francisco Police Department spokesperson relayed the following details: “As the suspect was fleeing with the camera, he dropped the camera and entered the getaway vehicle, which fled the scene. Officers rendered aid and summoned medics to the scene, who treated the victims’ non-life-threatening injuries.”
A veteran TV reporter who has been working in the Bay Area since 1981, Ford said that during the course of his career he has chased Sandinistas, documented numerous forest fires and multiple accounts of civil unrest, and was once even rescued from a life raft in the Pacific by the U.S. Coast Guard.
“I've seen a lot,” Ford said, “but I've never seen so many attacks on TV news crews as now.”
"I'm now taking time off work to ‘process’ the attacks,” he added.
According to the SFPD, the “incident remains under active investigation and no arrests have been made.”
While attempting to steal the station video camera, an assailant pepper-sprayed KPIX 5 reporter Don Ford and security guard.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"chemical irritant, robbery",,,,, "April: Journalists ordered to disperse, threatened with arrest while reporting on racial justice protests",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/april-journalists-ordered-to-disperse-threatened-with-arrest-while-reporting-on-racial-justice-protests/,2021-04-26 16:43:42.848814+00:00,2022-06-14 19:31:22.898961+00:00,2022-06-14 19:31:22.836982+00:00,,Other Incident,,,,,,2021-04-01,True,Multiple,None,None,None,"The fatal police shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota on April 11, 2021 rekindled a wave of racial justice protests that began almost a year earlier. Wright’s death, on April 11, occurred as a former police officer in nearby Minneapolis was on trial in the death of George Floyd. Protests began outside the Brooklyn Center Police Department the day Wright was killed, and continued daily through mid-April. Journalists covering the protests in Brooklyn Center say they have been hit with crowd-control devices, ordered by police to disperse and detained at media credential checkpoints. During the same period, racial justice demonstrations have also been held in other cities around the United States.
Below is a round-up of incidents involving individual journalists and news crews who faced harassment and threats in the course of their reporting on racial justice protests in Brooklyn Center and across the country. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here. To learn more about how the Tracker documents and categorizes violations of press freedom, visit pressfreedomtracker.us.
April 11, 2021
In Brooklyn Center, Minnesota
A police officer sounding aggravated over the loudspeaker at the Brooklyn Center just said the unlawful assembly means everyone must leave or face arrest.
— Unicorn Riot (@UR_Ninja) April 12, 2021
He made sure to say "this includes the media".
Tear gas being fired again now: https://t.co/M0k7lHx31p
April 13, 2021
Brooklyn Center, Minnesota
"If you do not cease your unlawful behavior & disperse peaceably, you will be arrested...Media and press, leave the area."–Minnesota cops just announced over a loudspeaker. A protester responded, "Media's not leaving! Media's gonna stay!"– @JonFarinaPhoto reports #DaunteWright pic.twitter.com/9RqaIEwSnN
— Status Coup News (@StatusCoup) April 14, 2021
In my 25 years as a reporter I have NEVER heard police in America actually say “journalists will be arrested” during a protests. But that happened in #BrooklynCenter last night. We stayed. The citizens are why we stay. I took this moments aft the announcement #DaunteWright pic.twitter.com/rMU0fEyJKU
— Sara Sidner (@sarasidnerCNN) April 14, 2021
April 16, 2021
Brooklyn Center, Minnesota
Still waiting here. Tons of arrests tonight. Looks like just law enforcement left - a hundred at least - at this intersection, blocking street and taking apart leftover umbrellas https://t.co/31RKdxDxoB pic.twitter.com/o4stNDOPzY
— Estelle TW (@tw_estelle) April 17, 2021
April 20, 2021
Los Angeles, California
They threatened me with arrest. pic.twitter.com/ZJzK4kDAGM
— joeyneverjoe (he/him) (@joeyneverjoe) April 21, 2021
April 27, 2021
Elizabeth City, North Carolina
April 29, 2021
Elizabeth City, North Carolina
The First Amendment is only a string of words if officers with weapons in riot gear refuse to respect it in the streets. Operating in illegal darkness has never made a community safer, and we will not accept it.
— Casey Blake (@CaseyBlakeAVL) April 29, 2021
Last night, a North Carolina cop threatened to arrest photojournalist @JonFarinaPhoto while he was covering #AndrewBrownJr protests for @StatusCoup.
— Status Coup News (@StatusCoup) April 30, 2021
His crime...asking the police officer "this is your community, can I ask you how you feel about this?" pic.twitter.com/E8SsbRzqgX
At least 13 or more journalists were arrested or detained in Los Angeles, California, while documenting demonstrations near Echo Park Lake on March 25, 2021, as reported to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, on social media and in other news outlets.
As crowds demonstrated against the city’s plan to clear a large homeless encampment, Los Angeles Police Department officers declared the gathering at the park’s northern entrance unlawful shortly after 8 p.m., The Washington Post reported.
Before anyone could exit, according to The Post, a supervising officer announced that everyone was under arrest and officers surrounded the group using a police tactic called “kettling.”
Los Angeles Times reporter James Queally tweeted that he and Lexis-Olivier Ray, a reporter for the digital site L.A. Taco, were standing next to each other inside the “kettle” as police faced off with protesters. Queally noted that just a week earlier, he had written a story for the Times about the “failure to disperse” charges brought against Ray by the LAPD, months after Ray was covering another incident in downtown LA.
“We [Queally and Ray] were looking at each other, asking, ‘Is it going to happen again?’ and of course, it did,” Queally told The Post of the detainment.
Ray captured the moment around 8:30 p.m. when LAPD officers led Queally out of the kettle and placed him in zip-tie cuffs.
L.A. Times crime reporter @JamesQueallyLAT being taken into custody earlier. We all got boxed in. James and I were trying to stick together. @LATACO pic.twitter.com/l6TWtXRjow
— Lexis-Olivier Ray (@ShotOn35mm) March 26, 2021
“I announced myself as press several times, and credit to the arresting officers, they checked my credential pretty quickly and got a supervisor,” Queally tweeted.
Queally could not immediately be reached by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker for comment, but according to The Post, he was wearing an LAPD-issued press pass around his neck when he was arrested.
In his tweet thread, Queally wrote that the supervisor who was called in by the arresting officers “didn’t care I was press,” and told him, “this is the policy tonight.”
The Post reported that attorneys and a managing editor for the Times contacted Queally and secured his release after approximately 30 minutes, just as he was about to board a transport bus.
Shortly after Queally’s arrest, the LAPD put out a statement on Twitter that reads, in part, “As a reminder, members of the media are also to obey the dispersal orders. Members of the media are to use the designated media viewing area.”
At around 1 a.m. on March 26, the LAPD posted another statement specifically addressing the detainment of members of the press.
“An unlawful assembly was declared by the Incident Commander after the unlawful activity of individuals threatened the safety of the officers and all those present,” the statement reads. According to the statement, police declared the gathering unlawful in part because protesters were shining strobe lights at police, which can “cause significant injury to the eyes.”
The statement says members of the press were directed to identify themselves to police and then move off to a designated media area about 350 feet away from the crowd.
About the media area, Queally tweeted, “Media pens are deliberately setup to keep reporters AWAY from news. Tonight was no different. It was nowhere near the protests or action in the park.”
The LAPD statement notes that as individual arrests were made of those inside the kettle, police officers “learned that several credentialed and non-credentialed members of the media were part of the group. Members from the Department’s Media Relations Division were summoned to assist in identifying these individuals and they were released at scene without being arrested.”
The Los Angeles Police Department, which only accepts requests for comment via email, did not immediately respond to an emailed request from the Tracker for further comment.
The Tracker documents all arrests separately. Find all arrests from the protest and subsequent kettle in Echo Park here.
Los Angeles Police Department officers detain protesters demonstrating against the closure of a homeless encampment at Echo Park Lake on March 25, 2021. At least a dozen journalists were also arrested or detained.
",detained and released without being processed,not charged,Los Angeles Police Department,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"encampment, kettle, protest",,,,, L.A. Taco reporter detained while covering Echo Park protest,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/la-taco-reporter-detained-while-covering-echo-park-protest/,2021-03-26 19:22:15.691865+00:00,2022-01-03 14:59:18.213113+00:00,2022-01-03 14:59:18.148662+00:00,,"Arrest/Criminal Charge, Assault",,,,Lexis-Olivier Ray (L.A. Taco),,2021-03-25,False,Los Angeles,California (CA),34.05223,-118.24368,"At least 13 journalists, and likely more, were arrested or detained in Los Angeles, California, while documenting demonstrations near Echo Park Lake on March 25, 2021, as reported to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, on social media and in other news outlets.were arrested or detained in Los Angeles, California, while documenting demonstrations near Echo Park Lake on March 25, 2021, as reported to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, on social media and in other news outlets.
As crowds demonstrated against the city’s plan to clear a large homeless encampment, Los Angeles Police Department officers declared the gathering at the park’s northern entrance unlawful shortly after 8 p.m., The Washington Post reported.
Before anyone could exit, according to The Post, a supervising officer announced that everyone was under arrest and officers surrounded the group using a police tactic called “kettling.”
Los Angeles Times reporter James Queally tweeted that he and reporter Lexis-Olivier Ray, who writes for the digital news site L.A. Taco, were standing next to each other inside the “kettle” as police faced off with protesters. Queally noted that just a week earlier, he had written a story for the Times about the “failure to disperse” charges brought against Ray by the LAPD months after he was covering another incident in downtown L.A.
Ray tweeted that he and Queally were trying to stick together after the crowd was boxed in, and he posted footage he took as Queally was led away by officers and placed in zip-tie cuffs.
Ray confirmed to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he continued filming as officers arrested more individuals in the kettle — sometimes violently. In the footage, Ray can be heard saying, “Why are you pointing this [weapon] at me? I’m with the media,” as an officer trains his weapon on Ray’s chest and face.
LAPD violently arresting a protestor earlier near Lemoyne and Park Ave. Dozens of protestors and media have been boxed in. Nobody is able to leave. @LATACO pic.twitter.com/3hh6kOLERi
— Lexis-Olivier Ray (@ShotOn35mm) March 26, 2021
Queally tweeted that after his arrest and release 30 minutes later, Ray called him and said that he was still detained in the kettle.
“I managed to get hold of an officer in media relations who rushed to do something about it,” Queally wrote. “I’m still worried he might have gotten arrested otherwise.”
Ray tweeted at around 10:30 p.m. that he had been released, along with other members of the press, without being formally arrested.
LAPD has let me and a group of press go without detaining us. They made us all show our press passes to avoid arrest. I'm safe 🙏🏾 @LATACO pic.twitter.com/z1nuIuyUxI
— Lexis-Olivier Ray (@ShotOn35mm) March 26, 2021
“They held us there for more than an hour and then let people go if they had a press pass,” Ray told the Tracker. “Last year they said press could self-ID but I think they only let people go [that night] if they approved their press pass.”
Around the time it was making arrests, LAPD issued a statement on Twitter that reads, in part, “As a reminder, members of the media are also to obey the dispersal orders. Members of the media are to use the designated media viewing area.”
At around 1 a.m. on March 26, the LAPD posted another statement specifically addressing the detainments of members of the press.
“An unlawful assembly was declared by the Incident Commander after the unlawful activity of individuals threatened the safety of the officers and all those present,” the statement reads. According to the statement, police declared the gathering unlawful in part because protesters were shining strobe lights at police, which can “cause significant injury to the eyes.”
The statement says members of the press were directed to identify themselves and relocate to a media area 350 feet away from the crowd.
About the media area, Queally tweeted, “Media pens are deliberately setup to keep reporters AWAY from news. Tonight was no different. It was nowhere near the protests or action in the park.”
The LAPD statement notes that as individual arrests were made of those inside the kettle, police officers “learned that several credentialed and non-credentialed members of the media were part of the group. Members from the Department’s Media Relations Division were summoned to assist in identifying these individuals and they were released at scene without being arrested.”
The Los Angeles Police Department, which only accepts requests for comment via email, did not immediately respond to a request for further comment.
The Tracker documents all arrests separately. Find all arrests and detainments from the Echo Park Lake protest here.
Los Angeles Police Department officers detain protesters demonstrating against the closure of a homeless encampment at Echo Park Lake on March 25, 2021. More than a dozen journalists were also arrested or detained.
",detained and released without being processed,not charged,Los Angeles Police Department,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"encampment, kettle, protest",,,,, "Knock LA reporter arrested while covering Echo Park protest, charged with failure to disperse",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/knock-la-reporter-arrested-while-covering-echo-park-protest-charged-with-failure-to-disperse/,2021-03-26 19:42:04.148375+00:00,2022-05-12 19:36:34.324393+00:00,2022-05-12 19:36:34.175917+00:00,"(2021-04-07 13:03:00+00:00) Charges dropped against reporter for community news site Knock LA, (2022-05-09 15:35:00+00:00) Knock LA journalists sue Los Angeles Police Department following arrests in 2021",Arrest/Criminal Charge,,,,Jonathan Peltz (Knock LA),,2021-03-25,False,Los Angeles,California (CA),34.05223,-118.24368,"At least 13 journalists, and likely more, were arrested or detained in Los Angeles, California, while documenting demonstrations near Echo Park Lake on March 25, 2021, as reported to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, on social media and in other news outlets.
As crowds demonstrated against the city’s plan to clear a large homeless encampment, Los Angeles Police Department officers declared the gathering at the park’s northern entrance unlawful shortly after 8 p.m., The Washington Post reported.
Before anyone could exit, according to The Post, a supervising officer announced that everyone was under arrest and officers surrounded the group using a police tactic called “kettling.”
Jonathan Peltz, a reporter for nonprofit community journalism outlet Knock LA, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was covering the protest with his colleague Kate Gallagher. Police made an announcement to disperse at around 7:45 p.m, but the message was inaudible to him and most of those present, Peltz said.
About 15 minutes later, an officer ordered members of the media and legal observers to disperse. The police designated a pen for media that was several blocks away, according to Peltz, but he said he wasn’t concerned because there were other journalists around him.
“From my perspective, you know, I was doing my job,” he said. “This was where the protest was happening.”
Peltz said that protesters began to move up the street away from the police line when law enforcement moved in to “kettle” the group and began arresting people.
Peltz told the Tracker that he repeated to police that he and his colleague were journalists. He said he heard other people nearby say that they were press, too.
Peltz said he continued to record video of the confrontation until 8:35 p.m.; he said he noted the time on his camera just before officers restrained his wrists in zip-tie cuffs. He asked the officer who was recording his personal information what he was being charged with, but the officer did not know.
A tweet from the Knock LA Twitter account posted at 9:45 p.m. said that Peltz and Gallagher were arrested by the LAPD while they were covering the protest.
Two of our reporters have been arrested at #EchoParkRiseUp pic.twitter.com/T1zeBPm7Dw
— Knock LA (@KNOCKdotLA) March 26, 2021
Knock LA called for police to release its journalists immediately, and demanded that any charges be dropped.
“Law enforcement cannot be allowed to jail journalists for doing their job,” the statement reads.
Peltz told the Tracker he again identified himself as a journalist to police as he was loaded onto a bus with other people who had been arrested. They were transported to the LAPD Metropolitan Detention Center, where he was processed. Peltz said his wrists were zip tied so tightly that his hands went numb.
He said he was released at around 12:30 a.m. on March 26 but was ordered to appear in court on July 30 on a charge of failure to disperse.
UPDATE: Jonathan Peltz and Kate Gallagher are free. Thank you to everyone who advocated for their release. pic.twitter.com/wB0eiqiKcF
— Knock LA (@KNOCKdotLA) March 26, 2021
Around the time it was making arrests, LAPD issued a statement on Twitter that reads, in part, “As a reminder, members of the media are also to obey the dispersal orders. Members of the media are to use the designated media viewing area.”
At around 1 a.m. on March 26, the LAPD posted another statement specifically addressing the detainments of members of the press.
“An unlawful assembly was declared by the Incident Commander after the unlawful activity of individuals threatened the safety of the officers and all those present,” the statement reads. According to the statement, police declared the gathering unlawful in part because protesters were shining strobe lights at police, which can “cause significant injury to the eyes.”
The statement says members of the press were directed to identify themselves and relocate to a media area about 350 feet away from the crowd.
The LAPD statement notes that as individual arrests were made of those inside the kettle, police officers “learned that several credentialed and non-credentialed members of the media were part of the group. Members from the Department’s Media Relations Division were summoned to assist in identifying these individuals and they were released at scene without being arrested.”
The Los Angeles Police Department, which only accepts requests for comment via email, did not immediately respond to a request for further comment.
The Tracker documents all arrests separately. Find all arrests and detainments from the Echo Park Lake protest here.
Los Angeles Police Department assemble near Echo Park Lake amid evictions of homeless encampments there on March 25, 2021. At least 19 journalists were arrested or detained while covering demonstrations against the evictions.
",arrested and released,charges dropped,Los Angeles Police Department,2021-03-26,None,False,2:22-cv-03106,['ONGOING'],Civil,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"encampment, kettle, protest",,rioting: failure to disperse,,, Spectrum News 1 reporter detained while covering protest at LA’s Echo Park,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/spectrum-news-1-reporter-detained-while-covering-protest-at-las-echo-park/,2021-03-26 20:33:29.615774+00:00,2022-01-03 14:59:49.327151+00:00,2022-01-03 14:59:49.271436+00:00,,Arrest/Criminal Charge,,,,Kate Cagle (Spectrum News 1 SoCal),,2021-03-25,False,Los Angeles,California (CA),34.05223,-118.24368,"At least 13 journalists, and likely more, were arrested or detained in Los Angeles, California, while documenting demonstrations near Echo Park Lake on March 25, 2021, as reported to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, on social media and in other news outlets.
As crowds demonstrated against the city’s plan to clear a large homeless encampment, Los Angeles Police Department officers declared the gathering at the park’s northern entrance unlawful shortly after 8 p.m., The Washington Post reported.
Before anyone could exit, according to The Post, a supervising officer announced that everyone was under arrest and officers surrounded the group using a police tactic called “kettling.”
Kate Cagle, an anchor and reporter for Spectrum News 1 SoCal, a local Los Angeles news channel, was among the journalists detained while she was covering the protests.
Cagle posted on Twitter at 8:22 p.m. that she was being held in the kettle at Echo Lake Park. A few minutes later, she posted a video of protesters and police, explaining that the group was being held between two lines of police officers.
At around 9 p.m. Cagle tweeted that an officer announced that everyone was being arrested.
In a video Cagle later posted on Twitter, two officers are leading Cagle away from the camera. She can be heard saying, “Wait, I’m with Spectrum News 1!” and saying that she needs to stay with the members of her crew.
"Wait. I'm with Spectrum News 1."
— Kate Cagle (@KateCagle) March 26, 2021
"I have to stay with my crew."
This is the moment three LAPD officers pulled me from a crowd of protestors and zip tied my hands tonight at Echo Park Lake. @SpecNews1SoCal pic.twitter.com/jwSBFgpsSc
At 10:03 p.m., Cagle posted that she had been released.
She wrote on Twitter that she identified herself as a Spectrum News 1 reporter and showed a press pass issued by Los Angeles County. She said she also texted her location to the LAPD public information officer, and her newsroom called a police supervisor.
“They still handcuffed me,” she wrote.
Just to be crystal clear - I identified myself as a reporter for Spectrum News 1 and showed my LA County press pass.
— Kate Cagle (@KateCagle) March 26, 2021
- I told the officers who corralled us
- texted LAPD’s PIO my location
- my newsroom called their supervisor
They still handcuffed me.
While she was detained in the kettle, Cagle posted on Twitter that she was with two freelance photographers who were live-streaming for Spectrum News 1. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has not been able to identify the two photojournalists, and Cagle did not respond to a request for comment. Efforts to reach newsroom leaders of Spectrum News 1 were not successful, but the channel’s news site confirmed in an article that Cagle had been detained and released.
Around the time it was making arrests, LAPD issued a statement on Twitter that reads, in part, “As a reminder, members of the media are also to obey the dispersal orders. Members of the media are to use the designated media viewing area.”
At around 1 a.m. on March 26, the LAPD posted another statement specifically addressing the detainments of members of the press.
“An unlawful assembly was declared by the Incident Commander after the unlawful activity of individuals threatened the safety of the officers and all those present,” the statement reads. According to the statement, police declared the gathering unlawful in part because protesters were shining strobe lights at police, which can “cause significant injury to the eyes.”
The statement says members of the press were directed to identify themselves and relocate to a media area about 350 feet away from the crowd.
The LAPD statement notes that as individual arrests were made of those inside the kettle, police officers “learned that several credentialed and non-credentialed members of the media were part of the group. Members from the Department’s Media Relations Division were summoned to assist in identifying these individuals and they were released at scene without being arrested.”
The Los Angeles Police Department, which only accepts requests for comment via email, did not immediately respond to a request for further comment.
The Tracker documents all arrests separately. Find all arrests and detainments from the Echo Park Lake protest here.
Protesters clash with Los Angeles Police Department officers during an eviction of homeless encampments at Echo Park Lake in California on March 25, 2021. More than a dozen journalists were arrested or detained during the demonstrations.
",detained and released without being processed,not charged,Los Angeles Police Department,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"encampment, kettle, protest",,,,, Reporter for Knock LA arrested with colleague while covering Echo Park protest in LA,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-for-knock-la-arrested-with-colleague-while-covering-echo-park-protest-in-la/,2021-03-26 21:06:13.051259+00:00,2022-05-12 19:37:43.395062+00:00,2022-05-12 19:37:43.312768+00:00,"(2021-04-07 13:11:00+00:00) Charges dropped against Knock LA reporter arrested with colleague while covering Echo Park protest in L.A., (2022-05-09 15:37:00+00:00) Knock LA journalists sue Los Angeles Police Department following arrests in 2021",Arrest/Criminal Charge,,,,Kate Gallagher (Knock LA),,2021-03-25,False,Los Angeles,California (CA),34.05223,-118.24368,"At least 13 journalists, and likely more, were arrested or detained in Los Angeles, California, while documenting demonstrations near Echo Park Lake on March 25, 2021, as reported to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, on social media and in other news outlets.
As crowds demonstrated against the city’s plan to clear a large homeless encampment, Los Angeles Police Department officers declared the gathering at the park’s northern entrance unlawful shortly after 8 p.m., The Washington Post reported.
Before anyone could exit, according to The Post, a supervising officer announced that everyone was under arrest and officers surrounded the group using a police tactic called “kettling.”
Kate Gallagher, who was reporting on the protest for the nonprofit community journalism outlet Knock LA, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she was covering the protest with her colleague Jonathan Peltz.
She said police made an announcement directing journalists and legal observers to disperse around 8 p.m., but she said the announcement was difficult to hear and she only learned about it on Twitter.
Gallagher said she was concerned about what police planned next for the protesters, so she decided to stay and continue reporting. Meanwhile, police had set up a pen for media several blocks away, but a number of other journalists also decided to stay at the scene of the protest, according to Peltz, the other Knock LA reporter.
About 20 minutes later, Gallagher said, police started to form a kettle to detain the group. Gallagher and Peltz were standing with about a dozen other journalists at the time, she said.
“No one really seemed very alarmed at first,” she said. According to Gallagher, journalists did not expect that police would arrest them because they were there covering the scene, not as part of the protest.
She said that it became clear that journalists were also going to be arrested when one member of the press tried to leave the police kettle and was not allowed to go.
A tweet from the Knock LA Twitter account posted at 9:45 p.m. said that Peltz and Gallagher were arrested by the LAPD while they were covering the protest.
Two of our reporters have been arrested at #EchoParkRiseUp pic.twitter.com/T1zeBPm7Dw
— Knock LA (@KNOCKdotLA) March 26, 2021
The publication called for police to release the journalists immediately and demanded that any charges be dropped.
“Law enforcement cannot be allowed to jail journalists for doing their job,” the statement reads.
Gallagher said that she identified herself as a journalist several times during her interactions with the police, including when police were forming the kettle, again when she was patted down during her arrest, and as she was loaded onto a bus to be transported to the LAPD Metropolitan Detention Center.
Gallagher and Peltz were released from the detention center at around 12:30 a.m. March 26, she said, and she was ordered to appear in court on July 30 on a charge of failure to disperse.
UPDATE: Jonathan Peltz and Kate Gallagher are free. Thank you to everyone who advocated for their release. pic.twitter.com/wB0eiqiKcF
— Knock LA (@KNOCKdotLA) March 26, 2021
Around the time it was making arrests, LAPD issued a statement on Twitter that reads, in part, “As a reminder, members of the media are also to obey the dispersal orders. Members of the media are to use the designated media viewing area.”
At around 1 a.m. on March 26, the LAPD posted another statement specifically addressing the detainments of members of the press.
“An unlawful assembly was declared by the Incident Commander after the unlawful activity of individuals threatened the safety of the officers and all those present,” the statement reads. According to the statement, police declared the gathering unlawful in part because protesters were shining strobe lights at police, which can “cause significant injury to the eyes.”
The statement says members of the press were directed to identify themselves and relocate to a media area about 350 feet away from the crowd.
The LAPD statement notes that as individual arrests were made of those inside the kettle, police officers “learned that several credentialed and non-credentialed members of the media were part of the group. Members from the Department’s Media Relations Division were summoned to assist in identifying these individuals and they were released at scene without being arrested.”
The Los Angeles Police Department, which only accepts requests for comment via email, did not immediately respond to a request for further comment.
The Tracker documents all arrests separately. Find all arrests and detainments from the Echo Park Lake protest here.
Los Angeles Police Department officers arrive at Echo Park Lake to evict homeless encampments. Protests against the eviction on March 25, 2021 resulted in the arrests or detentions of at least 19 journalists while reporting.
",arrested and released,charges dropped,Los Angeles Police Department,2021-03-26,None,False,2:22-cv-03106,['ONGOING'],Civil,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"encampment, kettle, protest",,rioting: failure to disperse,,, "While documenting LA’s Echo Park protest, videographer arrested, charged with failure to disperse",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/while-documenting-las-echo-park-protest-videographer-arrested-charged-with-failure-to-disperse/,2021-03-26 22:40:31.459897+00:00,2022-05-11 18:50:54.320189+00:00,2022-05-11 18:50:54.245041+00:00,(2021-04-07 13:21:00+00:00) Charges dropped against videographer arrested while documenting Echo Park Lake protest,Arrest/Criminal Charge,,,,Sean Beckner-Carmitchel (Freelance),,2021-03-25,False,Los Angeles,California (CA),34.05223,-118.24368,"At least 13 journalists, and likely more, were arrested or detained in Los Angeles, California, while documenting demonstrations near Echo Park Lake on March 25, 2021, as reported to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, on social media and in other news outlets.
As crowds demonstrated against the city’s plan to clear a large homeless encampment, Los Angeles Police Department officers declared the gathering at the park’s northern entrance unlawful shortly after 8 p.m., The Washington Post reported.
Before anyone could exit, according to The Post, a supervising officer announced that everyone was under arrest and officers surrounded the group using a police tactic called “kettling.”
Independent videographer Sean Beckner-Carmitchel told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was one of the journalists covering the demonstrations who became trapped with protesters in the police kettle.
“At that point, my mindset was: I’m going to be arrested. I can either be arrested and do my job or be arrested and not do my job,” Beckner-Carmitchel said.
In footage posted to Instagram, Beckner-Carmitchel narrates that the crowd has been kettled on Lemoyne Street between Sunset Boulevard and Park Avenue. He appears to be on a sidewalk as he films individuals standing in the street, who are arrested, one by one, by police. Approximately 38 minutes into the footage, officers approach Beckner-Carmitchel and ask that he come with them.
As Beckner-Carmitchel agrees and hands his equipment to one of the officers, some who remain inside the kettle can be heard booing and shouting that he is a member of the press. Beckner-Carmitchel can be heard telling officers that he is wearing a press credential from the National Press Photographers Association, which advocates for visual journalists in print, broadcast and digital newsrooms as well as freelancers.
When asked what would happen next, an officer can be heard telling Beckner-Carmitchel that he will be transferred to a police bus that would take him to a “staging” area; once there, the officer says, Beckner-Carmitchel would be cited and released.
Beckner-Carmitchel told the Tracker that before being loaded onto the bus, a public information officer who knows the journalist spoke with one of his arresting officers, but did not intervene to stop the arrest.
Los Angeles Times reporter James Queally — who was also detained that night — tweeted at midnight that Beckner-Carmitchel was still being held in police custody. In a subsequent tweet Queally said that the LAPD informed him that Beckner-Carmitchel was being held because the department “doesn’t recognize” the credentials he was wearing, and because he had not gone to a “media area” set up by police some distance away from the protest.
Only information I could get out is that LAPD doesn't recognize Sean's NPPA credential and another complaint about him not being in the media pen. He's not answering my texts either. Unfortunately, this means he's probably still in custody. https://t.co/D1lQVQMz4p
— James Queally (@JamesQueallyLAT) March 26, 2021
Beckner-Carmitchel told the Tracker that other journalists with NPPA credentials were released from the kettle without being arrested, and that, from the media staging area set up by police, it would have been impossible to see what was happening inside the kettle.
Beckner-Carmitchel later tweeted that he had been released shortly after 1 a.m. on March 26 with a failure to disperse charge, a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months imprisonment and a fine of up to $1,000, according to California’s penal code. Beckner-Carmitchel told the Tracker that he was the last person to be released from the open booking area at the Metropolitan Detention Center where he was processed.
His citation, which he shared with the Committee to Protect Journalists, a founding partner of the Tracker, orders him to appear for a hearing on July 30.
“My frustration right now is I could be cutting together 45 hours of footage and doing a report about the people of Echo Park Lake and the activists involved over the past two days,” Beckner-Carmitchel told the Tracker. “Instead, I’m talking to lawyers and checking my Twitter.”
Around the time it was making arrests, LAPD issued a statement on Twitter that reads, in part, “As a reminder, members of the media are also to obey the dispersal orders. Members of the media are to use the designated media viewing area.”
At around 1 a.m. on March 26, as Beckner-Carmitchel was being released, the LAPD posted a statement specifically addressing the detainments of members of the press.
“An unlawful assembly was declared by the Incident Commander after the unlawful activity of individuals threatened the safety of the officers and all those present,” the statement reads. According to the statement, police declared the gathering unlawful in part because protesters were shining strobe lights at police, which can “cause significant injury to the eyes.”
The statement says members of the press were directed to identify themselves and relocate to a media area about 350 feet away from the crowd.
The LAPD statement notes that as individual arrests were made of those inside the kettle, police officers “learned that several credentialed and non-credentialed members of the media were part of the group. Members from the Department’s Media Relations Division were summoned to assist in identifying these individuals and they were released at scene without being arrested.”
The Los Angeles Police Department, which only accepts requests for comment via email, did not immediately respond to a request for further comment.
The Tracker documents all arrests separately. Find all arrests and detainments from the Echo Park Lake protest here.
Los Angeles Police Department officers arrive at Echo Park Lake to evict homeless encampments on March 25, 2021. More than a dozen journalists were arrested or detained while documenting demonstrations against the evictions.
",arrested and released,charges dropped,Los Angeles Police Department,2021-03-26,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"encampment, kettle, protest",,rioting: failure to disperse,,, Independent photojournalist detained while covering Echo Park protest,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-photojournalist-detained-while-covering-echo-park-protest/,2021-03-30 14:06:34.009849+00:00,2022-01-03 15:00:32.302423+00:00,2022-01-03 15:00:32.247585+00:00,,"Arrest/Criminal Charge, Assault",,,,Ashley Balderrama (Independent),,2021-03-25,False,Los Angeles,California (CA),34.05223,-118.24368,"At least 17 journalists were arrested or detained in Los Angeles, California, while documenting demonstrations near Echo Park Lake on March 25, 2021, as reported to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, on social media and in other news outlets.
As crowds demonstrated against the city’s plan to clear a large homeless encampment, Los Angeles Police Department officers declared the gathering at the park’s northern entrance unlawful shortly after 8 p.m., the Washington Post reported.
According to the Post, before anyone could exit, a supervising officer announced that everyone was under arrest, and officers surrounded the group using a police tactic called “kettling.”
Independent photojournalist Ashley Balderrama said she was caught in the police kettle while she was live on her Instagram and taking photographs. “I was hit on the back with an officer’s baton,” she told the Tracker in an email. She said she was repeatedly shoved by an officer and asked to leave the area, but “there was literally no where to go” because she was stuck between the officers and the protesters. She said she had her National Press Photographers Association credentials, but the officer kept shoving her until some protesters pulled her away.
“We were first told that we were no longer free to leave and that we would be arrested. After explaining to some officers that we were press, they initially said, ‘It’s too late,’” Balderrama said. “At one point as they went to arrest a protester right next to me, they tackled him and he fell into me, [and] when I looked up, an LAPD officer was pointing a less than lethal weapon directly at my face at point blank range.”
Balderrama tweeted a video of this arrest, in which she can be heard yelling, “We can’t go anywhere. There’s another line of you guys right there.”
Balderrama said that even though her credentials were around her neck, she was told multiple times that she would be arrested. “They then moved us all and made press mix with protesters, which worried me greatly, that they would not even take the time to check my credentials.”
She told the Tracker that after being detained for two hours, she was allowed to leave. “As we walked out, they told us where the press viewing was, which was on the next block over, with absolutely no visibility of [the] incident,” she added.
Around the time it was making arrests, LAPD issued a statement on Twitter that read, in part, “As a reminder, members of the media are also to obey the dispersal orders. Members of the media are to use the designated media viewing area.”
At around 1 a.m. on March 26, the LAPD posted another statement, specifically addressing the detainments of members of the press.
“An unlawful assembly was declared by the Incident Commander after the unlawful activity of individuals threatened the safety of the officers and all those present,” the statement said. According to the statement, police declared the gathering unlawful in part because protesters were shining strobe lights at police, which could “cause significant injury to the eyes.”
The statement said members of the press were directed to identify themselves and relocate to a media area about 350 feet away from the crowd.
The LAPD statement noted that as individuals were being detained inside the kettle, police officers “learned that several credentialed and non-credentialed members of the media were part of the group. Members from the Department’s Media Relations Division were summoned to assist in identifying these individuals and they were released at scene without being arrested.”
The Los Angeles Police Department, which accepts requests for comment only via email, did not respond to the Tracker’s request for further comment.
The Tracker documents all arrests separately. Find all arrests and detainments from the Echo Park Lake protest here.
Los Angeles police arrive on March 24, 2021, to begin the eviction of homeless encampments at Echo Park Lake in Los Angeles. At least 17 journalists were arrested or detained the following day while covering protests against the evictions.
",detained and released without being processed,not charged,Los Angeles Police Department,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"encampment, kettle, protest",,,,, Independent photojournalist hit with rubber bullets while covering Echo Park protest,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-photojournalist-hit-with-rubber-bullets-while-covering-echo-park-protest/,2021-03-30 14:59:32.018716+00:00,2022-03-09 22:37:20.485846+00:00,2022-03-09 22:37:20.428245+00:00,,Assault,,,,Christian Monterrosa (Independent),,2021-03-25,False,Los Angeles,California (CA),34.05223,-118.24368,"Independent photojournalist Christian Monterrosa told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was hit with rubber bullets fired by Los Angeles law enforcement while documenting demonstrations near Echo Park Lake on March, 25, 2021.
Crowds had gathered at Echo Park Lake to demonstrate against the city’s plan to clear a large homeless encampment, the Washington Post reported. According to the Post, Los Angeles Police Department officers declared the gathering at the park’s northern entrance unlawful shortly after 8 p.m., but before anyone could exit, a supervising officer announced that everyone was under arrest, and officers surrounded the group using a police tactic called “kettling.”
Monterrosa told the Tracker he got caught in the police kettle. “I thought it was weird [that we were asked to leave] because press and National Lawyers Guild are the ones that stay until the end once the crowd has been dispersed and it’s how we’re able to report on these arrests,” he said. He said police cut off the alleyway where protesters were exiting and created a line of officers to rush the crowd. He said officers shoved demonstrators who were standing in front of him, pushing them into him.
“I was able to get out, from luck,” Monterrosa said. He showed his LAPD-issued and National Press Photographers Association credentials to an officer, who let him and two other journalists leave the area after the commanding officer looked at the press badges.
He told the Tracker he then moved one block north of the area to cover another skirmish between police and protesters. “There was a huge, huge presence of incoming police,” Monterrosa added. “I’ve never seen so many cops at any of the demonstrations I’ve been to in LA.”
He said the protesters started retreating after they saw the police coming, but the officers “heavily enforced dispersal [with] less than lethal weapons” and fired indiscriminately into the crowd.
That was when he was hit by rubber bullets in the abdomen and right forearm, according to Monterrosa. “I was well aware of my rights and where I can and cannot be in these situations. I wasn’t engaging verbally,” Monterrosa, who also chair’s the NPPA’s west region, said. “All I had were my camera and helmet [and] was walking backwards.” He said he retreated to a safe area to apply bandages from his first aid kit.
Around the time it was making arrests, LAPD issued a statement on Twitter that read, in part, “As a reminder, members of the media are also to obey the dispersal orders. Members of the media are to use the designated media viewing area.”
At around 1 a.m. on March 26, the LAPD posted another statement, specifically addressing the detainments of members of the press.
“An unlawful assembly was declared by the Incident Commander after the unlawful activity of individuals threatened the safety of the officers and all those present,” the statement read. According to the statement, police declared the gathering unlawful in part because protesters were shining strobe lights at police, which could “cause significant injury to the eyes.”
The statement said members of the press were directed to identify themselves and relocate to a media area about 350 feet away from the crowd.
The LAPD statement noted that as individuals inside the kettle were detained, police officers “learned that several credentialed and non-credentialed members of the media were part of the group. Members from the Department’s Media Relations Division were summoned to assist in identifying these individuals and they were released at scene without being arrested.”
The Los Angeles Police Department, which accepts requests for comment only via email, did not respond to the Tracker’s request for further comment.
At least 17 journalists were arrested or detained and several assaulted while covering the protest, as reported to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, on social media and in other news outlets. Find all documented press freedom violations from the Echo Park Lake protest here.
At least 17 journalists were arrested or detained in Los Angeles, California, while documenting demonstrations near Echo Park Lake on March 25, 2021, as reported to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, on social media and in other news outlets.
As crowds demonstrated against the city’s plan to clear a large homeless encampment, Los Angeles Police Department officers declared the gathering at the park’s northern entrance unlawful shortly after 8 p.m., the Washington Post reported.
According to the Post, before anyone could exit, a supervising officer announced that everyone was under arrest, and officers surrounded the group using a police tactic called “kettling.”
Sean Edwards, editor-in-chief of The Kollection, an LA-based lifestyle brand with an editorial arm focused on music and youth culture, told the Tracker via email that he was caught in the kettle. “They began to arrest the crowd and press one by one,” he said. “They did not allow me and other members of independent press to identify ourselves.” He said he had his notebook and camera out, as well as photo identification with proof of employment and bylines at the Kollection.
Shortly after 10 p.m., Edwards said LAPD arrested him, detaining him and other journalists at the 77th Street Community Police Station in South Central Los Angeles. He said he was booked for a 409 violation for, according to Edwards, “failure to disperse at the scene of an unlawful assembly” and charged with a misdemeanor. Edwards said officers released him around 1 a.m. on the 26th and returned his belongings to him. He is scheduled to appear in court on July 22.
Around the time it was making arrests, LAPD issued a statement on Twitter that read, in part, “As a reminder, members of the media are also to obey the dispersal orders. Members of the media are to use the designated media viewing area.”
At around 1 a.m. on March 26, the LAPD posted another statement, specifically addressing the detainments of members of the press.
“An unlawful assembly was declared by the Incident Commander after the unlawful activity of individuals threatened the safety of the officers and all those present,” the statement read. According to the statement, police declared the gathering unlawful in part because protesters were shining strobe lights at police, which could “cause significant injury to the eyes.”
The statement said members of the press were directed to identify themselves and relocate to a media area about 350 feet away from the crowd.
The LAPD statement noted that as individuals inside the kettle were detained, police officers “learned that several credentialed and non-credentialed members of the media were part of the group. Members from the Department’s Media Relations Division were summoned to assist in identifying these individuals and they were released at scene without being arrested.”
The Los Angeles Police Department, which accepts requests for comment only via email, did not respond to the Tracker’s request for further comment.
The Tracker documents all arrests separately. Find all documented press freedom violations from the Echo Park Lake protests here.
At least 17 journalists were arrested or detained in Los Angeles, California, while documenting demonstrations near Echo Park Lake on March 25, 2021, as reported to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, on social media and in other news outlets.
As crowds demonstrated against the city’s plan to clear a large homeless encampment, Los Angeles Police Department officers declared the gathering at the park’s northern entrance unlawful shortly after 8 p.m., the Washington Post reported.
According to the Post, before anyone could exit, a supervising officer announced that everyone was under arrest and officers surrounded the group using a police tactic called “kettling.”
Freelance photojournalist Joey Scott told the Tracker via email that he’d heard police give an order to disperse that night, telling legal observers and members of the press in particular to leave the area, but that he “stayed to do my job and document what was happening.”
Soon, though, he was trapped with protesters in the kettle. “I was shoved by a police officer who was setting up the skirmish line, pushing me back into the kettled group and not allowing me to leave,” he said.
Scott told the Tracker that he and other members of the media identified themselves as press to the police but were told that in order to leave the kettled area officers would need to speak to their supervisor, an effort that, according to Scott, “never happened.”
“We were detained for over two hours as they arrested people one by one,” Scott said. He posted multiple videos on Twitter showing police making arrests. Find all documented press freedom violations, including arrests, from the Echo Park Lake protests here.
“Police used force arresting people and pointed shotguns with bean bag rounds at members of the press and protesters,” he told the Tracker.
After roughly two hours, Scott said the press were told to show their credentials in order to leave the area. “I was told to leave the area and not to return unless I wanted to be arrested,” he said.
After being released from the area, Scott said, members of the press were not able to talk to any police officials and requests for information were ignored.
Around the time it was making arrests, LAPD issued a statement on Twitter that read, in part, “As a reminder, members of the media are also to obey the dispersal orders. Members of the media are to use the designated media viewing area.”
At around 1 a.m. on March 26, the LAPD posted another statement, specifically addressing the detainments of members of the press.
“An unlawful assembly was declared by the Incident Commander after the unlawful activity of individuals threatened the safety of the officers and all those present,” the statement read. According to the statement, police declared the gathering unlawful in part because protesters were shining strobe lights at police, which could “cause significant injury to the eyes.”
The statement said members of the press were directed to identify themselves and relocate to a media area about 350 feet away from the crowd.
The LAPD statement noted that as individual arrests were made of those inside the kettle, police officers “learned that several credentialed and non-credentialed members of the media were part of the group. Members from the Department’s Media Relations Division were summoned to assist in identifying these individuals and they were released at scene without being arrested.”
The Los Angeles Police Department, which accepts requests for comment only via email, did not respond to the Tracker’s request for further comment.
At least 17 journalists were arrested or detained in Los Angeles, California, while documenting demonstrations near Echo Park Lake on March 25, 2021, as reported to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, on social media and in other news outlets.
As crowds demonstrated against the city’s plan to clear a large homeless encampment, Los Angeles Police Department officers declared the gathering at the park’s northern entrance unlawful shortly after 8 p.m., The Washington Post reported.
According to The Post, before anyone could exit, a supervising officer announced that everyone was under arrest and officers surrounded the group using a police tactic called “kettling.”
Independent journalist and documentary producer Steven Gute told the Tracker that at around 7:15 p.m. he’d arrived at the north entrance of the park, where demonstrators had gathered for the second night in a row. LAPD officers had established a perimeter around the park and a crowd had gathered near the intersection of Park Avenue and Lemoyne Street, facing off with a line of police.
In footage Gute posted to Facebook, the crowd can be seen backing away from the officers in sync, chanting, “One! Two! One! Two!” Seconds later, an officer can be heard announcing, “You are all under arrest. You are no longer free to leave.”
Gute told the Tracker that he did not hear officers give a dispersal warning or order members of the press to relocate to a media staging area.
“While we were kettled and sandwiched together, officers started arresting people one by one,” Gute said. The video posted to Gute’s Facebook ends with a clip from another angle showing officers placing him under arrest.
Gute told the Tracker he has credentials from the National Press Photographers Association but was not wearing them that night. He identified himself as press when officers approached him, he said, but they still arrested him.
“After they grabbed me, they put the flex cuffs on and we sat around for at least an hour and a half or two hours on the sidewalk waiting for the buses to come,” Gute said.
Gute said he was transported to the 77th Street Community Police Station in South Los Angeles, where he was processed and charged with failure to disperse, a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months imprisonment and a fine of up to $1,000, according to California’s penal code. Gute said he was released shortly after midnight.
Gute’s citation orders him to appear in court for a hearing on July 22 at 8 a.m.
Around the time it was making arrests, LAPD issued a statement on Twitter that read, in part, “As a reminder, members of the media are also to obey the dispersal orders. Members of the media are to use the designated media viewing area.”
At around 1 a.m. on March 26, the LAPD posted another statement, specifically addressing the detainments of members of the press.
“An unlawful assembly was declared by the Incident Commander after the unlawful activity of individuals threatened the safety of the officers and all those present,” the statement read. According to the statement, police declared the gathering unlawful in part because protesters were shining strobe lights at police, which could “cause significant injury to the eyes.”
The statement said members of the press were directed to identify themselves and relocate to a media area about 350 feet away from the crowd.
The LAPD statement noted that as individual arrests were made of those inside the kettle, police officers “learned that several credentialed and non-credentialed members of the media were part of the group. Members from the Department’s Media Relations Division were summoned to assist in identifying these individuals and they were released at scene without being arrested.”
The Los Angeles Police Department, which accepts requests for comment only via email, did not respond to the Tracker’s request for further comment.
The Tracker documents all arrests separately. Find all documented press freedom violations from the Echo Park Lake protests here.
At least 20 journalists were arrested, detained or assaulted in Los Angeles, California, while documenting demonstrations near Echo Park Lake on March 25, 2021, as reported to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, on social media and in other news outlets.
As crowds demonstrated against the city’s plan to clear a large homeless encampment, Los Angeles Police Department officers declared the gathering at the park’s northern entrance unlawful shortly after 8 p.m., The Washington Post reported.
According to The Post, before anyone could exit, a supervising officer announced that everyone was under arrest and officers surrounded the group using a police tactic called “kettling.”
An independent journalist, who asked to be identified only by the anonymized Twitter handle of @desertborder, told the Tracker he was among those detained in the kettle for approximately two hours.
It's been awhile since the last time I was kettled. It sucks, in case anyone was wondering
— Mitch O'Farrell Hates Freedom (@desertborder) March 26, 2021
The journalist said that moments before police trapped the crowd in a kettle, the protesters had begun marching backward in unison, in apparent compliance with a police dispersal order given at around 7:30 p.m.
“The crowd was actively retreating when all of a sudden the crowd broke and people started running,” @desertborder said. “I turned around and looked, and another line of riot cops had come up and blocked us in from behind. There was another side street that they were blocking too, so there was no exit at that point,” he said.
@desertborder said that he stood on a sidewalk, to the side of the main body of protesters, as police began making individual arrests. He and other journalists stayed on the sidelines of the kettle, he said, “to avoid getting arrested.”
“I showed an officer my press badge and I said, ‘Hey, I’m press, can I leave?’ And he told me, ‘No. Press was told to leave and you didn’t. You were given a lawful order and you didn’t comply. Now you’re under arrest too,’” the journalist said. “And I thought, ‘Ah hell, alright. I guess I’m going to jail tonight.’”
@desertborder said that while he continued filming the arrests, an officer pointed a crowd-control weapon directly at him and other members of the press. Lexis-Olivier Ray, a reporter for digital news site L.A. Taco, captured the incident on video.
“They came in to make an arrest over by the sidewalk,” the journalist said. “[The officer] was pointing a less-lethal shotgun [used to fire crowd control munitions] a few inches from our faces and was just really angry and really aggressive, screaming ‘Get back!’ But there was nowhere for us to go, because there was a line of riot cops behind us.”
“I really thought he was going to blast us,” @desertborder said.
About an hour later, he said, journalists standing on one edge of the kettle were told to join those on the opposite edge. @desertborder said he took that as a sign that police might be preparing to let them go without arrest.
“An officer told us, ‘If you don’t have press credentials, just get off the sidewalk and get back with the rest of them,’” the journalist said, “obviously implying that you were going to be arrested if you didn’t have credentials.”
They moved all the press over to this corner. An officer told us if we don't have press credentials we "might as well go back over there" with the crowd of protesters getting arrested. LAPD policy, as handed down by Chief Moore himself, is that press does not need credentials
— Mitch O'Farrell Hates Freedom (@desertborder) March 26, 2021
Shortly after 10 p.m., @desertborder said, the LAPD began allowing members of the press who had press passes to leave the kettle; he said he was able to show the officers his credentials, issued by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, and was permitted to leave.
Around the time it was making arrests, LAPD issued a statement on Twitter that read, in part, “As a reminder, members of the media are also to obey the dispersal orders. Members of the media are to use the designated media viewing area.”
At around 1 a.m. on March 26, the LAPD posted another statement, specifically addressing the detainments of members of the press.
“An unlawful assembly was declared by the Incident Commander after the unlawful activity of individuals threatened the safety of the officers and all those present,” the statement read. According to the statement, police declared the gathering unlawful in part because protesters were shining strobe lights at police, which could “cause significant injury to the eyes.”
The statement said members of the press were directed to identify themselves and relocate to a media area about 350 feet away from the crowd.
The LAPD statement noted that as individual arrests were made of those inside the kettle, police officers “learned that several credentialed and non-credentialed members of the media were part of the group. Members from the Department’s Media Relations Division were summoned to assist in identifying these individuals and they were released at scene without being arrested.”
The Los Angeles Police Department, which accepts requests for comment only via email, did not respond to the Tracker’s request for further comment.
The Tracker documents all arrests separately. Find all documented press freedom violations from the Echo Park Lake protests here.
At least 20 journalists were arrested, detained or assaulted in Los Angeles, California, while documenting demonstrations near Echo Park Lake on March 25, 2021, as reported to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, on social media and in other news outlets.
As crowds demonstrated against the city’s plan to clear a large homeless encampment, Los Angeles Police Department officers declared the gathering at the park’s northern entrance unlawful shortly after 8 p.m., The Washington Post reported.
Before anyone could exit, according to The Post, a supervising officer announced that everyone was under arrest and officers surrounded the group using a police tactic called “kettling.”
Independent journalist Jeremy Lindenfeld, whose website says his work has been published in the Chicago Sun-Times, Knock LA and other platforms, told the Tracker that he was among the many journalists trapped in the police kettle while covering the protest that night.
Lindenfeld said when he initially told the police that he was a member of the National Press Photographers Association, he was told that it was too late to leave and was shoved with a baton.
According to Lindenfeld, he and other members of the press caught inside the “kettle” watched as police arrested protesters.
“Press were again harassed by being told to move to one side of the street then 10 minutes later to the other side of the street for no reason at all, but to scare us,” Lindenfeld told the Tracker.
After some time the police began releasing members of the press with press credentials, according to Lindenfeld. ”I was able to show them my membership to the NPPA and they released me from the kettle,” he said.
Around the time it was making arrests, LAPD issued a statement on Twitter that reads, in part, “As a reminder, members of the media are also to obey the dispersal orders. Members of the media are to use the designated media viewing area.”
At around 1 a.m. on March 26, the LAPD posted another statement specifically addressing the detainments of members of the press.
“An unlawful assembly was declared by the Incident Commander after the unlawful activity of individuals threatened the safety of the officers and all those present,” the statement reads. According to the statement, police declared the gathering unlawful in part because protesters were shining strobe lights at police, which can “cause significant injury to the eyes.”
The statement says members of the press were directed to identify themselves and relocate to a media area about 350 feet away from the crowd.
The LAPD statement notes that as individual arrests were made of those inside the kettle, police officers “learned that several credentialed and non-credentialed members of the media were part of the group. Members from the Department’s Media Relations Division were summoned to assist in identifying these individuals and they were released at scene without being arrested.”
The Los Angeles Police Department, which only accepts requests for comment via email, did not respond to a request for further comment.
The Tracker documents all arrests separately. Find all documented press freedom violations from the Echo Park Lake protests here.
At least 20 journalists were arrested, detained or assaulted in Los Angeles, California, while documenting demonstrations near Echo Park Lake on March 25, 2021, as reported to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, on social media and in other news outlets.
As crowds demonstrated against the city’s plan to clear a large homeless encampment, Los Angeles Police Department officers declared the gathering at the park’s northern entrance unlawful shortly after 8 p.m., The Washington Post reported.
Before anyone could exit, according to The Post, a supervising officer announced that everyone was under arrest and officers surrounded the group using a police tactic called “kettling.”
Freelance journalist Austin Baffa, who said his videos have been used by CNN, Fox News and the Los Angeles Times, told the Tracker that he was covering the protest that night when police declared the assembly unlawful and gave orders to the protesters and the press to disperse and leave.
“With about a minute left before they started making arrests, the protesters began to move back and leave the area,” he said. “That’s when LAPD kettled them from an alley and declared that everyone was under arrest including press.”
Baffa told the Tracker that over the next hour, the police arrested a number of individuals in the kettle, including some members of the press.
“We all thought that we were going to get arrested and sent to jail,” he said. But eventually police told the media and remaining protesters to move to one side of the street, and members of the press were asked to show their press credentials in order to leave, according to Baffa.
Baffa said that he was released after he showed his press credentials, issued by the National Press Photographers Association, to the police.
The journalist also said that he experienced multiple moments of excessive force by law enforcement, including having less-lethal weapons pointed at his chest and head.
Around the time it was making arrests, LAPD issued a statement on Twitter that reads, in part, “As a reminder, members of the media are also to obey the dispersal orders. Members of the media are to use the designated media viewing area.”
At around 1 a.m. on March 26, the LAPD posted another statement specifically addressing the detainments of members of the press.
“An unlawful assembly was declared by the Incident Commander after the unlawful activity of individuals threatened the safety of the officers and all those present,” the statement reads. According to the statement, police declared the gathering unlawful in part because protesters were shining strobe lights at police, which can “cause significant injury to the eyes.”
The statement says members of the press were directed to identify themselves and relocate to a media area about 350 feet away from the crowd.
The LAPD statement notes that as individual arrests were made of those inside the kettle, police officers “learned that several credentialed and non-credentialed members of the media were part of the group. Members from the Department’s Media Relations Division were summoned to assist in identifying these individuals and they were released at scene without being arrested.”
The Los Angeles Police Department, which only accepts requests for comment via email, did not respond to a request for further comment.
The Tracker documents all arrests separately. Find all documented press freedom violations from the Echo Park Lake protests here.
At least 19 journalists were arrested, detained or assaulted in Los Angeles, California, while documenting demonstrations near Echo Park Lake on March 25, 2021, as reported to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, on social media and in other news outlets.
As crowds demonstrated against the city’s plan to clear a large homeless encampment, Los Angeles Police Department officers declared the gathering at the park’s northern entrance unlawful shortly after 8 p.m., The Washington Post reported.
Before anyone could exit, according to The Post, a supervising officer announced that everyone was under arrest and officers surrounded the group using a police tactic called “kettling.”
Freelance journalist Gabriel Fuente, whose work has been published by Salon, The Kollection and 48 Hills according to his Twitter bio, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was among the journalists trapped in the kettle with protesters that night.
Fuente said that those inside the kettle tried to leave, “but police said it was too late. We were under arrest.”
He said that as police continued to make arrests, media were asked to come to the front, and members of the press with press credentials were allowed to leave.
“My partner and I showed our author pages, attempting to demonstrate that we were published journalists, but this was not sufficient evidence,” Fuente said. “We needed to have a press badge.”
Fuente told the Tracker that he was arrested along with his colleague, Sean Edwards, editor-in-chief of The Kollection, and transported to the 77th Street Community Police Station in South Central Los Angeles. According to Fuente, he was “handed a ticket with the PC 409 — failure to disperse at the scene of an unlawful assembly.”
Fuente said he was released at 1 a.m. on the 26th and is scheduled to appear in court July 22.
Around the time it was making arrests, LAPD issued a statement on Twitter that reads, in part, “As a reminder, members of the media are also to obey the dispersal orders. Members of the media are to use the designated media viewing area.”
At around 1 a.m. on March 26, the LAPD posted another statement specifically addressing the detainments of members of the press.
“An unlawful assembly was declared by the Incident Commander after the unlawful activity of individuals threatened the safety of the officers and all those present,” the statement reads. According to the statement, police declared the gathering unlawful in part because protesters were shining strobe lights at police, which can “cause significant injury to the eyes.”
The statement says members of the press were directed to identify themselves and relocate to a media area about 350 feet away from the crowd.
The LAPD statement notes that as individual arrests were made of those inside the kettle, police officers “learned that several credentialed and non-credentialed members of the media were part of the group. Members from the Department’s Media Relations Division were summoned to assist in identifying these individuals and they were released at scene without being arrested.”
The Los Angeles Police Department, which only accepts requests for comment via email, did not respond to a request for further comment.
The Tracker documents all arrests separately. Find all documented press freedom violations from the Echo Park Lake protests here.
At least 20 journalists were arrested, detained or assaulted in Los Angeles, California, while documenting demonstrations near Echo Park Lake on March 25, 2021, as reported to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, on social media and in other news outlets.
As crowds demonstrated against the city’s plan to clear a large homeless encampment, Los Angeles Police Department officers declared the gathering at the park’s northern entrance unlawful shortly after 8 p.m., The Washington Post reported.
Before anyone could exit, according to The Post, a supervising officer announced that everyone was under arrest and officers surrounded the group using a police tactic called “kettling.”
Photojournalist Nick Stern said he was covering the protest that night as part of a documentary film project and was among the journalists detained in the kettle. Stern, whose work has been published by the Daily Mail, the BBC, and other publications, said he was held for approximately two hours before being released without charge.
Stern said police announced a dispersal order at around 8 p.m., but he said that even though he was near the skirmish line, he didn’t hear it and instead learned about the announcement on Twitter. Then, he said, an officer walked through the protest area announcing that all journalists and legal observers must leave the area. He said that set off alarm bells, because he was concerned about what would happen to protesters after observers left.
“Myself, and every other journalist that I was aware of that was there, and the legal representatives, stayed put with the crowd, I think, which was the right thing to do,” Stern said.
Stern said police moved the crowd back about five feet. The protesters then decided to continue to back up further, he said, possibly in an effort to avoid further confrontation with police. As they were retreating, he said, another line of officers came out from an alleyway, forming the kettle to block the group from the other side and preventing them from leaving.
At that point, Stern said, he asked an officer if he could get through the police line. He said he couldn’t recall whether he identified himself as a journalist, but said that he was wearing a press identification card on a lanyard around his neck, which he frequently holds up at protests when interacting with police.
Stern told the Tracker that the officer refused to let him go and said Stern was about to be arrested. He said that he was detained with the group for about two hours.
Police were moving into the crowd to detain individuals, including members of the press, one at a time, Stern said. At one point, he said, four officers came forward and arrested the journalist next to him, who was wearing a National Press Photographers Association card on a lanyard around his neck.
Stern said police never took him into individual custody. While he was held with the larger group, he said that he noticed a senior officer look towards him and say to another officer, “He’s a legit journalist.”
At around 10 p.m., Stern said an officer pointed at him and told him to follow. The officer walked him through the police line and directed him to walk down the street without stopping. Stern said he followed instructions and returned to his car.
Stern said he does not know why he was not taken into custody, when a number of other journalists were, even though they displayed press credentials. He said that he had two press identification cards on a lanyard around his neck, one issued by the National Press Photographers Association and the other by the British Press Photographers’ Association. He said he often displays the British card at protests because it looks different. He said he also had a helmet marked with the word “PRESS” attached to his backpack.
Around the time it was making arrests, LAPD issued a statement on Twitter that reads, in part, “As a reminder, members of the media are also to obey the dispersal orders. Members of the media are to use the designated media viewing area.”
At around 1 a.m. on March 26, the LAPD posted another statement specifically addressing the detainments of members of the press.
“An unlawful assembly was declared by the Incident Commander after the unlawful activity of individuals threatened the safety of the officers and all those present,” the statement reads. According to the statement, police declared the gathering unlawful in part because protesters were shining strobe lights at police, which can “cause significant injury to the eyes.”
The statement says members of the press were directed to identify themselves and relocate to a media area about 350 feet away from the crowd.
The LAPD statement notes that as individual arrests were made of those inside the kettle, police officers “learned that several credentialed and non-credentialed members of the media were part of the group. Members from the Department’s Media Relations Division were summoned to assist in identifying these individuals and they were released at scene without being arrested.”
The Los Angeles Police Department, which only accepts requests for comment via email, did not respond to a request for further comment.
The Tracker documents all arrests separately. Find all documented press freedom violations from the Echo Park Lake protests here.
At least 19 journalists were arrested, detained or assaulted in Los Angeles, California, while documenting demonstrations near Echo Park Lake on March 25, 2021, as reported to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, on social media and in other news outlets.
As crowds demonstrated against the city’s plan to clear a large homeless encampment, Los Angeles Police Department officers declared the gathering at the park’s northern entrance unlawful shortly after 8 p.m., The Washington Post reported.
Before anyone could exit, according to The Post, a supervising officer announced that everyone was under arrest and officers surrounded the group using a police tactic called “kettling.”
Keliyah “Gigi” Williams, a student journalist for the Los Angeles Collegian, a news site aimed at students throughout Los Angeles County, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she was among the journalists trapped in the kettle that night.
“For nearly 2 hours I was kept there until they corralled us into a corner,” she said.
Williams said that when police eventually asked journalists to identify themselves, “I immediately went up and let them know I was affiliated with LACC’s [Los Angeles City College] Collegian.” Williams said she began to pull up her press identification on her phone, but “before it even loaded they let me know they would not be accepting it,” she told the Tracker. They “did not even take the time to check,” she said.
According to Williams, as soon as she moved back to join the crowd, a police officer pointed her out and she was arrested. “Ultimately, I was handcuffed for 2 more hours, transported to the station,” and charged with a 409 violation misdemeanor, for failure to disperse from the place of an unlawful assembly.
Williams said according to her charge ticket, she is scheduled to appear in court on July 22.
Around the time it was making arrests, LAPD issued a statement on Twitter that reads, in part, “As a reminder, members of the media are also to obey the dispersal orders. Members of the media are to use the designated media viewing area.”
At around 1 a.m. on March 26, the LAPD posted another statement specifically addressing the detainments of members of the press.
“An unlawful assembly was declared by the Incident Commander after the unlawful activity of individuals threatened the safety of the officers and all those present,” the statement reads. According to the statement, police declared the gathering unlawful in part because protesters were shining strobe lights at police, which can “cause significant injury to the eyes.”
The statement says members of the press were directed to identify themselves and relocate to a media area about 350 feet away from the crowd.
The LAPD statement notes that as individual arrests were made of those inside the kettle, police officers “learned that several credentialed and non-credentialed members of the media were part of the group. Members from the Department’s Media Relations Division were summoned to assist in identifying these individuals and they were released at scene without being arrested.”
The Los Angeles Police Department, which only accepts requests for comment via email, did not respond to a request for further comment.
The Tracker documents all arrests separately. Find all documented press freedom violations from the Echo Park Lake protests here.
At least 20 journalists were arrested, detained or assaulted in Los Angeles, California, while documenting demonstrations near Echo Park Lake on March 25, 2021, as reported to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, on social media and in other news outlets.
As crowds demonstrated against the city’s plan to clear a large homeless encampment, Los Angeles Police Department officers declared the gathering at the park’s northern entrance unlawful shortly after 8 p.m., The Washington Post reported.
Before anyone could exit, according to The Post, a supervising officer announced that everyone was under arrest and officers surrounded the group using a police tactic called “kettling.
Independent journalist Stephen Oduntan, whose work has been published by Reel Urban News and Dig Mag, said he was on assignment for LA Focus Newspaper the night of the protest when he was detained in the kettle with protesters and other journalists.
In a video posted by Oduntan on Instagram, police officers can be heard announcing, “You are all under arrest, you are no longer free to leave.”
In the description accompanying the video post Oduntan wrote, “Shortly after LAPD’s announcement, they began rounding up peaceful demonstrators as well as multiple reporters.”
Oduntan told the Tracker over email, “At one point, a journalist — I believe with Spectrum — who was standing a few feet from me was arrested. I was sure it was only a matter of time before they'd slash the cuffs on me too.”
“But after standing on a crowded sidewalk for over an hour, LAPD all of a sudden announced that members of the press should raise their hands and credentials,” Oduntan said.
Oduntan said that he and a few other journalists were released, one at a time, after the police verified their press credentials.
Around the time it was making arrests, LAPD issued a statement on Twitter that reads, in part, “As a reminder, members of the media are also to obey the dispersal orders. Members of the media are to use the designated media viewing area.”
At around 1 a.m. on March 26, the LAPD posted another statement specifically addressing the detainments of members of the press.
“An unlawful assembly was declared by the Incident Commander after the unlawful activity of individuals threatened the safety of the officers and all those present,” the statement reads. According to the statement, police declared the gathering unlawful in part because protesters were shining strobe lights at police, which can “cause significant injury to the eyes.”
The statement says members of the press were directed to identify themselves and relocate to a media area about 350 feet away from the crowd.
The LAPD statement notes that as individual arrests were made of those inside the kettle, police officers “learned that several credentialed and non-credentialed members of the media were part of the group. Members from the Department’s Media Relations Division were summoned to assist in identifying these individuals and they were released at scene without being arrested.”
The Los Angeles Police Department, which only accepts requests for comment via email, did not respond to a request for further comment.
The Tracker documents all arrests separately. Find all documented press freedom violations from the Echo Park Lake protests here.
At least 19 journalists, and likely more, were arrested or detained in Los Angeles, California, while documenting demonstrations near Echo Park Lake on March 25, 2021, as reported to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, on social media and in other news outlets.
As crowds demonstrated against the city’s plan to clear a large homeless encampment, Los Angeles Police Department officers declared the gathering at the park’s northern entrance unlawful shortly after 8 p.m., The Washington Post reported.
Before anyone could exit, according to The Post, a supervising officer announced that everyone was under arrest and officers surrounded the group using a police tactic called “kettling.”
Freelance photographer Vern Evans said he was caught in the police kettle and detained by the police the night of the protest. Evans, a photographer for 40 years, said he sees his job as “documenting history.”
“The police told the whole assembly to leave, but I just continued to take photos,” he said.
Evans said that police handcuffed him for 3 hours and later took him to a police station where he was charged with a 409 pc misdemeanor, for failure to disperse from a place of unlawful assembly.
Evans said that according to his charge ticket, he is scheduled to appear in court on July 22. The Tracker documents all arrests separately. Find all arrests and detainments from the Echo Park Lake protest here.
Around the time it was making arrests, LAPD issued a statement on Twitter that reads, in part, “As a reminder, members of the media are also to obey the dispersal orders. Members of the media are to use the designated media viewing area.”
At around 1 a.m. on March 26, the LAPD posted another statement specifically addressing the detainments of members of the press.
“An unlawful assembly was declared by the Incident Commander after the unlawful activity of individuals threatened the safety of the officers and all those present,” the statement reads. According to the statement, police declared the gathering unlawful in part because protesters were shining strobe lights at police, which can “cause significant injury to the eyes.”
The statement says members of the press were directed to identify themselves and relocate to a media area about 350 feet away from the crowd.
The LAPD statement notes that as individual arrests were made of those inside the kettle, police officers “learned that several credentialed and non-credentialed members of the media were part of the group. Members from the Department’s Media Relations Division were summoned to assist in identifying these individuals and they were released at scene without being arrested.”
The Los Angeles Police Department, which only accepts requests for comment via email, did not immediately respond to a request for further comment.
At least 20 journalists, and likely more, were arrested or detained in Los Angeles, California, while documenting demonstrations near Echo Park Lake on March 25, 2021, as reported to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, on social media and in other news outlets.
As crowds demonstrated against the city’s plan to clear a large homeless encampment, Los Angeles Police Department officers declared the gathering at the park’s northern entrance unlawful shortly after 8 p.m., The Washington Post reported.
Before anyone could exit, according to The Post, a supervising officer announced that everyone was under arrest and officers surrounded the group using a police tactic called “kettling.”
Orange County-based independent photojournalist Robert “Chip” Sneed told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that as soon as officers declared the unlawful assembly he moved from the street to the sidewalk, in order to avoid possible arrest for standing in the roadway.
Sneed said that protesters had begun moving away from the police line when law enforcement rushed the crowd. Then, he said, a second group of officers came out from a nearby alley to kettle the group.
“As the protesters are moving backward, the police line does a bullrush and I’m toward the front of the crowd at that point, and I get knocked over and banged up a little bit,” Sneed said. “Luckily some people helped me up and carried me back a bit.”
Once the crowd was surrounded by the police kettle, Sneed said, he ran back and forth to photograph arrests as officers detained individuals one by one. Within minutes, however, Sneed said he also was arrested.
“I don’t know whether they were targeting me already,” he said, but as he made his way across a street, “I made eye contact with two officers that were moving forward from behind the skirmish line to make an arrest and they ran toward me and told me I was under arrest.” Sneed said he identified himself to the officers as press and showed them a press badge that he had created himself. He said he was also carrying two professional cameras, a GoPro camera and was filming with his cell phone when he was arrested.
“I kept asking to speak to the supervisor. Eventually I was able to, and I explained that I was press and I was well within my First Amendment rights to be documenting what was going on and he informed me that apparently they had made an announcement that said press and media were also subject to arrest if they didn’t disperse.”
After waiting 45 minutes on the sidewalk and another hour on a police bus, Sneed said he was transported to the LAPD Metropolitan Detention Center. He said he was released after midnight on March 26 and given paperwork ordering him to appear in court on July 30, on a charge of failure to disperse.
Around the time it was making arrests, LAPD issued a statement on Twitter that reads, in part, “As a reminder, members of the media are also to obey the dispersal orders. Members of the media are to use the designated media viewing area.”
At around 1 a.m. on March 26, the LAPD posted another statement specifically addressing the detainments of members of the press.
“An unlawful assembly was declared by the Incident Commander after the unlawful activity of individuals threatened the safety of the officers and all those present,” the statement reads. According to the statement, police declared the gathering unlawful in part because protesters were shining strobe lights at police, which can “cause significant injury to the eyes.”
The statement says members of the press were directed to identify themselves and relocate to a media area about 350 feet away from the crowd.
The LAPD statement notes that as individual arrests were made of those inside the kettle, police officers “learned that several credentialed and non-credentialed members of the media were part of the group. Members from the Department’s Media Relations Division were summoned to assist in identifying these individuals and they were released at scene without being arrested.”
Sneed retweeted the statement, noting that at no time did he hear the order for the media to disperse and that when he identified himself as press he was told it didn’t matter.
At no time was the press specifically ordered to a designated media area. At no point did any officers attempt to identify myself or other media members being arrested. When I was arrested I immediately identified myself as press and was told it didn’t matter. Y’all fucked up. https://t.co/Ie8n3cwefK
— CHIP NOOO (@chip_nooo) March 26, 2021
A Los Angeles Police Department spokesperson, reached by phone, told the Tracker that department policy is not to discuss arrests once paperwork has been filed. The spokesperson did not respond to emailed requests to confirm details about Sneed’s arrest, including confirming whether police had filed paperwork charging him or intended to do so.
On April 29, Rob Wilcox, a spokesman for Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the office had not received cases from police concerning Sneed or the other journalists who had received police citations more than a month earlier, on March 25.
Sneed told the Tracker on May 17 that he had received no notice that the charges were dropped against him, but said that he had expected that they would be.
Despite the lack of communication to the journalists involved, and barring further information, the Tracker is listing the charges against Sneed as “dropped” based on the lack of paperwork filed.
The Tracker documents all arrests separately. Find all arrests and detainments from the Echo Park Lake protest here.
A Minnesota judge on March 24, 2021, denied media credentials to the British newspaper the Daily Mail to cover the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.
Hennepin County Chief Judge Toddrick Barnette issued the order five days before the beginning of the trial, in which Chauvin is facing murder and manslaughter charges in the death of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest on May 25, 2020.
The order denied journalists from the Daily Mail access to a media center set up in a building across the street from the courthouse for members of the press covering the trial, the Associated Press reported. Media outlets are sharing two pool seats in the courtroom, according to the AP.
Barnette’s order also barred the publication from directly accessing trial exhibits and “all media updates related to the trial.”
The judge wrote that his decision was based on the Daily Mail’s publication on Aug. 3 of footage from body cameras worn by two other Minneapolis police officers who were present at the time of Floyd’s arrest.
The footage was introduced in court in July 2020 as part of pre-trial litigation. Due to the massive amount of public attention on the case and the need “to minimize the effects of judicial pretrial publicity,” a judge had limited the distribution of the footage, Barnette wrote. Under rules set for the body camera footage, members of the media and the public could view it by appointment at a Hennepin County government building, but could not record it or republish it.
Barnette wrote in his order that an investigation determined the video footage was stolen around the time the public could view it. He said that though it was not clear that the Daily Mail stole the footage, it was the first outlet to publish it.
Though the media plays an important role in the criminal justice system, Barnette wrote, “in situations where a Court Order has been violated and a media outlet knowingly exploits the violation by publishing stolen records of court exhibits, the Court is required to pursue an equitable consequence.”
Barnette noted in the order that the Daily Mail could still access exhibits from other media outlets. He said he assumed that the publication paid for the body camera footage and that he was “confident” it would be able to pay for other material that came out during the trial.
“This is not a hardship for the Daily Mail, it is merely an inconvenience,” Barnette wrote.
The Daily Mail did not respond to requests for comment from the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
The Daily Mail appealed the order to the Minnesota Court of Appeals on March 26, arguing that the denial of credentials was a violation of the First Amendment, the AP reported.
Mark Anfinson, local counsel for the Daily Mail, wrote in the petition that the video was “almost certainly not ‘stolen’” and that the newspaper had no role in copying the video, according to the AP. The Daily Mail said it was “leaked a copy of the video from a third party source not associated with the court.”
On April 5, the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota filed a letter in support of the Daily Mail’s appeal. The ACLU argued that there is no evidence that the newspaper played a role in copying the video footage, and asserted that the decision in the case will have implications for others who cover court trials in Minnesota.
In an order issued April 6, the appeals court rejected the Daily Mail’s request to throw out Barnette’s order.
The court ruled that a writ of prohibition was not appropriate because the Daily Mail had not pursued all other options. The judges also wrote that the newspaper did not demonstrate injury, given that live video and audio of the proceedings are available online and trial materials are widely available.
Anfinson told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker on April 9 that the newspaper had not yet decided whether to take further steps.
He rejected the judges’ assertion that the Daily Mail did not pursue other avenues to resolve the issue before asking the appeals court to overturn Barnette’s order.
“It's ludicrous to suggest that we had other options here,” Anfinson said. “We didn't. He issued a formal court order, restricting public access to documents that are public to one news organization. It's a clear cut violation of the First Amendment.”
Hennepin County Government Center is the trial site of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who is facing murder charges in the 2020 death of George Floyd.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,Daily Mail,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2021, protest",,,,,Hennepin County Chief Judge Toddrick Barnette "Journalist hit with police baton, lens damaged while covering Echo Park Lake protest",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-hit-with-police-baton-lens-damaged-while-covering-echo-park-lake-protest/,2021-05-07 14:42:14.209096+00:00,2022-01-03 15:03:54.103841+00:00,2022-01-03 15:03:54.042825+00:00,,"Assault, Equipment Damage",,,camera lens: count of 1,Tina-Desiree Berg (Status Coup),,2021-03-24,False,Los Angeles,California (CA),34.05223,-118.24368,"Independent journalist Tina-Desiree Berg was shoved by a police officer while reporting on a protest near Echo Park Lake in Los Angeles, California on March 24, 2021, Berg told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
Protesters gathered near Echo Park Lake to demonstrate against the city’s plan to clear a homeless encampment, blocking Los Angeles Police Department officers from the park, LAist reported.
In the evening protesters were trying to block police from putting up a barrier around the park, Berg told the Tracker.
Berg, who reports for Status Coup, which describes itself as a progressive, independent news outlet, said she was one of about a half dozen journalists between a line of police officers and protesters. She said she asked if she could move through to the other side of the police line, but an officer refused, telling her, “you’ve made your choice.”
Berg, who was filming using a video camera with a light attachment, said that police were objecting to journalists’ use of camera lights, saying that they were trying to blind the officers.
In a video published by Status Coup on YouTube, officers multiple times ask people, including Berg, to turn off their camera lights. Berg can be heard refusing, at times confrontationally.
In one clip multiple people with cameras can be seen near an officer, who says, “Turn off that light please.”
“I’m not turning off my light, dude, it is necessary for my job,” Berg can be heard saying.
In another clip, an officer can be heard saying “Leave the area, ma’am.”
The video then shows the top of another officer’s helmet, abruptly shakes, and Berg can be heard saying “no!”
Berg told the Tracker that’s when an officer hit her camera lens with a baton, then jabbed her in the abdomen with the baton.
Berg told the Tracker she was wearing a Kevlar vest and was not hurt by the baton. The blow to her camera lens cracked the outer casing of the lens, she said. The interior of the lens was not damaged and it is still usable, she said, though she has not gotten the casing repaired.
Berg said she was wearing multiple press credentials on a lanyard around her neck, including one issued by the Los Angeles Press Club and another that identified her as a journalist for Status Coup.
LAPD spokesperson Raul Jovel said the department opened an investigation into the incident after the Tracker reached out to the department for comment.
At a protest in Echo Lake Park the following day, March 25, at least 20 journalists were arrested, detained or assaulted. Find all documented press freedom violations from the Echo Park Lake protests here.
An arson attack forced the KGET TV 17 news team in Bakersfield, California, to take its 11 p.m. newscast off the air and evacuate the building, on March 21, 2021.
A KGET journalist reported on the attack as it happened saying there was “a scary and bizarre scene, right beneath our studio.” There was “a car bursting into flames as wooden crosses lined our back parking lot,” he added.
The fire was close to the TV station and a car was found on fire outside the parking lot gates of the KGET building on L Street. The sounds of explosions were reported to the police department, which sent its bomb squad.
A KGET website report said there was “an intense fire, with flames shooting as high as 20 feet into the air.”
Thirteen wooden crosses about 5 to 7 ft tall had been left outside the gates, close to the fire. Two of them were draped with what appeared to be wedding dresses, a third with a man’s suit jacket, KGET reported.
Michael Trihey, news director at KGET, the NBC affiliate in Bakersfield and Kern County, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: “It happened during the 11 o'clock newscast on a weekend. We have a roof camera that we use for city views and things of that nature. And we can see on that roof camera, a fire adjacent to the building, which perhaps threatens the building.”
Trihey said the police advised KGET staff to evacuate the building, forcing them to cut the newscast short by 15 minutes.
“Responding officers heard several loud explosions when arriving, which was later determined to be associated with the combustion of normal vehicle equipment (no explosive or incendiary device) was located,” said Bakersfield Police Department spokesman Sgt. Robert Pair. “There was no damage to the studio building. I can confirm the existence of white crosses, a wedding dress and suit jacket.”
A woman was arrested for charges associated with arson after she turned herself in at the Kern County Jail, according to the police. She pleaded not guilty to two charges in connection with the fire, possession of material or device used for arson and burning of combustible material in an unsafe manner when she appeared in a Bakersfield court in April, KGET reported.
Unicorn Riot and its reporter Niko Georgiades were subpoenaed on March 17, 2021, by Energy Transfer LP, the company behind the Dakota Access Pipeline, for all documents and communications relating to the nonprofit media organization’s coverage of the pipeline project.
The subpoenas are part of the pipeline company’s legal effort against several environmental groups, including Greenpeace, and activists that protested against the pipeline in 2016 and 2017, according to The Intercept and other outlets.
Energy Transfer demanded all documents including video and audio recordings concerning both actual and planned demonstrations relating to DAPL or Energy Transfer on several specific dates in August through November of 2016, in addition to information about the organization's structure and employees. Georgiades, a Unicorn Riot reporter who covered events at Standing Rock, was separately served a subpoena for similar materials. His subpoena is documented here.
Greenpeace labeled the company’s legal effort a SLAPP suit, which stands for a strategic lawsuit against public participation, designed to silence critics, The Intercept reported. The Committee to Protect Journalists has called on Energy Transfer to withdraw the subpoenas. CPJ is a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
Energy Transfer didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment from the Tracker.
Freddy Martinez, a member of the Unicorn Riot collective, told the Tracker that its media attorney responded to both subpoenas with a letter invoking their shield privilege, saying "the records that may or may not exist are covered by the law and that we [Unicorn Riot] are not a party to their litigation."
"Our counsel met with their counsel and Energy Transfer expressed continued interest in furthering their subpoena," Martinez added. "However, as far as we know, they haven’t filed anything in court and may be running out of time to do so."
On March 24, 2021, Unicorn Riot launched a legal defense fund to help cover its legal bills, saying it takes seriously its obligation to protect its sources and not yield to demands for its footage and records from companies or the government.
Unicorn Riot and its reporter Niko Georgiades were subpoenaed on March 17, 2021, by Energy Transfer LP, the company behind the Dakota Access Pipeline, for all documents and communications relating to the nonprofit media organization’s coverage of the pipeline project.
The subpoenas are part of the pipeline company’s legal effort against several environmental groups, including Greenpeace, and activists that protested against the pipeline in 2016 and 2017, according to The Intercept and other outlets.
Energy Transfer demanded all documents including video and audio recordings concerning both actual and planned demonstrations relating to DAPL or Energy Transfer on several specific dates in August through November of 2016, in addition to information about the organization's structure and employees. Unicorn Riot’s subpoena is documented here. Georgiades, a Unicorn Riot reporter who covered events at Standing Rock, was separately served a subpoena for similar materials.
Greenpeace labeled the company’s legal effort a SLAPP suit, which stands for a strategic lawsuit against public participation, designed to silence critics, The Intercept reported. The Committee to Protect Journalists has called on Energy Transfer to withdraw the subpoenas. CPJ is a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
Energy Transfer didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment from the Tracker.
Freddy Martinez, a member of the Unicorn Riot collective, told the Tracker that its media attorney responded to both subpoenas with a letter invoking their shield privilege, saying "the records that may or may not exist are covered by the law and that we [Unicorn Riot] are not a party to their litigation."
"Our counsel met with their counsel and Energy Transfer expressed continued interest in furthering their subpoena," Martinez added. "However, as far as we know, they haven’t filed anything in court and may be running out of time to do so."
On March 24, 2021, Unicorn Riot launched a legal defense fund to help cover its legal bills, saying it takes seriously its obligation to protect its sources and not yield to demands for its footage and records from companies or the government.
Independent journalist Tina-Desiree Berg was shoved by a police officer while documenting protests in Los Angeles, California, on March 13, 2021.
Protesters had gathered in Hollywood to mark the first anniversary of the fatal police shooting of Breonna Taylor, a Black woman, in Louisville, Kentucky. The protest was one in a surge of demonstrations against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement that have been held since May 2020. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Antifa march through Hollywood for #BreonnaTaylor pic.twitter.com/kVVZtPKM6R
— Notorious Lefty-Desiree McLefty Face (@TinaDesireeBerg) March 14, 2021
Los Angeles Police Department officers and protesters engaged in a tense standoff at the intersection of Vine Street and Lexington Avenue at approximately 9:30 p.m., the Los Angeles Times reported.
Berg told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she had caught up to the crowd as individuals began throwing water bottles and other objects toward police and the officers were pushing the crowd back in response.
“As I was filming this, one of the officers came up to me and started pushing and shoving me down,” Berg said. “One of the activists — I don’t know her name — said to the LAPD officer, ‘Stop pushing her, she’s press, she’s not one of us, she’s press.’ Next thing I know they’ve jumped on this protester and pinned her to the ground and they arrested her for this.”
Berg continued to try to film the arrest near the northeast corner of the intersection, according to footage she published with the online outlet Status Coup, which describes itself as a progressive media company. A second officer approached her and other members of the press. In the footage, the officer can be heard saying, “You are interfering with our ability to see what is going on. Can you please back up a few feet.”
In a clip captured by independent videographer Sean Beckner-Carmitchel, a different LAPD officer can be seen shoving someone — identified by Beckner-Carmitchel as Berg — backward.
Immediately after, an individual can be heard asking the officer, “What’s your problem?” The officer responds, “Don’t put the light in my face!”
Another instance of shoving. It appears as though an officer shoved @TinaDesireeBerg over her camera light:
— Sean Carmitchel (@ACatWithNews) March 14, 2021
Also: I don’t have a great angle of this but this was after a police officer kicked an air conditioner into the crowd of journos.@uspresstracker pic.twitter.com/iBW11F1BFS
Berg confirmed to the Tracker that the officer had pushed her, adding she has footage of the officer’s hand coming at her camera lens. She added that she often has found officers to be more hostile to the press when the journalists are filming.
At a protest 10 days later, another LAPD officer confronted Berg about the light on her camera and then struck her camera lens and then jabbed her in the abdomen with a baton.
Berg said she was wearing press credentials on a lanyard around her neck, including one issued by the Los Angeles Press Club and another that identified her as a journalist for Status Coup.
The Los Angeles Police Department didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment.
During the spring of 2021, at least 31 journalists covering protests in two cities had their faces, IDs or press credentials photographed by law enforcement agencies, according to accounts from the media and the journalists involved. Those photographed were covering protests in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, and Portland, Oregon. Law enforcement agencies in both cities did not disclose why they documented the identities of the journalists or what was done with the images they captured.
Portland
On March 12, the Portland Police Bureau detained more than 100 protesters and at least six journalists by surrounding them using a “kettle” maneuver in the city’s downtown Pearl District. After initially detaining the crowd, police ordered members of the press to leave the kettle, despite a court order prohibiting Portland officers from dispersing media and legal observers who are monitoring protests. Six journalists who were ordered to leave the kettle said that officers required them to show a government-issued ID and be photographed before their release. Some specified that police took photos of them without masks and with strips of duct tape across their chests on which police had written the journalists’ names and dates of birth.
Photojournalist Maranie Rae Staab, who has freelanced for The Washington Post and The New York Times, posted footage of her forced removal from the kettle.
I was just forcibly removed from the scene by several @PortlandPolice ofcrs.
— Maranie R. Staab (@MaranieRae) March 13, 2021
I am a credentialed member of the press & made clear I wantd to stay & report.
I was dragged out, labeled w/tape & photographed.
This was a deliberate action to prevent accountability. #portland pic.twitter.com/zfF32oW0vY
“I’m a member of the press,” Staab is heard explaining as three PPB officers tell her they’ve asked the press to leave. “It’s my job. I am a member of the press. I want to report, I do not want to leave.”
Officers then proceed to escort her out despite her protestations, and an officer can be heard saying, “You have to leave.”
Independent journalist Adam Costello, who was covering the same Portland protest, wrote on Twitter that officers pulled him out of the kettle and ordered him to identify himself and tell them his date of birth.
“They wrote it on a piece of duct tape and took a picture of me,” wrote Costello, who publishes to social media and the online publishing platform Medium.
Freelance journalist Laura Jedeed, whose work has been published by Salon and Willamette Week, among others, reported a similar experience of being photographed before officers ejected her.
Update: I have been escorted out of the kettle
— Laura Jedeed, Non-Fungible (@LauraJedeed) March 13, 2021
They put my name and DOB on a piece of duct tape and took a picture of me without my mask on
Then they escorted me out past the police line
“The cop told me if I committed criminal activity I would be arrested and I laughed,” Jedeed wrote in a subsequent tweet. “He asked me why I didn’t leave with the rest of the press and I said I wanted to document. Then he let me go.”
Similar experiences were reported by freelance journalists Alissa Azar, Garrison Davis and Suzette Smith.
Oregon Public Broadcasting reported that the journalists removed from the kettle were escorted more than a block away, where they could no longer see what was happening inside the kettle. According to OPB’s story, bureau spokesperson Sgt. Kevin Allen said that journalists were not forced to leave.
“PPB did not ‘remove’ the press,” Allen said. “Legal observers, press, and medically fragile individuals were all offered a chance to leave if they wished as they were not being detained. Those that stayed were escorted out one by one.”
Allen did not respond to the Tracker’s request for further comment about the law enforcement actions to identify and photograph journalists.
Brooklyn Center
At least 25 journalists covering protests in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, reported having their faces, press credentials and government-issued IDs photographed by local and state law enforcement during a period of several days of public demonstrations.
The demonstrations began after the fatal police shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center on April 11, which occurred as a former police officer in nearby Minneapolis was on trial in the death of George Floyd. The events rekindled a nationwide wave of racial justice protests that began almost a year earlier after Floyd’s death. In Brooklyn Center, protests began outside the police department the day Wright was killed and continued daily through mid-April.
One of the first journalists to report law enforcement actions to record reporters’ identities was Sloane Martin, a reporter for Minneapolis CBS affiliate WCCO. On April 14, Martin posted on Twitter that law enforcement officers took photographs of her press credential and her identification while she was covering demonstrations that night.
Martin wrote that she was in a gas station trying to return to her car, and she shouted “Press!” to a line of officers from a distance to identify herself. An officer whom she believes was a Minnesota State Patrol trooper shouted at her to get on her knees, but another officer directed her to come over and show her ID, she wrote. Martin didn’t respond to requests for comment.
I was not asked to the ground but they did the same thing: took pictures of my credential and ID. I was in a brightly-lit gas station, otherwise I would have been nervous to approach the line of law enforcement trying to get back to my car. I shouted “press” from a distance https://t.co/TVZneIXL1D
— Sloane Martin (@SloaneMartin) April 15, 2021
Martin’s tweet was in response to a clip posted by Fox News reporter Lauren Blanchard, who, on the same night of April 14, was ordered to the ground and detained by police alongside her news crew. At least six journalists who were detained or arrested while covering demonstrations that night had their faces and identification photographed before they were released:
Two days later on April 16, Minnesota District Judge Wilhelmina Wright granted a motion for a temporary restraining order barring all local law enforcement agencies from arresting, threatening to arrest, using physical force against or seizing the equipment of journalists documenting the demonstrations. That same day, law enforcement surrounded a crowd that included members of the press in a “kettle” and established a “media checkpoint” where journalists had their faces, press passes and IDs photographed before they were permitted to leave the area.
ACLU of Minnesota’s Legal Director Teresa Nelson sent a letter to Wright on April 17, condemning the actions of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety Commissioner and the Minnesota State Patrol, which are defendants in a suit brought by the organization. The letter reads, in part: “Last night, hours after the TRO [temporary restraining order] took effect, the State Defendants escalated the level of assault and harassment of journalists to an intolerable degree.”
According to the letter, freelance photojournalists Chris Juhn and Chris Tuite, who were covering protests the day the court order was issued, both were ordered to go to the checkpoint. Tuite said he was also roughly grabbed by officers with enough force to rip his shirt, which the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented here.
“To get out of their kettle, we had to take off our gas masks and helmets and hand them our media passes and IDs. They took photos of our faces up close and then of our IDs and media passes,” Tuite said. “They told us nothing of what they were going to do with the photos, and they essentially brushed it off as, ‘We just want to make sure you guys are legit.’”
Minneapolis Star Tribune reporters Susan Du and Liz Sawyer were also directed to the April 16 checkpoint which was set up at a nearby Pump n’ Munch gas station, according to footage Sawyer posted to Twitter that night.
Here’s a photo of me filming members of State Patrol process my colleagues, including @shijundu. Our credentials are huge.
— Liz Sawyer (@ByLizSawyer) April 17, 2021
📸 by @benjovland pic.twitter.com/HBwWfbkcyA
A student journalist, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Tracker she was separated from a group of other student journalists reporting at the protest and found herself in the kettle.
“As people either escaped or were arrested around me, I ended up alone on the completely cleared-out block on Humboldt,” she said. “I approached some state troopers holding out my press pass who yelled at me to join a group of reporters who had already been detained in front of a gas station.”
Both Du and Sawyer were among the journalists in the group the student was directed to join, and she, too, had her face and forms of identification photographed.
“I have no idea what they are using those photos for, we were not told, but I obviously found that disturbing and a violation of our rights as reporters,” she said.
Three AFP journalists — photographer Chandan Khanna, videographer Eléonore Sens and reporter Robin Legrand — were pepper sprayed by Minnesota State Patrol troopers and then ordered to pass through the media checkpoint as well, according to footage Sens posted to Twitter.
Khanna, who is an Indian citizen, told the Tracker that when he showed his ID to law enforcement at the checkpoint, the officer asked to see his passport. Khanna said he didn’t have his passport with him, but the officer pressed him for it. When Khanna pulled up a photo of his passport from an online folder, the officer photographed it and asked to see Khanna’s visa, photographing it as well.
Khanna said he is worried about what will happen with the photographs and wonders what the officer will do with the information.
“It's my privacy, my information. Why will I share my information with anybody?” Khanna said.
At least 10 journalists were ordered to get on the ground or kettled prior to having their credentials and IDs photographed on April 16, which the Tracker classifies as detainments. These journalists include:
According to a statement from the Minnesota State Patrol, troopers photographed journalists and their credentials “in order to expedite the identification process,” and the journalists were allowed to continue reporting after being identified. While some of the journalists confirmed to the Tracker that they were able to resume covering the protests, some left the area immediately. Those that remained said they were directed to a media staging area more than a block away from the kettle, which made it impossible to document police activities.
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, signed a letter to Gov. Tim Walz and the heads of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, Minnesota State Patrol and Minnesota Department of Corrections detailing what it said were violations of the TRO, as well as the concerns of more than a dozen press freedom and media organizations. Among the concerns was that the images might be entered into a facial recognition service such as Clearview AI, which has been used by both the Minneapolis Police Department and the Minnesota Fusion Center to monitor and target individuals, including protesters, according to RCFP.
“Whatever the intent behind this ‘cataloging’ of journalists, it was deeply disturbing for those involved, and it has caused much fear regarding what use might be made of these photographs and accompanying identifying information in the future, including full names, dates of birth and home addresses,” the letter reads.
“We hope that any photos that were improperly taken will be expunged rather than stashed away in a law enforcement database,” RCFP said in a post about the violations.
On April 17, Walz told the Minneapolis Star Tribune that law enforcement officers would no longer photograph journalists’ faces and credentials, noting it “created a pretty Orwellian picture.”
Minnesota Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell also noted that the photographs were “a misstep on our part,” the Star Tribune reported.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here. To learn more about how the Tracker documents and categorizes violations of press freedom, visit pressfreedomtracker.us.
"Here’s a photo of the officer taking my photo,” journalist Suzette Smith tweeted. While covering a Portland protest, Smith became one of at least 30 journalists photographed by law enforcement at protests.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,Media,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2021, protest",,,,, Journalist hit multiple times with projectiles while covering Portland protest around a proposed oil pipeline,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-hit-multiple-times-with-projectiles-while-covering-portland-protest-round-a-proposed-oil-pipeline/,2021-05-10 13:59:47.095938+00:00,2022-03-09 22:38:25.078409+00:00,2022-03-09 22:38:24.998838+00:00,,Assault,,,,Mason Lake (Independent),,2021-03-11,False,Portland,Oregon (OR),45.52345,-122.67621,"Independent video journalist Mason Lake said he was targeted with multiple crowd-control munitions by federal officers while covering a protest in Portland, Oregon, on March 11, 2021.
According to Oregon Public Broadcasting, demonstrators gathered outside the Mark Hatfield Federal Courthouse in downtown Portland to protest a proposed oil pipeline between Alberta, Canada, and Wisconsin that three Anishinaabe communities and environmental organizations say would violate native treaty rights. Over the course of two hours, multiple skirmishes erupted as protesters set fires and officers deployed crowd control munitions and arrested people, according to KOIN, a Portland CBS affiliate.
“I got shot up SO many times last night by DHS & Federal ICE & BORTAC officers,” Lake tweeted at 12:55 a.m. on March 12. Border Patrol Tactical Unit teams were previously deployed by the Trump administration during the height of the July protests in Portland, alongside U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Department of Homeland Security officers.
I got shot up SO many times last night by DHS & Federal ICE & BORTAC officers. Gassed also. As usual... So far 6 noticeable hits, see whats bruised in the morning 🤕🤕🤕 #portland #munitions #feds #shoot #press pic.twitter.com/7yv91cXLSQ
— Mason Lake Media (@MasonLakePhoto) March 12, 2021
Lake posted photos of bruises that he said came from at least six hits, even though “I was mark[ed] as press from all angles. The chest, back, thighs, foot,” he told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in an interview.
During one of the incidents, Lake said a federal officer shot him in the back with several high impact marking rounds. In a video posted to Youtube, sounds of rounds being fired can be heard at 0:17, right before Lake whips his camera around and marches up to the officer who shot him. At 2:30 a.m., Lake tweeted a similar video of a canister releasing what he identified as “HC Smoke,” which stands for hexachloroethane, a “common ingredient in smoke devices that the Environmental Protection Agency has classified as a likely carcinogen” and could be potentially deadly, according to The Oregonian.
“These rounds are meant to mark people for detainment. I was committing no crime whatsoever, I was not disobeying any orders given,” Lake told the Tracker. “This leads one to believe that the DHS officer was purely trying to deter me from filming the canister by inflicting physical harm onto me.”
Lake said he had press credentials from the National Press Photographers Association, nonprofit media cooperative Halospace Media and Boop Troop Eugene LLC, a live media outlet that covers protests and local events, in addition to visible press markings on his clothes.
DHS, which coordinated the ICE presence in Portland, did not respond to an emailed request for comment. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Independent videographer Mason Lake said he was hit with this crowd-control munition and others on March 11, 2021, while covering a demonstration in Portland against a proposed oil pipeline between Canada and the U.S.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"protest, shot / shot at",,,,, Researcher documenting Portland protests hit by pepper ball,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/researcher-documenting-portland-protests-hit-by-pepper-ball/,2021-05-21 17:56:19.994245+00:00,2022-03-10 20:12:03.263864+00:00,2022-03-10 20:12:03.190894+00:00,,Assault,,,,Juniper Simonis (Independent),,2021-03-11,False,Portland,Oregon (OR),45.52345,-122.67621,"Independent researcher and scientist Juniper Simonis said they were targeted and hit by a pepper ball fired by federal officers while covering a protest in Portland, Oregon, on March 11, 2021.
Simonis said they have been publishing information for several months about law enforcement’s use of chemical irritants at protests on Twitter, for a research and activist group called the Chemical Weapons Research Consortium, and with other outlets.
According to local NBC-affiliate KGW8, a crowd gathered outside the Mark Hatfield Federal Courthouse in downtown Portland to protest against police violence shortly after the courthouse's surrounding fence had been taken down. The article says that around 9 p.m., photographs of smashed windows, burning flags and graffiti-sprayed walls surfaced online. Federal officers responded with tear gas, arrests and chemical munitions, according to CBS-affiliate KOIN6. Protests have been taking place in Portland regularly starting in spring 2020, partly linked to Black Lives Matter but also around issues such as defunding police, environmental actions and other social justice issues.
Around 11:30 p.m., Simonis said they were near the intersection of Southwest Fourth Avenue and South Salmon Street where federal officers had deployed what they identified as an "HC grenade," which stands for hexachloroethane. This common ingredient in smoke devices has been classified by the Environmental Protection Agency as a likely carcinogen, and could be potentially deadly, according to The Oregonian.
"I was shot in the right boob as I was picking it up and putting it in a container," Simonis told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. "The pepper ball left significant bruising over the next week."
Simonis documents and collects the physical items to add to a munitions library collection that the Chemical Weapons Research Consortium is developing into a research archive. Closer to midnight, Simonis found another HC grenade a block over near South Salmon Street and Southwest Fifth Avenue.
Simonis said they had a press badge, a card they made that had their photograph with the publications they write for listed and the word “PRESS” in large letters, visibly displayed. "They [officers] call me doctor and professor," they added. "They know who I am. I'm also a 6 feet 2 inches visibly trans person...they definitely targeted me."
Simonis also said they experienced negative symptoms in the days following this incident with the HT smoke. "That's why I'm researching it," Simonis said. "For me, that translated to diarrhea, massive lethargy for two days — very common with heavy metal poisoning — and I also had Costochondritis. That is basically inflammation of the cartilage around your sternum."
The Department of Homeland Security, which coordinated the federal presence in Portland, didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
James Croxton, managing editor of Oregon-based DoubledSided541, which describes itself as an independent media collective, said he was hit when federal officers fired crowd-control munitions at a small group of journalists covering a March 11, 2021, protest near the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse in Portland, Oregon.
The protest was one of many during March in the city’s Pearl District, a popular downtown area where former warehouses are converted to restaurants. The protests have resulted in streets being closed, fires, damage to city property and shop windows smashed, according to The Oregonian. Protests have been taking place in Portland regularly starting in spring 2020, partly linked to Black Lives Matter but also around issues such as defunding police, environmental actions and other social justice issues.
Croxton, who also works for neighborhood news site Village Portland, said he was on 4th Ave., close to the Salmon St. intersection, when the small group of reporters came across what looked to be a canister of HC gas, a toxic smoke bomb used by the military, burning in the street. Local news outlet Oregon Live has covered incidents of HC gas reportedly being used by the Portland police to disperse protesters “two dozen times.” The gas contains hexaclorotethane and is toxic, Oregon Live reported.
Croxton said that he had been looking for evidence that police were using chemicals against protesters and the media; he said he has been documenting that in conjunction with the Portland-based research and activist group Chemical Weapons Research Consortium.
“Just a couple of seconds after I had walked up to the canister to document, the Federal Protective Service [part of Homeland Security] turned their pepper balls towards us and shot at our feet and ankles,” Croxton told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. He said some of the munitions also hit higher on his body, leaving “powder from impacts on my jacket.”
Croxton said the pepper balls caused him sharp, but temporary, pain as he walked back from the canister. “Fortunately, pepper ball pains go away relatively quickly,” he said.
In video footage of the incident, a small group of people with video cameras, some of whom are clearly wearing “PRESS” on their clothing, or wearing “PRESS” badges, are seen taking footage and don’t appear to be close to protesters. The sound of what appears to be munitions being fired can be heard.
Croxton said he believed he was deliberately targeted by law enforcement. “It is unmistakable that the FPS shot at the press. I am, at the very least, very identifiable and have clearly visible 'PRESS' markings.”
“I intentionally try my best to stand-out from the rest of the crowd. My press credentials are also light-colored and are made to be seen from a distance,” he said.
Croxton told the Tracker: “It's extremely disheartening to be targeted and, essentially, assaulted by the very people who are supposed to ‘protect us.’ I think I can speak for many more than just myself in saying that instances like this during the last year have radicalized our views towards law enforcement.”
The Oregonian reported that federal officers drove demonstrators away from the courthouse in downtown Portland that night after fires were started and the building was damaged.
Officers were deploying impact munitions, tear gas, flash-bang grenades and smoke bombs, the paper reported.
Since July, court rulings from the U.S. District Court in Oregon have barred law enforcement officers from the Portland Police Bureau and federal agencies from arresting, harming or impeding journalists or legal observers of the protests, as the Tracker has previously reported.
The DHS Office of Public Affairs has not responded to a Tracker request for a comment.
Associated Press reporter Keith Ridler was subpoenaed on March 10, 2021, by anti-government activist Ammon Bundy, who was seeking Ridler’s reporting materials and testimony in a criminal case against Bundy in Idaho, the AP reported. An Idaho judge quashed the subpoena on March 15.
Bundy sought the information in a criminal case against him stemming from protests he led against COVID-19 measures at the Idaho Statehouse in August.
Ridler reported on and photographed Bundy’s arrests, according to the AP. The journalist was one of several people Bundy subpoenaed who were at the Statehouse at the time.
The AP filed a motion to quash Bundy’s subpoena on March 11. According to the AP’s report, the news organization argued that the subpoena would be a violation of “Idaho Reporter’s Privilege,” which protects journalists from being compelled to share certain information or testify.
“Subpoenas to members of the media are particularly onerous because they threaten to intrude into the newsgathering process,” AP’s attorneys wrote in the motion. “Being forced to testify or produce evidence in a court case also threatens the independence of a free press and potentially puts journalists at personal risk.”
Bundy, who is representing himself in the case, did not respond to the AP’s motion, the news organization reported.
On March 15, Ada County Magistrate Judge David Manweiler said that Bundy did not demonstrate that his subpoena would have met the criteria to proceed, according to the AP’s story.
Bundy’s trial was set to begin that day, but the defendant was not in attendance because he refused to wear a mask in compliance with court rules, the AP reported.
Bundy subsequently filed a second subpoena seeking reporting materials and testimony from Ridler on May 27, according to an AP spokesperson. That subpoena was also quashed. Find all subpoenas, which are documented separately on the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, here.A spokesperson for the AP declined to comment on the subpoena. The Tracker was not able to reach Bundy, who was found guilty on July 1 of trespassing and obstructing or resisting officers, for comment.
Vishal Singh, a videographer who works on Netflix documentaries and has been covering demonstrations in Los Angeles, said police officers struck him more than two dozen times with batons while he was covering a protest in the city on March 8, 2021.
Singh told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the protest, organized by the Coalition for Community Control Over the Police, had ended in downtown LA by the time officers descended on the crowd. The protest was one in a surge of demonstrations against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement that have been held since May 2020. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
“Protesters had started to disperse when LAPD popped up out of nowhere and just started blocking off the street, so tensions started rising between activists and police,” Singh said. “All of a sudden [the police] got very aggressive very fast.”
Singh said he was standing next to the mother of a man shot and killed by police when officers started getting into their “pushing position” ahead of rushing the crowd. Officers then brought out their batons and began shoving the crowd back and hitting the demonstrators.
“I didn’t really move because I had what I thought was a pretty important angle of a double frame: on the left side you see the police and on the right side you see the protesters being hit with batons,” Singh said. “In the process of that filming I was batoned in the stomach and chest area about 30 or more times. I was hit so consistently and so hard that one journalist pointed out to me that my press badge had actually been beaten off of me.”
Today, @LAPDHQ officers decided to baton me over 24 times while I was filming their brutality against a civil rights protest. While I was recovering from the assault, @ACatWithNews pointed out that my press credentials were gone.@LAPDHQ literally beat the press pass off me. pic.twitter.com/t62lYpKeWM
— Vishal P Singh (@VPS_Reports) March 9, 2021
Singh said that while he was wearing a press badge, he wasn’t wearing his ballistic vest labeled with “PRESS” because he had thought the protest would be low-risk. He had extra copies of his press badge, Singh said, and was able to put a new one on his lanyard.
“My stomach, ribs, and wrist are bruised and coughing now hurts my stomach,” Singh told the Tracker via email a few hours after the incident.
The Los Angeles Police Department didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment.
Don Ford, a reporter with California TV station KPIX 5, was robbed at gunpoint while reporting on a story about car break-ins around San Francisco landmark Twin Peaks on March 3, 2021.
Ford had been talking to a local resident when a white luxury sedan with four men inside drove up, according to KPIX. “Three guys jumped out, one had a gun, put it up to my face and said, ‘We’re taking the camera,’” Ford told the station in a later interview. “My whole thought at the moment was: ‘Let’s be calm. Let’s not get this guy excited. He’s got the gun. I don’t.’”
KPIX reported that Ford was not injured in the robbery.
Responding to a Tweet posted later that evening, the journalist wrote: “When someone points a Glock into your face you definitely let the camera go.”
When someone points a Glock into your face you definitely let the camera go
— Don Ford (@DonKPIX) March 4, 2021
Ford told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the station had offered reporters a security guard to accompany them, but on this occasion he didn’t take one: “I was in an upscale neighborhood in the middle of the day. I felt safe. I was wrong,” he said.
The San Francisco Police Department Park Station, which covers the Twin Peaks area, tweeted about the incident the following day, writing: “The camera was recovered. This incident remains an active and ongoing investigation.”
When reached for comment by the Tracker in May, SFPD spokesperson Adam Lobsinger said that one person had been arrested in March in connection with the incident and that “investigators are still searching for additional suspects for this armed robbery.”
“We do not have information to suggest that the victims [of recent attacks] were targeted because of their status as journalists. The information suggests that the victims were targeted because of the high-dollar value of their electronic equipment,” Lobsinger added, referencing a series of incidents targeting TV crews in the city, including one in February and one in April.
Independent videojournalist Mason Lake was assaulted by Portland police while covering a protest in Portland, Oregon, on Feb. 27, 2021.
According to KGW8, a Portland-based NBC affiliate, an estimated 150 people gathered in The Fields Park in Portland’s Pearl District to protest the treatment of undocumented people held in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody, Willamette Week reported. At the ICE field office, protesters spray-painted the boarded-up office with slogans such as “No Kids in Cages,” as well as the names of Black people killed by police in recent months.
In a statement released shortly after midnight on Feb. 28, the Portland Police Bureau called the protest “destructive,” noted damage to buildings and warned that perpetrators would be subject to detention, arrest or targeted with crowd control devices such as tear gas.
Around 10:30 p.m. on the 27th, Lake said he was recording Portland police on bicycles as they pedaled quickly toward a crowd. One officer on a bike slammed into Lake, who was on foot with his camera, as seen at 0:08 in a video tweeted at 12:28 a.m. on Feb. 28 by independent journalist Melissa Lewis. Lake is hit by the officer, then surrounded by several officers on bikes, one of whom yells “Get off the street” at someone off camera. A voice can be heard yelling that Lake is press.
“You’ve just assaulted press. He was trying to get out of your fucking way,” the voice says.
In the video, Lake can be seen yelling at police as they close in around him. He continues arguing with them after he moves to the sidewalk, where he can be seen holding his camera and wearing large letters that say “PRESS” across his chest.
In an email interview with the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, Lake said the officer who slammed into him with a bike injured him. “His helmet slammed into my head, breaking skin.”
“He and other officers proceeded to hit my camera and shove me as I was encircled,” Lake told the Tracker. “I gestured at him and he hit my camera a second time.”
In a compilation video shared to YouTube, which included Lake’s own footage, he describes the incident in more detail. At around 0:37, he is audibly angry, yelling at the officers, “Keep hitting me, keep hitting me,” and in response to them telling him to move, he adds, “How am I gonna do it? You surrounded me.”
“Their justification for running me over was that I was ‘in the street,’” Lake told the Tracker. At 0:27 in the video, he yells at the officer, “You’ve been after me all night.” He later told the Tracker that he believes it was a targeted assault. He said that in addition to the PRESS marking on his chest, he had press credentials from the National Press Photographers Association, the nonprofit media cooperative Halospace Media and Boop Troop Eugene LLC, a live media outlet that covers protests and local events.
The PPB directed the Tracker to contact the City Attorney’s Office, which did not respond to an emailed request for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
According to news reports, Getty photojournalist Spencer Platt was assaulted by a man while covering New York mayoral candidate Andrew Yang’s campaign on Feb. 26, 2021.
The New York Post reported that the alleged assault occurred as Yang and company traveled by ferry from Manhattan to Staten Island. Platt was reportedly on the ferry’s upper deck and talking to a friend over the phone when a man approached him. “I said something like, ‘What’s up?’” Platt told the Post. “He immediately shoves me, I kind of tumble down. I get back up, and he raises a steel bar — a broomstick handle — over his head…. He looks like he’s ready to strike me.”
Platt did not respond to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker’s request for comment.
Yang reportedly noticed the commotion and ran to help the photojournalist. The Staten Island Advance reported that “the [assailant] recognized Yang, who engaged and calmed him, speaking with him briefly and allowing the photographer to get away from the tense situation.”
“I’m really grateful that he became less aggressive upon seeing me,” Yang told the City. “I had no certainty that he would know who I was, I just thought of myself as a bystander trying to defuse the situation”
According to the City, Platt reported the incident to New York Police Department officers on the ferry, who escorted the attacker away.
The photojournalist thanked Yang for the intervention, telling the City: “I’m not trying to plug the Yang campaign, but he did run up and confront the guy and led the charge. And when the guy turned around, I just bolted.”
On Feb. 9, 2021, the Brevard County Commission in Florida passed a resolution sarcastically “honoring” journalist Isadora Rangel, who had written critically of the commission.
Rangel had recently announced that she would be leaving her post as the opinion and engagement editor of Florida Today, the major daily covering Brevard County, for a job at the Miami Herald.
In a video of the commission’s Feb. 9 meeting posted by the Washington Post, Commissioner John Tobia can be seen reading the resolution aloud.
Among the statements he cited: “Whereas because of her eloquent prose the circulation of Florida Today dropped only 16 percent during her tenure” and “Whereas her dedication to Brevard is exemplified by accepting a position with the Miami Herald a mere three years after coming here.”
Rangel had been a frequent critic of the commission. In March 2019, she criticized Commissioner Bryan Lober’s handling of an online squabble with a detractor, and in an op-ed published in January 2020, she called a ceremonial vote to uphold the Constitution “a farce.”
Following the resolution’s initial passage, Commissioner Lober proposed the addition of two amendments. The first, which the commission agreed to add, stated: “Whereas throughout her employment with Florida Today, Ms. Rangel never once let the fact she’s forbidden from voting in this county deter her from commenting on our politics and criticizing numerous Republican elected officials.” And the second, which Lober termed the “less palatable” of the two and which the commission would decline to add: “Whereas despite her recurring and highly partisan criticisms of the manner in which this county, state and country are governed, Ms. Rangel deserves recognition for selflessly remaining in this country, notwithstanding our roughly tenfold higher per capita GDP and approximately one-sixth the murder rate of the country from which she hails.”
Rangel, a permanent U.S. resident who moved from Brazil in 2006, tweeted her reaction on Feb. 11, writing, “When the Brevard County Commission passes a resolution ‘honoring’ you, taking up the public’s times and a commissioner makes a bunch of xenophobic comments because you got under their skin. #winning #BeijinhoNoOmbro.”
When reached for comment, Rangel said she wouldn’t be commenting on the issue any further and referred the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker to statements she’d given to the Post and Herald.
Rangel told the Post: “They feel entitled to use that time devoted to county issues for personal issues. Is that really what government is about? Is it the job of an elected official to use his official position to go on personal tirades and issue attacks against people?”
She told the Herald she felt the resolution was motivated by anti-immigrant sentiment. “It should be horrifying not because it was directed to me.... It should be horrifying that in a country built by immigrants, we’re still using this rhetoric,” she said.
Neither Tobia nor Lober responded to the Tracker’s request for comment. Tobia told the Post that the resolution “pretty much speaks for itself,” adding, “We wish her well, but we certainly took a couple of jabs, as she often did in the newspaper.”
And Lober defended the resolution in an email to the paper, writing, “If she can dish it, she should be able to take it.” Addressing the comments about Brazil, he said he wanted to “illustrate how well we have it here, not how undesirable the situation may be in Rangel’s home country.”
A week after the passage of the resolution, Florida Today reported that the commissioner’s office had temporarily closed after threats had been received from an unidentified caller.
“As a result of the inaccurate and misleading reporting, shooting threats were called into multiple commission offices yesterday forcing their evacuation and costing taxpayers in law enforcement response,” Lober told the Herald.
When asked by the Herald to establish a connection between the threats and the media attention surrounding the resolution, the paper reported that the commissioner did not respond.
A San Francisco TV crew was robbed of its video camera while reporting on a story near the city’s I-80 Bay Bridge ramp, the San Francisco Police Department confirmed.
The attack happened around 6:50 p.m. on Feb. 6, 2021, when the news crew was filming in the South of Market neighborhood, according to a report from San Francisco CBS affiliate KPIX. KPIX said the journalists were from a local NBC station, NBC Bay Area. The report said the journalists were stopped by two men who jumped out of a four-door Lexus; the men claimed to be carrying firearms under their clothing and demanded the journalists hand over their camera equipment.
“The victims surrendered the news camera, and the suspects fled the scene in the Lexus, traveling eastbound on I-80. The Lexus was driven by another suspect that remained in the car. The victims were not injured,” a spokesman for San Francisco police said.
Moments later the journalists flagged down San Francisco police officers passing on their motorbikes, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. The paper said the journalists gave police a license plate number and descriptions of the robbers.
San Francisco police confirmed details of the robbery to the Tracker and said they have arrested two men who were found in possession of the camera. Police said they returned the camera, a Panasonic AJ-PX, to the news crew.
NBC Bay Area did not respond to a Tracker request for comment.
There have been two other recent attacks on TV news crews in San Francisco, with attempts to steal camera equipment, one in March and the other in April.
San Francisco police said in a statement that there was nothing to show this attack was connected to an attack on another TV news crew in San Francisco in Golden Gate Park on April 7 : “We do not have information to suggest that the victims were targeted because of their status as journalists. The information suggests that the victims were targeted because of the high-dollar value of their electronic equipment.”
Andrea Gallo, a Louisiana-based reporter for The Advocate and The Times-Picayune newspaper, was sued by Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry on Feb. 5, 2021, in an effort to block a public records request made by Gallo.
Landry’s lawsuit asked a judge to back up the attorney general’s denial of a request that Gallo had filed Dec. 14, 2020, asking to see a sexual harassment complaint against a high-ranking official in Landry’s office.
Gallo was initially told that the records would be available after an investigation of the complaint was complete, according to The Advocate. On Jan. 22, 2021, after the official under investigation had returned to the office from a period of administrative leave, the attorney general’s office told Gallo that the records would be made available the following week. Then, on Jan. 28, the office declined to release the complaint, saying the document contained private information that was protected by internal confidentiality policies, as well as constitutional disclosure protections.
Gallo told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that typically after a records request is denied, she would go to the newspaper’s lawyer and the newspaper might eventually file a lawsuit. According to The Advocate, the newspaper had warned Landry that the publication was prepared to sue for the records.
Then on Feb. 5, Gallo said she received an email notifying her that Landry had filed suit against her. Gallo told the Tracker she was shocked.
In the suit, Landry’s office argued that releasing the records would lead to a chilling effect on employees reporting sexual harassment, for fear that personal details would be made public. The lawsuit also asked the court to seal the records of the proceedings related to the records request, and to order Gallo to cover court costs.
Gallo told the Tracker she feared the attorney general’s action could dissuade people from seeking public records.
“I think that it sends a very clear message to reporters, and to the public of Louisiana, that if you request documents from the attorney general's office you better watch out, because you might be subjected to a lawsuit,” Gallo said.
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, a Tracker partner, criticized Landry’s lawsuit in a statement.
RCFP legal fellow Gunita Singh told the Tracker that when public officials sue people who request records, it has a chilling effect.
“Public records laws exist to maximize our right to know and to illuminate the actions of government officials and institutions. These laws serve as a vehicle for us to learn about the conduct—or misconduct—of state actors,” Singh said. “So when a records requester gets hit with a lawsuit that has the effect of deterring her from using these crucial laws to the benefit of the public, it’s deeply concerning.”
Singh said in many states, public records laws presume records are subject to public disclosure.
“When lawsuits are aimed at stifling the free flow of information by targeting records requesters, they subvert that presumption of disclosure, to the detriment of not just the individual requester but society as a whole,” Singh said.
Landry’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
After a Zoom court hearing on March 4, a judge ruled in favor of Gallo, ordering Landry’s office to release the sexual harassment complaint and to pay the newspaper’s attorney’s fees of $5,625, The Advocate reported.
“I'm hopeful that based on the outcome of this lawsuit Jeff Landry's office and all, like, public agencies in the state have learned that this isn't the right way to go about handling a request for documents,” Gallo said.
After the attorney general’s office released a heavily redacted version of an investigation into the sexual harassment complaint, the newspaper counter-sued, seeking more complete access, according to The Advocate. A judge ruled in favor of Landry, saying the redactions were within his office’s authority. However, the judge ordered Landry’s office to again pay the newspaper’s court costs, saying that Landry’s office had been slow to process the records.
Legal news site Above the Law's publisher, Breaking Media Inc., was subpoenaed on Feb. 1, 2021, amid a trade-secrets dispute between a legal recruiting firm and a former employee, but a New York federal court quashed the subpoena, saying it would be unduly burdensome to the media company.
The suit was brought by legal recruiting firm MWK Recruiting Inc. against former Breaking Media employee Evan Jowers. MWK alleged Jowers "misappropriated trade secrets and breached the non-compete and non-solicitation provisions of his employment agreement," according to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Jowers asserted that articles in Above the Law were "improperly critical of him and his counsel" and alleged that this coverage was "orchestrated" by MWK's principal This prompted the subpoena by MWK demanding that Above the Law produce numerous documents and provide comment regarding the four articles it published.
The opinion and order from the federal court says the Second Circuit "has long recognized the existence of a qualified privilege for journalistic information," protecting both confidential and nonconfidential information.
In the order, Judge Katherine Polk Failla said Jowers failed to adequately establish why the qualified privilege may be overcome and that the sought-after information was not of "likely relevance to a significant issue in the case."
Breaking Media declined to comment.
A Freedom of Information Act request by a reporter revealed that the U.S. Department of Justice secretly issued a subpoena in February 2021 to gain information on Guardian reporter Stephanie Kirchgaessner’s phone records as part of a leak investigation initiated during the Trump administration.
According to the Guardian, the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General secretly issued the subpoena without notifying Kirchgaessner or the Guardian. News of the subpoena came following the release of a redacted report obtained by investigative reporter Jason Leopold detailing the investigations undertaken to identify the DOJ OIG employee responsible for leaking information about the Trump administration’s child separation policy.
Kirchgaessner told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that news of the subpoena caught her off-guard, and it was particularly concerning that the move came from the OIG, the internal watchdog ensuring ethical practices and whistleblower protections across the department.
“This is a tool that is only supposed to be used in extraordinary circumstances,” Kirchgaessner said. “And in this case they were not investigating a breach of classified information or anything involving national security. But they were investigating a leak that led to some career-damaging stories about senior DOJ officials. And I find that highly worrisome.”
This is a story by @Edpilkington. The subpoena that was used here was an administrative subpoena. That means the DOJ went to the telecoms company on its own. No judicial oversight. For an investigation that did not involve national security or classified info. https://t.co/wuT8Ahti4b
— Stephanie Kirchgaessner (@skirchy) May 14, 2022
The DOJ investigation took place during the time Kirchgaessner, the outlet’s investigations correspondent in Washington, D.C., was reporting on the “zero-tolerance” immigration policy in July 2020 and September 2020. In her reporting, Kirchgaessner revealed that a Justice Department official had advised that migrant parents crossing the southern border in the U.S. with children regardless of their age, be prosecuted, effectively separating them. She also reported on private memos and emails that revealed how a federal judge nominee participated in removing a Texas prosecutor after he objected to the separation of migrant children from their families.
DOJ OIG spokesperson Stephanie Logan confirmed to the Tracker that the subpoena was issued in February 2021, a few weeks after President Joe Biden took office. According to the redacted report, officials identified more than 250 phone calls between the suspected leaker and two phone numbers used by Kirchgaessner.
“DOJ OIG issued this subpoena in February 2021 to a telecommunications company to confirm that one specific telephone number already known to investigators from their prior review of the DOJ OIG employee’s phone records in fact belonged to a specific media outlet,” Logan said in a statement. “The subpoena therefore requested, and investigators received, only the information necessary to this purpose, specifically the account holder’s name and address, and the dates of service associated with the number.”
Neither Logan nor the redacted report identified the telecommunications company subpoenaed.
The Guardian’s Editor-in-Chief Katharine Viner condemned the subpoena in a statement to the outlet, calling it “an egregious example of infringement on press freedom and public interest journalism.”
“We will be asking the DoJ urgently for an explanation for why and how this could have occurred, and for an apology,” Viner said. “We will also be seeking assurances that our reporter’s details will be erased from DoJ systems and will not be used for any further infringements of press freedom.”
In the wake of disclosures of multiple secretive subpoenas under Trump’s DOJ, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced on July 19, 2021, that he was changing the department’s policies to prevent such seizures of journalists’ records during leak investigations.
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to include comment from the U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Investigator General.
This diagram from a redacted government report shows the U.S. Department of Justice’s effort to identify the source of media leaks in mid-2020, which led it to obtain a subpoena seeking phone records of a Guardian reporter.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,journalist communications or work product,['CARRIED_OUT'],None,None,None,telecom company,subpoena,None,,Department of Justice,,,,, "Videographer assaulted, coughed on by individual at anti-vaccination protest",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/videographer-assaulted-coughed-on-by-individual-at-anti-vaccination-protest/,2021-07-07 14:39:11.851496+00:00,2021-07-07 14:39:11.851496+00:00,2021-07-07 14:39:11.821489+00:00,,Assault,,,,Sean Beckner-Carmitchel (Independent),,2021-01-31,False,Los Angeles,California (CA),34.05223,-118.24368,"Independent videographer Sean Beckner-Carmitchel said he was confronted and assaulted by an unidentified man while he was reporting in Los Angeles at the site of a planned anti-vaccination demonstration on Jan. 31, 2021.
Beckner-Carmitchel tweeted that when he arrived at the scene in West Hollywood in the early afternoon, only about three people had shown up to protest against lockdown rules and COVID-19 vaccinations, while about 15 counter-protesters were there. He shared a video of a verbal confrontation between several anti-lockdown protesters and counter-protesters, but noted that no violence had occurred.
"One man, who arrived after the verbal confrontation earlier, took issue with being filmed," Beckner-Carmitchel tweeted alongside a video he posted at 3:30 p.m. "He put himself near me, coughed in my face and threw my equipment down then attempted further assault."
In the video, the man repeatedly asks why Beckner-Carmitchel is following him. Beckner-Carmitchel responds that he has the right to film in a public space and asks the man to step back. The video shows the man continues to come closer and loudly coughs at Beckner-Carmitchel, who continues filming as the man walks away. The man is then seen turning back toward the videographer; he says "Keep it up" then reaches forward and slams the camera to the ground.
Beckner-Carmitchel told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he wore National Press Photographers Association credentials around his neck and sustained injuries to his hand as well as "some intense bruising to the right forearm."
A Tennessee-based journalist from Chattanooga’s WRCBtv was told to leave and threatened with arrest after trying to ask a question at a town hall meeting with U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on Jan. 27, 2021.
WRCB reporter Meredith Aldis was among a group of journalists invited to Greene’s town hall in Whitfield County, Georgia, about 30 miles southeast of Chattanooga. Upon arrival at the event, journalists were told they could not ask questions or speak to anyone in attendance, WRCB News Director Callie Starnes told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
“If WRCB knew that ahead of time, we would have opted not to cover the event,” Starnes said. “WRCB did not agree to those terms.”
Aldis and a WRCB photographer were ejected from the meeting after Aldis attempted to ask Greene, a Georgia Republican, about criticism of social media posts she had made before her election to Congress, including Facebook posts in which she advocated conspiracy theories and appeared to support execution of some Democratic political leaders. In other screenshots, posted by Media Matters for America, Greene agreed with a Facebook comment that the 2018 school killings in Parkland, Florida, were a “false flag,” or a staged event. A WRCB photographer, who was accompanying Aldis and asked not to be identified, was also asked to leave the meeting.
After she was sworn in to Congress in early 2021, the revelations prompted calls from other members to expel Greene; on Feb. 4 the House voted to strip Greene of her congressional committee assignments.
In a video clip of the Jan. 27 town hall, one of three that Greene hosted in her Georgia congressional district, WRCB reporter Aldis can be heard attempting to ask the representative a question, when Greene replies “I am talking to my constituents.”
The station reported that a member of Greene’s staff then approached Aldis and told her to leave the town hall. The staffer waved over a member of the Whitfield County (GA) Deputy Sheriff’s office, who threatened to arrest the journalists, according to the station’s report.
The station said that following the incident, a representative from Greene’s staff reached out to WRCB and said Aldis was told to leave because the town hall "was not a press conference" and her question had caused a “disruption.”
In an interview with the television station, Whitfield County Sheriff Scott Chitwood defended the actions of his deputies who had threatened Aldis with arrest. He said Greene's staff had instructed his deputies to remove any member of the media who attempted to talk to anyone or ask a question.
Greene’s office had not responded to a Tracker request for comment as of press time.
Two Tennessee-based reporters, including a photographer from Chattanooga’s WRCBtv who asked not to be identified, were told to leave and threatened with arrest after one of them tried to ask a question at a town hall meeting with U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on Jan. 27, 2021.
The WRCB photographer, who was reporting with WRCB reporter Meredith Aldis, was among journalists invited to Greene’s town hall in Whitfield County, Georgia, about 30 miles southeast of Chattanooga. Upon arrival at the event, journalists were told they could not ask questions or speak to anyone in attendance, WRCB News Director Callie Starnes told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
“If WRCB knew that ahead of time, we would have opted not to cover the event,” Starnes said. “WRCB did not agree to those terms.”
The photographer was ejected after Aldis attempted to ask Greene, a Georgia Republican, about criticism of social media posts she had made before her election to Congress, including Facebook posts in which she advocated conspiracy theories and appeared to support execution of some Democratic political leaders. In other screenshots, posted by Media Matters for America, Greene agreed with a Facebook comment that the 2018 school killings in Parkland, Florida, were a “false flag,” or a staged event.
After she was sworn in to Congress in early 2021, the revelations prompted calls from other members to expel Greene; on Feb. 4 the House voted to strip Greene of her congressional committee assignments.
In a video clip of the Jan. 27 town hall, WRCB reporter Aldis can be heard attempting to ask the representative a question, when Greene replies “I am talking to my constituents.”
The station reported that a member of Greene’s staff then approached Aldis and told her to leave the town hall. The staffer waved over a member of the Whitfield County (GA) Deputy Sheriff’s office, who threatened to arrest the journalists, according to the station’s report. Both the photographer and Aldis were escorted out of the town hall meeting.
The station said that following the incident, a representative from Greene’s staff reached out to WRCB and said the town hall "was not a press conference" and the question had caused a “disruption.”
In an interview with the television station, Whitfield County Sheriff Scott Chitwood defended the actions of his deputies who had threatened the reporters with arrest. He said Greene's staff had instructed his deputies to remove any member of the media who attempted to talk to anyone or ask a question.
Greene’s office had not responded to a Tracker request for comment as of press time.
Independent journalist Alissa Azar was hit with crowd-control munitions by federal officers while covering a protest in front of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in southern Portland, Oregon, on Jan. 20, 2021.
According to news reports, an estimated 100 people marched to the ICE facility around 9 p.m. and began chanting to protest the detention and caging of migrant children. At 9:30 p.m., federal officers declared the gathering an unlawful assembly.
Azar, who was live-tweeting during the protest, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she was standing on the sidewalk across the street from the facility with a row of journalists when federal officers suddenly rushed outside from the ICE building. She said they deployed crowd-control munitions including pepper balls and tear gas for "almost 20 minutes straight" to push the crowd back.
Teargas currently flooding the neighborhood. Almost 20 minutes straight of teargas and munitions. pic.twitter.com/yQItLq5Gar
— Alissa Azar (@AlissaAzar) January 21, 2021
Azar said she left the ICE facility with a reporter with Full Revolution Media, John, who declined to provide his last name due to safety concerns. She heard of a different gathering happening two blocks away, but she said that when they arrived, there were no protesters, only a line of federal officers.
Those officers pushed Azar and the other reporter “back to the ICE building even though [officers at the ICE building were] asking people to leave," Azar told the Tracker. When she got back with the other members of the press, the officers "were just fumigating [us] directly in the face.” Azar said she did not know what the officers were spraying at the crowd.
“What’s scary about that machine is that you can’t look at the spent munitions to see what they’re deploying,” John added. The officers used what John described as a pesticide gun, similar in shape to a leaf blower, to release an unknown gas.
In a tweet posted at 11:46 p.m., Azar wrote that she "lost count of pushes" and her chest hurt, making it hard to breath. She told the Tracker she was wearing visible press markings on her clothes and helmet, as well as a National Press Photographers Association credential. John said he wore a helmet with press markings across the front and back.
"I had a flash bang thrown right at my ear," Azar told the Tracker. "I ended up passing out because I was trapped in the tear gas and it went through my gas mask." She said her friends then took her to Providence Portland Medical Center’s emergency room, where she was diagnosed with a concussion and torn muscle.
The Department of Homeland Security, which coordinated the federal presence, didn’t respond to a request for comment on the incident.
The ICE protest was one of many social justice demonstrations in Portland that have been ongoing since protests first broke out in May 2020 following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The Portland Police Bureau has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation in the ACLU case. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
According to Vanity Fair, deputy White House press secretary TJ Ducklo threatened and verbally harassed Politico reporter Tara Palmeri on Jan. 20, 2021, in an attempt to quash a story about his relationship with political reporter Alexi McCammond, then of Axios.
Palmeri, Politico and the White House did not respond to the Tracker’s requests for comment.
On Jan. 21, Playbook, Politico’s daily newsletter, of which Palmeri is a co-author, included an item headlined “BIDEN SETS STANDARD FOR PROFESSIONAL BEHAVIOR” and a quote from the just-inaugurated president: “I’m not joking when I say this: If you ever work with me and I hear you treat another colleague with disrespect, talk down to someone, I will fire you on the spot. No ifs, ands or buts.” The item closed by posing the following: “Serious question on our minds this morning: Does this standard apply to how mid-level press aides treat reporters?”
A little over three weeks later, on Feb. 12, a piece by Vanity Fair seemingly explained why that question may have been percolating for Politico, reporting that on Inauguration Day, Palmeri had contacted McCammond for comment on a story about her relationship with the incoming deputy press secretary. Vanity Fair reported that Ducklo reached out to a Politico editor to object to the story, and then contacted Palmeri directly, allegedly saying, “I will destroy you”; threatening to ruin her reputation; and making other “derogatory and misogynistic comments.”
Following the publication of the article, press secretary Jen Psaki issued a statement saying, “TJ Ducklo has apologized to the reporter, with whom he had a heated conversation about his personal life. He is the first to acknowledge this is not the standard of behavior set out by the President. In addition to his initial apology, he has sent the reporter a personal note expressing his profound regret.” She also announced that Ducklo had been suspended for one week without pay.
In a press conference the same day, Psaki addressed a question from a female reporter about retaining Ducklo in his role after the revelations about the phone call and his comments. Psaki responded that Ducklo’s behavior was “completely unacceptable” and that while she did not excuse it, the story was about his personal life and not about an issue concerning the White House.
Ducklo resigned a day after his suspension was announced, on Feb. 13. Psaki confirmed Ducklo’s resignation in a statement, stating: “We accepted the resignation of TJ Ducklo after a discussion with him this evening.” She added that the decision had been approved by White House chief of staff Ron Klain.
Ducklo expressed regret over his actions in a statement posted on Twitter account about his resignation, writing, in part, “No words can express my regret, my embarrassment, and my disgust for my behavior. I used language that no woman should ever have to hear from anyone, especially in a situation where she was just trying to do her job.”
Independent videojournalist Mason Lake said he was targeted by various crowd-control munitions by federal officers while covering a protest in Portland, Oregon, on Jan. 20, 2021.
According to The Oregonian, protesters gathered in South Portland’s Elizabeth Caruthers Park to push for more rapid policy changes than they believed President Joe Biden had promised during his inauguration that day. Later in the night, many marched a few blocks south toward the Immigration and Customs Enforcement building to oppose the detention of migrant children in cage-like quarters, the Oregonian reported. Demonstrators chanted “Abolish ICE” and spray-painted “Reunite families now” onto the building. In a video and tweet released shortly after 10 p.m. on Jan. 20, the Portland Police Bureau said it had declared the gathering an unlawful assembly and stated that its officers used crowd control munitions to get people to disperse.
Between 10 and 11 p.m., Lake said he was filming at the ICE building and standing next to other members of the press when Department of Homeland Security and ICE officers, whom he identified by their uniforms and badges, threw an explosive device at his foot.
“When the officer throws it, they do it right when I pan my camera to the left away from them,” Lake said in an interview with the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. “They don’t know it, but my camera is actually a wide angle. As soon as I pan, he throws it in an underhand chuck.”
He identified the device as an instantaneous blast munition, which rattled him because he didn’t have hearing protection, but did not otherwise injure him. In a video shared to YouTube, Lake uses another reporter’s footage, which shows a canister being thrown directly at his feet at 0:33. Lake said officers also used numerous other munitions, including riot control CS gas.
Lake said he had press credentials from the National Press Photographers Association, nonprofit media cooperative Halospace Media and Boop Troop Eugene LLC, a live media outlet that covers protests and local events, in addition to visible press markings on his clothes and helmet.
DHS, which coordinated the ICE presence in Portland, did not respond to an emailed request for comment. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Freelance journalist Michael Elliott said he was struck in the face with a pepper ball fired by federal officers while he covered a protest in front of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland, Oregon, on Jan. 20, 2021.
According to news reports, an estimated 100 people marched to the ICE facility around 9 p.m. and began chanting to protest the detention and caging of migrant children. At 9:30 p.m., federal officers declared the gathering an unlawful assembly.
Elliott, who says his work has been published by VICE, Oregon Public Broadcasting and Willamette Week, among others, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was photographing a protester from approximately 10 to 15 feet away shortly after 11 p.m. as they attempted to extinguish a tear gas canister using a Super Soaker water gun.
“Federal Officers began firing on the protester with the Super Soaker repeatedly hitting him with pepper balls,” Elliott said. Both he and the protester were ultimately pinned down, he said, as additional officers began firing rounds of tear gas, pepper balls and Skat Shells — a type of munition that produces fire and disperses chemical irritants — toward them. Elliott said one of the pepper ball rounds struck him during this volley.
Immediately, Elliott said, his eyes swelled shut and felt like they were on fire.
“Medics responded after witnessing the impact and noted a substantial cake of white dust on each of my eyelids,” Elliot told the Tracker
Elliott said that while he typically wears a gas mask, he had forgotten it that day as he left to document the protest.
The Department of Homeland Security, which coordinated the federal presence, didn’t respond to a request for comment on the incident.
The ICE protest was one of many social-justice demonstrations in Portland that have been ongoing since protests first broke out in May 2020 following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Independent journalist Jarrid Huber said he was struck in the head with a type of tear gas canister fired by federal officers while covering a protest in front of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in southern Portland, Oregon, on Jan. 20, 2021.
According to news reports, an estimated 100 people marched to the ICE facility around 9 p.m. to protest the detention of migrant children in cages. At 9:30 p.m., federal officers declared the gathering an unlawful assembly.
In Huber’s footage from that evening, federal officers can be seen leaving the ICE facility and lining up across the railroad tracks along the east side of the building. The line begins to advance toward the crowd — which appears to be retreating up South Moody Avenue — when the officers appear to open fire with crowd-control munitions without warning. As Huber turns and jogs away at around 37 minutes into the footage, he can be heard saying, “I got hit in the head.”
Huber told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was struck in the head with one of the three canisters of a Triple-Chaser, a type of tear gas canister that breaks apart to disperse tear gas across a wider area, when it ricocheted off the ground. Huber said that he was also struck multiple times in the chest with pepper balls and at least one baton round — a type of crowd-control munition that includes rubber bullets but also foam and wooden baton rounds.
Huber said he was wearing a body armor vest labeled with “PRESS” on the front and back, as well as a neck gaiter branded with the logo of Boop Troop Eugene and a press pass issued by the digital outlet. On its website, Boop Troop describes its coverage as focusing on “socio-economic issues, protests and educational awareness.”
According to Huber’s footage, he was able to continue filming for approximately two hours, saying on multiple occasions, “I feel fine.”
The following day, Huber posted on Facebook photos of abrasions on his temple and an update detailing the injuries he sustained.
“I have a mild concussion and trauma to the neck from my head being shot but they don’t believe there is any internal bleeding and my eye socket and temple seem to be okay other than small swelling and bruising,” Huber wrote. “They want me keeping a close eye on if symptoms get worse and I’m going to miss a few days of work.”
Huber told the Tracker he ultimately was unable to resume his protest coverage for two weeks.
The Department of Homeland Security, which coordinated the federal presence during the protest, didn’t respond to a request for comment on the incident.
The ICE protest was one of many social justice demonstrations in Portland that have been ongoing since protests first broke out in May 2020 following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The Portland Police Bureau has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation in the ACLU case. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Independent journalist Jarrid Huber suffered a concussion and neck trauma after being struck in the head, chest with crowd-control munitions while covering a demonstration outside an ICE facility in Portland on Jan. 20, 2021.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,no,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"chemical irritant, protest, shot / shot at",,,,, Independent videographer struck with tear gas canister while covering Portland protest,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-videographer-struck-with-tear-gas-canister-while-covering-portland-protest/,2021-06-24 18:35:50.754928+00:00,2022-03-09 22:44:25.471564+00:00,2022-03-09 22:44:25.412753+00:00,,Assault,,,,Melissa Lewis (Independent),,2021-01-20,False,Portland,Oregon (OR),45.52345,-122.67621,"Independent videographer Melissa Lewis said she was struck with a tear gas canister fired by federal officers while covering a protest in front of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in southern Portland, Oregon, on Jan. 20, 2021.
According to news reports, an estimated 100 people marched to the ICE facility around 9 p.m. and began chanting to protest the detention and holding of migrant children in cages. At 9:30 p.m. federal officers declared the gathering an unlawful assembly, the Oregonian reported.
Lewis, who has sold her footage to ABC, The Daily Beast and Oregon’s Willamette Week, among others, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she was filming as federal officers advanced on the crowd and one officer began using a strobe light.
In footage she posted to Twitter and labeled “Attack part 2,” a line of law enforcement officers can be seen shining lights toward the crowd. One officer turns on a strobe light and, as it flashes, Lewis appears to duck briefly behind a demonstrator’s shield. She then comes out from behind the shield and yells “You’re being sued for strobing epileptics!” Immediately after she speaks, an officer on the right-hand side of the line can be seen aiming and firing a projectile toward Lewis.
Attack part 2 pic.twitter.com/j0HIcol6Ey
— Melissa “Claudio” Lewis (@Claudio_Report) January 21, 2021
Lewis said she was struck in the upper thigh with what she believes was a Triple-Chaser, a type of tear gas canister that breaks apart to disperse tear gas across a wide area. Multiple other journalists also reported being struck with crowd-control munitions while covering protests that day, which the Tracker has documented here.
Of her comment about the strobe light and epileptics, Lewis said “I reminded them [law enforcement] about something that I am actively suing them for.”
Lewis and independent researcher and scientist Juniper Simonis are both plaintiffs in a November 2020 suit filed by Disability Rights Oregon against the City of Portland and 100 law enforcement officers. The suit says it aims to “stop local, state, and federal law enforcement from assaulting, brutalizing, and failing to reasonably accommodate people with disabilities during assemblies and protests.”
The Department of Homeland Security, which coordinated the federal law enforcement presence, didn’t respond to a request for comment on the incident.
The ICE protest was one of many social justice demonstrations in Portland that have been ongoing since protests first broke out in May 2020 following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Independent journalist James Stout said he was shot with pepper balls by police while covering a protest in San Diego, California, on Jan. 9, 2021.
Demonstrators gathered in the city’s Pacific Beach neighborhood for a rally in support of President Donald Trump, and counter-protesters massed nearby in opposition to Trump, KPBS reported. At around 2:30 p.m., after bottles, rocks and eggs were thrown at officers, the San Diego Police Department declared an unlawful assembly, according to the report.
Stout told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was covering the protest for Left Coast Right Watch, which describes itself as a Bay Area (CA) site “dedicated to covering politics and extremism.”
Stout said that after a few protesters started throwing things at police, law enforcement officers suddenly surged forward and grabbed a protester.
Stout said he was near other members of the press when police started to use pepper spray. He said he then felt one pepper ball hit him. He said he turned around and saw a SWAT officer pointing the weapon at him.
The officer fired multiple times, Stout said; he said he was hit four or five times, mostly in the thighs and groin. He said he experienced some bruising from the projectiles, but did not seek medical assistance.
In a photo shared on Instagram by the National Lawyers Guild of San Diego, Stout, who is on the left, can be seen with white chalky marks on his jeans near his groin.
Stout told the Tracker he believed he was targeted because he was a journalist; he was wearing a vest that clearly marked him as “PRESS” and was also carrying a camera.
A spokesperson for the San Diego Police Department told the Tracker in an email that the department is aware of Stout’s allegation, and declined to comment.
Independent journalist Talia Jane was briefly detained while documenting riots in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021.
Jane was documenting via Twitter protests and demonstrations unfolding in downtown D.C., organized around the Congressional certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s victory. President Donald Trump held a rally in front of the White House and called on his supporters to protest the vote on the basis of unfounded claims of election fraud. Hoards of his supporters then marched to the Capitol, swarmed the building and broke inside, Reuters reported.
In response to the violence at the Capitol, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser declared a public emergency and issued a curfew order from 6 p.m. until 6 a.m. the following morning. The order explicitly exempted journalists and other essential workers.
Jane told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker via direct messages that she was at the Capitol at around 7:30 p.m. to document a small group of Trump supporters who were trying to defy the curfew order.
“MPD [Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia] made three warnings for people to leave within the space of a minute or two, then started moving people back,” Jane said. “Eventually they formed a big circle, told me because I was press I could leave any time but didn’t answer questions about non-press people still there.”
Moments later, an officer in a white shirt told the others to start grabbing people, Jane said.
An officer placed his hand on her shoulder and began escorting her out of the police “kettle,” a police tactic of encircling a crowd which is often followed with mass citations or arrests. Jane said that she was not released, but led to two coach buses alongside the other detainees.
Two Washington Post journalists, Zoeann Murphy and Whitney Leaming, were also detained within the police kettle. The Tracker has documented those detentions here.
Jane said that she continued to film the scene and attempted to ask both her arresting officer and the commanding officers at the scene whether press were exempted from the curfew, but they ignored her.
“Still on my phone, not zip tied, just being held by my backpack so I can’t move around too much,” Jane said.
When she reached the front of the line, Jane said one of the commanding officers examined her press badge and asked which outlets she works for, and she listed a few.
“Satisfied, he tells me they’re going to let me go but on the caveat I head straight home.”
They grabbed me, walked me to the...coach buses(?) they’re putting detainees in. Divided the people by male/female. Once it got to be my turn, Captain JR Haines looked at my press badge, said he’d let me go. Asked if press are included in curfew, he said “I don’t know” & laughed
— TALIA JANE (@itsa_talia) January 7, 2021
Jane said she was released at approximately 7:45 p.m., then remained at the scene for a while with other members of the press. She said she was not hassled further by the police.
When reached by phone, a spokesperson for MPDC told the Tracker that it could not comment beyond this statement: “When we detain any reporters, it’s to maintain order and safety.”
The spokesperson said she could not comment further on the specifics of any case. The Tracker was then asked that any questions about the department’s use of kettling be sent via email. The department did not immediately respond to those or previously emailed questions.
Rioters stormed the Capitol to disrupt the certification of President-elect Joe Biden's victory on Jan. 6, 2020. Three journalists were detained after a curfew was ordered in response to the violence.
",detained and released without being processed,not charged,Metropolitan Police Department,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Donald Trump protest, election, Election 2020, kettle, protest",,,,, Two Washington Post video journalists detained in police ‘kettle’ during DC riot,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/two-washington-post-video-journalists-detained-in-police-kettle-during-dc-riot/,2021-01-08 16:22:06.345210+00:00,2022-08-04 21:26:52.786278+00:00,2022-08-04 21:26:52.720345+00:00,,Arrest/Criminal Charge,,,,Whitney Leaming (The Washington Post),,2021-01-06,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"The Washington Post video journalist Whitney Leaming was detained alongside a colleague while documenting riots in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021.
Leaming and fellow Post video journalist Zoeann Murphy were covering protests and demonstrations in downtown D.C., The Post reported, organized around the Congressional certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s victory. President Donald Trump held a rally in front of the White House and called on his supporters to protest the vote on the basis of unfounded claims of election fraud. Hoards of his supporters then marched to the Capitol, swarmed the building and broke inside, Reuters reported.
In response to the violence at the Capitol, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser declared a public emergency and issued a curfew order from 6 p.m. until 6 a.m. the following morning. The order explicitly exempted journalists and other essential workers.
Murphy told The Post in a live interview that the two journalists had been entrapped by Metropolitan Police Department officers using a technique known as “kettling,” wherein police surround a group from all sides to prevent exit. Murphy spoke to the outlet live while they were being detained, as Leaming continued to film the scene.
With @wleaming, still rolling the camera while we were being arrested for filming protests outside the Capitol. pic.twitter.com/PcEiwz28DU
— Zoeann Murphy (@ZoeannMurphy) January 7, 2021
Independent journalist Talia Jane was also detained in the kettle. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented her detention here.
Murphy said that police confirmed multiple times that the journalists were under arrest, but did not provide further explanation, even though both Leaming and Murphy identified themselves as members of the press.
While speaking live with The Post at approximately 7:40 p.m., Murphy suddenly said that officers had decided to allow press to leave the scene after providing media credentials. She said she had her Washington Post press badge and was wearing a fleece with the news outlet’s name on it. In a video posted to Twitter by Murphy following their release, Leaming can be seen carrying a large camera and backpack with equipment.
The Tracker has documented Murphy’s detainment here.
The journalists were detained alongside the demonstrators for violating curfew Murphy told the Post.
Murphy told the Tracker that after they were released the police were “completely polite” to the pair as they continued documenting the scene for approximately 30 minutes.
A spokesperson for The Post said in a statement to The Wrap, “Our journalists were just doing their jobs and should never have been arrested in the first place. However, we’re pleased that police quickly released them.”
When reached by phone, a spokesperson for MPDC told the Tracker that it could not comment beyond this statement: “When we detain any reporters, it’s to maintain order and safety.”
The spokesperson said she could not comment further on the specifics of any case. The Tracker was then asked that any questions about the department’s use of kettling be sent via email. The department did not immediately respond to those or previously emailed questions.
This article has been updated to include comment from Zoeann Murphy.
Police stand guard at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., following a Jan. 6, 2021 riot against the certification of presidential election results by Congress.
",detained and released without being processed,not charged,Metropolitan Police Department,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Donald Trump protest, election, Election 2020, kettle, protest",,,,, Washington Post video journalists detained in police ‘kettle’ during DC riot,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/washington-post-video-journalists-detained-in-police-kettle-during-dc-riot/,2021-01-08 16:32:01.028410+00:00,2022-08-04 21:27:55.958623+00:00,2022-08-04 21:27:55.888149+00:00,,Arrest/Criminal Charge,,,,Zoeann Murphy (The Washington Post),,2021-01-06,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"The Washington Post video journalist Zoeann Murphy was detained alongside a colleague while documenting riots in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021.
Murphy and fellow Post video journalist Whitney Leaming were covering protests and demonstrations in downtown D.C., The Post reported, organized around the Congressional certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s victory. President Donald Trump held a rally in front of the White House and called on his supporters to protest the vote on the basis of unfounded claims of election fraud. Hoards of his supporters then marched to the Capitol, swarmed the building and broke inside, Reuters reported.
In response to the violence at the Capitol, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser declared a public emergency and issued a curfew order from 6 p.m. until 6 a.m. the following morning. The order explicitly exempted journalists and other essential workers.
Murphy told The Post in a live interview that the two journalists had been entrapped by Metropolitan Police Department officers using a technique known as “kettling,” wherein police surround a group from all sides to prevent exit. Murphy spoke to the outlet live while they were being detained, as Leaming continued to film the scene.
Some days are like this. Body armor, helmet, getting arrested while filming a siege on the Capitol. #journalism pic.twitter.com/i8i6bD4o5q
— Zoeann Murphy (@ZoeannMurphy) January 7, 2021
Independent journalist Talia Jane was also detained in the kettle. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented her detention here.
Murphy told the Tracker, “We got kettled, and that happens. But usually I can just go up to a police officer and say, ‘We’re media,’ and they just let us out of the kettle. And in this situation they did not.”
Murphy said in the livestream that police confirmed multiple times that the journalists were under arrest, but did not provide further explanation, even though both Leaming and Murphy identified themselves as members of the press.
“I have a credential: a Washington Post credential press badge that I wear. And then I actually have my Washington Post fleece on today as well,” Murphy said.
At approximately 7:40 p.m., while still live with The Post, Murphy can be heard saying, “They’ve just told us that they’re letting the press go and have told us that we can go.”
Both journalists were released shortly after showing officers their media credentials. The Tracker has documented Leaming’s detainment here.
The journalists were detained alongside the demonstrators for violating curfew, Murphy told the Post.
Murphy told the Tracker that after they were released the police were “completely polite” to the pair as they continued documenting the scene for approximately 30 minutes.
A spokesperson for The Post said in a statement to The Wrap, “Our journalists were just doing their jobs and should never have been arrested in the first place. However, we’re pleased that police quickly released them.”
When reached by phone, a spokesperson for MPDC told the Tracker that it could not comment beyond this statement: “When we detain any reporters, it’s to maintain order and safety.”
The spokesperson said she could not comment further on the specifics of any case. The Tracker was then asked that any questions about the department’s use of kettling be sent via email. The department did not immediately respond to those or previously emailed questions.
This article has been updated to include comment from Zoeann Murphy.
Police in Washington, D.C. stand guard at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, following riots against Congress’ certification of the 2020 presidential election results. A curfew was issued following the breaching of the Capitol.
",detained and released without being processed,not charged,Metropolitan Police Department,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Donald Trump protest, election, Election 2020, kettle, protest",,,,, "New York Times reporter assaulted, cameras stolen and damaged amid Capitol riot",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/new-york-times-reporter-assaulted-cameras-stolen-and-damaged-amid-capitol-riot/,2021-01-11 21:42:15.578889+00:00,2022-08-04 21:28:06.754554+00:00,2022-08-04 21:28:06.598489+00:00,,"Assault, Equipment Damage",,,"camera: count of 1, press pass: count of 1, camera lens: count of 1",Erin Schaff (The New York Times),,2021-01-06,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"New York Times reporter Erin Schaff wrote that she was assaulted, one of her cameras stolen and the lens of a second broken by rioters as they stormed the Capitol in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 6, 2021.
A riot broke out as supporters of President Donald Trump marched on the Capitol, swarmed the building and broke inside in an attempt to disrupt the Congressional certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s victory, Reuters reported. At a noon rally held in front of the White House, Trump called on his supporters to protest the vote on the basis of unfounded claims of election fraud. According to Reuters, the building was breached at approximately 2:15 p.m.
Schaff, who did not respond to a request for comment, wrote in an account published by the Times that she followed the noise of protesters on the first floor of the Senate side of the building.
Schaff recounted that the single Capitol Police officer guarding the ceremonial doors to the Rotunda was rushed by the crowd, forcing open the door.
“I ran upstairs to be out of the way of the crowd, and to get a better vantage point to document what was happening. Suddenly, two or three men in black surrounded me and demanded to know who I worked for,” Schaff wrote.
“Grabbing my press pass, they saw that my ID said The New York Times and became really angry. They threw me to the floor, trying to take my cameras. I started screaming for help as loudly as I could. No one came. People just watched. At this point, I thought I could be killed and no one would stop them. They ripped one of my cameras away from me, broke a lens on the other and ran away.”
Schaff’s congressional press credentials were also stolen in the attack.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting multiple assaults, detainments and equipment damages from Jan. 6 events. Find those here.
Salt Lake Tribune photojournalist Rick Egan was sprayed in the face with a chemical irritant by a demonstrator upset that he was documenting a protest at the Utah state Capitol in Salt Lake City on Jan. 6, 2021.
Egan told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was documenting what was a largely peaceful demonstration organized by supporters of President Donald Trump who carried signs about unfounded election allegations. The Tribune reported there were some members of extremist or militia-type groups, including the Proud Boys and Utah Citizens’ Alarm, at the demonstration who were armed with bats and firearms.
Egan said he was walking up the first set of stairs toward the Capitol to film a demonstrator using a megaphone when a protesters accosted him.
“He was singing this sort of childhood, baby song about putting your diapers on your face talking about masks,” Egan said. “I wanted to film that song and I hadn’t even really started filming yet when some [other] guy came out of nowhere and said, ‘Look at you with your mask on, you fucking pussy.’”
Egan said he brushed the encounter off and continued working. Approximately a minute or two later, Egan said, a man carrying a flag repeatedly waved it in his face, preventing the photojournalist from taking pictures of him or from continuing to walk up the steps.
“As I tried to make my way through, he started shoving me and pushing me, saying stuff like ‘Get the fuck out of here,’” Egan said. “I just saw quickly from the corner of my eye the same guy who had yelled at me a minute or two earlier just popped around the corner to the side of this guy and sprayed me in the face [with mace]. He just ran up, sprayed me and ran.”
Egan said he was carrying two cameras and has no doubt that he was targeted because he was identifiable as a member of the press.
“As soon as the guy sprayed me, they all started laughing at me — all these Proud Boys or Boogaloo Boys who had this sort of gauntlet up to the capitol building,” Egan said. “I’m just stumbling blindly up these stairs thinking, ‘I’ve got to get away from these guys because they could beat me up, steal my cameras, whatever.’”
At first, the effects of the irritant were pretty mild, but suddenly he couldn’t see. Luckily, he said, Associated Press journalist Rick Bowmer found him and helped him to a quiet area where his fellow Tribune photojournalist Francisco Kjolseth was able to rinse out his eyes with a bottle of water.
Salt Lake Tribune photographer Rick Egan has been pepper sprayed by people here upset he was documenting the event. @sltrib #uptol pic.twitter.com/AT40p177Pt
— Taylor Stevens (@tstevensmedia) January 6, 2021
After approximately 45 minutes and having his eyes rinsed three or four times, Egan said he was able to continue photographing the protest.
“[The attack] kind of freaked me out a bit, mentally it messed me up a little bit, but I was able to see enough to shoot,” Egan said.
Egan said he found a quiet place to edit some of his photos and check to see if he had captured any photos of his assailant.
“While I was going through my photos though I saw a reflection on my screen and turned around to see the guy who had been waving the flag standing directly behind me, watching me,” Egan said.
Egan told the Tracker he quickly and calmly packed up his belongings and found a police officer, who escorted him inside the Capitol to give a statement about the assault.
Immediately after, Egan returned to his car and drove back to the office to finish editing his images there.
Egan said that he never felt like the armed demonstrators would hurt him as a member of the press, and that their main aim was to intimidate.
“None of us really back down,” Egan said. “I don’t think they’ve successfully intimidated any of us up to this point and I hope that this instance won’t make us not cover a story or not show up or not stay somewhere just because they’re there, because then they win. That’s what they’re trying to do.”
Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall condemned the attack in a tweet that afternoon.
“An assault on a journalist is an attack on freedom of press and democracy. This is unacceptable, and should not be allowed to go unchecked,” Mendenhall wrote.
The Salt Lake Police Department did not immediately respond to voicemail requesting comment.
Salt Lake Tribune photojournalist Rick Egan, photographed here by colleague Francisco Kjolseth, was sprayed with pepper spray by a demonstrator at the Utah state Capitol in Salt Lake City on Jan. 6, 2021.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"chemical irritant, Donald Trump protest, election, Election 2020, protest",,,,, Freelance photojournalist struck multiple times with projectiles during Capitol riot,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/freelance-photojournalist-struck-multiple-times-projectiles-during-capitol-riot/,2021-01-13 21:31:22.145575+00:00,2022-08-04 21:28:23.770390+00:00,2022-08-04 21:28:23.714755+00:00,,Assault,,,,Amanda Andrade-Rhoades (The Washington Post),,2021-01-06,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"Freelance photojournalist Amanda Andrade-Rhoades said she was hit by crowd control munitions fired by law enforcement officers four times while covering riots at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021.
Andrade-Rhoades told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she was on assignment for The Washington Post covering protesters as they marched toward the west side of the Capitol from the National Mall. The protesters, spurred by a speech by President Donald Trump earlier that day, aimed to disrupt the Congressional certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.
At approximately 2:45 p.m., Andrade-Rhoades said she was photographing as the protest became a riot, with the pro-Trump crowd — some armed with clubs or other weapons — clashing with Capitol Police officers in front of the Capitol.
There's more! pic.twitter.com/RzoPm9InIz
— Amanda Andrade-Rhoades (@Moxie_Manda) January 7, 2021
Andrade-Rhoades said she had covered previous pro-Trump demonstrations where protesters were far less aggressive towards law enforcement. “This time [the rioters] were fighting the officers and breaking apart barricades to hit the police with,” she said. “I had just put on my gas mask because things seemed to be getting very much worse.”
Andrade-Rhoades said her right leg was struck multiple times as she documented Capitol Police and rioters scuffling over a barrier.
“There was a bit of a gap between the police and the rioters, and that’s when I felt myself get hit four times,” Andrade-Rhoades said. She added that she believes she was hit by rubber bullets based on the rounds she saw on the ground around her after she was struck.
After the incident, she posted a photo of her leg showing several large bruises. “Since someone asked,” she wrote on her Twitter account, “I’m pretty sure these were rubber bullets but not 100% sure.”
Since someone asked, I’m pretty sure these were rubber bullets but not 100% sure. The one on the top of my thigh is very swollen, but it looks worse than it feels. That may not be the case tomorrow though ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ pic.twitter.com/kWJerA3pOV
— Amanda Andrade-Rhoades (@Moxie_Manda) January 7, 2021
Andrade-Rhoades said she was wearing a press credential issued by The Post, and the word “PRESS” was written on a piece of painters’ tape stuck to her gas mask. But she noted that when she was hit, law enforcement officers were overwhelmed by the number of violent rioters and were fighting back indiscriminately. She said she retreated from the violence briefly, then returned to photographing as the rioters climbed up scaffolding and stormed the Capitol.
About two days after the incident Andrade-Rhoades said some of her wounds were still swollen and tender to the touch and that she would seek medical attention if the swelling on her hip did not go down soon.
Andrade-Rhoades said that over the course of the afternoon, multiple rioters threatened to kill her, and that she was caught in pepper spray fired indiscriminately by police. The Tracker has documented all election-related incidents here.
Neither the Capitol Police nor the Metropolitan Police Department of D.C. responded to emails requesting comment.
Photojournalist Amanda Andrade-Rhoades was hit with multiple crowd-control munitions while covering the Capitol riots for The Washington Post on Jan 6, 2021.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Donald Trump protest, election, Election 2020, protest",,,,, Slate reporter pushed by Capitol Police officer in effort to ‘slow down’ rioters,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/slate-reporter-pushed-by-capitol-police-officer-in-effort-to-slow-down-rioters/,2021-01-13 21:06:39.012764+00:00,2022-08-04 21:28:51.201791+00:00,2022-08-04 21:28:51.141873+00:00,,Assault,,,,Aymann Ismail (Slate),,2021-01-06,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"Slate reporter Aymann Ismail was pushed by a Capitol Police officer while covering the riot at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021.
In an account for Slate, Ismail wrote that he had started the day covering a rally in front of the White House at which President Donald Trump spoke at noon. After the president called on his supporters to protest Congress as it confirmed President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory on the basis of unfounded claims of election fraud, a crowd of hundreds marched to the Capitol, swarmed the building and broke inside, Reuters reported.
Ismail wrote that he’d followed the crowd as they marched across the National Mall, approaching the Capitol from the west.
“As we got closer, though, I saw these marchers ripping open doors and climbing through windows. When I got to the doors, police had managed to close them again,” Ismail wrote. “There was a core group of young people at the very front, just outside, trying to force their way in.”
In Ismail’s estimation, “there were a few cops, but not nearly enough” as he walked up to the doors and identified himself to officers as a member of the press.
“One cop started using my body to push people behind me backward,” Ismail wrote. “I heard one say to the other, ‘The best we can do is slow them down.’”
Ismail was able to quickly get around the officers and into the Capitol without further incident. He told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he didn’t believe the officers had acted maliciously or had been trying to harm him.
The Capitol Police did not respond to an emailed request for comment.
“I moved quickly, got as many photos as I could muster in a short period of time, then moved back out of the building,” Ismail said. “Earlier, I had seen other reporters get attacked by the mob, so I made it a point not to stick around in any one spot too long.”
The Tracker is documenting multiple incidents involving journalists, including assaults, arrests and equipment damage, from Jan. 6. All of our election-related coverage can be found here.
Slate reporter Aymann Ismail captured this image as a Capitol Police officer pushed him in an effort to block rioters who had made their way into the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,no,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Donald Trump protest, election, Election 2020, protest",,,,, Cell phone of French journalist destroyed during his livestream of Capitol riot,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cell-phone-french-journalist-destroyed-during-his-livestream-capitol-riot/,2021-01-13 21:49:31.297205+00:00,2022-08-04 21:29:01.093659+00:00,2022-08-04 21:29:01.014525+00:00,,"Equipment Damage, Assault",,,mobile phone: count of 1,Vincent Jolly (Le Figaro),,2021-01-06,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"Vincent Jolly, a reporter for the weekly magazine of French newspaper Le Figaro, had his phone destroyed during a live report about the riots at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021.
Protests organized around Congress’s confirmation of President-elect Joe Biden’s victory devolved into a riot earlier that day, Reuters reported. At a rally in front of the White House, President Donald Trump called on his supporters to protest the vote on the basis of unfounded claims of election fraud. Hoards of his supporters then marched to the Capitol, swarmed the building and broke inside.
In a clip posted to Twitter by Figaro Live Editor in Chief Vincent Roux, Jolly can be heard at the very beginning giving a live report on the riot at the Capitol while filming a crowd of individuals walking away from the building. Jolly tells the host that they were waiting to hear responses to the violence from the Republican Party and Biden.
Plusieurs journalistes et équipes médias agressés et leurs matériels détruits par des Pro-#Trumps. Comme notre confrère @VincentJolly_ agressé en direct. Pas de blessure mais son téléphone avec lequel il est en direct pour @Figaro_Live est completement détruit. Shame! #Capitole pic.twitter.com/7XGzCLLAq2
— Vincent Roux (@vincentroux88) January 6, 2021
In Jolly’s video, a man is seen breaking away from the group, quickly advancing on Jolly and swiping at his cell phone before the feed suddenly dies. The Figaro Live host, seen to the left of the cell phone image, picks up the narration as the man advances, exclaiming that they would see what had happened to Jolly and that it appeared someone had taken the journalist’s phone.
In the tweet, Figaro Live editor Roux wrote that while Jolly was not injured in the assault, his cell phone was “completely destroyed.” “Shame!” he wrote.
Jolly did not respond to messages requesting comment.
Sara Gentzler, a reporter for the Olympian, was threatened by an armed individual while covering a demonstration at the Capitol in Olympia, Washington, on Jan. 6, 2021.
The protest that day, which started at the Capitol, migrated to the Governor’s Mansion and grew increasingly aggressive as the afternoon wore on, was one of several held by supporters of President Donald Trump around the country, organized as the U.S. Congress was set to confirm President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory.
Gentzler told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she had been covering the protest intermittently since noon. When she returned shortly before 3 p.m., a man armed with multiple firearms and a knife approached her.
“He asked, ‘Are you with the media?’ I said yes, and he asked, ‘Which publication?’ And he obviously didn’t want me there,” Gentzler said. The same man approached her again a little while later, after she had met up with AP photojournalist Ted S. Warren.
“He was very aggressive and made it very clear that he didn’t want us there. He said he had pepper-sprayed members of the media earlier in the day and we had five minutes to leave,” Gentzler said.
In a short clip Gentzler posted to Twitter shortly before 3 p.m., the man can briefly be seen before lunging at Gentzler and trying to grab her phone in an attempt to prevent her from filming the interaction
Man with a gun just told me + another journalist that media isn’t wanted here, that he pepper-sprayed members of the media earlier, and we have 5 min to leave. Later said “We’re going to shoot you f***ing dead in the next year.” This vid is all I got as he reached at my phone. pic.twitter.com/yNDgGVx6cT
— Sara Gentzler (@SaraGentzler) January 6, 2021
KOMO News reported that the same man had threatened and sprayed two members of the media with what court documents identified as bear spray near the intersection of 11th Avenue and Capitol Way South at around noon, incapacitating both for hours. The Tracker documented the multiple assaults in Olympia here.
“As he was sort of going away from us,” Gentzler said, “he said, ‘We’re going to shoot you fucking dead in the next year.’”
“I’m used to people generally expressing anti-media sentiment, I’ve kind of come to expect it. But that was an exceptional interaction. It definitely felt aggressive and truly frightening,” Gentzler said. “I was just trying to figure out what my next move was, rethinking what I could do to be safe and continue doing this.”
Gentzler told the Tracker that she and Warren were able to meet up with other journalists to have safety in numbers and to warn them about the man.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting multiple incidents involving journalists, including assaults, arrests and equipment damage, from Jan. 6. All of our election-related coverage can be found here.
This article has been updated to include comment from Sara Gentzler and to identify Ted S. Warren of the Associated Press.
Broadcast equipment belonging to The Associated Press was reportedly destroyed as rioters swarmed a group of broadcast journalists covering the unrest in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 6, 2021.
At a rally in front of the White House earlier that day, President Donald Trump called on his supporters to protest at the Capitol as Congress confirmed President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory. Following Trump’s speech, which included unfounded claims of election fraud and calls to “fight” the outcome, hundreds then marched to the Capitol, swarmed the building and broke inside, Reuters reported.
Elmar Thevessen, a reporter for German public-service broadcaster ZDF, wrote on Twitter that he and his team were reporting alongside journalists from the AP when a crowd of rioters stormed them and broke through the barricades surrounding the journalists and their equipment.
Well, Trumps Mob hat sich ausgetobt. Dem Kameramann, den Kolleg/innen von Associated Press, ARD, RTL und auch mir geht‘s gut. https://t.co/Xo7SECT0ce pic.twitter.com/3BJ4ZwNlJ8
— Elmar Theveßen (@ethevessen) January 6, 2021
In videos of the incident, the rioters can be heard yelling “Fuck the mainstream media” as well as “CNN sucks” and “Fuck CNN!” The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has not found any information to suggest that a CNN news crew or any CNN equipment was targeted in the attack.
Thevessen told ZDF in a broadcast later that day that Capitol Police had begun using tear gas and flash-bang grenades to clear the west side of the Capitol, causing many rioters to move to the east where the ZDF team and other members of the media were located. The rioters surrounded the journalists and started throwing and destroying their equipment, Thevessen said. The news teams decided that they needed to quickly leave the area.
Thevessen said that while his team was able to save their camera, the AP team was unable to do so. Multiple plastic storage containers bearing the AP logo are visible in photos of the wreckage, and according to Thevessen at least two AP cameras were destroyed. Thevessen estimated that at least $100,000 of AP equipment was damaged.
Outside the Capitol, pro-Trump protesters are smashing cameras and other media equipment yelling “CNN sucks!”
— Christal Hayes (@Journo_Christal) January 6, 2021
One man took a wooden stick and bashed the pile of destroyed equipment.
This stuff isn’t owned by CNN. They are destroying AP equipment. pic.twitter.com/NeIUUSuYaC
A video posted by NBC reporter Shomari Stone shows rioters also pouring water atop the damaged equipment.
In total, Thevessen wrote, approximately 30,000 euros — or around $36,500 — worth of ZDF equipment was destroyed. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented that incident here.
According to Thevessen, none of the journalists were injured in the attack.
The AP confirmed to Daily Beast media reporter Max Tani that AP equipment was stolen and destroyed during the violent protests.
The National Press Photographers Association condemned the Jan. 6 attacks on ZDF, AP and other news teams from visual media. “To do our jobs, photojournalists must be on the front lines to record the news,” the group’s statement reads. “The threats, violence and aggression toward visual journalists are unconscionable acts that erode our democracy and our country’s First Amendment rights.”
At least one man has been arrested in connection with the destruction of the ZDF and AP broadcast equipment. According to an affidavit filed by FBI Special Agent Jamie Stranahan, the bureau has identified Pete Harding of Cheektowaga, New York, as one of the participants.
The affidavit identified Harding as the man in a maroon hoodie, seen in several videos of the incident, who attempted to light the equipment on fire once it had been destroyed and piled up. The man believed to be Harding can be seen lighting a plastic bag on fire using a lighter in a video posted by Deadspin reporter Chuck Modi.
More video of Trump Capitol rioters destroying camera equipment. While they yell “CNN Sucks!” and believe it is CNN, I have received a message that this equipment belongs to ZDF, a popular news station in Germany. More videos coming pic.twitter.com/bsGcCP9VEr
— ChuckModi (@ChuckModi1) January 7, 2021
Harding also confirmed to The Buffalo News that he helped pile up the equipment and attempted to burn it.
“That was a symbolic gesture. Nothing burned. It was metal,” Harding told the paper. “It was far from any structure. It was nowhere near the Capitol building. It was nowhere near a tree. It wasn't even on grass that could be lit on fire. There was a plastic bag. I had a Bic lighter and that was it. It was symbolism."
The News reported that Harding was arrested on Jan. 13 on warrant issued by the U.S. Marshals Service.
Journalists survey damaged equipment outside the Capitol on Jan. 7, 2021, a day after supporters of President Donald Trump occupied the capitol building and targeted the media for harassment, assaults and equipment damage.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,The Associated Press,"Donald Trump protest, election, Election 2020, protest",,,,, "Rioters rush broadcasters, destroy German outlet’s equipment",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/rioters-rush-broadcasters-destroy-german-outlets-equipment/,2021-01-15 16:11:46.462937+00:00,2022-08-04 21:30:32.839220+00:00,2022-08-04 21:30:32.754379+00:00,"(2021-06-24 12:12:00+00:00) Individual charged for the destruction of ZDF, other media equipment",Equipment Damage,,,"lighting unit: count of 1, live unit: count of 1, mobile phone: count of 2, external microphone: count of 1",,,2021-01-06,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"Broadcast equipment belonging to German public-service broadcaster ZDF and worth approximately 30,000 euros was reportedly destroyed as rioters swarmed a group of broadcast journalists covering the unrest in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 6, 2021.
At a rally in front of the White House earlier that day, President Donald Trump called on his supporters to protest at the Capitol as Congress confirmed President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory. Following Trump’s speech, which included unfounded claims of election fraud and calls to “fight” the outcome, hundreds then marched to the Capitol, swarmed the building and broke inside, Reuters reported.
ZDF reporter Elmar Thevessen and his team were reporting alongside journalists from The Associated Press when a crowd of rioters stormed them and broke through the barricades surrounding them, according to a tweet posted by Thevessen.
Well, Trumps Mob hat sich ausgetobt. Dem Kameramann, den Kolleg/innen von Associated Press, ARD, RTL und auch mir geht‘s gut. https://t.co/Xo7SECT0ce pic.twitter.com/3BJ4ZwNlJ8
— Elmar Theveßen (@ethevessen) January 6, 2021
In videos of the incident, the rioters can be heard yelling “fuck the mainstream media” as well as “CNN sucks” and “Fuck CNN!” The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has not found any information to suggest that a CNN news crew or any CNN equipment was targeted in the attack.
Thevessen told ZDF in a broadcast later that day that Capitol Police had begun using tear gas and flash-bang grenades to clear the west side of the Capitol, causing many rioters to move to the east where the ZDF team and other members of the media were located. The rioters surrounded the journalists and started throwing and destroying their equipment, Thevessen said. The news teams decided that they needed to quickly leave the area; Thevessen said his team was able to save their camera but the rest of their equipment was destroyed.
According to Thevessen, none of the journalists were injured in the attack.
In the center-left of the photo Thevessen posted, a man in a red beanie can be seen holding an orange microphone belonging to ZDF.
Thevessen said in subsequent tweets that a colleague from German broadcaster ARD had retrieved the ZDF microphone from rioters later that day. In total, he wrote, approximately 30,000 euros — or around $36,500 — worth of equipment belonging to the outlet had been destroyed, including a spotlight and portable video uplink.
Unser Scheinwerfer ist wieder da, in fast perfektem Zustand 😉 Was für erbärmliche Wichte, die offenbar ihre Komplexe abreagieren mussten... @ZDFheute pic.twitter.com/GdamYSIoKu
— Elmar Theveßen (@ethevessen) January 9, 2021
While the ZDF team was able to protect their camera, according to Thevessen two AP cameras were destroyed. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented that incident here.
In an article published the following morning, ZDF Today’s Journal Editor-in-Chief Wulf Schmiese condemned the attack on Thevessen and his team.
“Thank God nothing happened to him or his people. But it was an attack on us — on all of my colleagues who do what we owe to the USA: free reporting,” Schmiese wrote.
According to Schmiese, the rioters also stole phones belonging to the journalists and attempted to “terrorize” the outlet’s control room with threatening calls.
At least one man has been arrested in connection with the equipment destruction. According to an affidavit filed by FBI Special Agent Jamie Stranahan, the bureau has identified Pete Harding of Cheektowaga, New York, as one of the participants.
The affidavit identified Harding as the man in a maroon hoodie, seen in several videos of the incident, who attempted to light the equipment on fire once it had been destroyed and piled up. The man believed to be Harding can be seen lighting a plastic bag on fire using a lighter in a video posted by Deadspin reporter Chuck Modi.
More video of Trump Capitol rioters destroying camera equipment. While they yell “CNN Sucks!” and believe it is CNN, I have received a message that this equipment belongs to ZDF, a popular news station in Germany. More videos coming pic.twitter.com/bsGcCP9VEr
— ChuckModi (@ChuckModi1) January 7, 2021
Harding also confirmed to The Buffalo News that he helped pile up the equipment and attempted to burn it.
“That was a symbolic gesture. Nothing burned. It was metal,” Harding told the paper. “It was far from any structure. It was nowhere near the Capitol building. It was nowhere near a tree. It wasn't even on grass that could be lit on fire. There was a plastic bag. I had a Bic lighter and that was it. It was symbolism."
The News reported that Harding was arrested on Jan. 13 on a U.S. Marshals Service warrant.
Journalists survey damaged equipment outside the Capitol on Jan. 7, 2021, a day after supporters of President Donald Trump occupied the capitol building and targeted the media for harassment, assaults and equipment damage.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None, ZDF,"Donald Trump protest, election, Election 2020, protest",,,,, "Fox 5 DC news crew, other journalists face targeted assaults while covering Capitol riots",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalists-face-targeted-assaults-while-covering-capitol-riots/,2021-01-15 22:24:29.613780+00:00,2022-08-04 21:30:45.083854+00:00,2022-08-04 21:30:45.019776+00:00,,Assault,,,,Unidentified photojournalist 17 (WTTG Fox 5),,2021-01-06,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"A Fox 5 DC news crew was harassed and a cameraman assaulted by rioters while covering the insurrection in and around the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Trump spoke at noon at a rally in front of the White House in response to the Congressional certification of President-elect Joe Biden, promoting false claims of election fraud and calling for his supporters to march to the Capitol, The New York Times reported. Following the rally, thousands of pro-Trump supporters waving Confederate and Trump flags violently stormed the Capitol, disrupting and occupying several areas within the building.
At about 4:40 p.m., Fox 5 DC reporter Sierra Fox posted a tweet showing her and the news crew covering the scene outside the Capitol when demonstrators harassed and assaulted them, forcing them out of the area.
This is how the media is being treated out here. pic.twitter.com/Rxr6ozxOxs
— Sierra Fox (@thesierrafox) January 6, 2021
“This is how the media is being treated out here,” Fox wrote alongside a video posted on Twitter. In the video, as she and the crew are navigating the crowd, demonstrators can be heard yelling, “Fuck the media,” and “Get out of here.”
At the 11-second mark, a woman lurches at what is presumably Fox’s phone, but Fox quickly turns away. The same woman grabs and kicks another, unidentified member of the crew a few seconds later. In the back, a demonstrator can be seen reaching for the Fox cameraman’s equipment. Toward the end of the video, several people follow the crew and continue to harass and film them, but ultimately fall back. In another video shared with the Tracker, a demonstrator is seen ripping off the cameraman's mask.
Fox could not be reached for comment.
In a press release the next day, outgoing Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund called the attacks on Jan. 6 "criminal riotous behavior" and said the United States Capitol Police would be conducting a "thorough review of this incident."
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting multiple assaults, detainments and equipment damages from Jan. 6 events. Find those here.
Independent photojournalist John Harrington was assaulted multiple times while covering the Capitol riots on Jan. 6, 2021. "More than once, I wiped my hand along [my right cheek] to see if I had any blood," he said.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Donald Trump protest, election, Election 2020, protest",,,,, "VICE News journalist assaulted, camera damaged during Capitol riots",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/vice-news-journalist-assaulted-camera-damaged-during-capitol-riots/,2021-01-18 16:38:08.063714+00:00,2022-08-04 21:30:54.033747+00:00,2022-08-04 21:30:53.945978+00:00,,"Assault, Equipment Damage",,,camera: count of 1,Chris Olson (VICE News),,2021-01-06,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"VICE News international correspondent Ben Solomon and cameraman Chris Olson were attacked by several rioters as they covered the assault on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Demonstrators attempted to smash Olson’s camera, damaging the handle.
President Donald Trump spoke at a noon rally that day in front of the White House, promoting false claims of election fraud and calling for his supporters to march to the Capitol where lawmakers were certifying the victory of President-elect Joe Biden, reported the New York Times. Following the rally, pro-Trump supporters violently stormed the Capitol, disrupting congressional action and occupying several areas within the building.
In a video Solomon posted on Instagram, demonstrators can be seen confronting the VICE journalists, shouting, "Get the fuck out of here!" and asking, "Who are you with? Is it CNN? Better not be CNN."
"Chris [Olson] had a broken handle grip and that guy in forest camo gave me a good hard shove to the throat," Solomon wrote in a caption with the Instagram post.
In Solomon’s VICE video story posted to Youtube, the camera is hit at 1:23 and Solomon's voice can be heard, "They tried to smash our camera."
"We were lucky to get away with minimal damage," Solomon wrote on Instagram. "To hear how many colleagues had it worse that day, I consider myself lucky."
As of press time, Olson had not responded to a U.S. Press Freedom Tracker request for comment. The Tracker documented Solomon’s assault here.
The Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country. Find election-related coverage here.
CNN Senior Congressional Correspondent Manu Raju was pushed aside in the Senate chamber by a senator’s aide while covering the insurrection in and around the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
President Donald Trump spoke at a noon rally that day in front of the White House, promoting false claims of election fraud and calling for his supporters to march to the Capitol where lawmakers were certifying the victory of President-elect Joe Biden, reported the New York Times. Following the rally, pro-Trump supporters violently stormed the Capitol, disrupting congressional action and occupying several areas within the building.
Raju, who had been tweeting about Georgia's Senate runoffs the day prior, was covering events in the Senate chamber when Georgia Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler entered the room. According to Raju's tweet at 1:03 p.m., "[Loeffler] wouldn’t answer my question about whether she thought it was a free and fair election last night.” He wrote her aide then elbowed and pushed him out of the way.
Kelly Loeffler entered Senate chamber and wouldn’t answer my question about whether she thought it was a free and fair election last night. Her aide elbowed me and pushed me out of way.
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) January 6, 2021
A Capitol police officer reprimanded the aide, who initially lied and said he didn’t push me
Loeffler lost her reelection to Rev. Raphael Warnock earlier that day.
When Raju confronted the aide, he said he did not push Raju, but a Capitol police officer said, "Yes you did. I saw you. You can’t just push someone out of the way,” according to Raju's second tweet about the incident. The aide then apologized.
CNN video producer DJ Judd confirmed Raju's account in a tweet at 1:05 p.m., "When reprimanded by Capitol Police, the aide lied, said he didn’t push Manu."
An aide to Sen Loeffler just pushed @mkraju out of the way after she refused to answer if the election she lost last night was free & fair— when reprimanded by Capitol Police, the aide lied, said he didn’t push Manu. When Capitol Police told aide they saw him, the aide apologized
— DJ Judd (@DJJudd) January 6, 2021
Raju and Sen. Loeffler’s office did not respond to emailed requests for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country. Find election-related coverage here.
On Jan. 6, 2021, after a rally outside the White House in which President Donald Trump urged supporters to march down Pennsylvania Avenue to the U.S. Capitol — an ostensible protest of the Congress as it was set to confirm President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory — thousands stormed the legislative seat of the U.S. government. As the demonstration rapidly devolved into a full-on riot, individuals broke windows and forced open doors, vandalized and looted congressional offices, chanted for the demise of elected officials and assaulted members of the Capitol Police. Amid the fray, a potent disdain for journalists and journalism also simmered: Someone scrawled the words “Murder the Media” on a door to the building, and another tied a stolen camera cable into a noose and then hung it from a tree on the Capitol grounds. Below is a roundup of incidents involving individual journalists and news crews who faced harassment and threats in the course of their reporting on the day’s insurrection and across the month of January.
A full accounting of incidents in which members of the press were assaulted, arrested or had their equipment damaged while covering the riot can be found here. To learn more about how the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents and categorizes violations of press freedom, visit pressfreedomtracker.us.
More video of Trump Capitol rioters destroying camera equipment. While they yell “CNN Sucks!” and believe it is CNN, I have received a message that this equipment belongs to ZDF, a popular news station in Germany. More videos coming pic.twitter.com/bsGcCP9VEr
— ChuckModi (@ChuckModi1) January 7, 2021
Afgelopen woensdag. Nadat we bedreigd werden op onze live locatie bij het Capitool lopen we (met draaiende camera) naar een veiliger plek. (Zet geluid aan) pic.twitter.com/diyqCeeikS
— Erik Mouthaan (@erikmouthaanRTL) January 11, 2021
CBC’s Katie Nicholson is trying to inform Canadians about what’s happening on the streets of DC & is swarmed & harassed & prevented from doing her job. Thinking of her & all the journalists working hard & putting themselves at risk today to cover this historic story. Stay safe. pic.twitter.com/9OK96ahs94
— Meagan Fitzpatrick (@fitz_meagan) January 6, 2021
Ultimately the situation became unsafe when protestors tore down the metal barricades around the press and stormed in, shouting in our faces and in the cameras. We left and are safely in our DC office. But we will not stop covering this unprecedented moment in American history. pic.twitter.com/jZRhALpUhW
— Megan Pratz (@meganpratz) January 6, 2021
CBS News' Chip Reid reports from the chaos outside the Capitol: "There were no police around us. We were on our own. I remember one of the protesters standing next to me said, 'The police don't care about you guys. They're only protecting the senators. You're on your own, buddy'" pic.twitter.com/PYHZ4pdmNr
— CBS News (@CBSNews) January 6, 2021
The Tracker received reports of journalists harassed while reporting from the Capitol the following day, Jan. 7.
Independent journalist Maranie Rae Staab, who has been covering protests in support of the Black Lives Matter movement in Portland, Oregon, tweeted that she witnessed a reporter for the Washington Post being harassed by a group in front of the east side of the Capitol. Staab wrote that after she began to film the men as they screamed at the Post reporter, they directed their attention at her. A man without a mask can be seen approaching Staab and stands inches away from her as he shouts, “Are you proud?” and “I will get right in your face. I do not care.” The man also accuses Staab and the Post reporter of being communists. After the maskless man walks away, another individual tells Staab that they — the press — are “rodents” and liars. A third individual can be heard telling another member of the press standing with them, “That [press] badge: Shove it up your ass.” Staab wrote, “These assaults are a direct threat to the healthy #democracy #America purports itself to be, threats that [are] quickly becoming normalized & expected.”
After I filmed these men screaming at a WashPost reporter they turned their attention to me.
— Maranie R. Staab (@MaranieRae) January 8, 2021
These assaults are a direct threat to the healthy #democracy #America purports itself to be, threats that r quickly becoming normalized & expected.#freepress #uscapitol #thisisamerica pic.twitter.com/n9gFxR12fM
On Jan. 20, Inauguration Day, journalists reported being caught amid chemical irritants while covering demonstrations and harassed while reporting.
In Portland, Oregon
There were numerous gassings which included the use of CS, OC, and HC gas. My eyes immediately burned and my face was on fire. Multiple times I had to stop filming to run away from the gas which filled a city block. The first time gas was used, I started choking and threw up 3/ pic.twitter.com/dkxaAHEPHF
— Bethany Kerley (@BethanyKerleyOR) January 21, 2021
A flashbang hit a fence next to me and went off head level in the air next to me. My right ear still has minimal hearing. A snap next to it can be heard lightly and that's about it. Fuck these feds.
— Griffin - Live Protest News (@GriffinMalone6) January 21, 2021
In Charlotte, North Carolina
This is not OK - A minute before our live shot, a man drove by and threw a full beer bottle right at @TimMullican and me, screaming an obscenity. He missed us and we’re both safe, thankfully, but it’s upsetting that journalists are being attacked just for doing our jobs. pic.twitter.com/v0HoStSmFy
— Matt Grant (@MattGrantFOX46) January 20, 2021
Information in this roundup was gathered from published social media and news reports as well as interviews where noted. To read about additional incidents of aggression against the press related to the 2020 election, go here.
The phrase "Murder the Media" is seen carved into a door to the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 7, 2021, a day after supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol building in Washington, D.C.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,Media,"Donald Trump protest, election, Election 2020, protest",,,,, Photojournalist assaulted by rioters while covering Capitol insurrection,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-assaulted-rioters-while-covering-capitol-insurrection/,2021-01-21 20:12:00.828545+00:00,2022-08-04 21:31:22.861524+00:00,2022-08-04 21:31:22.787589+00:00,,"Assault, Equipment Damage",,,camera bag: count of 1,Chris Jones (100 Days in Appalachia),,2021-01-06,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"Photojournalist Chris Jones, who covers right-wing extremism for 100 Days in Appalachia through a partnership with Report for America, was assaulted and had his camera pouch damaged while covering the breach of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
The violent storming of the Capitol came after President Donald Trump had spoken at a rally in front of the White House in which he promoted false claims of election fraud and called for his supporters to march to the legislative seat of the U.S. government, where lawmakers were certifying the victory of President-elect Joe Biden, reported the New York Times.
Jones told the Tracker that he’d followed a group of demonstrators as they took the building but was stymied at the entrance, first due to the debilitating presence of tear gas and flash-bang grenades and then because rioters impeded his movement.
“Any time I went in, I got very quickly identified as press and it just got bad,” he told the Tracker. At one point, he said, he was no more than 20 feet inside the building when a rioter yelled repeatedly, “Are you press?” before picking him up and dragging him backward. Another then grabbed his legs. “The three of us clumsily made our way to the door,” Jones said.
At around 2 p.m., he said, a Capitol Police officer threw a flash-bang grenade right next to him and the heat tore through his camera pouch.
As Jones maneuvered among the crowd throughout the day, he said that many approached him with “We’re going to get you” and “You need to move on.” As with several journalists that day, such threats and harassment were common. The Tracker has documented such incidents, including one in which Jones was told he “deserved to be shot,” here.
“There was very clearly an intent and willingness. When they said, ‘Don’t stick around,’ they meant it,” he told the Tracker. He said he encountered younger teens who would show that they carried knives and one man who “flashed a pistol,” claiming, “I’m not here to fuck around.”
The Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country. Find election-related coverage here.
Ted S. Warren, a photojournalist for The Associated Press, was threatened by an armed individual while covering a demonstration at the Capitol in Olympia, Washington, on Jan. 6, 2021.
The protest that day, which started at the Capitol, migrated to the Governor’s Mansion and grew increasingly aggressive as the afternoon wore on, the Olympian reported. The demonstration was one of several held by supporters of President Donald Trump around the country, organized as the U.S. Congress was set to confirm President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory.
During the course of covering the events in Olympia, Warren had met up with Olympian reporter Sara Gentzler. At one point, the two were approached by a man, Gentzler said to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, armed with multiple firearms and a knife. He threatened the journalists, telling them that they had five minutes to leave the area and that he had pepper-sprayed other members of the media earlier in the day. The Tracker documented the multiple assaults in Olympia here.
Gentzler said that she'd already been threatened by the man once that day, an incident the Tracker has documented here. As the man walked away after this encounter, Gentzler remembers him saying, “We’re going to shoot you fucking dead in the next year.”
Gentzler said she and Warren sought out another group of press to have safety in numbers and to warn them about the man.
Warren told Poynter he worries that such threats may intimidate journalists out of interacting with demonstrators moving forward, and that in the future he would be more aware of the possibility of direct hostility.
“I’m still going to try and talk to people when I’m out at these things because I think it gives me insight as to why they’re there,” Warren said, “and it also helps me to make a positive case for journalists that we’re there to tell their story and to represent visually what is happening.”
The Washington State Patrol said in a press release on Jan. 19 that Damon Huseman, a 26-year-old resident of Seattle, had been taken into police custody without incident and was being booked at the Thurston County Jail on charges of second-degree assault, felony harassment and criminal trespass in connection with the events of Jan. 6.
According to the Seattle Times, Huseman had a preliminary court appearance on Jan. 20 and was ordered to remain in custody in lieu of $50,000 bail. The judge also ordered Huseman to have no contact with the journalists he’s accused of targeting or the Capitol campus.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting multiple incidents involving journalists, including assaults, arrests and equipment damage, from Jan. 6. All of our election-related coverage can be found here.
An unidentified freelance photojournalist was reportedly threatened by an armed individual and sprayed with an irritant identified in court documents as bear spray while covering a demonstration in Olympia, Washington, on Jan. 6, 2021.
The protest that day, which started at the Capitol, migrated to the Governor’s Mansion and grew increasingly aggressive as the afternoon wore on, according to the Olympian. It was one of several demonstrations held by supporters of President Donald Trump around the country, organized as the U.S. Congress was set to confirm President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory.
KOMO News reported that around noon, an individual carrying an assault-type rifle sprayed two members of the media near the intersection of 11th Avenue and Capitol Way South. The documents reportedly said the spray “caused bodily harm and incapacitated both victims for hours.”
According to the Olympian, the individual first approached the photojournalist as he was setting up his camera near the intersection, telling him that the media wasn’t welcome at the demonstration. When the photojournalist refused to leave, the man allegedly pulled out a canister of the chemical irritant to threaten him and ultimately sprayed him in the face.
The photojournalist, disoriented by the spray, received aid from an unknown passerby and left the area unable to continue working, according to the Olympian.
Soon after, the armed protester quickly came up on a second journalist, a videojournalist for TVW, yelling repeatedly for the journalist to “get the [expletive] out of here,” the Times reported. The TVW videojournalist crossed the street, only to once again be approached by the man, this time from behind. When the journalist turned, the man sprayed him in the face.
The same man allegedly threatened two other journalists as well. The Tracker has documented the assaults in Olympia here.
The Washington State Patrol said in a press release on Jan. 19 that Damon Huseman, a 26-year-old resident of Seattle, had been taken into police custody without incident and was being booked at the Thurston County Jail on charges of second-degree assault, felony harassment and criminal trespass in connection with the events of Jan. 6.
According to the Seattle Times, Huseman had a preliminary court appearance on Jan. 20 and was ordered to remain in custody in lieu of $50,000 bail. The judge also ordered Huseman to have no contact with the journalists he’s accused of targeting or the Capitol campus.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting multiple incidents involving journalists, including assaults, arrests and equipment damage, from Jan. 6. All of our election-related coverage can be found here.
An unidentified videojournalist for Washington state public broadcaster TVW was threatened and sprayed with a chemical irritant by an armed individual while covering a demonstration in Olympia, Washington, on Jan. 6, 2021.
The protest that day, which started at the Capitol, migrated to the Governor’s Mansion and grew increasingly aggressive as the afternoon wore on, was one of several held by supporters of President Donald Trump around the country, organized as the U.S. Congress was set to confirm President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory.
KOMO News reported that around noon, an individual carrying an assault-type rifle sprayed two members of the media with what court documents identified as bear spray near the intersection of 11th Avenue and Capitol Way South. The documents reportedly said the spray “caused bodily harm and incapacitated both victims for hours.”
The Seattle Times, citing charging documents, reported that the man had first approached a freelance photojournalist, telling him to leave the area and that the media wasn’t welcome at the demonstration. When the journalist refused, “the man sprayed his face and camera lens with bear spray, disorienting and blinding the photographer,” according to the Times.
Soon after, the armed man quickly came up on the TVW videojournalist, yelling repeatedly for the journalist to “get the [expletive] out of here,” the Times reported. The videojournalist crossed the street, only to once again be approached by the man, this time from behind. When the journalist turned, the man sprayed him in the face. The journalist then returned to his office to seek aid from his co-workers and was reportedly incapacitated for over two hours, the Olympian reported.
The same individual allegedly threatened two other journalists as well. The Tracker documented the multiple assaults in Olympia here.
The Washington State Patrol said in a press release on Jan. 19 that Damon Huseman, a 26-year-old resident of Seattle, had been taken into police custody without incident and was being booked at the Thurston County Jail on charges of second-degree assault, felony harassment and criminal trespass in connection with the events of Jan. 6.
According to the Seattle Times, Huseman had a preliminary court appearance on Jan. 20 and was ordered to remain in custody in lieu of $50,000 bail. The judge also ordered Huseman to have no contact with the journalists he’s accused of targeting or the Capitol campus.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting multiple incidents involving journalists, including assaults, arrests and equipment damage, from Jan. 6. All of our election-related coverage can be found here.
A June 21, 2021, affidavit charged an individual with tackling to the ground an unnamed news cameraman who was covering the insurrection in and around the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. According to the affidavit, the individual, identified by the FBI as Shane Jason Woods, was charged with the assault as well as with participating in the destruction of multiple news outlets’ equipment.
At a rally in front of the White House earlier that day, then-President Donald Trump called on his supporters to protest at the Capitol as Congress confirmed President Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory. Following Trump’s speech, which included unfounded claims of election fraud and calls to “fight” the outcome, hundreds then marched to the Capitol, swarmed the building and broke inside, Reuters reported.
Multiple broadcast journalists were reporting from a media staging area in the northeast area of the Capitol when a crowd of rioters stormed the area and broke through the barricades, surrounding the journalists and their equipment.
In videos of the incident, the rioters can be heard yelling “Fuck the mainstream media” as well as “CNN sucks” and “Fuck CNN!” The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has not found any information to suggest that a CNN news crew was assaulted in the attack.
According to the affidavit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Woods was allegedly among those “yelling and spitting at members of the news media along a pushed-over fence next to the media staging area.”
“Moments later, the individual who appears to be WOODS climbed over the toppled fence and participated in the assault on the media equipment,” the affidavit says.
The unidentified cameraman — dressed in blue jeans and a blue jacket — was filming the property destruction, according to the affidavit. In footage of the incident, Woods can be seen walking closely around the cameraman.
“Soon after, WOODS is observed running into and tackling this same cameraman as the cameraman is facing away from Woods,” the affidavit says. “In the video, WOODS is seen departing quickly after tackling the cameraman, causing the man to fall to the ground and drop his camera.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has been unable to identify the cameraman, who is not named in the affidavit, or determine whether his camera was damaged when it fell.
According to the affidavit, the assault on the cameraman was similar to an assault Woods is also charged with perpetrating on a U.S. Capitol Police officer earlier that day.
The affidavit charges Woods with numerous federal offenses, including assault of a law enforcement officer, assault in special maritime and territorial jurisdiction (a category that includes the Capitol and its grounds), obstructing law enforcement, trespassing and engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds. If convicted on all charges, Woods faces imprisonment for up to 17 years, fines or both.
According to a June 24 Justice Department press release, Woods is the first individual to be arrested for an assault on members of the news media during the Capitol riots.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country. Find election-related coverage here.
PBS NewsHour correspondent Lisa Desjardins said an unidentified individual grabbed her and tried to wrest her phone away as she reported inside the Capitol in Washington, D.C., as rioters swarmed the building and forced their way inside on Jan. 6, 2021.
At a rally in front of the White House earlier that day, then-President Donald Trump called on his supporters to protest at the Capitol as Congress confirmed President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory. Following Trump’s speech, which included unfounded claims of election fraud and calls to fight the outcome, hundreds then marched to the Capitol, fought police and broke inside the building from multiple locations, Reuters reported.
Desjardins, who didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment, told Vice News that she was on the House side of the Capitol when rioters surrounded the building. As they began to make their way inside shortly after 2 p.m., Desjardins said she tried to interview some of them.
“I’m reporting in real time, over the phone, what I’m seeing, and I did an interview with some of the rioters,” Desjardins wrote in an account published by Marie Claire magazine. “I saw them going into the offices themselves and starting to think about going into the chamber. There were more and more of them.”
After speaking with a few individuals, Desjardins retrieved her second phone and returned to a post behind a desk on the third floor where she continued broadcasting live to PBS, she said.
Desjardins told Vice that when rioters yelled at her, asking who she was, she defused the tension by yelling back “PBS — Sesame Street! Big Bird!” While most of the rioters laughed and moved on, she said, an individual who appeared to be intoxicated lunged at her and grabbed her by the shoulder as he tried to wrest her phone from her hands. According to Vice, another rioter pulled him away.
“When I saw his eyes, that was one of the only times I recognized I was scared,” Desjardins told Vice.
Desjardins wrote in her account for Marie Claire that she was evacuated alongside members of Congress to the Longworth Office Building for several hours. She was then among those escorted back into the Capitol around 7:30 or 8 p.m., and she remained until nearly 4 a.m. the next morning to cover the vote.
My deepest thanks to all of you for the incredible support and Twitter embrace today.
— Lisa Desjardins (@LisaDNews) January 7, 2021
It meant more than you could know.
Going home now, so glad to say.
Desjardins told Vice that, six months after the riot, she still wasn’t sleeping well.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, detainments and equipment damage from Jan. 6 events. Find those here.
Freelance photojournalist Christopher Lee said he was harassed and roughed up by demonstrators while he covered riots at the Capitol in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 6, 2021.
Lee, who didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment, said during a panel with VII Insider — an event platform for photographers, journalists and curators — that he was on assignment for Time magazine covering protesters as they marched toward the west side of the Capitol from the National Mall. The demonstrators, spurred by a speech by then-President Donald Trump earlier that day, aimed to disrupt the Congressional certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.
As rioters breached the Capitol in the early afternoon, Lee told Time, he tried to remain incognito as he followed them into the building. However, a group of at least six individuals recognized him as a journalist, shouted that he was “fake news” and a member of the “liberal media” and started to grab him to remove him from the Capitol.
“It was a moment that I realized, ‘If I don’t leave the situation right now by any way possible, it could escalate into something really, really bad,’” Lee said. “I’ve had it happen on a couple occasions in America, but not to that level of severity that quickly.”
Lee said during the VII Insider panel that the individuals targeted him in part because he was wearing an N-95 mask.
“I remember having interactions with people saying, ‘We know that you’re not one of us because you’re actually taking the virus seriously,’” Lee said. “When they did kind of rough me up a little bit, they did make it a point in all the chaos to try and pull my mask off of my face."
According to Time, after Lee left the initial group that had harassed him, he found another group breaking into the building through a different entryway and followed them back inside.
“While doing my job in America, that was probably the time that I feared the most for my safety,” said Lee, who has photographed conflicts and protests in the Middle East, Central Asia and elsewhere in the U.S.
Associated Press photojournalist John Minchillo was assaulted by rioters while covering the insurrection in and around the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Trump spoke at noon at a rally in front of the White House in response to the Congressional certification of President-elect Joe Biden, promoting false claims of election fraud and calling for his supporters to march to the Capitol, The New York Times reported. Following the rally, thousands of pro-Trump supporters waving Confederate and Trump flags violently stormed the Capitol, disrupting and occupying several areas within the building.
Minchillo and fellow AP photographer Julio Cortez were documenting from along the front barriers, near where Capitol Police officers stood, when rioters attacked Minchillo.
Cortez posted an Instagram video showing multiple rioters dragging Minchillo through an angry mob.
“He was labeled as an anti protesters, even though he kept flashing his press credentials, and one person can be heard threatening to kill him,” wrote Cortez in the post.
In Cortez’s video, shouts of “Get the media out of here!” and “Who is he? Antifa!” can be heard. At the 45-second mark, an individual shoves Minchillo over a wall. Several aggressively question if he is “antifa,” while a man in a Trump hat retrieves his camera.
After Minchilllo shows his press pass and repeats that he is press, two men help him leave the area, with Cortez filming from behind. “Thankfully, he wasn’t injured,” Cortez wrote in his post.
“Please use this moment to reflect on the importance of journalism as a conduit between us,” Minchillo wrote in a tweet.
In an AP article about the attacks and harassment journalists faced while covering the riot, an AP spokesperson specifically responded to the attack on Minchillo.
“While we are thankful he is OK, this is a reminder of the dangers journalists both in the U.S. and around the world face every day while simply trying to do their jobs,” said Patrick Maks.
Minchillo did not respond to an emailed request for comment.
In a press release the next day, outgoing Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund called the attacks on Jan. 6 "criminal riotous behavior" and said the United States Capitol Police would be conducting a "thorough review of this incident."
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting multiple assaults, detainments and equipment damages from Jan. 6 events. Find those here.
Independent White House correspondent Douglas Christian was harassed, pursued and punched by rioters while covering the insurrection in and around the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Trump spoke at noon at a rally in front of the White House in response to the Congressional certification of President-elect Joe Biden, promoting false claims of election fraud and calling for his supporters to march to the Capitol, The New York Times reported. Following the rally, thousands of pro-Trump supporters waving Confederate and Trump flags violently stormed the Capitol, disrupting and occupying several areas within the building.
Christian told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was documenting the riots near the Russell Senate Office Building at around 4:45 p.m. when pro-Trump rioters assaulted him.
Christian said he had two government-issued press badges displayed around his neck and was taking photographs when "increasingly angry" protesters started to harass him, saying "Democrats should be tried for treason."
One of the demonstrators tried to grab his press pass, according to an article in the Maryland Reporter and confirmed by Christian.
As he tried to leave the area, another man began shouting obscenities after him. He said he ignored the man, but then was pursued.
Out of nowhere, the man punched him right in the face and his glasses went flying, Christian told the Tracker.
"My ear, which he didn't hit, was in terrible pain. I thought, did I just suffer a hemorrhage in my brain? I actually think I was doubled over in so much pain that he didn't punch me again."
As he was leaving the area, he said he saw a police officer nearby and recounted everything that had just happened, but the officer "wouldn't even acknowledge my presence."
Subsequently, a Capitol Hill staffer scolded him for approaching the officer. "You’re distracting the officer. He can’t do anything about the guy who is assaulting other people," Christian told the Reporter.
He later tried to contact Capitol Police about the incident, but has yet to hear a response. Christian said he also still has difficulty chewing and is requesting an X-ray for more information.
In a press release the next day, outgoing Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund called the attacks on Jan. 6 "criminal riotous behavior" and said the United States Capitol Police would be conducting a "thorough review of this incident."
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting multiple assaults, detainments and equipment damages from Jan. 6 events. Find those here.
Independent photographer Nate Gowdy was threatened and shoved off a railing while covering the insurrection in and around the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Trump spoke at noon at a rally in front of the White House in response to the Congressional certification of President-elect Joe Biden, promoting false claims of election fraud and calling for his supporters to march to the Capitol, The New York Times reported. Following the rally, thousands of pro-Trump supporters waving Confederate and Trump flags violently stormed the Capitol, disrupting and occupying several areas within the building.
Gowdy told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was photographing the scene as rioters stormed up the Capitol steps and began to breach the building.
"Everything happened so fast. They converged and then started tearing down barricades," Gowdy said. "I got on a balustrade at the base of the stairs and then a man pointed at me and threatened me. I can't even remember what he said but he just shoved me off the balustrade."
Gowdy said he wasn't wearing protective gear at the time, but was able to land on his feet.
Gowdy's photograph of this moment shows the man with an American flag hat, sunglasses and mask, pointing intensely at the camera.
A Rolling Stone slideshow with Gowdy’s images said the photographer has documented close to 30 official Trump rallies since 2016.
“I’m still processing what I witnessed yesterday. We all are. It’s difficult to know what people are thinking when they’re breaching security barriers, attacking law enforcement, threatening members of the media, flaunting pandemic safety protocols, and bashing down the doors and windows to Congress,” Gowdy wrote in the slideshow’s introduction.
Throughout the day, he said he was repeatedly threatened and heckled for taking photos and wearing a mask.
"You have to be careful what you take photos of," he said.
In a press release the next day, outgoing Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund called the attacks on Jan. 6 "criminal riotous behavior" and said the United States Capitol Police would be conducting a "thorough review of this incident."
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting multiple assaults, detainments and equipment damages from Jan. 6 events. Find those here.
VICE News international correspondent Ben Solomon and cameraman Chris Olson were attacked by several rioters while documenting riots on the steps of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Trump spoke at noon at a rally in front of the White House in response to the Congressional certification of President-elect Joe Biden, promoting false claims of election fraud and calling for his supporters to march to the Capitol, The New York Times reported. Following the rally, thousands of pro-Trump supporters waving Confederate and Trump flags violently stormed the Capitol, disrupting and occupying several areas within the building.
In a video Solomon posted on Instagram, demonstrators can be seen confronting the VICE journalists, shouting, "Get the fuck out of here!" and asking, "Who are you with? Is it CNN? Better not be CNN.”
"Chris had a broken handle grip and that guy in forest camo gave me a good hard shove to the throat," Solomon wrote in an Instagram caption. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documented Olson’s assault and the damage to his camera here.
In the video, demonstrators can be seen confronting the journalists, shouting, "Get the fuck out of here!" and asking, "Who are you with? Is it CNN? Better not be CNN."
In the full-length video posted to Youtube, the camera is hit at 1:23 and Solomon's voice can be heard, "They tried to smash our camera."
"We were lucky to get away with minimal damage," Solomon wrote on Instagram. "To hear how many colleagues had it worse that day, I consider myself lucky."
Solomon did not respond to a request for comment.
In a press release the next day, outgoing Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund called the attacks on Jan. 6 "criminal riotous behavior" and said the United States Capitol Police would be conducting a "thorough review of this incident."
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting multiple assaults, detainments and equipment damages from Jan. 6 events. Find those here.
Independent photojournalist John Harrington was assaulted and harassed by supporters of President Donald Trump while covering the insurrection in and around the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Trump spoke at noon at a rally in front of the White House in response to the Congressional certification of President-elect Joe Biden, promoting false claims of election fraud and calling for his supporters to march to the Capitol, The New York Times reported. Following the rally, thousands of pro-Trump supporters waving Confederate and Trump flags violently stormed the Capitol, disrupting and occupying several areas within the building.
Harrington told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was also documenting the riot along the west side of the Capitol when he was assaulted and harassed multiple times. In one case, Harrington said someone used what he believes was a fire extinguisher to hit his head. He quickly put on his ballistic helmet, which also displayed his press markings.
At the 8:55 mark in a video he shared on Vimeo, a rioter throws a pole toward a Capitol police officer, who then engages in a "tug-of-war" style exchange. In the chaos, the rioter briefly enters the frame and the pole can be seen banging the right side of the camera, hitting his head.
At 9:50 in the same video, a chair is aggressively thrown and hits him during a scuffle between police officers and rioters. "More than once, I wiped my hand along [my right cheek] to see if I had any blood," Harrington told the Tracker. "Thankfully, I didn't." Still, he said his head hurt for a majority of the day.
In a separate incident, he said a protester grabbed the back of his coat and requested to switch places with him, so that the individual could grab mace and pepper spray from an officer nearby. Harrington declined, but the demonstrator continued to intimidate him. He said he also experienced other threats throughout the day, from pro-Trump demonstrators demanding that Harrington "better be on our side," to demands that he stop filming.
A different time, a "bike rack barricade" was thrown his way. In an attempt to avoid the object, he was caught in the "line of fire of mace spray from law enforcement," he said.
"[My toes] are black and blue. I don't know if I got stepped on, [but] things happened in a blur," Harrington told the Tracker. "I can't say I'm mentally unscathed."
He said he does not intend on filing a report or hiring an attorney, but he would be supportive of an investigation.
In a press release the next day, outgoing Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund called the attacks on Jan. 6 "criminal riotous behavior" and said the United States Capitol Police would be conducting a "thorough review of this incident."
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting multiple assaults, detainments and equipment damages from Jan. 6 events. Find those here.
Independent photojournalist John Harrington was assaulted multiple times while covering the Capitol riots on Jan. 6, 2021. "More than once, I wiped my hand along [my right cheek] to see if I had any blood," he said.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Donald Trump protest, election, Election 2020, protest",,,,, Freelance photojournalist assaulted multiple times while covering Capitol riots,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/freelance-photojournalist-assaulted-multiple-times-while-covering-capitol-riots/,2021-08-16 13:58:20.294762+00:00,2022-08-04 21:38:05.785653+00:00,2022-08-04 21:38:05.719111+00:00,,Assault,,,,Christopher Morris (Freelance),,2021-01-06,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"Christopher Morris, a freelance photojournalist affiliated with VII Agency, said rioters assaulted him at least four times while he covered riots at the Capitol in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 6, 2021.
Morris, who could not be reached for comment, said during a Jan. 18 panel with VII Insider — an event platform for photographers, journalists and curators — that he was covering the day’s events independently, and had arrived at 9 a.m. to cover then-President Donald Trump’s rally in response to the congressional certification of President-elect Joe Biden. During his speech, Trump promoted false claims of election fraud and called on his supporters to march to the Capitol.
“When I got out of the car I was immediately met with tens of thousands of maskless, screaming, mad, insane people, people who’d gone mad. That was my morning,” Morris said during the panel. “My big fear was not what was going to happen up at the thing: I figured police would hold the line and we were going to be there all night. My big fear was COVID.”
Following the rally, thousands of pro-Trump supporters waving Confederate and Trump flags violently stormed the Capitol, disrupting and occupying several areas within the building. Morris said he didn’t initially follow the crowd, as he needed to pick up warmer clothing and protective equipment, including a helmet and gas mask.
Morris said he parked near the Supreme Court on the east side of the Capitol; while grabbing coffee nearby, a group of Trump supporters confronted him, pinned him down and threatened him, accusing him of being a counterprotester.
When he reached the east side of the Capitol, Morris said he immediately witnessed more violence, largely targeting the press.
“I saw in the first 70 meters as I’m approaching, I see someone swinging what looks like a long pole; it wasn’t a flag pole, it looked like a pipe. And on the other end of that pipe was a TV cameraman running. And I’m seeing this from far away. ...I just think: ‘Oh my god, they’re attacking this cameraman,’” Morris said. “And he gets hit, and the camera goes off his shoulder and he falls down and the guy sets on him and beats him. And the guy gets up and runs and leaves his camera.”
As he turned to go in a different direction, Morris said he saw a photographer fleeing from a fighting crowd; he said he immediately flipped the pouch displaying his press badge so he wouldn’t be as recognizable as a journalist.
“I’ve covered the world. I’ve been beaten, I’ve been arrested, I’ve been thrown in jail, I’ve done coups, I’ve done it all in that regard,” Morris said. “I was afraid for my life on the east side of those steps. There were a good 45 minutes that I basically had to fight for my life and stand my ground. And to see that in my own country: extremely frightening.”
Morris said that he was attacked at least three more times — which included “pushing, shoving, some kicking, [and] pulling” — as he attempted to reach a nearby SWAT vehicle. When he reached it and attempted to climb up onto the vehicle, Morris said someone grabbed his legs and pulled him to the ground. Once he was down, the crowd began kicking and pulling him; when he was able to stand, Morris said, he pulled off his mask and shouted at the crowd.
“I basically looked up and said, ‘I work for TIME magazine. I document history. I’m not fake news. This is reality. You’ve just stormed and taken over the US government. This is historic. Leave me alone,’” Morris said. “Very few things have shaken me to where I can weep. And that event that day, I could weep. ... I feared for my life in my own country. I had to defend myself that I’m an American, I'm not ‘fake news,’ I’m not the ‘enemy of the people.’”
In a press release the next day, outgoing Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund called the Jan. 6 attacks "criminal riotous behavior" and said the United States Capitol Police would be conducting a “thorough review of this incident.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented multiple assaults, detainments and equipment damages from Jan. 6 events. Find those here.
CNN photojournalist Ronnie McCray was assaulted by a rioter while covering the insurrection in and around the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, according to a news report.
Trump spoke at noon at a rally in front of the White House in response to the congressional certification of President-elect Joe Biden, promoting false claims of election fraud and calling for his supporters to march to the Capitol. After the rally, thousands of pro-Trump supporters waving Confederate and Trump flags violently stormed the Capitol, disrupting and occupying several areas within the building.
CNN reporter Alexander Marquardt tweeted shortly after 3 p.m. that “protesters swarmed and mobbed” his news team — including McCray — after discovering that they worked for CNN.
Protesters swarmed and mobbed my team at the Capitol after figuring out who we are. Extremely aggressive, had to get out fast.
— Alexander Marquardt (@MarquardtA) January 6, 2021
The Daily Beast reported that at one point a member of the mob assaulted McCray and smacked his camera; another individual got between the CNN team and the mob and told them they should leave before they got hurt.
In footage captured by McCray and posted on Twitter by Marquardt on Jan. 8, rioters can be heard booing the news team and shouting, “Get out of here, motherfuckers,” “Traitors” and “There’s more of us than you… We could absolutely fucking destroy you.”
“I was very afraid for my safety and my team’s,” Marquardt told The Daily Beast. “We were vastly outnumbered, surrounded, with no real escape route. We’re lucky we got out physically unscathed, just shaken, and our camera was hit. I’ve covered parliaments stormed, foreign coups, riots and protests across the Middle East and this was by far the most universally hostile crowd I’ve been in. In the city that I call home.”
As of press time, McCray had not responded to a message requesting comment.
The Tracker documents assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country. Find election-related coverage here.
Independent photojournalist Sean Bascom was arrested while reporting on a protest in Portland, Oregon, on Jan. 5, 2021.
Protesters had gathered near the North Portland precinct of the Portland Police Bureau, demonstrating in reaction to the announcement that day that no charges would be filed against Wisconsin police officers involved in the shooting of Jacob Blake on Aug. 23, 2020.
Racial justice demonstrations had been held regularly in the city since the death of George Floyd during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25.
Bascom, a photojournalist whose work has been published by outlets such as the Portland Mercury and the Portland State Vanguard, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he’d been following the demonstrations near the police building on the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Killingsworth Street. According to Bascom, some protesters had set a fire in a dumpster in the street, and another had removed a security camera from the fence around the precinct.
Bascom said at one point he went around to the side of the building and took some photographs through a fence of officers in the precinct’s parking lot. Several officers came over to the fence, Bascom said, with one asking if he was “real press.” He said he told them that he was a freelance photojournalist and explained how freelancing works and why he didn’t have a credential issued by a specific outlet.
Soon, more protesters gathered at that side of the fence, Bascom said, and police issued warnings, causing protesters to scatter. Police then moved up the street, he said, pushing protesters back from the area.
Bascom said that he was standing near other journalists and some protesters across the street from the precinct building in a parking area for several businesses when one sergeant pointed at him and directed officers to arrest him.
Bascom said that he had the word “PRESS” marked on his helmet, and he identified himself as a journalist as he was being arrested. He said he’d spoken with the sergeant who pointed him out for arrest earlier in the night, and the officer had said that he wasn’t a real member of the press.
Video posted on Twitter by photojournalist Justin Yau shows Bascom, wearing a black helmet marked “PRESS” with a camera hanging around his neck, being arrested.
Portland Police has just exited the building and conducted targeted arrests. At least one person with cameras and Press markings have been arrested. Officers say the charge is trespassing. #PortlandProtest #PDXProtest #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/2cZNn1yxpu
— Justin Yau (@PDocumentarians) January 6, 2021
Bascom said police handcuffed his wrists behind his back and brought him into the PPB precinct. He said that officers bagged up his personal belongings and that he was held in a cell for about 20 minutes, before being released with a citation for trespassing and interfering with a police officer.
Bascom said that the charges had been dropped and he never needed to appear in court.
A spokesperson for the Multnomah County district attorney confirmed that the state declined to prosecute and that the case is closed. The PPB did not respond to a request for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Photojournalist Sean Bascom captures the moment when a Portland Police Bureau sergeant singles him out for arrest while he was covering protests on Jan. 5, 2021. Bascom said the charges were subsequently dropped.
",arrested and released,charges dropped,Portland Police Bureau,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2021, protest",,obstruction: interfering with a peace officer,,, Justice Department attempted to seize email records of 4 New York Times reporters,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/justice-department-attempts-to-seize-email-records-of-four-new-york-times-reporters/,2021-06-21 15:31:17.674548+00:00,2022-04-06 15:17:50.798182+00:00,2022-04-06 15:17:50.711634+00:00,,Subpoena/Legal Order,,,,"Matt Apuzzo (The New York Times), Adam Goldman (The New York Times), Eric Lichtblau (The New York Times), Michael S. Schmidt (The New York Times)",,2021-01-05,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"The Department of Justice under then-President Donald Trump obtained a court order on Jan. 5, 2021, demanding that the tech company Google secretly turn over the email logs of four New York Times reporters as part of an ongoing leak investigation. The effort, though ultimately dropped, was continued under President Joe Biden’s administration.
The Times reported that two days after it was revealed that the DOJ had obtained the phone records of four reporters — Matt Apuzzo, Adam Goldman, Eric Lichtblau and Michael S. Schmidt — a gag order was lifted that had prevented a Times attorney from disclosing an ongoing battle over the same reporters’ email records.
According to the lawyer, David McCraw, the Justice Department obtained a 2703(d) court order from a magistrate judge requiring Google, which operates the Times’ email system, to turn over the requested records without informing the newspaper of the disclosure. Google reportedly resisted, saying that to do so would violate the tech company’s contract with the Times.
Google didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment. A spokesperson for the tech company told the Times it doesn’t comment on specific cases, but is “firmly committed to protecting our customers’ data and we have a long history of pushing to notify our customers about any legal requests.”
On March 3, the judge permitted Google to inform McCraw of the effort but required him to sign a nondisclosure agreement barring him from telling Times Executive Editor Dean Baquet or other newsroom leaders: a move which McCraw told the Times was unprecedented. A federal court lifted the order on June 4.
Baquet condemned both presidential administrations in a statement to the newspaper.
“Clearly, Google did the right thing, but it should never have come to this,” Baquet said. “The Justice Department relentlessly pursued the identity of sources for coverage that was clearly in the public interest in the final 15 days of the Trump administration. And the Biden administration continued to pursue it. As I said before, it profoundly undermines press freedom.”
Justice Department spokesman Anthony Coley told the Times that, under the Biden administration, the department “voluntarily moved to withdraw the order before any records were produced.” The Biden administration issued a statement that no one at the White House was aware of the gag order until it was lifted.
The revelation about the Times reporters’ email records was the latest in a series of recent disclosures about the Trump administration’s efforts to use the seizure of journalists’ communications to identify leakers or critics of the administration.
CNN reported that DOJ regulations for issuing media subpoenas were changed under the Obama administration in 2015 to require that the attorney general authorize any such legal orders related to journalists’ communications or work products. While the regulations mandated that the journalist and outlet be notified of the seizures, the policy set no clear timetable for notification.
On May 21, 2021, Biden condemned such seizures as “simply, simply wrong,” the Associated Press reported. In keeping with Biden’s sentiments, the DOJ said on June 5 that it would no longer seize journalists’ records during leak investigations, according to the AP.
“This announcement is a potential sea change for press freedom rights in the United States,” Trevor Timm, executive director of the Freedom of the Press Foundation, said in a statement. “While we’re encouraged to see this announcement ending this invasive and disturbing tactic, the devil is—of course—in the details. The Justice Department must now write this categorical bar of journalist surveillance into its official ‘media guidelines,’ and Congress should also immediately enshrine the rules into law to ensure no administration can abuse its power again.”
FPF is a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker and manages its day-to-day operations.
When reached for comment concerning the newspaper’s push for an explanation from the Justice Department, Times spokesperson Danielle Rhoades Ha confirmed to the Tracker that publisher A.G. Sulzberger would be meeting with the attorney general and shared a statement from him ahead of that meeting.
“We’re pleased that Attorney General [Merrick] Garland has agreed to this meeting. We hope to use the meeting to learn more about how this seizure of records happened and to seek a commitment that the Department of Justice will no longer seize journalists’ records during leak investigations,” Sulzberger said.
Garland met with executives from the Times, The Washington Post and CNN on June 14, and affirmed the planned policy changes. While Garland’s comments during the meeting were off the record, the Times reported that Sulzberger was encouraged by Garland’s statements but said he would continue to push the department until the outlets’ concerns were fully addressed.
The New York Times office in the Manhattan borough of New York City in 2020
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,journalist communications or work product,['DROPPED'],None,None,Google,tech company,2703(d) court order,None,,Department of Justice,,,,, Reporter for Tampa Bay Times subpoenaed following investigative report,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-for-tampa-bay-times-subpoenaed-in-ongoing-lawsuit-by-gardaworld/,2021-03-02 20:19:04.831601+00:00,2021-03-02 20:29:53.300925+00:00,2021-03-02 20:29:53.230891+00:00,,Subpoena/Legal Order,,,,Bethany Barnes (Tampa Bay Times),,2020-12-22,False,Tampa,Florida (FL),27.94752,-82.45843,"On Dec. 22, 2020, Bethany Barnes, an investigative reporter for the Tampa Bay Times, said she was subpoenaed by GardaWorld, a security services company, for documents relating to a series of investigative reports that revealed irregularities in maintenance and safety protocols at the company.
The subpoena was issued in connection to a 2017 lawsuit by GardaWorld in Manatee County, Florida, against the company’s former director of risk management, Christine Bouquin, whom Garda has accused of stealing company records. According to the Times, the subpoena requested all documents and communications between Barnes, Bouquin and Bouquin’s lawyer, Noel McDonell.
In March 2020, the Times published its first investigative story about GardaWorld, describing how the armored truck service the company operates in the U.S. had been neglectful in the training of its drivers and how maintenance requests made by the drivers had largely been ignored. The report quoted Bouquin, who said she had noticed issues in the company’s maintenance and safety system, and alleged that she was terminated a day after she sent an email to her supervisor about the company’s safety issues.
GardaWorld had threatened to sue the Times if it published its story about the company’s safety issues, according to the Times.
In a second report, published in October, the Times found “that Garda lost track of millions of dollars inside its vaults, then concealed the missing money from the banks that were its clients.” The report alleged that Garda also told its employees to downplay the cost of truck accidents in order to misrepresent the company’s value.
In December, Barnes took to Twitter, writing, “Some news: I have been served with a subpoena today.” The tweet also quoted attorney Carol LoCicero, who represents the paper, saying, “The Times would fight any subpoena that attempts to extract information reporters have obtained during the course of their reporting, and we plan to fight this one.”
Some news: I was served with a subpoena today.
— Bethany Barnes (@BetsBarnes) December 23, 2020
“The Times would fight any subpoena that attempts to extract information reporters have obtained during the course of their reporting, and we plan to fight this one.” https://t.co/eKNMwx6Uwt
The outlet also published an article on the subpoena.
Neither Barnes nor LoCicero responded to a request for comment as of press time.
The Department of Justice under then-President Donald Trump attempted to acquire email records of three Washington Post reporters as part of a leak investigation on Dec. 22, 2020.
The day before William Barr stepped down as attorney general, he filed an application for a court order to compel Proofpoint, a cybersecurity firm, to turn over records belonging to Post reporters Ellen Nakashima, Greg Miller and Adam Entous, who now works at The New Yorker. The request was part of an attempt to identify who had informed the journalists about conversations between Trump campaign officials and Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak, according to the Post.
According to the redacted application, classified information was made available to Congress in April 2017 and was published by the Post in the subsequent months.
The DOJ also seized the same journalists' phone records in 2020; the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented that court order here. The Biden Justice Department’s disclosure of the seizures led to the unsealing of court documents about the leak investigation on July 9, 2021.
According to the court docket, Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui granted the department’s request for a 2703(d) court order to compel the release of the records. However, the Post reported that while the DOJ did obtain the reporters’ phone logs, it did not succeed in obtaining their email records.
The revelation about the email records was the latest in a series of recent disclosures about the Trump administration’s efforts to use the seizure of journalists’ communications to identify leakers or critics of the administration.
On May 21, President Joe Biden condemned such seizures as “simply, simply wrong” following revelations that CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr’s personal phone and email records were obtained during the Trump administration, the Associated Press reported. In keeping with Biden’s sentiments, the DOJ announced on June 5 that it will no longer seize journalists’ records during leak investigations, according to the AP. The Post reported that Attorney General Merrick Garland is expected to send a memo formally notifying all federal prosecutors of the ban in mid-July.
The Department of Justice, The Washington Post and the named reporters didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment from the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. As it is unclear if the cybersecurity firm Proofpoint ignored or objected to the request for records before the DOJ closed its investigation, the Tracker is marking the status of the subpoena as dropped.
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 a block from the Capitol. Olmos, who declined the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker’s request for comment, posted pictures and videos in subsequent tweets showing individuals gathered around the building’s west-side entrance. Some can be seen using poles and their legs to break a pair of glass doors.
Brian Hayes, a photojournalist for the Statesman Journal, told the Tracker that he’d been taking photos of this scene shortly before 1:30 p.m. when one of the men — whom Hayes identified as Albany resident Jeremy Roberts — noticed him.
Hayes said that Roberts had grabbed a 10-pound weight being used to hold down a tent outside the Capitol and was swinging it toward the glass door when the two locked eyes.
“He acted like he was actually going to throw [the weight] at me, thought better of it, dropped it and then jumped down, got in my face and pushed me around,” Hayes said.
In a video posted by Olmos, Roberts — who can be seen in a camouflage-print hoodie and black baseball hat — appears to shove and yell at Hayes, who attempts to walk away from him with his arms held up. A second man appears to run toward Hayes and shoves him back. When Hayes again attempts to walk away from the men, the second man appears to shove and punch Hayes; a third man, who had been standing to the side, shoves Hayes as well.
Hayes can be heard shouting, “I’m getting out of here!” The third man again shoves Hayes, who catches himself against the wall of the Capitol. Others in the crowd can be heard shouting, “See ya, buddy!”
— Sergio Olmos (@MrOlmos) December 21, 2020
Hayes said a right-wing livestreamer eventually reached him, wrapped his arm around him and led him out of the area. Hayes noted that he was wearing a press pass around his neck and was carrying his professional camera. The Tracker has documented his assault here.
A few minutes later, Hayes said he was standing with two other reporters approximately 50 to 100 feet from the demonstrators when another individual approached and started threatening them. Olmos captured part of that interaction and what followed.
“As we’re standing there … Jeremy comes back over and he’s still pretty keyed up and he gets in my face and threatens to beat me up,” Hayes said. In the footage, Roberts can be seen positioning himself nose-to-nose against Hayes, saying, “You took a picture of me.”
“At that point I decided, ‘Not worth it,’ and walked away to deescalate the situation,” Hayes said.
As Hayes looked back a few minutes later, however, he said he saw Roberts lunge at Olmos and tackle him to the ground.
Here is two clips: this man lunges toward me.
— Sergio Olmos (@MrOlmos) December 21, 2020
Second clip if after I’m tackled, I get up to walk away. pic.twitter.com/ESaa0BJDS1
“I bolted over there to check on Sergio and make sure he was all right,” Hayes said, “and I got him out of there.”
Hayes said both journalists then left the area and walked a block away to where Oregon State Police had set up a police line.
The Statesman Journal reported that both journalists spoke to police about the assaults and gave officers a description of the assailant. A warrant was issued for Roberts’ arrest after an OSP trooper submitted a probable cause statement testifying that they had personally seen Roberts kicking and shattering a door to the Capitol.
KGW8 reported that Roberts turned himself in to law enforcement on Dec. 27. Roberts faces charges of criminal mischief, disorderly conduct, assault, harassment and probation violation.
The OSP did not respond to an emailed request for comment as of press time.
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 a block from the Capitol. Olmos, who declined the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker’s request for comment, posted pictures and videos in subsequent tweets showing individuals gathered around the building’s west-side entrance. Some can be seen using poles and their legs to break a pair of glass doors.
Brian Hayes, a photojournalist for the Statesman Journal, told the Tracker that he’d been taking photos of this scene shortly before 1:30 p.m. when one of the men — whom Hayes identified as Albany resident Jeremy Roberts — noticed him.
Hayes said that Roberts had grabbed a 10-pound weight being used to hold down a tent outside the Capitol and was swinging it toward the glass door when the two locked eyes.
“He acted like he was actually going to throw [the weight] at me, thought better of it, dropped it and then jumped down, got in my face and pushed me around,” Hayes said.
In a video posted by Olmos, Roberts — who can be seen in a camouflage-print hoodie and black baseball hat — appears to shove and yell at Hayes, who attempts to walk away from him with his arms held up. A second man appears to run toward Hayes and shoves him back. When Hayes again attempts to walk away from the men, the second man appears to shove and punch Hayes; a third man, who had been standing to the side, shoves Hayes as well.
Hayes can be heard shouting, “I’m getting out of here!” The third man again shoves Hayes, who catches himself against the wall of the Capitol. Others in the crowd can be heard shouting, “See ya, buddy!”
— Sergio Olmos (@MrOlmos) December 21, 2020
Hayes said a right-wing livestreamer eventually reached him, wrapped his arm around him and led him out of the area. Hayes noted that he was wearing a press pass around his neck and was carrying his professional camera.
A few minutes later, Hayes said he was standing with two other reporters approximately 50 to 100 feet from the demonstrators when another individual approached and started threatening them. Olmos captured part of that interaction and what followed.
“As we’re standing there … Jeremy comes back over and he’s still pretty keyed up and he gets in my face and threatens to beat me up,” Hayes said. In the footage, Roberts can be seen positioning himself nose-to-nose against Hayes, saying, “You took a picture of me.”
“At that point I decided, ‘Not worth it,’ and walked away to deescalate the situation,” Hayes said.
As Hayes looked back a few minutes later, however, he said he saw Roberts lunge at Olmos and tackle him to the ground. The Tracker has documented Olmos’ assault here.
“I bolted over there to check on Sergio and make sure he was all right,” Hayes said, “and I got him out of there.”
Hayes said both journalists then left the area and walked a block away to where Oregon State Police had set up a police line.
The Statesman Journal reported that both journalists spoke to police about the assaults and gave officers a description of the assailant. A warrant was issued for Roberts’ arrest after an OSP trooper submitted a probable cause statement testifying that they had personally seen Roberts kicking and shattering a door to the Capitol.
KGW8 reported that Roberts turned himself in to law enforcement on Dec. 27. Roberts faces charges of criminal mischief, disorderly conduct, assault, harassment and probation violation.
The OSP did not respond to an emailed request for comment as of press time.
On Dec. 22, 2020, CBS-affiliate station WCAX-TV in Burlington, Vermont, was subpoenaed by the Chittenden County State’s Attorney’s Office in connection with an interview the channel conducted with William Dunn, a man charged with aggravated assault in a December stabbing incident.
In the video clip, published Dec. 10 on the station’s website, WCAX-TV reporter Christina Guessferd summarizes the case and uses clips from her interview with Dunn. In her report, Guessferd says Dunn told her he acted in self-defense, after his girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend barged into their apartment and confronted him in a “violent altercation.” In the video clip, Dunn says “I had to fight for my life.”
On Jan. 15, 2021, the station filed a motion to quash the subpoena, citing the Vermont state shield law that protects journalists from compelled disclosure of information and sources. According to the motion, the State’s Attorney’s Office asked the station to provide “any and all footage, including raw and final as well as all videos, notes, sound bites and information obtained from the interview,” as well as “any and all saved messages or other communication records pertaining to Dunn.”
The station’s motion to quash asserts that the information sought in the raw video, notes and other materials subpoenaed from the interview is available to law enforcement from other sources, including four witnesses present at the time of the incident, as well as the defendant. The motion says that the witness statements support Dunn’s claims that the attacker started the altercation. It says the station’s footage, taken a week after the incident, does not capture the fight that led to the charges.
WCAX-TV contends that the State’s Attorney seeks to compel the station to turn over its recordings, despite the availability of other sources; the station’s motion says no special circumstances have been cited that would warrant an exception to the shield law.
The Chittenden County State’s Attorney’s Office did not respond to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker’s request for comment.
WCAX-TV’s lawyer Robert B. Hemley declined to speak about the case without the station’s approval, and the station did not respond to a Tracker request for comment.
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 the far-right very quickly,” Lewis said.
The Olympian reported that the two groups began to clash around 12:30 p.m., and soon after Olympia police declared a riot and issued orders to disperse.
Around 2:30 p.m., Olympian reporter Rolf Boone tweeted that police pushed back antifa protesters using flash-bang grenades.
Lewis told the Tracker the Olympia Police Department officers were using small, round flash-bang grenades, some of which contained OC “pepper” capsaicin dust, an irritant also used in some tear gas and pepper sprays.
As the officers pushed the antifascist counter-protesters away from downtown, Lewis said officers blocked the north and south sides of the street, forcing protesters to choose between facing them or entering a private parking garage.
“It was pretty overwhelming,” Lewis said, adding that police were using so many chemical irritants that residue built up in her eyes.
“[It got] to the point that it was gritty and I had to have my eyes washed out,” Lewis said, “and I was afraid that it might scratch my corneas.”
Lewis said she was physically struck twice in the thigh and once in the chest with the plastic flash-bang grenades. The one that struck her in the chest damaged the press pass from the Industrial Workers of the World Freelance Journalists Union that she was wearing on a lanyard.
I was hit in the chest with a flash bang fragment. It blew my press pass apart. pic.twitter.com/oz4K4CPd82
— Melissa “Claudio” Lewis (@Claudio_Report) December 13, 2020
“If they had been the [flash-bang grenade] canisters, I would have been incredibly injured and I’m honestly very glad they were the plastic kind,” Lewis said. She added that the multiple layers she was wearing because of the cold also prevented her from being harmed more extensively.
Lewis said that in addition to the press pass around her neck, she had “PRESS” markings on her backpack. Lewis said she believed police were deliberately targeting her because the incident took place in broad daylight and because of her identifying markings.
The Olympia Police Department did not respond to an emailed request for comment.
Tina MacIntyre-Yee, a multimedia journalist at the Democrat and Chronicle in Rochester, New York, was called to testify before a grand jury on Dec. 16, 2020, according to an article from her employer, which MacIntyre-Yee verified to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
The journalist said that she complied with the subpoena, though did not offer compromising material about her sources.
MacIntyre-Yee has reported on recent civil unrest in Rochester that followed both the death of Goerge Floyd, a Black man in Minneapolis police custody, and the disclosure that Daniel Prude, a Black man, died while in Rochester police custody, according to the Democrat & Chronicle.
The subpoena related to MacIntyre-Yee’s reporting on these protests, the Democrat and Chronicle article stated.
During a conversation with CPJ, MacIntyre-Yee said that she was first notified of the subpoena on Dec. 9 in a phone call by the Monroe District Attorney’s office. The DA’s office then sent a copy of the subpoena to MacIntyre-Yee via email.
MacIntyre-Yee said she was concerned about how the subpoena would affect her ability to report on protests.
“I would like to be seen as someone who’s taking pictures of everything that’s happening and videos of everything that’s happening, and I don’t want people to feel intimidated,” she said.
The Monroe County District Attorney’s office told CPJ in an email that they do not comment about Grand Jury subpoenas or testimony.
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 in on the morning of Dec. 8 to try to take control of the house. As more protesters poured into the area, there were clashes with law enforcement before officers withdrew. Protesters ultimately built barricades blocking streets in the area.
Speaking to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, Reaume says she and Peavyhouse had spent an hour in the early afternoon of Dec. 8 interviewing people in the neighborhood before deciding to enter the barricaded zone. As they came upon a barricade, Reaume says they were approached by protesters trying to block their cameras with umbrellas and telling them they could not film there. After they walked away and let the situation calm down, they decided once more to enter the area.
“Immediately somebody started yelling, ‘Film crew,’” Reaume said. “That’s when a dozen or so, a dozen and a half people started coming over towards us, surrounding Ric’s camera with their umbrellas and their bodies.”
Aware that Peavyhouse’s camera was blocked by protesters, Reaume pulled out her cellphone and began to record video. As she attempted to film, she says a man kept pushing her and trying to grab her phone. When he succeeded in knocking it out of her hand, he then smashed it on the ground and pushed her away again as she tried to retrieve it.
“I finally was able to get my hand onto it and he just stomped on my hand,” she told the Tracker.
Reaume’s left middle finger was cut open, an injury that she had to have glued shut at an urgent care. The incident left her work phone inoperable and with a cracked screen.
Sorry for the blood. Hand isn’t broken, thankfully! Wound was glued up at urgent care. pic.twitter.com/YktY4XCrLC
— Genevieve Reaume (@GenevieveReaume) December 9, 2020
In a video captured by Peavyhouse, umbrellas can be seen trying to block his camera in the run up to the assault while a voice is heard yelling, “There’s a film crew coming through. They’re not our friends. Hide your faces! Don’t trust them! Film crew walking through!”
As the protesters surround the journalists and tell them to leave, a woman can be heard saying, “We got cameras we need.”
In Reaume’s shorter video of the confrontation, she can be heard explaining to protesters that “this is our job.”
“I don’t care. This is our life,” responds one. “Your job is hurting us,” says another.
Then, the phone appears to tumble to the ground, landing with its camera facing skyward as an individual brings their foot down on the device.
As Reaume and Peavyhouse moved to leave the area following the assault, protesters followed them, with some taunting her and shouting, “Bye, bitch!” and “Fuck your hand!”
Contacted by the Tracker, the Portland Police Bureau did not comment on the incident.
Reaume said she believes she and Peavyhouse had not been wearing anything branded with their station’s name, though they still very obviously looked like a TV news crew, she said.
Other Oregon news outlets noted a general hostility toward the press inside the barricaded zone.
According to Oregon Public Broadcasting, protesters inside the barricaded zone banned “anyone from taking photos or videos, including pedestrians and neighbors out walking” while limiting livestreamers to a designated area.
And the Oregonian reported that a building in the area had “Fuck Press” spray-painted on it.
Tom Boney Jr., the publisher of the Graham-based weekly Alamance News, was removed from a courtroom in handcuffs and threatened with contempt of court charges in Graham, North Carolina, on Dec. 8, 2020.
The incident with Boney came amid a dispute between a local judge and three media outlets seeking access to a trial. The Charlotte News & Observer reported that its journalists, and those from local alternative weekly Triad City Beat, were told earlier that week that members of the press would not be allowed to observe a trial in Alamance County’s Historic Courthouse, per a decision by Judge Fred Wilkins (the paper did not report whether Wilkins gave a reason for barring reporters).
Wilkins was presiding over the trial of Sandrea W. Brazee, a 52-year-old white woman accused of driving her car at two Black girls. The News & Observer reported that a week earlier Wilkins also prevented journalists from attending the trial of Rev. Greg Drumwright, who had organized an Oct. 31 march to the polls where police pepper sprayed the crowd and members of the press.
On the morning of the Brazee trial, Boney entered the courtroom to present Wilkins with a letter from attorney C. Amanda Martin on behalf of Alamance News, the News & Observer and Triad City Beat. The letter requested a hearing on Wilkins’s decision to close the court to the media. The same morning, Boney had also delivered letters to Senior Resident Superior Court Judge D. Thomas Lambeth and Chief District Court Judge Bradley Reid Allen Jr. — who oversee various courthouse administrative and official duties — urging that courtrooms remain open to the press during the COVID-19 pandemic, in compliance with the state’s constitution and the First Amendment.
The North Carolina state constitution maintains that “all courts shall be open,” with exceptions only in cases where there is a compelling reason, according to the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.
During the court proceeding, Wilkins noted the motion filed by the three news organizations calling for transparency and reconsideration of the judge’s exclusion of the press, the News & Observer reported. When Boney identified himself and attempted to explain the request, Wilkins cut him off and said he had already ruled on the matter, according to the paper.
The News & Observer reported that Wilkins then told Boney, “The courtroom is not closed,” gesturing to other people in the room, but, “It’s closed to you.”
“I’ve made my ruling,” Wilkins said. “The next ruling I will make is a contempt citation.”
The News & Observer reported that when Boney continued to object, Wilkins said, “You’re going to jail,” and had deputies remove the publisher from the courtroom in handcuffs. Boney told the News & Observer that Wilkins then said he would not pursue the contempt charge if the publisher agreed to leave the courthouse. Boney said he eventually agreed and was escorted from the building.
“They were really quite rough in handcuffing me and claiming that I’m resisting,” Boney said. “I wouldn’t have been surprised if they had broken my wrist.”
Boney later told The Washington Post Wilkins’s actions were a “heavy-handed and unreasonable reaction.”
“People need to know how decisions are arrived at — was the conclusion, the verdict, the pleading, fair? Was it reasonable?” Boney said. “The problem is I have no way to evaluate it, because I wasn’t there.”
Boney didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment.
“We realize it is appropriate for courts to undertake certain measures during these pandemic times to limit exposure but closing down access to the press entirely is not one of them and removing a newspaper publisher in handcuffs is certainly not appropriate and is quite discouraging,” Phil Lucey, president of the North Carolina Press Association, told the Times-News.
Lucey said that the court gave “no written ruling outlining the basis for the closing of the courtroom,” and thus “we cannot assume this was anything other than an effort to block access to the press from the court proceedings.”
The three newspapers filed an emergency petition with the North Carolina Court of Appeals on Dec. 10, The Associated Press reported.
“Even accepting that the COVID-19 pandemic creates a compelling need to safeguard public health by imposing some limits on access to courtrooms, the draconian restrictions imposed by Judge Wilkins were not necessary to serve that interest,” attorney Martin wrote in the emergency appeal.
A judge in California on March 8, 2021, quashed a subpoena for testimony from journalist Kate Cagle about a 2015 interview she conducted as a reporter for the San Francisco Bay Area TV news station KRON 4, according to the Palo Alto Daily Post. The San Mateo district attorney’s office had filed the subpoena on Dec. 7, 2020, seeking Cagle’s testimony about an interview she did with a man accused of murder.
Cagle, now a reporter for Spectrum News 1 in Los Angeles, interviewed the defendant in the murder trial, Daniel Contreras, at the San Mateo County Jail on Aug. 9, 2015, one day after Contreras was arrested for allegedly killing a toddler, according to the Post.
During the interview, Contreras said the child fell from his hands, contradicting an earlier statement to police that she had fallen from a table, the Post reported. According to the Post, Contreras also told the journalist he had “made a mistake.”
According to the Post, District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said at a court hearing on March 8 that the prosecutor’s office sought testimony from Cagle to confirm that she was working independently from police when she interviewed Contreras. A detective with the Redwood City Police Department was present at the time of the interview and reminded the defendant of his Miranda rights, the Post reported.
Attorneys for Cagle argued that the California Shield law protected the journalist from being compelled to testify.
San Mateo County Superior Court Judge Robert Foiles sided with Cagle, ruling that the prosecutor could not subpoena her to testify.
Wagstaffe’s office and KRON 4 did not respond to a request for comment. Cagle declined to comment.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency said on Dec. 9, 2020, that it would not enforce a subpoena issued to BuzzFeed News the previous week. ICE’s subpoena had sought information BuzzFeed gathered in reporting a story on deportation policy.
BuzzFeed’s article, published on Oct. 7, divulged the contents of emails and a memo about ICE plans to implement a Trump administration policy significantly expanding fast-track deportations of undocumented immigrants. The expanded deportation policy was initially blocked in 2019 by a federal judge, but that judge’s injunction was lifted by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in June 2020, allowing ICE to begin implementing the wider fast-track deportation program.
BuzzFeed publicly reported on the subpoena, issued Dec. 1, and said it sought information about emails the news organization obtained that had been sent to ICE attorneys. The subpoena demanded BuzzFeed “provide all documentation including, but not limited to: (1) date of receipt, (2) method of receipt, (3) source of document, and (4) contact information for the source of the document.” The subpoena ordered the information be turned over by Dec. 22, 2020, and requested that BuzzFeed not disclose the issuance of the subpoena.
In the article on the subpoena, BuzzFeed News Editor-in-Chief Mark Schoofs said, "BuzzFeed News emphatically rejects any requests for information about possible sources and methods of our reporting.”
On Dec. 9, BuzzFeed reported that ICE would not be enforcing the subpoena.
ICE also issued a statement saying, “In response to the summons, the media outlet subsequently declined to provide details regarding the sources of the unauthorized disclosure of law enforcement sensitive information. At this time, ICE will not enforce the summons and will pursue the investigation through other channels.”
On Nov. 25, 2020, journalist and author Jillian Lauren Shriner was subpoenaed by Samuel Little for “unpublished communications with her sources.” The subpoena was issued in connection to Little’s prosecution in the killing of a woman in San Bernardino, California.
In 2018, Little, who the FBI says is the most prolific serial killer in U.S. history, confessed to some 90 murders committed between 1970 and 2005. Fifty of the confessions made by Little have been verified by law enforcement, according to the FBI.
Shriner started talking to Little after she’d interviewed an Los Angeles Police Department detective who had prosecuted him and suspected him of having committed several additional unsolved murders across the country. In her interviews with Little, who at the time was serving three consecutive life sentences for murdering three women in Los Angeles, he confessed to dozens of additional homicides.
A trial court compelled Shriner to comply with the subpoena. On Dec. 23, Shriner appealed the decision with the California Court of Appeal, stating that “to disclose unpublished communications with her sources flagrantly violates California’s shield laws” and that the decision “disregards the fundamental principle, enshrined in California’s Constitution, that journalists must be independent of the judicial process and able to protect their unpublished information, including communications with sources. The Court of Appeal stayed the trial court’s order.
On Dec. 30, Little, 80, died, rendering the criminal case against him and the subpoena effectively moot. The Court of Appeal, though, has not yet dismissed the case and, on Feb. 2, 2021, granted the public defender’s request for an extension to file its response to Shriner’s petition by March 11.
Neither Shriner nor the public defender’s office responded to a request for comment as of press time.
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 a photojournalist working with Kualdom Creations, an independent media company based in Lincoln, Nebraska, that frequently livestreams protests in the state. He told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that shortly after 9 p.m. that night he got caught in the middle of a clash between police officers and a small group of counterprotesters. At one point, he was able to find a clearing in the crowd and began walking away from the skirmish, he said.
As he approached a street corner, he saw a group of police officers walking toward him, and one of them shot a pepper ball at his foot, Mosier told the Tracker. Mosier said the police officer yelled at him to get out of the way, so he turned to walk in another direction — but then felt what appeared to be tear gas or another irritant hit him in the face.
“I was out of the way and the police officers were behind me,” Mosier told the Tracker. “I was ten feet away in the opposite direction.” In footage of the incident reviewed by the Tracker, a police officer is shown firing a chemical irritant into a crowd and in Mosier’s direction. It’s not clear in the video whether the officer meant to deliberately target Mosier.
Mosier said he was carrying a camera and wearing a press badge but did not have an opportunity to identify himself to police as a member of the press. However, he said that he and the other journalists working with Kualdom Creations have had frequent run-ins with police officers. In July, Kualdom Creations founder Jazari Kual was detained and held for over an hour by Omaha police officers who doubted his professional status. He eventually was released without charge.
An officer with the Public Information Office of the Omaha Police Department told the Tracker in an email that the department was unaware of the incident and had not received any related incident reports or complaints.
Mosier said the irritant gas or spray left him unable to see for roughly half an hour as he tried to flush his eyes, so he left the protest and went home to continue treating his eyes.
A member of @Kualdom team got a pepperball to the foot and maced earlier - despite being a clearly credentialed journalist
— Mel Buer (@coldbrewedtool) November 23, 2020
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
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 Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Tensions also were high in Portland and cities throughout the U.S. in the wake of President Donald Trump’s loss in the 2020 presidential election.
Davis worked as an independent journalist throughout much of the unrest and in November began co-hosting “Uprising: A Guide From Portland,” a podcast focusing on protests in Portland, for iHeartRadio.
On Nov. 19, about 30 people gathered in front of the Multnomah County Justice Center for a “Back the Blue” rally, Davis told the Tracker. He tweeted that participants expressed messages of support for Trump, law enforcement and the Second Amendment, and espoused conspiracy theories about vaccines for COVID-19 and other topics.
He posted that the event drew counterprotesters who gathered on the opposite side of South Third Avenue from the rally. Members of the opposing groups yelled taunts across the street at each other and eventually counterprotesters crossed the divide to the right-wing rally to confront participants.
“A few of the antifascist counter demonstrators cross the street,” Davis wrote in a Twitter post. “Members of the back the blue crowd start shoving people around.”
Davis recorded a Back the Blue protester wearing a gas mask and a camouflage helmet and vest confronting him and demanding that he move away from the rally.
“I will take that fucking camera. Back up,” the individual said before shoving Davis, which was captured in a video that Davis posted at about 2 p.m. Davis told the Tracker that the assailant pushed him with a metal rod.
“The back the blue/Maga crowd continue to shove me around. I am very clearly marked press,” Davis wrote in the Twitter thread.
Davis also captured footage of the same assailant extending the stock on a rifle and clipping the weapon to his vest. Davis gets into another scuffle with that individual, who at one point bumps the journalist’s smartphone with the butt of his rifle.
“I don’t like you. Get the fuck out of here,” the assailant says to Davis.
Davis and reporter Sergio Olmos, who reported on the event for Oregon Public Broadcasting, captured footage of police officers taking the armed assailant into custody. It isn’t clear whether officers issued a citation to the individual, whom officers released, as shown in footage that Olmos posted to Twitter. The person returned to the rally without his rifle.
A Portland Police Bureau spokesperson was unable to confirm or deny if officers arrested the armed individual or issued a citation.
Davis told the Tracker he spent about two hours covering the rally and that several different protesters shoved and threatened him during his time there. He captured footage of one individual carrying a shield trying to shove the journalist out of the area.
“Get off the sidewalk,” the individual says to Davis.
In another exchange, an individual wearing a purple hoodie and a black face mask approaches Davis and demands that he back away from the rally.
“Get your ass back, motherfucker. Step back, dude,” the individual said to Davis.
“You’re not the police, you can’t move me,” Davis replied. “You’re not the cops.”
The demonstration culminated with shoving matches between members of the opposing groups, and members of both groups deploying pepper spray.
The Portland Police Bureau didn’t respond to a request for information about any arrests or citations issued to anyone involved with the rally or the counterprotest.
Olmos posted a video of an officer writing a citation for at least one individual after officers told people, including Davis, that they would be cited for standing in the street. Davis didn’t receive a citation, he told the Tracker.
Independent journalist Talia Jane told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she 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, but fights broke between Trump supporters and counterprotesters as the day wore on, according to the Washington Post.
Jane, who is based in New York City, told the Tracker she was documenting one such brawl blocks from the White House shortly after 8 p.m., broadcasting footage of the melee to Instagram Live.
While she was filming, an individual punched Jane in the side of the head, causing bleeding from her ear and launching her smartphone from her hand.
“I was documenting a brawl where 200 fascists rolled up on about 80 BLM/anti-fascists and started going at it,” Jane told the Tracker. “I tried to stay somewhat off to the side, but a guy walked up to me and sucker-punched me.”
Jane said she was wearing a black shirt with “PRESS” written in white letters on the front and that she repeatedly said, “I’m press!” during the incident.
She said she was able to find a street medic, who applied gauze to her ear, but that she did not seek additional medical attention and continued to document the scene.
The U.S. Capitol building is seen as thousands of people participate in rallies in support of President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 14, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"election, Election 2020, protest",,,,, Videojournalist for Brazilian broadcaster assaulted during ‘Million MAGA March’ in DC,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/videojournalist-for-brazilian-broadcaster-assaulted-during-million-maga-march-in-dc/,2021-02-02 20:00:48.371896+00:00,2022-08-04 21:32:17.426536+00:00,2022-08-04 21:32:17.366169+00:00,,Assault,,,,Daniel Silva-Pinto (TV Globo),,2020-11-14,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"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, but fights broke out between Trump supporters and counterprotesters as the day wore on, according to the Washington Post.
Silva-Pinto told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he’d been filming the march on Constitution Avenue when some members of what he identified as part of the far-right group the Proud Boys arrived at around 2 or 3 p.m. Silva-Pinto told the Tracker he’d been wearing a press badge at the time and was carrying his DSLR camera.
“When I got closer to Congress on Constitution, I started to hear a commotion, and then I saw that it was a ton of men dressed in black and yellow: clearly members of the Proud Boys,” Silva-Pinto said. “They were walking sort of arm-in-arm in a phalanx.”
“I was in a semicircle with six or seven other photojournalists and videojournalists when these guys were walking down the street and they started to get pretty aggressive with the people who were nearest them and they started pushing us.”
He said that members of the Proud Boys appeared to be elbowing and pushing the group of journalists more to annoy them than to inflict harm.
“Journalists started sort of talking back to them, saying things like, ‘Hey, don’t do that. I’m just here trying to do my job,’” Silva-Pinto said. He said he could not identify the other journalists there that day who may have also been assaulted during the incident.
“Then, I felt my camera get grabbed and I was hit in my head from my blind side or behind me, and I turned around and saw that it was one of the guys who had been pushing me,” Silva-Pinto said.
He told the Tracker that he walked a short distance away from the group for a bit, and when he returned, he was assaulted by a second individual.
“Another one of those guys grabbed my camera to lower it and then started hitting me in the face,” Silva-Pinto said. “They punched me several times.”
In a video captured by Ostap Yarysh, a reporter for Voice of America’s Ukrainian service, individuals dressed in black and yellow, colors often associated with the group, aand other Proud Boys symbols can be heard chanting, “The media sucks!” At one point, one of the individuals can be seen striking out at Silva-Pinto and punching him multiple times in the face. Another individual then approaches Silva-Pinto, saying, “Back the fuck up. Get the fuck out of here.”
#MillionsMAGAMarch is getting tense. After chanting "The media sucks", one of the Proud Boys attacked an independent journalist who was filming the march. #MarchForTrump #MillionMAGAMarch2020 #ProudBoys pic.twitter.com/Yo7N6NEOUA
— Ostap Yarysh (@OstapYarysh) November 14, 2020
Silva-Pinto can be heard responding, “What the fuck is wrong with you? Why are you hitting me?”
“That was new for me,” Silva-Pinto said. “Like I’ve said, I’ve covered a lot of stuff and people have been hostile toward me and other members of the press before. But that was certainly unexpected, given it was daytime, there were a bunch of police officers around, it was near the Capitol, and there were children and families around.”
Silva-Pinto told the Tracker that he approached a Metropolitan Police Department officer following the assault to file a police report. He said he had not received any updates from the police and that his last contact with the detective on his case was on Dec. 15.
The MPD did not respond to an emailed request for comment from the Tracker as of press time.
Silva-Pinto said he also sought medical attention from a volunteer medic who was with counterprotesters that day to confirm that he did not have a concussion.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented hundreds journalists assaulted, arrested, harassed or who had their equipment seized or damaged while covering the 2020 election and related protests. You can find all these incidents here.
Portland-based independent journalist Laura Jedeed told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she 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, but fights broke between Trump supporters and counterprotesters as the day wore on, according to the Washington Post.
In a video that Jedeed posted two days after the march, two women can be seen calling Jedeed’s location to the attention of others in the crowd and accusing her of doxxing people at the rally.
“She loves to dox people. Right here, this bitch,” one of the women said while pointing in Jedeed’s direction.
A man with an American flag face covering approaches the scene, repeatedly calls Jedeed a “bitch” and moves just inches away from the journalist while she continues to record.
Jedeed tells the man that he is standing on her foot and repeatedly tells him to stop making physical contact with her. The journalist said that she recognized the two women and the man from rallies in Portland and that she had seen the man in the lobby of her hotel earlier that day.
“I can’t wait to see you in the fucking lobby again,” the man says to Jedeed.
A number of other members of the crowd, many of them not wearing masks, surrounded Jedeed and hurled taunts and insults at her while standing close to her, which she captured in videos she posted to YouTube and Twitter.
“They were just getting aggressively in my personal space,” Jedeed told the Tracker. “At no point did anyone hurt me. I was very lucky.”
Jedeed said the incident lasted about 20 minutes. In her video, she can be heard repeatedly telling members of the crowd to stop touching her.
Ultimately, the man with the American flag mask who’d stepped on her foot — and repeatedly called her a fascist while she was being harangued by the crowd — ended up escorting her from the crowd.
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 of Nov. 7. Some of the protesters appeared to be affiliated with the Proud Boys, a far-right group, journalists told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. Several other journalists documented harassing, threatening interactions with pro-Trump supporters while covering the Salem rally that day. Members of far-right groups have repeatedly attacked journalists in recent years.
Shortly after 1 p.m., Rushmore was shoved after noticing a group of protesters confronting a counterprotester and he started taking photos of the confrontation, he told the Tracker.
In footage of the confrontation posted on Twitter by Portland-based journalist Sergio Olmos, Rushmore can be seen wearing a pink bandana as he starts taking photos about 24 seconds into the video.
After Oregon State Police officers stepped in to protect the counterprotester, the Trump supporters turned their attention to Rushmore.
Video of the incident published by Olmos shows a group of protesters confronting Rushmore. One demonstrator can be seen repeatedly pushing Rushmore as he shouts back to get off of him. At one point, the protesters begin chanting, “Fuck antifa!” Eventually, state troopers get between Rushmore and the protesters.
“They were yelling that I was an anarchist or antifa, yelling about me being fake press, and somebody started pushing me,” Rushmore said.
“I’m yelling back at them a lot because I didn’t want them putting their hands on me,” said Rushmore. “I was scared at the moment. It’s a pretty violent group and they frighten me. I was way outnumbered.”
Freelance photographer Ash Ponders was shoved numerous times by supporters of President Donald Trump on Nov. 7, 2020, in Phoenix, Arizona, while taking photos of a rally outside the Arizona State Capitol.
Trump supporters rallied in states across the country on Nov. 7 after major news networks called the 2020 presidential election for former Vice President Joe Biden. In Phoenix, the crowd swelled to more than 1,000, the Associated Press reported.
Ponders, who is based in Phoenix, tweeted at just after 2 p.m. a photo of crowds gathering outside the Arizona State Capitol. “[B]een shoved and accosted more in the last ten minute than every other day since the election combined,” Ponders wrote in the post.
Media hostile vibes here at the capitol, been shoved and accosted more in the last ten minute than every other day since the election combined. pic.twitter.com/WGMiIKi0Ld
— Ash Ponders (@ashponders) November 7, 2020
Protesters “bumped and shoved a lot,” at one point causing the photographer to fall, Ponders told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
“I stood up and walked away quickly towards another journalist,” Ponders said. “It was quite loud; if verbal threats were made, I didn’t hear them.”
Ponders continued tweeting from the rally for a few more hours, posting observations about firearms and military-grade equipment that some of the attendees brought with them to the event.
“I wandered away from the protests in search of some celebrations; I would like to make some images of joy for once this week,” Ponders tweeted after 6 p.m.
Supporters of President Donald Trump gather at a protest outside the Arizona State Capitol in Phoenix after the 2020 U.S. presidential election was called for Democratic candidate Joe Biden on Nov. 7, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"election, Election 2020, protest",,,,, "Portland-based journalist shoved by pro-Trump demonstrators in Salem, Oregon",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/portland-based-journalist-shoved-by-pro-trump-demonstrators-in-salem-oregon/,2021-10-14 18:59:17.320038+00:00,2022-08-04 21:39:09.555485+00:00,2022-08-04 21:39:09.491167+00:00,,Assault,,,,Anonymous 45th Absurdist (45th Absurdist Press Collective),,2020-11-07,False,Salem,Oregon (OR),44.9429,-123.0351,"A member of the Portland-based press collective 45th Absurdist Brigade, who requested anonymity because they fear harassment from far-right groups, was shoved by pro-Donald Trump demonstrators while covering a rally in Salem, Oregon, on Nov. 7, 2020.
The journalist 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 of Nov. 7. Some of the protesters appeared to be affiliated with the Proud Boys, a far-right group, journalists told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. Several other journalists documented harassing, threatening interactions with pro-Trump supporters while covering the Salem rally that day. Members of far-right groups have repeatedly attacked journalists in recent years.
Around 12:50 p.m. the member of the 45th Absurdist Brigade was crossing a street near the capitol building when a group of protesters started harassing them. The journalist was reporting with a partner at the time, and said both were pushed.
Video of the incident posted on the 45th Absurdist Brigade Twitter account shows one of the pro-Trump demonstrators shoving the person filming. Another protester can be heard saying not to touch the journalist. The demonstrators can also be heard yelling “fake press” multiple times.
Garrison Davis, an independent Portland-based reporter, captured the incident from across the street in a video posted on Twitter. “Right-Wing demonstrators/Proud Boys harassed and assaulted members of the press,” tweeted Davis, who can also be seen getting harassed in the video.
A member of the Portland-based press collective 45th Absurdist Brigade said they were shoved by pro-Donald Trump demonstrators while covering a rally in Salem, Oregon, on Nov. 7, 2020.
The journalist, who requested anonymity because of fear of harassment from far-right groups, 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. Some of the protesters appeared to be affiliated with the Proud Boys, a far-right group, journalists told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. Several other journalists documented harassing, threatening interactions with pro-Trump supporters while covering the Salem rally that day. Members of far-right groups have repeatedly attacked journalists in recent years.
Around 12:50 p.m. the member of the 45th Absurdist Brigade was crossing a street near the capitol building when a group of protesters started harassing the press collective member. The journalist, who was reporting with a partner, said they were both pushed.
“These guys came up to us and were like, ‘I recognize you, you’re antifa, you’re not real press, you’re fake,’” the journalist told the Tracker. “One guy especially was jostling me, and saying, ‘That’s a nice camera you have, I can use a new camera.’ Another one was calling me a ‘cunt’ and a ‘bitch.’”
Video of the incident posted on the 45th Absurdist Brigade Twitter account shows one of the pro-Trump demonstrators shoving the person filming. Another protester can be heard saying not to touch the journalist. The demonstrators can also be heard yelling “fake press” multiple times.
Garrison Davis, an independent Portland-based reporter, captured the incident from across the street in a video posted on Twitter. “Right-Wing demonstrators/Proud Boys harassed and assaulted members of the press,” tweeted Davis, who can also be seen getting harassed in the video.
Freelance photojournalist Clementson Supriyadi was assaulted and arrested by Oregon State Police while covering a protest in Portland, Oregon, on Nov. 5, 2020.
In Portland, protests had been held 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. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
At around 8 p.m., Supriyadi arrived at a demonstration at Arbor Lodge Park in North Portland, where protesters had gathered to call for cuts to the Portland Police Bureau’s budget.
Protestors first marched to the home of Portland City Commissioner Dan Ryan, who had voted against cutting the police budget, and vandalized his property. By the time they began marching towards the Portland Police Association office, the protest had been declared an “unlawful assembly.”
When Supriyadi started following a group of protesters across a street, OSP officers pulled up in a van beside him, got out of the vehicle and told him he was under arrest, he said.
“Their van and truck snuck up on everyone,” Supriyadihe told the Tracker. “I was in the middle of the street trying to catch up.”
In a video of the arrest posted on Twitter by independent journalist Garrison Davis, people can be heard yelling that Supriyadi is press.
Police left and the march moved on.
— Garrison Davis (@hungrybowtie) November 6, 2020
Just now, officers charged the crowd from behind and arrested a member of the press on the sidewalk. #Portland #PortlandProtests pic.twitter.com/fskd6KNjDx
“I told them I was press, but at that point they were taking me down,” said Supriyadi, adding that he had been wearing a press pass.
The officers placed him on the ground and zip-tied his hands behind his back, said Supriyadi. That’s also when he believes his camera, a Fujifilm X100f, was damaged. They searched his backpack and his pockets, then moved him to a law enforcement vehicle.
Supriyadi wasn’t taken to a police precinct for processing, but instead was given a ticket and released, he said. He was charged with disorderly conduct and interfering with a peace officer.
Supriyadi said he has a court date for these charges scheduled for Nov. 24, but he hopes the charges will be dropped before then.
Supriyadi said he wasn’t very surprised about being arrested. “At every level of law enforcement that have been coming out to the protests, they hinder the press from doing what they’re trying to do,” he said.
After being released, he noticed that his camera lens was wobbly, though the camera still works. He believes the damage to his camera, which he had been carrying in his pocket, occurred when the officers laid him down on the ground.
Since July, law enforcement officers from the PPB and federal agencies have been barred by court rulings from arresting, harming or impeding journalists or legal observers of the protests. The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon didn’t include the OSP when it filed the cases. But the rulings should also apply to state police, said Matthew Borden, a partner at BraunHagey & Borden LLP who is cooperating counsel with the ACLU on the case. He told the Tracker that the “plaintiffs will likely seek relief if OSP refuses to agree not to target or disperse journalists and legal observers."
The OSP declined to comment on Supriyadi’s arrest. Portland City Attorney Tracy Reeve didn’t return a request for comment.
Wall Street Journal reporter Katie Honan was pushed by New York City police who used bicycles as moving barricades to corral journalists as she covered a Nov. 5, 2020, march in Manhattan, according to video and social media posts.
Protests erupted in New York and other cities on Nov. 3, Election Day in the U.S., and continued for days as results for the presidential election trickled in.
Honan covered the demonstration and said in a Twitter post that New York Police Department officers used bicycles to push her and other reporters back, even though they had department-issued credentials.
In a video accompanying Honan’s tweet, police officers wearing full protective gear can be seen repeatedly lifting bicycles in the air as they advanced toward protesters while shouting “Move back!” almost in unison.
NYPD officers on bikes continue pushing people here including (credentialed) members of the press and @JumaaneWilliams @nycpa pic.twitter.com/eey36K66qr
— katie honan (@katie_honan) November 6, 2020
Demonstrations were held weekly at the Stonewall throughout the summer, but the Nov. 5 march drew a stepped-up police presence because the results of the presidential election were still uncertain. The rallies were intended to call attention to the rights of Black transgender people.
The NYPD didn’t respond to a request for comment. Officers arrested 18 people in the demonstration, Gothamist reported.
New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams was at the scene and also was shoved by officers, according to reports. Williams said in a Twitter post that police were trying to aggressively clear the street to make an arrest.
“Officers then appeared to begin setting up for mass arrests— we intervened to try and de-escalate and prevent that,” Williams tweeted. “Most importantly, there seems to be a lack of leadership when the City needs it the most.”
The NYPD said in a Twitter post around 9 p.m. that night that a suspect attacked a police officer at Broadway and Bond Street in Manhattan’s NoHo neighborhood, a few blocks away from Union Square. The suspect tried to strangle the officer with a chain, police alleged.
New York Police Department officers use bicycles as a mobile barricade during a Black Lives Matter demonstration in Manhattan on Nov. 5, 2020. At least two journalists were shoved, one of whom was knocked to the ground.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, election, Election 2020, protest",,,,, Police shove 1010 WINS reporter during post-election protest in New York,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/police-shove-1010-wins-reporter-during-post-election-protest-in-new-york/,2021-10-14 18:25:43.049089+00:00,2022-08-04 21:39:00.091911+00:00,2022-08-04 21:39:00.031815+00:00,,Assault,,,,Roger Stern (1010 WINS),,2020-11-05,False,New York,New York (NY),None,None,"Radio journalist Roger Stern was pushed to the ground by New York City police who used bicycles as moving barricades to corral journalists as they covered a Nov. 5, 2020, march in Manhattan according to the journalist’s social media posts.
Protests erupted in New York and other cities on Nov. 3, Election Day in the U.S., and continued for days as results for the presidential election trickled in.
Stern, a reporter for radio station 1010 WINS, covered the “We Choose Freedom” march in which hundreds gathered at the historic Stonewall Inn in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village and marched north and east through Washington Square Park to Union Square.
Demonstrations were held weekly at the Stonewall throughout the summer, but the Nov. 5 march drew a stepped-up police presence because the results of the presidential election were still uncertain. The rallies were intended to call attention to the rights of Black transgender people.
“NYPD knocks me to the ground as they use bicycles to push protesters further into Union Sq Park after getting them off the street,” Stern posted on his Twitter account on Nov. 5. “Not clear why officers continued pushing peaceful protesters after [the] street was clear.”
https://t.co/M2QOKNmAVc #NYPD knocks me to the ground as they use bicycles to push protesters further into Union Sq Park after getting them off the street. Not clear why officers continued pushing peaceful protesters after street was clear. #1010WINS
— Roger Stern (@NYRogerStern) November 6, 2020
Video journalist Oliya Fedun tweeted and posted video of NYPD officers using bicycles to shove protesters and others, including Stern. “Crowd was first told to get off the roadway and then to get off the sidewalk as police pushed people further into the park,” Fedun wrote on Twitter.
1010 WINS declined to comment or make Stern available for an interview.
The NYPD didn’t respond to a request for comment. Officers arrested 18 people in the demonstration, Gothamist reported.
New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams was at the scene and also was shoved by officers, according to reports. Williams said in a Twitter post that police were trying to aggressively clear the street to make an arrest.
“Officers then appeared to begin setting up for mass arrests— we intervened to try and de-escalate and prevent that,” Williams tweeted. “Most importantly, there seems to be a lack of leadership when the City needs it the most.”
The NYPD said in a Twitter post around 9 p.m. that night that a suspect attacked a police officer at Broadway and Bond Street in Manhattan’s NoHo neighborhood, a few blocks away from Union Square. The suspect tried to strangle the officer with a chain, police alleged.
CBS national reporter Christina Ruffini and her crew were briefly accosted while covering election-related, pro-Black Lives Matter demonstrations in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 4, 2020.
Ruffini tweeted footage of the incident, which she described as a “minor dust up with protestors outside #blmplaza who didn’t like us filming,” referring to Black Lives Matter Plaza, a two-block section of 16th Street in Washington stretching north from the White House.
Minor dust up with protestors outside #blmplaza who didn’t like us filming. They’ve now cleared the street and it’s very calm. pic.twitter.com/NbNAtxPoLT
— Christina Ruffini (@EenaRuffini) November 4, 2020
In the video, an individual wearing black bloc — a tactic used by some protesters to conceal their identities by wearing black and baggy clothing and face coverings — can be seen approaching the news crew’s camera with a raised hand.
After the individual places a hand blocking the camera lens, a voice can be heard saying, “Don’t touch it, don’t touch it!” Ruffini appears at the right-hand side of the shot and appears to try to protect the camera and its operator, separating the individual from the equipment.
As the camera operator moves back, Ruffini can still be seen interacting with the individual and others and appears to drop her cell phone. When she attempts to bend over to pick it up, the individual in black bloc swings his arm against her, blocking her. Ruffini backs up a step, during which the individual attempts to kick away the phone.
Ruffini was able to recover the phone seconds later, but it was not immediately clear whether the device was damaged during the scuffle.
When contacted by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, Ruffini said she needed approval from superiors before she could comment on the encounter. No further comment was received by Tracker.
Independent videographer Sean Beckner-Carmitchel was arrested while filming election-related protests in support of the Black Lives Matter movement in Los Angeles, California, on Nov. 4, 2020.
Beckner-Carmitchel told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that protesters had planned to march from City Hall downtown to Pershing Square a little less than a mile away. By approximately 7 p.m., most of the crowd had dispersed and Beckner-Carmitchel said he thought he could head out for the night.
A few unmarked police cars moved in on the crowd, and when protesters began taunting them the officers called for backup. Officers then began hemming in the crowd and multiple journalists using a police maneuver called kettling.
“I asked the police where there was a ‘First Amendment Zone,’ as they hadn’t announced one,” Beckner-Carmitchel said, referring to the media staging areas the Los Angeles Police Department have been setting up during protests in recent months.
The officer directed him to the sidewalk and stairs leading up into the square. Beckner-Carmitchel tweeted that while in that press area, officers advanced forward through the intersection and he moved with them to continue his coverage. Officers then directed both him and another videographer, Vishal Singh, toward the middle of the road.
In a video posted by Beckner-Carmitchel of the moments before his arrest shortly after 7:30 p.m., an officer appears to point at the videographer and can be heard saying, “Start with that guy.”
Immediately before my arrest, he can be overheard saying “start with that guy.” Another officer says “Sean?”#1stAmendment #dtla #lapd #blm pic.twitter.com/5fmmMLFFHn
— Sean Carmitchel (@ACatWithNews) November 5, 2020
A video posted by Singh shows Beckner-Carmitchel with zip-tied wrists being led behind the police line just moments before officers move in to arrest Singh as well.
Beckner-Carmitchel told the Tracker that while he was taken into custody an officer threw his helmet onto the ground, damaging it.
Singh said that he believed he and Beckner-Carmitchel were targeted for arrest because they were recording and acting as press.
“They very clearly just looked for the people with the cameras who are there the most and just grabbed me,” Singh said. “As I was live-streaming, I saw multiple officers pointing me out.”
The Tracker has documented Singh’s arrest and the detainment of at least two other journalists here.
In the footage of his arrest, Beckner-Carmitchel doesn’t appear to have any visible identification as a member of the media, but he said both he and Singh told police they were press before they were handcuffed.
Beckner-Carmitchel told the Tracker that both he and Singh were cited with failure to disperse — a misdemeanor — and released approximately two hours later. He added that both of them have been ordered to appear in court on March 9, 2021.
If convicted, Beckner-Carmitchel could face up to six months imprisonment and a fine of up to $1,000, according to California’s penal code.
Los Angeles Police Department spokesperson Capt. Stacy Spell confirmed to the Los Angeles Times that two individuals had been arrested and cited for failure to disperse. She also claimed that LAPD officers have been dealing with large, disruptive crowds that all subsequently claim to be members of the press.
“We are having an ongoing challenge with individuals who are participating in disruptive activities, taking over the street and failing to disperse but subsequently claiming to be media,” Spell told the Times. “Literally the entire crowd claimed to be media.”
Singh told the Times that during his months of covering protests in LA, he hadn’t heard any protesters claiming to be members of the press.
The LAPD didn’t respond to an emailed request for further comment.
Vishal Singh, a videographer who works on Netflix documentaries and has been covering demonstrations in Los Angeles, was arrested in the city on Nov. 4, 2020, while filming election-related protests in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Singh told the Committee to Protect Journalists that he and fellow videographer Sean Beckner-Carmitchel were covering a relatively small demonstration that was winding down near the intersection of West 5th and South Hill streets along Pershing Square after marching from City Hall. CPJ is a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
At approximately 7:30 p.m., Los Angeles Police officers arrived on motorcycles and declared the gathering an unlawful assembly, according to Twitter posts by Singh and other journalists present.
According to a tweet posted by Singh, officers then hemmed in the crowd and the two videographers using a police maneuver called kettling.
@acatwithnews and I were arrested tonight while documenting a protest. We were kettled and given no escape route. LAPD specifically targeted us for being journalists who were filming what occurred. #election2020 #FreedomOfThePress pic.twitter.com/G7JscEGcVk
— Vishal P Singh (@VPS_Reports) November 5, 2020
At the beginning of the video in Singh’s tweet, officers can be seen placing Beckner-Carmitchel in zip-tie cuffs and leading him behind the police line. Multiple officers then point at Singh moments before they move in to arrest him.
Singh told the Los Angeles Times that he believes he and Beckner-Carmitchel were targeted for arrest because they were recording and acting as press.
“They very clearly just looked for the people with the cameras who are there the most and just grabbed me,” Singh said. “As I was livestreaming, I saw multiple officers pointing me out.”
The Tracker has documented Beckner-Carmitchel’s arrest here. At least two other journalists were detained in the kettle but released without being processed.
Singh described himself to CPJ as a “citizen journalist,” and noted that both the bullet-proof vest and helmet he was wearing were labeled “PRESS.” These markings are visible in another video of his arrest posted by an observer. Singh also said he identified himself to police as a member of the news media before he was handcuffed.
Singh told the Tracker that both he and Beckner-Carmitchel were cited with failure to disperse — a misdemeanor — and released approximately two hours later with orders to appear in court on March 9, 2021.
If convicted, Singh could face up to six months imprisonment and a fine of up to $1,000, according to California’s penal code.
When asked for comment about the arrests, Los Angeles Police Department spokesperson Capt. Stacy Spell confirmed to the Times that two individuals had been arrested and cited for failure to disperse. She also claimed that LAPD officers have been dealing with large, disruptive crowds that all subsequently claim to be members of the press.
“We are having an ongoing challenge with individuals who are participating in disruptive activities, taking over the street and failing to disperse but subsequently claiming to be media,” Spell said. “Literally the entire crowd claimed to be media.”
Singh told the Times that during his months of covering protests in LA, he had not heard any protesters claiming to be members of the press.
The LAPD did not respond to an emailed request for further comment.
An independent journalist, who asked to be identified only by the anonymized Twitter handle of @desertborder, was one of at least four members of the press detained while documenting election-related protests in support of the Black Lives Matter movement in downtown Los Angeles, California, on Nov. 4, 2020.
The journalist told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that at approximately 7:30 p.m. a small protest was winding down near the intersection of West 5th and South Hill streets near Pershing Square. Only 40 to 50 people remained, the journalist said, including members of the press.
Los Angeles police officers arrived on motorcycles within minutes and announced that the gathering was an unlawful assembly.
The journalist tweeted that once police had hemmed in everyone present using a police tactic called kettling, they were told that all those inside the police circle were under arrest.
Well we're kettled and they told us we're all under arrest pic.twitter.com/bysklbAmzA
— Andy Ngo is a fascist (@desertborder) November 5, 2020
When the journalist attempted to identify as a member of the press to officers a few minutes later, according to a tweet posted at 7:44 p.m., an officer responded by pointing an unidentified weapon at the journalist.
“I have a lawfully issued press card,” @desertborder can be heard saying in the recording of the exchange.
In the video, the officer can be heard saying, “Turn around and go over there, go to the left.”
The journalist eventually returned to stand with other reporters. The Tracker has documented cases of three others detained that night: student journalist Emily Holshouser and videographers Vishal Singh and Sean Beckner-Carmitchel. Both videographers were arrested and charged with failure to disperse.
“Another officer came over and told us that this was now the press area and so long as we stayed there we wouldn’t be arrested,” @desertborder said.
The journalist tweeted at 8:05 p.m. that the LAPD officers had opened the kettle and released the remaining members of the press and demonstrators who had been detained.
When asked for comment about the arrests, Los Angeles Police Department spokesperson Capt. Stacy Spell confirmed to the Los Angeles Times that two individuals had been arrested and cited for failure to disperse. She also told the Times that LAPD officers have been dealing with large, disruptive crowds that all subsequently claim to be members of the press.
“We are having an ongoing challenge with individuals who are participating in disruptive activities, taking over the street and failing to disperse but subsequently claiming to be media,” Spell said. “Literally the entire crowd claimed to be media.”
The LAPD did not respond to an emailed request for further comment.
Student journalist Emily Holshouser was one of at least four journalists detained while covering election-related protests in support of the Black Lives Matter movement in Los Angeles, California, on Nov. 4, 2020.
Holshouser, who writes for California State University Northridge’s student publication The Daily Sundial, tweeted that she was covering a protest scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. outside City Hall in downtown LA.
When the event dispersed at 6:30 p.m., Holshouser followed a small group of remaining demonstrators as they walked south down Spring Street toward Pershing Square. By 7 p.m., the approximately 40 to 50 people who remained had stopped at the intersection of West 5th and South Hill streets, according to a tweet posted by Holshouser.
Holshouser tweeted just before 7:30 p.m. that Los Angeles police officers had arrived and declared that the gathering was an unlawful assembly.
Multiple journalists present at the protest reported that officers then hemmed in everyone present using a police tactic called kettling, and announced that everyone was under arrest.
Two videographers — Vishal Singh and Sean Beckner-Carmitchel — were placed under arrest for failure to disperse.
After being threatened with arrest, Holshouser tweeted that she and other members of the press were directed to a media staging area approximately 20 minutes later.
Arrests are being made. Media has been given a staging area. They say if we leave the curb, we are subject to arrest. pic.twitter.com/8aqmEKv5dC
— Emily Holshouser (@emilyytayylor) November 5, 2020
The Tracker has documented the detentions of all the journalists confirmed to have been present in the kettle here.
An independent journalist, @desertborder, tweeted at 8:05 p.m. that the LAPD officers had opened the kettle and released the remaining members of the press and demonstrators who had been detained.
By just after 8:30 p.m., Holshouser posted, “It’s all over. Cops have left, reporters have left, I’m headed home.”
When asked for comment about the arrests, Los Angeles Police Department spokesperson Capt. Stacy Spell confirmed to the Los Angeles Times that two individuals had been arrested and cited for failure to disperse. She also claimed that LAPD officers have been dealing with large, disruptive crowds that all subsequently claim to be members of the press.
“We are having an ongoing challenge with individuals who are participating in disruptive activities, taking over the street and failing to disperse but subsequently claiming to be media,” Spell said. “Literally the entire crowd claimed to be media.”
The LAPD did not respond to an emailed request for further comment.
Brazilian photojournalist Gabriel Boaz Munhoz was arrested while documenting a protest in New York City on Nov. 4, 2020.
Munhoz, whose work has been published in Brazil and exhibited at the International Center of Photography in New York, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was documenting a demonstration dubbed the People’s March, which began at 7:35 p.m. in Washington Square Park in Lower Manhattan. The New York Times reported the protesters were calling for every vote from the Nov. 3 election to be counted, an end to racial injustice and for police departments to be defunded.
“The marchers walked out of the park and immediately were met by the biked police,” Munhoz said. As the march advanced toward the intersection of 6th Avenue and 8th Street, he said, police tried to direct demonstrators north on 6th, “but the marchers turned left towards the stopped traffic.”
Munhoz said he got ahead of the march and began walking backward in the street, next to parked cars, while photographing the crowd. He said that around 7:55 p.m., he saw the demonstrators looking past him and, when he turned to look, saw an officer pointing directly at him.
“I don’t hear any warning, request or order. By his gesture, I thought he was just asking me to step aside and that’s what I do,” Munhoz said. “I go in the direction of the sidewalk and closer to the parked cars when another policeman holds me… and tells me to hold still.”
The officer who had pointed at him and several others suddenly surrounded him, Munhoz said, as he explained that he was a photojournalist covering the march. He said he asked several times whether he was under arrest before an officer confirmed that he was.
When the officers asked for his press pass, Munhoz said, “I tell them I don’t have one because I’m a freelancer. I explain again that I’m part of the media, that I’m just doing my job.
“I tell them I have a business card, but he says it’s not enough,” he said.
An officer identified on Munhoz’s paperwork as Martinez then handcuffed him and took him to a police vehicle to be transported to One Police Plaza, the NYPD’s headquarters in downtown New York, according to Munhoz.
“I never resisted or fought the arrest,” Munhoz said. “I kept calm, trying to explain that I was press, and when I realized that it wouldn’t make any difference I complied with everything they asked me.”
According to copies of Munhoz’s citations shared with the Tracker, he was booked at 8:17 p.m. on charges of failure to disperse and walking on the roadway. He was released a little over three hours later.
Munhoz was ordered to appear for a hearing on Feb. 1, 2021. If convicted on both charges, Munhoz faces up to 30 days imprisonment or a fine of up to $400, according to the New York penal code.
“My understanding is that, since I was ahead of the march, I was one of the first ones they spotted and it was an arbitrary decision,” Munhoz said. He added that he was arrested just as the march had begun, and he had seen no violence, looting or vandalism taking place.
Mickey Osterreicher, general counsel for the National Press Photographers Association, told the Tracker that he has contacted the New York City prosecutors’ office to request that the charges be dropped.
The New York Police Department did not respond to an emailed request for comment.
Bicycle officers with the New York City Police Department ride up to demonstrators in the People’s March for racial justice and election integrity on Nov. 4, 2020.
",arrested and released,charges dropped,New York Police Department,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, election, Election 2020, protest",,"blocking traffic: pedestrians on roadways, rioting: failure to disperse",,, "Minneapolis police detain St. Paul Pioneer Press staff photographer, other journalists in ‘kettle’",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/minneapolis-police-detain-st-paul-press-staff-photographer-other-journalists-in-kettle/,2020-11-18 12:08:46.408561+00:00,2022-08-04 21:23:24.353753+00:00,2022-08-04 21:23:24.282625+00:00,,Arrest/Criminal Charge,,,,John Autey (St. Paul Pioneer Press),,2020-11-04,False,Minneapolis,Minnesota (MN),44.97997,-93.26384,"Police in Minneapolis cordoned off and detained a crowd of protesters, along with several journalists, including St. Paul Pioneer Press staff photographer John Autey, on the evening of Nov. 4, 2020, Autey told the Committee to Protect Journalists in a phone interview.
Autey said that he was photographing protesters as they marched onto I-94 in Minneapolis and was then trapped with them on the highway as the Minnesota State Patrol and Minneapolis City Police closed off exits and surrounded the crowd using a technique called kettling.
According to the Star Tribune, the protesters represented a wide-range of interests, including support of the Black Lives Matter movement and opposition to President Trump’s allegations of voter fraud in the Nov. 3 election.
While he was trapped on the highway, Autey said that he approached police officers who were blocking the Riverside ramp to I-94, identified himself as a member of the media and asked to be released. Autey said police refused his request. The photojournalist then approached officers on the opposite side of the highway, which was manned by both state troopers and city police, and asked to leave, again stating he was a member of the media. Autey said his second request was also denied.
“The first half-hour [on the highway] was a little tense and it looked like they were going to start using tear gas on us,” said Autey. “That didn’t happen and then [law enforcement] came on the speaker and said everybody there was under arrest and asked us to sit down,” he said.
The photojournalist told CPJ he then sent an email to his on-duty colleagues at the Pioneer Press and said he was about to get arrested. CPJ is a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
Around 11:30p.m., law enforcement announced through a loudspeaker that all members of the media who wanted to exit would be allowed, Autey said.
The photojournalist told CPJ that law enforcement glanced at his Pioneer Press badge before allowing him to exit. Autey said that he noticed about a dozen other reporters exiting, including two Minneapolis Star Tribune photojournalists, Leila Navidi and Rich Tsong-Taatarii, who were allowed to leave. The Tracker documented their detainment here.
The Minneapolis Police Department and Minnesota State Troopers did not respond to an emailed request for comment from CPJ.
Police in Minneapolis cordoned off and detained a crowd of protesters, along with several journalists, including Minneapolis Star Tribune photographers Leila Navidi and Rich Tsong-Taatarii, on the evening of Nov. 4, 2020, Navidi told the Committee to Protect Journalists in a phone interview. CPJ is a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
Navidi said that they were photographing protesters as they marched onto the eastbound side of the Interstate 94 highway from the Cedar Avenue exit when Minneapolis City Police and Minnesota State Patrol closed off exits and surrounded the crowd using a technique called “kettling.”
According to the Star Tribune, the protesters represented a wide range of interests, including support of the Black Lives Matter movement and opposition to President Trump’s allegations of voter fraud in the Nov. 3 election.
Navidi said that around 7:30 p.m. she texted the on-duty Star Tribune photo editor after realizing that she and Tsong-Taatarii were trapped on the highway and might be arrested by law enforcement.
“The beginning of it was kind of nebulous in that [law enforcement] were just saying ‘Everyone who is on this highway is under arrest for public nuisance,’” Navidi told CPJ. “And then they slowly started detaining people, but they did not detain any press or take away any press.”
Navidi said that when she felt she had completed her reporting, “I went and asked one of the state patrol officers if we could leave.” The officer said he would talk to his supervisor, and, according to Navidi, the supervisor then told her that they were going to make a loudspeaker announcement that all press who wanted to leave would be allowed to exit the highway.
At around 11 p.m., after the announcement was made, Navidi said she and her Star Tribune colleague were allowed by law enforcement to exit the highway via the Cedar Avenue exit. The Tracker has documented Tsong-Taatarii’s detainment here.
The Minneapolis Police Department and Minnesota State Troopers did not respond to an emailed request for comment from CPJ.
On Nov. 4, 2020, police detained protesters and journalists on Minneapolis’ Interstate 94 highway.
",detained and released without being processed,not charged,Minneapolis Police Department,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, election, Election 2020, kettle, protest",,,,, Minneapolis police ‘kettle’ three photojournalists on highway during protest,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/minneapolis-police-kettle-three-photojournalists-on-highway-during-protest/,2020-11-19 18:25:09.887862+00:00,2022-08-04 21:23:39.660549+00:00,2022-08-04 21:23:39.588103+00:00,,Arrest/Criminal Charge,,,,Richard Tsong-Taatarii (Minneapolis Star Tribune),,2020-11-04,False,Minneapolis,Minnesota (MN),44.97997,-93.26384,"Police in Minneapolis cordoned off and detained a crowd of protesters, along with several journalists, including Minneapolis Star Tribune photographers Leila Navidi and Richard Tsong-Taatarii, on the evening of Nov. 4, 2020, Tsong-Taatarii told the Committee to Protect Journalists in a phone interview.
Tsong-Taatarii said that he began photographing protesters on the western edge of the University of Minnesota campus and followed as they marched south on Cedar Avenue to the eastbound side of the Interstate 94 highway. Once on the highway, Tsong-Taatarii said that Minneapolis City Police and Minnesota Street Patrol closed off exits and surrounded the crowd using a technique called “kettling.”
“We were surrounded and there was no way to exit,” Tsong-Taatarii told CPJ, adding that he was with Navidi on the highway. “There was no warning that they were going to arrest people if they didn’t get off the highway, and there was no option [to exit].” CPJ is a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
According to the Star Tribune, the protesters represented a wide range of interests, including support of the Black Lives Matter movement and opposition to President Trump’s allegations of voter fraud in the Nov. 3 election.
After they were trapped, Tsong-Taatarii said that he and Navidi were in touch with their editors who alerted state officials that journalists were in the crowd of protesters.
“They made sure that, if at all possible, we would not be detained, processed, and then released,” Tsong-Taatarii told CPJ. Tsong-Taatarii said that he and Navidi heard from someone in the kettle that a television crew had been allowed to leave the highway and decided to ask law enforcement if they could exit.
In a separate interview with CPJ, Navidi said she approached a state patrol officer and asked him if they could leave. The officer said he would talk to his supervisor, and, according to Navidi, the supervisor then told her that they were going to make a loudspeaker announcement that all press who wanted to leave would be allowed to exit the highway. The Tracker has documented Navidi’s detainment here.
Tsong-Taatarii said that, after the announcement, he and Navidi were allowed by law enforcement to exit the highway via the Cedar Avenue exit at approximately 11:30 p.m.
The Minneapolis Police Department and Minnesota State Troopers did not respond to an emailed request for comment from CPJ.
On Nov. 4, 2020, journalists and protesters were cordoned off and detained by police on Minneapolis’ Interstate 94 highway.
",detained and released without being processed,not charged,Minneapolis Police Department,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, election, Election 2020, kettle, protest",,,,, Independent journalist shoved by law enforcement officers while covering protests,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalists-shoved-law-enforcement-officers-while-covering-overlapping-protests/,2020-11-21 15:21:37.319019+00:00,2022-08-04 21:24:02.015500+00:00,2022-08-04 21:24:01.956109+00:00,,Assault,,,,Garrison Davis (Freelance),,2020-11-04,False,Portland,Oregon (OR),45.52345,-122.67621,"Garrison Davis, an independent journalist, said he was pushed by law enforcement officers in separate incidents while covering demonstrations in Portland, Oregon, on Nov. 4, 2020.
Davis was documenting two protests in progress; one group was calling for every vote cast in the U.S. presidential election to be counted, while another expressed a combination of dismay with the electoral system and support for the Black Lives Matter movement. Protests had been held in Portland on almost a nightly basis since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering BLM protests across the country.
While the protests were organized separately, the two groups converged briefly at one point in the night. After some of the protesters in the election-focused group smashed windows of downtown businesses, law enforcement officers declared the protests a “riot” around 6:45 p.m.
Several law enforcement agencies were involved in policing the protests, with the Portland Police Bureau, Multnomah County Sheriff's Office and Oregon State Police all working together after Oregon Gov. Kate Brown ordered a “unified command” to respond to protests. The Oregon National Guard was also activated to help with enforcement.
At around 7:20 p.m., Davis posted footage on Twitter of law enforcement officers tackling someone in the Pearl District downtown.
Multiple officers tackle someone on the sidewalk, then officers continue to shove people (me included) around on the sidewalk. #Portland #PortlandProtests pic.twitter.com/3tpM3WLrJT
— Garrison Davis (@hungrybowtie) November 5, 2020
When Davis crossed the street to film the arrest, state troopers officers “arrived and decided to push people out of the area,” he told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, adding that he was pushed as well. Throughout the night, law enforcement officers pushed him four times, he said.
“They were using their batons [to push people],” said Davis, who was wearing a helmet with the words “press” on it as well as a press pass.
Since July, law enforcement officers from the PPB and federal agencies have been barred by court rulings from arresting, harming or impeding journalists or legal observers of the protests. The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon didn’t include the OSP when it filed the cases. But the rulings should also apply to state police, said Matthew Borden, a partner at BraunHagey & Borden LLP who is cooperating counsel with the ACLU on the case. He told the Tracker that the “plaintiffs will likely seek relief if OSP refuses to agree not to target or disperse journalists and legal observers."
The OSP declined to comment on the shoving incidents. The PPB has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation in the ACLU case.
Documentary filmmaker Lance Bangs was pushed by law enforcement officers while covering demonstrations in Portland, Oregon, on Nov. 4, 2020, according to videos posted on social media.
Protests had been held in Portland on almost a nightly basis since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering BLM protests across the country.
There were two main demonstrations in Portland on Nov. 4, with one group calling for every vote cast in the U.S. presidential election to be counted and another expressing a combination of dismay with the electoral system and support for the Black Lives Matter movement. While the protests were organized separately, the two groups converged briefly at one point in the night. After some protesters smashed windows of downtown businesses, law enforcement officers declared the protests a “riot” at around 6:45 p.m.
Several law enforcement agencies were involved in policing the protests, with the Portland Police Bureau, Multnomah County Sheriff's Office and Oregon State Police all working together after Oregon Gov. Kate Brown ordered a “unified command” to respond to protests. The Oregon National Guard was also activated to help with enforcement.
The initial round of shoving incidents occurred a little after 8 p.m. near the corner of Southwest Park Ave. and Southwest Washington Street, where a group of journalists got caught up in a push by law enforcement officers to clear protestors from the area.
Bangs was shoved by an officer while taking footage for Vice News. Video posted at 11:18 p.m on Twitter by Tess Owen, a senior reporter for Vice who was covering the protests with Bangs, captures law enforcement officers yelling “Move!” at protesters. Bangs was “repeatedly jabbed in back by an officer assigned to unified command, who then dragged him to the ground,” Owen tweeted.
In a follow-up tweet, Owen posted a video that she said shows Bangs being “dragged to the ground by an officer with the Unified Command.” The video appears to capture a law enforcement officer pushing as the camera goes askew. People can be heard saying, “You’re dragging him,” and, “He got pushed down.”
Video 2/2 that shows when @lancebangs was dragged to the ground by an officer with the Unified Command pic.twitter.com/ldIV0XvVyc
— Tess Owen (@misstessowen) November 5, 2020
Bangs, Owen and Vice News didn’t return requests for comment from the Tracker.
Since July, law enforcement officers from the PPB and federal agencies have been barred by court rulings from arresting, harming or impeding journalists or legal observers of the protests. The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon didn’t include the state police or National Guard when it filed the cases.
The PPB has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing the continuing ACLU litigation. The Oregon State Police didn’t respond to a request for comment on the shoving incidents.
Beverly Hills Courier staff writer Samuel Braslow was one of at least five journalists detained while covering election-related protests in support of the Black Lives Matter movement in Los Angeles, California, on Nov. 4, 2020.
Braslow confirmed to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was documenting a protest outside City Hall in downtown L.A. that evening. When the event dispersed at 6:30 p.m., a small group of remaining demonstrators walked south down Spring Street toward Pershing Square, according to accounts from other journalists present that night.
By 7:30 p.m., the approximately 40 to 50 people who remained had stopped at the intersection of West 5th and South Hill streets. Los Angeles police officers arrived on motorcycles within minutes and announced that the gathering was an unlawful assembly, journalists reported.
Multiple journalists reported that officers then hemmed in everyone present using a police tactic called kettling, and announced that everyone was under arrest. Braslow confirmed to the Tracker that he was among the journalists caught in the kettle.
Two videographers were placed under arrest for failure to disperse and the remaining members of the press were directed to a media staging area within the kettle.
The Tracker has documented the detentions of all the journalists confirmed to have been present in the kettle here.
According to journalists’ accounts, LAPD officers opened the kettle shortly after 8 p.m. and released the remaining members of the press and demonstrators who had been detained, including Braslow
When asked for comment about the arrests, Los Angeles Police Department spokesperson Capt. Stacy Spell confirmed to the Los Angeles Times that two individuals had been arrested and cited for failure to disperse. She also claimed that LAPD officers have been dealing with large, disruptive crowds that all subsequently claim to be members of the press.
“We are having an ongoing challenge with individuals who are participating in disruptive activities, taking over the street and failing to disperse but subsequently claiming to be media,” Spell said. “Literally the entire crowd claimed to be media.”
The LAPD did not respond to an emailed request for further comment.
Independent journalist Bethany Kerley said she was pushed by law enforcement officers covering demonstrations in Portland, Oregon, on Nov. 4, 2020.
There were two protests in progress; one group was calling for every vote cast in the U.S. presidential election to be counted, while another expressed a combination of dismay with the electoral system and support for the Black Lives Matter movement. Protests had been held in Portland on almost a nightly basis since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering BLM protests across the country.
While the protests were organized separately, the two groups converged briefly at one point in the night. After some of the protesters in the election-focused group smashed windows of downtown businesses, law enforcement officers declared the protests a “riot” around 6:45 p.m.
Several law enforcement agencies were involved in policing the protests, with the Portland Police Bureau, Multnomah County Sheriff's Office and Oregon State Police all working together after Oregon Gov. Kate Brown ordered a “unified command” to respond to protests. The Oregon National Guard was also activated to help with enforcement.
At around 8:15 p.m., Kerley said she encountered a line of law enforcement officers on a street corner in the Pearl District. Footage of the incident, which Kerley filmed and provided to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, shows officers using their batons to shove protesters and members of the press back. Kerley was shoved multiple times by a state trooper and pushed up against a boarded-up window.
“I got thrown up against a window and pushed into other people multiple times by the officers,” Kerley tweeted after the incident.
The cops came in and got us in a choke point. When they came in I got thrown up against a window and pushed into other people multiple times by the officers. I was able to get out and now I'm with the large press group again.#PortlandProtests #PDXprotests #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/oTglG0RqAc
— TopQualityDumpsterFire (@Piggyboo_Playa) November 5, 2020
Since July, law enforcement officers from the PPB and federal agencies have been barred by court rulings from arresting, harming or impeding journalists or legal observers of the protests. The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon didn’t include the OSP when it filed the cases. But the rulings should also apply to state police, said Matthew Borden, a partner at BraunHagey & Borden LLP who is cooperating counsel with the ACLU on the case. He told the Tracker that the “plaintiffs will likely seek relief if OSP refuses to agree not to target or disperse journalists and legal observers."
The OSP declined to comment on the shoving incidents. The PPB has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation in the ACLU case.
Independent photojournalist Mason Lake said he was pushed by law enforcement officers while covering demonstrations in Portland, Oregon, on Nov. 4, 2020.
Protests had been held in Portland on almost a nightly basis since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering BLM protests across the country.
There were two main demonstrations in Portland on Nov. 4, with one group calling for every vote cast in the U.S. presidential election to be counted and another expressing a combination of dismay with the electoral system and support for the Black Lives Matter movement. While the protests were organized separately, the two groups converged briefly at one point in the night. After some protesters smashed windows of downtown businesses, law enforcement officers declared the protests a “riot” at around 6:45 p.m.
Several law enforcement agencies were involved in policing the protests, with the Portland Police Bureau, Multnomah County Sheriff's Office and Oregon State Police all working together after Oregon Gov. Kate Brown ordered a “unified command” to respond to protests. The Oregon National Guard was also activated to help with enforcement.
The initial round of shoving incidents reported occurred a little after 8 p.m. near the corner of Southwest Park Ave. and Southwest Washington Street, where a group of journalists got caught up in a push by law enforcement officers to clear protestors from the area.
Lake was documenting law enforcement officers arresting someone on the ground when he got shoved, he told the Tracker. A video of the incident published on Twitter by freelance journalist Sergio Olmos shows police and state officers pushing multiple protesters and apprehending someone on the ground. The footage captures a state trooper pushing Lake, wearing a helmet marked “press” on the back and sides, several times before finally pushing him to the ground about 25 seconds into the video.
“I was shoved to the ground,” Lake told the Tracker. “My hand and knuckle had a bruise on it, so I think a baton hit me.”
In response to the Tracker’s inquiries on this incident, Stephan Bomar, public affairs director of the Oregon Military Department, which oversees the National Guard, said in a statement: “It appears as though during this chaotic situation that all remained safe and secure.”
Since July, law enforcement officers from the PPB and federal agencies have been barred by court rulings from arresting, harming or impeding journalists or legal observers of the protests. The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon didn’t include the state police or National Guard when it filed the cases.
The PPB has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing the continuing ACLU litigation. The Oregon State Police didn’t respond to a request for comment on the shoving incidents.
Freelance journalist Maranie Staab said she was pushed by law enforcement officers while covering demonstrations in Portland, Oregon, on Nov. 4, 2020.
Protests had been held in Portland on almost a nightly basis since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering BLM protests across the country.
There were two main demonstrations in Portland on Nov. 4, with one group calling for every vote cast in the U.S. presidential election to be counted and another expressing a combination of dismay with the electoral system and support for the Black Lives Matter movement. While the protests were organized separately, the two groups converged briefly at one point in the night. After some protesters smashed windows of downtown businesses, law enforcement officers declared the protests a “riot” at around 6:45 p.m.
Several law enforcement agencies were involved in policing the protests, with the Portland Police Bureau, Multnomah County Sheriff's Office and Oregon State Police all working together after Oregon Gov. Kate Brown ordered a “unified command” to respond to protests. The Oregon National Guard was also activated to help with enforcement.
The initial round of shoving incidents reportedly occurred a little after 8 p.m. near the corner of Southwest Park Ave. and Southwest Washington Street, where a group of journalists got caught up in a push by law enforcement officers to clear protestors from the area.
In footage of the incident posted on Twitter, Staab — wearing a black T-shirt and vest marked “press” — can be seen getting shoved about 18 seconds into the video.
“I was filming the same arrest everyone else was,” Staab told the Tracker. “It was an aggressive arrest. I was standing out of the way, not interfering, with a press vest on. But that did not stop officers from turning around and shoving me out of the way.”
Since July, law enforcement officers from the PPB and federal agencies have been barred by court rulings from arresting, harming or impeding journalists or legal observers of the protests. The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon didn’t include the state police or National Guard when it filed the cases.
The PPB has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing the continuing ACLU litigation. The Oregon State Police didn’t respond to a request for comment on the shoving incidents.
A member of a press collective called the 45th Parallel Absurdist Brigade said they were pushed by law enforcement officers while covering demonstrations in Portland, Oregon, on Nov. 4, 2020.
Protests had been held in Portland on almost a nightly basis since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering BLM protests across the country.
There were two main demonstrations in Portland on Nov. 4, with one group calling for every vote cast in the U.S. presidential election to be counted and another expressing a combination of dismay with the electoral system and support for the Black Lives Matter movement. While the protests were organized separately, the two groups converged briefly at one point in the night. After some protesters smashed windows of downtown businesses, law enforcement officers declared the protests a “riot” at around 6:45 p.m.
Several law enforcement agencies were involved in policing the protests, with the Portland Police Bureau, Multnomah County Sheriff's Office and Oregon State Police all working together after Oregon Gov. Kate Brown ordered a “unified command” to respond to protests. The Oregon National Guard was also activated to help with enforcement.
The initial round of shoving incidents reportedly occurred a little after 8 p.m. near the corner of Southwest Park Ave. and Southwest Washington Street, where a group of journalists got caught up in a push by law enforcement officers to clear protestors from the area.
The member of the 45th Parallel Absurdist Brigade, who asked to remain anonymous, was pushed by a police officer several times upon arrival at the scene. A video posted on Twitter shows law enforcement officers running down the street as protesters back away. A Portland police officer then pushes the journalist several times.
The journalist told the Tracker that there was a crush of people around the arrest. “They were pushing and I couldn’t back up,” the journalist said. “They were shoving us into a wall of bodies.”
About three hours later, the journalist was pushed again by what appears to be a member of the National Guard. A video posted on Twitter a little after 11 p.m. shows members of the National Guard and the police walking down Southwest Taylor Street and shouting, “Keep moving!”
“I was walking on the sidewalk with other media and was filming the line [of officers],” said the journalist. “All of a sudden I heard, ‘You’re going too slow,’ and felt this yank.”
In another video tweeted a few minutes later, the journalist wrote, “Being on the heels of the people in front of me was not fast enough, they begin grabbing me and others by the backpacks and shoving us back through the line.”
In response to the Tracker’s inquiries on this incident, Stephan Bomar, public affairs director of the Oregon Military Department, which oversees the National Guard, said in a statement: “It appears as though during this chaotic situation that all remained safe and secure.”
Since July, law enforcement officers from the PPB and federal agencies have been barred by court rulings from arresting, harming or impeding journalists or legal observers of the protests. The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon didn’t include the state police or National Guard when it filed the cases.
The PPB has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing the continuing ACLU litigation. The Oregon State Police didn’t respond to a request for comment on the shoving incidents.
Shauna Sowersby, a freelance reporter in Seattle, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she was pushed off the sidewalk by a police officer while attempting to film an arrest during an election night protest in the city.
Protests were held across the county on and around Nov. 3, 2020, Election Day in the United States. Sowersby began covering protests in Seattle at around 6:45 p.m. on election night. The journalist, who said she wasn’t reporting for a particular news outlet at the time, said two separate protest groups — an election-related group and a Black Lives Matter group — had joined together, and she was following those focused on the elections. The Seattle Police Department issued dispersal orders and made at least eight arrests during the protest, according to The Seattle Times.
Sowersby, whose work has been published in Crosscut, an online news service focused on the Pacific Northwest, and The Idaho Statesman, posted on Twitter throughout the evening. Her tweets showed dozens of bicycle cops and at least one armored vehicle following protesters.
At 11:56 p.m., Sowersby tweeted a video with the caption: “SPD bike officers now rushing protestors and press. Cop behind me almost went out of his way to shove me off the sidewalk. LRAD then tells protestors they are here to support everyone’s right to protest. #seattleprotest”
SPD bike officers now rushing protestors and press. Cop behind me almost went out of his way to shove me off the sidewalk. LRAD then tells protestors they are here to support everyone’s right to protest. #seattleprotest pic.twitter.com/sQk7rz434C
— Shauna Sowersby (@Shauna_Sowersby) November 4, 2020
Sowersby was attempting to film an arrest using her phone when a police officer “just barrelled through me” from behind, she told the Tracker in a phone interview two days later. Sowersby spent the summer reporting on protests against police brutality in Seattle and Portland, Oregon; in Portland, press stayed on the sidewalk, she said, so she did the same thing in Seattle. The officer shoved her for a “good four to five seconds,” she estimates.
“I was shocked, it took me by surprise,” Sowersby said. “My friend tried to take a video of it happening [and] says it looked like he was going out of his way to push me. [The police] were barrelling through the press on the sidewalk.”
At the time she was shoved, Sowersby had “Press” marked on her body, including on the bulletproof vest she was wearing. She was not wearing physical press credentials.
Sowersby said she doesn’t believe she was targeted as a member of the press, but did not report it to the police because incidents of police aggression against her while reporting on protests since the summer “have happened so many times at this point it doesn’t even seem like it’s worth the effort.”
The Seattle Police Department did not respond to a phone message requesting comment.
The Seattle Police Department responds to a protest march on Election Day in Seattle.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,no,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"election, Election 2020",,,,, Videographer cited for being in roadway during LA protest,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/videographer-cited-being-roadway-during-la-protest/,2020-11-19 20:49:17.281211+00:00,2022-08-04 21:23:49.396074+00:00,2022-08-04 21:23:49.326588+00:00,(2021-03-01 08:38:00+00:00) Police did not charge videographer following November detainment,Arrest/Criminal Charge,,,,Sean Beckner-Carmitchel (Freelance),,2020-11-03,False,Los Angeles,California (CA),34.05223,-118.24368,"Sean Beckner-Carmitchel, a Los Angeles-based independent videographer who has been covering local demonstrations for several months, was detained and issued a citation on Nov. 3, 2020.
On the evening of the U.S. elections, Beckner-Carmitchel told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was documenting an event titled Marathon Party at the Polls, sponsored by Black Lives Matter Los Angeles, at the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles. An Instagram post by BLMLA advertised the event as from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., with guest speakers, food, music and giveaways planned.
Beckner-Carmitchel said that when he arrived at around 6 p.m., the gathering was generally peaceful and there was not a large police presence. A bit before 7:30 p.m. Los Angeles Police Department officers advanced on and arrested three individuals whom Beckner-Carmitchel identified as protest medics. Beckner-Carmitchel tweeted that the medics were targeted “because they were in antifa guise.”
“At that point the crowd got a little unruly, and police were sort of antagonizing the crowd,” Beckner-Carmitchel said. In a tweet posted by Beckner-Carmitchel, officers appear to rush the crowd of protesters and grab a fourth individual.
Soon after, officers declared the gathering an unlawful assembly, according to Beckner-Carmitchel, and while most dispersed, a group of approximately 20-30 people left the area to regroup elsewhere. Beckner-Carmitchel decided to stay behind to document the arrests of the four individuals.
“I decided after covering the detainments for about 20 minutes to catch up with the main crowd,” Beckner-Carmitchel said. “Not long after I did catch up with them was the moment when everyone was kettled and I was detained.”
By the way... I was arrested on the sidewalk. For not being on the sidewalk: “pedestrian on the road” citation. Along with a legal observer from @NLG_LosAngeles during what began as a celebration of Black Lives.#dtla #ElectionNight #2020Election #blm #STAPLESCenter pic.twitter.com/gISuAu5PUT
— Sean Carmitchel (@ACatWithNews) November 4, 2020
Kettling is a police maneuver by which officers hem in protesters from all sides to prevent anyone from dispersing and is often followed with arrests or citations.
In a video Beckner-Carmitchel posted on Twitter, a woman can be heard calling out to police a few yards away, “We are press and National Lawyers Guild!” Legal observers from the National Lawyers Guild regularly attend protests across the country — identifiable by their lime green hats — in order to monitor police conduct.
Beckner-Carmitchel told the Tracker that though he identified himself as a member of the press and was standing on the sidewalk, he was cuffed and issued a citation that states his violation was “pedestrian on the road.”
“Everyone was detained one by one, cuffed, cited and then released,” he said.
Beckner-Carmitchel said that once the citations were issued, everyone was allowed to leave the kettle. He estimated that they were detained for an hour and a half and released around 9:30 p.m.
Shortly before midnight, Beckner-Carmitchel posted another video, noting, “They are threatening to arrest me. AGAIN- I was already cited today.”
In a recent internal memo shared by Beverly Hills Courier reporter Samuel Braslow, the LAPD explicitly stated that members of the press — regardless of whether they have media credentials — have a right to document protests.
“The intent of this message is to remind supervisors and line personnel that the Department WILL recognize individuals who self-identify as media representatives and will NOT require specific media credentials,” the memo from Deputy Chief Dominic Choi reads.
“The inability to produce identification does not preclude an individual from acting as a member of the media,” the memo says in boldface type.
The Los Angeles Police Department did not respond to an email requesting comment.
Beckner-Carmitchel was detained by LAPD officers in another law enforcement kettle the following night, Nov. 4, alongside at least three other journalists, and was arrested on charges of failure to disperse. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented those detentions here.
Freelance journalist Eric Thomas was pursued and threatened by an unidentified individual and had his phone knocked from his hand while he covered election night demonstrations in Washington, D.C. on Nov. 3, 2020.
At 10:53 p.m., Thomas posted a video to his Twitter account showing an individual in head-to-toe black — a technique for evading identification known as black bloc — walking toward the journalist as he filmed the interaction with his smartphone.
The person was part of a group of about 50 or 60 people in black bloc who were gathered at Thomas Circle in downtown Washington in preparation to march through city streets.
“They got very agitated very quickly,” Thomas told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
The person shown accosting Thomas was also videoed trying to snatch a phone from the hand of another man at the scene.
“We asked to stop filming,” the assailant can be heard saying in Thomas’s video. “So stop filming.”
The individual then reaches toward Thomas, whose work has been featured on television stations ABC 7 New York and NY1, and the video goes dark for a few seconds.
“Walk away. Walk away or it gets worse,” the individual orders repeatedly before the video ends.
Thomas told the Tracker that the person knocked his phone out of his hands but that it didn’t damage his equipment. He said he displayed New York City Police Department-issued press credentials during the exchange.
“Close call with #antifa security as they chase me out of the protest and threaten me numerous times,” Thomas tweeted with his video.
In footage Thomas posted with a second tweet, the same person can be seen approaching other journalists and ordering them to leave, and appears to take another swing at Thomas as he backs away.
“Give me one excuse, give me one excuse,” the person can be heard saying to Thomas.
Ford Fischer, editor-in-chief of the online media outlet News2Share, captured video of Thomas backpedalling while the person approached him. Telewizja Polska, a Polish network, also posted a video of the confrontation.
Thomas is seen walking backwards toward a District of Columbia police vehicle.
Thomas said that an officer exited the vehicle and that he told the officer about the assault, but that the officer took no action.
“It was actually pretty shocking to see that,” Thomas said. “I was pretty taken aback that the cops didn’t do anything.”
A spokesperson for D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department said the department couldn’t corroborate Thomas’ version of events.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering these protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
New York City police tackled and arrested photojournalist Chae Kihn as she covered protests in the New York borough of Manhattan on Nov. 1, 2020, according to a video of the incident and the general counsel of the National Press Photographers Association.
Kihn was covering a Make America Great Again demonstration near 10th Avenue and W. 24th Street when officers in New York City Police Department uniforms tackled Kihn to the ground, handcuffed and then arrested her. Some of the police action can be seen in a video of the incident that was posted to Twitter, and additional details were confirmed by Mickey Ostrreicher, general counsel of the NPPA, who said he had corresponded with Kihn after her arrest.
In the video, a man in plainclothes who was carrying a camera can be seen taking Kihn’s camera from the journalist as she was being handcuffed. A voice heard in the video tells police “She’s a reporter.”
Kihn was issued a Criminal Appearance Ticket for a violation of NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1156A “Pedestrians on roadways” for disregarding sidewalks, according to Ostrreicher. Her court appearance is scheduled for Jan. 29, 2021, the NPPA general counsel told the Committee to Protect Journalists.
After reports of Kihn’s arrest appeared on Twitter, stating that police had arrested a journalist, the NYPD tweeted that “these reports are false” and that “all arrested individuals from today’s protests have been verified to not be NYPD credentialed members of the press.”
“I don’t have an NYPD [credential] but I have other news accreditations and have been working as a photographer for over 20 years,” Kihn told the news site Gothamist. “Just because I don’t have an NYPD badge doesn’t make me less of a journalist,” she added. “Why do the police get to decide who is a journalist and who isn’t?”
Kihn’s work has appeared in the New York Times, the art magazine Bomb, and the New York City news website The Village Sun, according to the online art publication Hyperallergic.
The NYPD did not immediately respond to CPJ’s emailed request for comment. CPJ is a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020, ignited a sweeping assembly of protesters across the United States — and the globe — a staggering, monthslong outcry for police reform and racial justice. In many moments peaceful, in many others bracingly violent, journalists of all stripes took to documenting these demonstrations. At times, to do the job meant to expose oneself to the effects of riot-control agents, to face harassment from individuals or law enforcement officials, to fear for your safety or have your reporting interrupted. Below is a geographically organized roundup of such examples from around the U.S. during November 2020, a notably fraught month backdropped by an election, rising COVID-19 cases, and an increasingly encumbered economy and workforce.
A full accounting of incidents in which members of the press were assaulted, arrested or had their equipment damaged while covering these protests can be found here. To learn more about how the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents and categorizes violations of press freedom, visit pressfreedomtracker.us.
Nov. 2, 2020
In Portland, Oregon
Nov. 4, 2020
In Portland, Oregon
I was threatened with arrest because I stepped back to film from behind the police line instead of getting stuck in front of it. Officers are still pushing the crowd around. Currently at SW 5th and Washington. pic.twitter.com/jpQfInPV7b
— Cory Elia (@TheRealCoryElia) November 5, 2020
Protesters just tried to break windows of Starbucks then began vandalizing ATM. We’re here to document this event but it’s clear they don’t want to be filmed. @fox12oregon pic.twitter.com/IuxaaRsimB
— Brenna Kelly (@BrennaKellyNews) November 5, 2020
Supporters of President Donald Trump gather in front of the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center in Phoenix, Arizona, to protest about the early results of the 2020 presidential election on Nov. 4, 2020. (REUTERS/Edgard Garrido)
In Phoenix, Arizona
My photographer and I have left after one protester threatened us and said he would find where we live. We are filing a police report. https://t.co/mx9cr6MDq1
— Kim Powell (@KimPowellTV) November 5, 2020
In Minneapolis, Minnesota
As I was filming with my press credentials clearly displayed, a mounted officer gave me a close-up. pic.twitter.com/OnKH7P8hIL
— Ben Hovland (@benjovland) November 5, 2020
Nov. 6, 2020
In Los Angeles, California
LAPD told video officer to zoom in on faces with cameras, including me, who they called “alleged press.” I offered to give them my @USPRESSCORPSORG verification number multiple times. They said they didn’t want it and threatened to arrest me. #eleccion2020 #FreedomOfThePress pic.twitter.com/jF3FbF2Fmz
— Vishal P Singh (@VPS_Reports) November 6, 2020
In Phoenix, Arizona
Simpatizante de @realDonaldTrump interrumpe de manera agresiva nuestra transmisión en vivo desde el centro de #Phoenix. Las protestas fueron pacíficas hasta este momento. Advertencia: Lenguaje ofensivo. pic.twitter.com/1PzmL2mxgi
— Diego Santiago (@DSantiagoTAZ) November 7, 2020
Nov. 7, 2020
In Salem, Oregon
In the shadow of the presidential election being called for Joe Biden that morning, about 200 people gathered at the Oregon Capitol in the afternoon for a “Stop the Steal” rally. Several journalists documented harassing, threatening interactions with pro-Trump supporters, which included members of the Proud Boys, among others, whose disdain and mistrust of the press was evident throughout the day.
In Austin, Texas
@MichaelMinasi captured the moment I was singled out at the @realDonaldTrump #Austin protest and harassed yesterday for being a reporter. Another #Trump supporter told the guy to stop. The rest watched. pic.twitter.com/sqBHl1P9lm
— Molly Hennessy-Fiske (@mollyhf) November 8, 2020
Demonstrators in support of Trump pass in front of the Capitol building in Washington, D.C. on Nov. 14, 2020. (REUTERS/Leah Millis)
Nov. 14, 2020
In Washington, D.C.
Thousands gathered in the nation’s capital for an event dubbed the “Million MAGA March,” a rally and protest in support of Trump, who’d been disputing the election results and lobbing unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud. Far-right groups such as the Proud Boys, the militia group the Oath Keepers, and radio host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones all attended the rally, according to reports. Violence would break out that evening, with some 20 people arrested on charges that included assault and weapons possession.
While reporting for the @CBSEveningNews we were surrounded by protestors and only our security could hold them back.
— errol barnett (@errolbarnett) November 14, 2020
As this woman shouted #FakeNews through her megaphone the crowd began to grow.
@CBSNews pic.twitter.com/zQiQARvy9F
I’ve never experienced this level of direct and instant vitriol from people before.
— errol barnett (@errolbarnett) November 14, 2020
Distrust of the press turned into anger toward us.
They continued to hurl insults as we waited for them to move on.
They did not, so the police extracted us.@CBSNews #MillionMAGAMarch pic.twitter.com/FPi0vJ3JPC
Lot more to edit from today but I wanted to get this photo out from my coverage of the Proud Boys.
— Zach D Roberts (@zdroberts) November 15, 2020
I was threatened by them twice but that's standard for my line of work - this is what scares me - and should scare you. We need real change in this country. pic.twitter.com/pUhPdnu1u5
Hit w pepper spray by MDP. My eyes are killing me. pic.twitter.com/ObYBy41Jyx
— Howard Altman (@haltman) November 14, 2020
Nov. 28, 2020
In Portland, Oregon
@PDocumentarians flees a cloud of bear mace after a fight breaks out between #PatriotPrayer and #antifa in downtown #Portland tonight. pic.twitter.com/s4AIVL5X7t
— Comrade with a Camera (@ChriswithaCame1) November 29, 2020
Information in this roundup was gathered from published social media and news reports as well as interviews where noted. To read about additional incidents of aggression against the press during the election, go here.
A man with a flag for President Donald Trump protests in Salem, Oregon, on Nov. 7, after the 2020 U.S. presidential election was called for Democratic nominee Joe Biden.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,Media,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, chemical irritant, election, Election 2020, protest",,,,, Journalist subpoenaed for testimony in defamation lawsuit,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-subpoenaed-for-testimony-in-defamation-lawsuit/,2021-06-10 16:16:12.455398+00:00,2022-04-06 15:24:37.711577+00:00,2022-04-06 15:24:37.652714+00:00,,Subpoena/Legal Order,,,,Sharon Churcher (The Mail on Sunday),,2020-11-01,True,New York,New York (NY),None,None,"Journalist Sharon Churcher was subpoenaed for testimony as part a defamation suit related to litigation surrounding accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and his associates.
As a reporter for the Mail on Sunday in 2011, Churcher published the first in a series of articles wherein Virginia Giuffre, under her maiden name Virginia Roberts, was named as one of the Jane Does central to ongoing litigation against Epstein. The Miami Herald reported in 2018, in a timeline of the case, that in January 2015, Giuffre filed “court papers in Florida claiming that she was forced by Epstein to have sex with Prince Andrew and lawyer Alan Dershowitz when she was underage.”
Dershowitz vehemently denied Giuffre’s allegations, writing to the Herald shortly thereafter: “I never met Roberts; I never had sex with her; she simply made up the entire story for money.”
In April 2019, Giuffre filed a defamation suit against Dershowitz. As part of that suit, Dershowitz subpoenaed Churcher, seeking her testimony about communications with Giuffre; Churcher’s attorney, Laura Handman, responded to the subpoena in November 2020. Dershowitz also filed a countersuit against Giuffre in November.
That same month, Handman filed a pre-motion request to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York to quash the subpoena against Churcher, writing, “Although the Subpoena does not specify the precise topics on which Dershowitz intends to question Churcher, in discussions with the undersigned, his counsel made clear that they intend to inquire about her 2011 interviews with Giuffre to determine what, if anything, Giuffre said about her interactions with Dershowitz from 2000-2002. They also stated their contention that emails between Churcher and Giuffre show that Churcher was not acting as a journalist in her interactions with Giuffre.”
The request noted that a previous subpoena had been issued to Churcher by Ghislaine Maxwell, accused of abetting Epstein in sex trafficking of minors and a defendant in a 2016 defamation lawsuit filed by Giuffre, and was quashed that year by the same court, citing New York’s shield law and “First Amendment reporter’s privilege.”
Handman confirmed to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in April 2021 that the matter remains pending.
At least 11 journalists were caught in pepper spray used to disperse a march to the polls in Graham, North Carolina, on Oct. 31, 2020.
The “I Am Change” march and rally was organized to encourage people to vote in the 2020 general election and included calls for accountability echoing recent protests against racial injustice. Demonstrators started at the Wayman Chapel AME Church at around 11:30 a.m., reported the Elon News Network, the student news organization for Elon University.
The crowd of approximately 200 people then marched to Court Square, where the Alamance County Courthouse and a Confederate monument are located, according to The News & Observer.
The Washington Post reported that once there, participants took part in a moment of silence for George Floyd, a Black man, who died during an arrest in Minneapolis in May.
Moments later, the Graham Police Department ordered the protesters to disperse and began pepper spraying the crowd.
Reports compiled by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker details 11 journalists affected by the chemical irritant: Five ENN reporters,Triad City Beat senior editor Jordan Green, independent photographer Anthony Crider, photojournalist Julia Wall and reporter Carli Brosseau of The News & Observer and documentary filmmakers Nathaniel and Beatrice Frum.
Video shows Graham police deploying pepper spray against protesters and a journalist (@jordangreentcb) after protesters kneeled in the street for 8 minutes and 46 seconds to honor George Floyd. pic.twitter.com/uF99Dly4Bv
— Triad City Beat (@Triad_City_Beat) November 1, 2020
Wall told the Tracker that Graham police officers ordered the marchers to clear the street shortly after noon, but that it was unclear where demonstrators needed to go and what to do once they got there.
“People were kind of milling about and not moving quickly enough for the Graham police,” Wall said, “and they started using pepper spray to get people to clear the road.”
The Graham Police Department said in a statement that it issued an order to clear the roadway and move onto courthouse property or to one of two areas designated by the department.
“When the crowd failed to disperse, after several verbal commands,” the statement continues, “[officers] utilized a crowd control measure that consisted of spraying a pepper based vapor onto the ground.”
Ian Blatutis, who is the mayor of neighboring Burlington and participated in and spoke at the event, told ENN that he didn’t know why police had used chemical irritants and that the five-minute warning to disperse was given after marchers had already been sprayed.
The spray — identifiable as OC (oleoresin capsicum) vapor from photos taken that day — is described by the manufacturer as “a high concentration of OC in a powerful mist inflaming the mucous membranes and exposed skin.”
Police arrested at least 12 individuals that day, including Alamance News reporter Tomas Murawski. A Graham police officer also grabbed Wall’s camera in order to push her back, which the Tracker has documented here.
According to the statement, once the crowd had moved to the designated areas the rally was “deemed unsafe and unlawful by unified command,” and protesters were given a five-minute dispersal warning.
Wall told the Tracker that approximately an hour after the rally’s speeches had begun on the courthouse steps, the Sheriff’s Department claims its deputies saw a man with a gas can on the courthouse premises, a violation of their permit agreement. Deputies then moved in and began “taking things apart,” she said.
“That’s when people started to resist and push back on them because it was not clearly communicated what was happening and then more pepper spray came out,” Wall said. “Myself, my colleague [Brosseau] and several other journalists and tons of people who were present got hit with all the pepper spray.”
Officers then moved in and arrested those who refused to leave the courthouse steps and chased everyone else away from the area using the OC vapor, according to Wall. Wall and Triad City Beat senior editor Green were walking next to each other when an officer deliberately sprayed the vapor at their feet.
“I know that they knew Jordan was press — he’s there all the time,” Wall said. “We were standing next to each other, both with badges out, I had a camera pointing and he had his phone up.”
“It’s unclear to me whether or not we were being sprayed because we were press or because we weren’t moving fast enough,” she added.
North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper condemned the police response in a tweet that evening.
“Peaceful demonstrators should be able to have their voices heard and voter intimidation in any form cannot be tolerated,” Cooper wrote.
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to include comment and additional information from Julia Wall.
Law enforcement officers spray a chemical irritant into the crowd at a Get Out the Vote march on Oct. 31, 2020 in Graham, North Carolina.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,Media,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, chemical irritant, election, Election 2020, protest",,,,, Journalist arrested during North Carolina march to the poll,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-arrested-during-north-carolina-march-poll/,2020-11-03 22:56:43.062367+00:00,2022-08-04 20:46:48.521041+00:00,2022-08-04 20:46:48.412355+00:00,(2021-05-26 10:57:00+00:00) Charges dropped against journalist arrested during North Carolina march to the polls,"Arrest/Criminal Charge, Assault",,,,Tomas Murawski (The Alamance News),,2020-10-31,False,Graham,North Carolina (NC),36.06903,-79.40058,"Tomas Murawski, a reporter for The Alamance News, was arrested while covering a march to the polls in Graham, North Carolina, on Oct. 31, 2020.
The “I Am Change” march and rally was organized to encourage people to vote in the 2020 general election and included calls for accountability echoing recent protests against racial injustice. The News & Observer reported that approximately 200 demonstrators marched from the Wayman Chapel AME Church to Court Square, where the Alamance County Courthouse and a Confederate monument are located.
The Washington Post reported that once there, participants took part in a moment of silence for George Floyd, a Black man, who died during an arrest in Minneapolis in May.
Moments later, the Graham Police Department ordered the protesters to disperse and began pepper spraying the crowd. Reports compiled by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker details 11 journalists affected by the chemical irritant.
A police officer also grabbed the camera of News & Observer photojournalist Julia Wall to push her back while she filmed a march, which the Tracker documented here.
The Graham Police Department said in a statement that it issued multiple orders to relocate or disperse before using crowd control measures.
At least 12 individuals were arrested during the march, The News & Observer reported, including Murawski.
Alamance News Publisher Tom Boney Jr. told The News & Observer that Murawski was photographing the scene from the street when he was suddenly placed under arrest.
ALAMANCE NEWS REPORTER ARRESTED AMID THE PROTEST – Tomas Murawski, a staff writer for The Alamance News, was arrested at Saturday's protest. Murawski had taken a photo of the day's first arrest when he himself was arrested. See News & Observer video here: https://t.co/8L2P13QaZD pic.twitter.com/wYnLb8Ofug
— The Alamance News (@AlamanceNews) October 31, 2020
“When I spoke to him on the street, while he was in police custody, he said they ordered them to move out of the roadway,” Boney said. “He was doing so, while still taking photos, but apparently not fast enough for [the police].”
In footage of the arrest published by The News & Observer, four officers can be seen taking Murawski’s camera and camera bag and leading him away from the crowd before placing him in handcuffs. Video from a second angle published by Triad City Beat shows that officers bent his left arm far behind his back and toward his head while leading him away, causing Murawski to double over.
Boney told the Tracker that Murawski was held in police custody for approximately three hours before he was released, and that all of his equipment was returned to him.
According to a Facebook post published by the Alamance News, Murawski was charged with resisting, delaying or obstructing a public officer — a Class 2 misdemeanor punishable by up to 60 days of community service, supervised probation or imprisonment.
Murawski has a hearing scheduled for Dec. 14, Boney told the Tracker, but they hope to have the charge dismissed before then.
Boney expressed his concerns over Murawski’s arrest in a statement to the newspaper: “Tomas has been an outstanding reporter and photographer for many years, and has always demonstrated a high standard of professionalism in all his work,” Boney said. “I cannot imagine that he did anything warranting his treatment at the Graham rally.”
North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper condemned the police response in a tweet that evening.
“Peaceful demonstrators should be able to have their voices heard and voter intimidation in any form cannot be tolerated,” Cooper wrote.
The Graham Police Department immediately responded to requests for comment.
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to include additional comment from Alamance News publisher Tom Boney Jr. and to reflect the reporting of an additional journalist affected by tear gas.
While covering a march to the polls in Graham, North Carolina, Alamance News reporter Tomas Murawski was arrested by a Graham police officer on Oct. 31, 2020.
",arrested and released,charges dropped,Graham Police Department,None,None,True,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, election, Election 2020, protest",,"obstruction: resisting, delaying or obstructing a public officer",,, "Officer grabs photojournalist’s camera, pushes her back during North Carolina march to the poll",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/officer-grabs-photojournalists-camera-pushes-her-back-during-north-carolina-march-to-the-poll/,2020-11-03 22:58:25.574266+00:00,2022-08-04 20:46:57.293742+00:00,2022-08-04 20:46:57.234578+00:00,,Assault,,,,Julia Wall (Raleigh News & Observer),,2020-10-31,False,Graham,North Carolina (NC),36.06903,-79.40058,"A police officer grabbed the camera of News & Observer photojournalist Julia Wall to push her back while she filmed a march to the polls and rally in Graham, North Carolina, on Oct. 31, 2020, according to the outlet and an interview with the journalist.
The “I Am Change” march and rally organized to encourage people to vote in the 2020 general election and included calls for accountability echoing recent protests against racial injustice. The News & Observer reported that approximately 200 demonstrators marched from the Wayman Chapel AME Church to Court Square, where the Alamance County Courthouse and a Confederate monument are located.
The Washington Post reported that once there, participants took part in a moment of silence for George Floyd, a Black man, who died during an arrest in Minneapolis in May.
Moments later, the Graham Police Department ordered the protesters to disperse and began pepper spraying the crowd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker estimates from multiple news reports that at least 10 journalists, including Wall, were affected by the chemical irritant.
The Graham Police Department said in a statement that it issued multiple orders to relocate or disperse before using crowd control measures.
In a video captured by Wall, a group of demonstrators retreats down the sidewalk, with some visibly affected by the vaporized pepper spray used by police. Officers in yellow vests can be heard shouting, “Let’s move, let’s move!”
An officer in a respirator yells “Go!” as he reaches out his hand, covering Wall’s camera lens multiple times.
“I’m going! Don’t touch my camera!” Wall responds as she continues moving back. “I’m not touching your stuff, don’t touch mine.”
The officer continues walking behind the group for a few more seconds before turning back and rejoining his colleagues.
Wall told the Tracker that she didn’t think the officer was trying to prevent her from filming.
“It felt like he was trying to use my equipment to shove me back,” Wall said. “It’s possible that he didn’t think I was media but I have a whole microphone set up, my camera straps say ‘Canon’ — nothing is disguised in any way to look less journalistic.”
Wall also noted that her press badge was “front and center” that day, as she says it always is when she covers protests.
Police arrested at least 12 individuals at the march, The News & Observer reported, including Alamance News reporter Tomas Murawski. The Tracker documented that arrest here.
North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper condemned the police response in a tweet that evening.
“Peaceful demonstrators should be able to have their voices heard and voter intimidation in any form cannot be tolerated,” Cooper wrote.
The Graham Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to include comment from Julia Wall.
News & Observer photojournalist Julia Wall reaches for relief from the effects of a chemical spray used during a march to the polls and social justice rally in Graham, North Carolina on Oct. 31, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, chemical irritant, election, Election 2020, protest",,,,, "Photojournalist shoved to the ground, equipment damaged during Beverly Hills political protest",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-shoved-ground-equipment-damaged-during-beverly-hills-political-protest/,2020-11-04 19:02:39.359104+00:00,2022-08-04 20:47:07.640327+00:00,2022-08-04 20:47:07.577441+00:00,,"Assault, Equipment Damage",,,camera: count of 1,Jintak Han (Los Angeleno),,2020-10-31,False,Beverly Hills,California (CA),34.07362,-118.40036,"Los Angeleno photojournalist Jintak Han was assaulted by a law enforcement official dressed in riot gear while reporting on clashes between protest groups in Beverly Hills, California on Oct. 31, 2020, at approximately 2:30 p.m., Han told the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Han said that he was taking pictures of a protest staged by supporters of President Donald Trump and a counterprotest when he was pushed to the ground by an officer from the Beverly Hills Police Department. Though Han said he was unable to see which officer pushed him to the ground, later video footage confirmed that it was a member of the Beverly Hills police force.
Han said he was wearing an off-white T-shirt, which distinguished him from the counter protesters wearing all black, and a backpack with a helmet with the word “press” written on it.
“[The officer] was in my blind spot — he came up in my blind spot and he did not make any attempts to notify me that he was there or get out of my way,” Han told CPJ.
Over at Beverly Gardens Park. BHPD just tackled me to the ground for photographing counterprotesters fighting a Trump supporter.
— Jintak Han (한진탁) (@jintakhan) October 31, 2020
Han said that the officer knocked him over on his left side, causing Han to fall on top of one of his cameras and sprain his wrist. He told CPJ, a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, that he did not seek medical attention.
In a statement to the Tracker, Han said that the camera, a Canon 5D Mark VI, was damaged during the fall, and he estimated the cost of repairs would be at least $1,150.
“I’ve been shoved by police before, but this was unlike anything that I’ve felt before,” said Han, describing how a police officer in riot gear — including body armor, helmet and a baton — shouldered him to the ground.
Han said two bystanders, including Vishal Singh who recorded the assault, helped Han to stand and move away from the scene.
The journalist told CPJ that he was wearing accreditation from his employer Los Angeleno, the National Press Photographers Association and the Press Photographers Association of Greater Los Angeles.
Han told CPJ that he went to file a complaint at the Beverly Hills Police Department on Nov. 1, and that, while he was there, law enforcement officials questioned his understanding of media laws in California.
“They suggested that I might be charged with a failure to disperse, despite the penal code specifically allowing the news media to be at the scene for news gathering purposes,” Han said. “I felt that was an attempt at journalism intimidation and was completely baseless.”
Han said he still plans to file a complaint with the police department and the city of Beverly Hills.
BHPD executive officer Lt. Max Subin told CPJ via phone that on Nov. 5 Han filed a complaint with the department about one of their officers who allegedly shoved him while he was reporting. Subin said the department is conducting an internal use of force investigation.
Vishal Singh, a videographer who works on Netflix documentaries and has been covering demonstrations in Los Angeles, said he was assaulted by a police officer while reporting on clashes between protest groups in Beverly Hills, California on Oct. 31, 2020.
Singh told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was covering a group of counterprotesters as they marched to a rally held by supporters of President Donald Trump. When the group arrived at the Trump rally, police from Beverly Hills and other departments “immediately surrounded the counterprotesters, as well as journalists, and started advancing, started assaulting,” Singh said. “I was batoned in the back while filming but was wearing a bulletproof vest so I didn’t actually feel it that hard.”
Singh said both the front and back of the vest and his helmet are labeled “PRESS,” and he was carrying two copies of his press pass, with one pinned to the vest.
Singh said that he witnessed Jintak Han, a Los Angeles-based photojournalist, being pushed to the ground by a Beverly Hills officer and helped him up, which can be seen in his footage from that day. The Tracker has documented Han’s assault and the resulting equipment damage here.
“Many journalists were assaulted that day,” Singh said.
Beverly Hills Police Department executive officer Lt. Max Subin told the Tracker that the department had received a complaint from Han, but could not immediately confirm whether Singh had filed one as well. Singh said he has filed multiple complaints, but did not remember whether he had filed one for this incident.
Subin also disputed Singh’s assertion that “many” journalists were assaulted by law enforcement that day. He said that the department has typically had a “great” relationship with the press and that the department is conducting an internal review of excessive use of force.
“There were cases of use of force that day, and the use of force against members of the press will be part of that review,” Subin said.
Singh said that he is pursuing multiple complaints and lawsuits independently and with the National Lawyers Guild.
Two journalists were threatened with firearms by individuals while covering a protest in Vancouver, Washington, during the early morning hours of Oct. 31, 2020.
Independent journalist Alissa Azar was involved in two separate incidents, the first involving shots being fired. Later, she and a journalist with Full Revolution Media had a gun pointed at them. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented his experience here.
They were covering one of the many demonstrations that broke out in response to police violence and in support of Black Lives Matter following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
The demonstration, which began on Oct. 30 and stretched past midnight, was also held to protest the local shooting of Kevin Peterson Jr., a Black man killed by Clark County deputies the day before.
The protest started in Hazel Dell, a suburb about three miles northwest of Vancouver where Peterson was shot, according to The Columbian newspaper. Hundreds of demonstrators and counterprotesters marched from the Fred Meyer store in Hazel Dell where Peterson was shot to downtown Vancouver.
A statement from Vancouver police said a dispersal order was given around 12:15 a.m. on the 31st, claiming the group "became more aggressive when it congregated near the Clark County Jail." Reports of “shots being fired in the air by one of the protestors” came in around 12:25 a.m., it said, though added that no injuries were reported.
At 12:26 a.m., Azar tweeted, “Shots fired.” She wrote in a follow-up tweet that the shots “happened in eyesight of the police but nothing was done."
In a video accompanying that tweet, a vehicle can be seen in the distance, backing away from where Azar and others are standing. Then someone yells, “He’s got a gun!” and two bangs can be heard.
About a half hour later, a woman pulled a gun on Azar and a group of people. At 1:05 a.m., she posted a photograph of the woman, writing, "She just waved a gun around at at least 20 of us."
Azar told the Tracker that the woman was with members of the local chapter of Concerns of Police Survivors, which Azar called a “known local right-wing group."
Azar was wearing visible press markings on her clothes and helmet, she said, as well as a National Press Photographers Association credential. While she wasn’t physically injured, it was a visible threat, she said.
Azar also posted a photograph of the woman pointing the gun at John, the Full Revolution Media reporter, writing, "The police were right behind us when it happened. Here she's pointing it at @Johnthelefty."
John, who asked that his last name not be used out of safety concerns, told the Tracker that there were several hostile moments between demonstrators and right-wing counter-protesters.
“During tense group dynamics, the girl with the two guys involved in fights pulled a gun and pointed it at every person that she walked by,” he said. “Cops did not respond.”
John said he didn’t have press markings that night, but was there as a journalist. He didn’t sustain any injuries.
Two journalists were threatened with firearms by individuals while covering a protest in Vancouver, Washington, during the early morning hours of Oct. 31, 2020.
Independent journalist Alissa Azar was involved in two separate incidents, the first involving shots being fired. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documented those incidents here.
Later, she and a Full Revolution Media journalist named John, who asked that his last name not be used out of safety concerns, had a gun pointed at them.
They were covering one of the many demonstrations that broke out in response to police violence and in support of Black Lives Matter following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
The demonstration, which began on Oct. 30 and stretched past midnight, was also held to protest the local shooting of Kevin Peterson Jr., a Black man killed by Clark County deputies the day before.
The protest started in Hazel Dell, a suburb about three miles northwest of Vancouver where Peterson was shot, according to The Columbian newspaper. Hundreds of demonstrators and counterprotesters marched from the Fred Meyer store in Hazel Dell where Peterson was shot to downtown Vancouver.
A statement from Vancouver police said a dispersal order was given around 12:15 a.m. on the 31st, claiming the group "became more aggressive when it congregated near the Clark County Jail." Reports of “shots being fired in the air by one of the protestors” came in around 12:25 a.m., it said, though added that no injuries were reported.
At 12:26 a.m., Azar tweeted, “Shots fired.” She wrote in a follow-up tweet that the shots “happened in eyesight of the police but nothing was done."
In a video accompanying that tweet, a vehicle can be seen in the distance, backing away from where Azar and others are standing. Then someone yells, “He’s got a gun!” and two bangs can be heard.
About a half hour later, a woman pulled a gun on Azar and a group of people. At 1:05 a.m., she posted a photograph of the woman, writing, "She just waved a gun around at at least 20 of us."
Azar told the Tracker that the woman was with members of the local chapter of Concerns of Police Survivors, which Azar called a “known local right-wing group."
Azar was wearing visible press markings on her clothes and helmet, she said, as well as a National Press Photographers Association credential. While she wasn’t physically injured, it was a visible threat, she said.
Azar also posted a photograph of the woman pointing the gun at John, the Full Revolution Media reporter, writing, "The police were right behind us when it happened. Here she's pointing it at @Johnthelefty."
The police were right behind us when it happened. Here she’s pointing it at @Johnnthelefty
— alissa azar (@AlissaAzar) October 31, 2020
📷 @DocLowKey pic.twitter.com/KCvR7DHXw4
John told the Tracker that there were several hostile moments between demonstrators and right-wing counter-protesters.
“During tense group dynamics, the girl with the two guys involved in fights pulled a gun and pointed it at every person that she walked by,” he said. “Cops did not respond.”
John said he didn’t have press markings that night, but was there as a journalist. He didn’t sustain any injuries.
Independent journalist Mason Lake said he was shot three separate times with crowd-control munitions by federal law enforcement officers while he was covering a protest outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Portland, Oregon, in the early hours of Oct. 29, 2020. The pepper balls also damaged his video camera, he said.
Lake, a videographer, was covering one of the many Portland protests against law enforcement violence that first erupted after the killing of George Floyd, a Black man, in Minneapolis on May 25. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Law enforcement officers in Portland have targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The case resulted in a temporary restraining order on July 2 barring the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists, which was expanded to include federal agents later that month.
The protest began late on Oct. 28, as demonstrators rallied at Elizabeth Carruthers Park, in the South Waterfront district of Portland, and stretched past midnight. The protesters marched several blocks south to the ICE building, chanting against the Trump administration’s immigration policies, including the separation of children from parents that took place from 2017 to 2018 and the lack of progress in reuniting all of the families.
When demonstrators arrived outside the ICE building shortly before midnight, federal officers warned them they were trespassing and fired tear gas to disperse the crowd, according to the local news station KOIN.
Lake, who was marked as press on a helmet and a vest and carried his press identification with him, was shot three separate times with crowd-control munitions after midnight and caught them all on video that he later posted on YouTube. He said he believes he was targeted by the federal agents because he was filming them.
In the first incident, at around 1:27 a.m., Lake captured federal officers advancing down the street in a cloud of tear gas and shooting crowd-control munitions. At about seven seconds in, Lake is heard cursing after being shot with what he believes were pepper balls.
“I was shot in the back of my thigh when we were backing up from the line they were pushing us from,” Lake told the Tracker. “It also hit my back.”
In the second incident, at around 1:34 a.m., Lake approached a tear gas canister on the ground, and was then fired at. He responded by cursing at the federal agents.
“They shot me in the chest with the pepper rounds, and then my camera got hit with a pepper round, got hit with a pellet, and then another pepper round. And the mic itself got hit with a pepper round,” Lake told the Tracker.
His Canon EOS 6D Mark II camera was damaged, with the audio connection and hot shoe needing cleaning and maintenance. The mic also needed work after being hit with a pepper ball.
“I had to send in the camera for work. The camera took some damage, though thankfully not too much,” he said.
In the third incident, at 1:58 a.m., Lake is hit with crowd-control munitions as he walks towards federal officers stationed outside the ICE facility. At about six seconds in, Lake can be heard yelling that he was shot in the face. He then turns his camera to show where a mark was left on his helmet.
Lake told the Tracker it was a pepper round that hit him that time as well.
The Department of Homeland Security didn’t respond to a request for comment on the incidents.
Independent videographer Garrison Davis was struck with a crowd-control munition in the early morning hours of Oct. 29, 2020, while he covered a protest outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland, Oregon.
Protests had been held on an almost nightly basis in Portland since late May, in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Videographer Davis has covered many of the Portland protests, and in November 2020, after this incident, he began co-hosting a podcast, “Uprising: A Guide From Portland,” for iHeartRadio.
According to Davis, a group of about 100 protesters assembled at Elizabeth Caruthers Park in South Portland just before midnight on Oct. 29; they marched a few blocks south to the ICE building, a frequent site for demonstrations to protest conditions for the facility’s inmates and to call for the agency’s abolition.
The group stopped in front of a driveway into the facility, Davis told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. He said about 10 journalists were covering the gathering.
Davis captured footage of armed Federal Protective Service agents, who are part of Homeland Security, in riot gear, emerging from the building on two separate occasions and arresting a protester each time.
Following the second arrest, the agents began firing tear gas and other crowd-control devices at the crowd and marching toward them as they backed down South Moody Avenue, according to tweets and videos Davis posted on his account.
Davis told the Tracker that because of his work he has a gas mask that offers decent protection in such situations. “If you put it on ahead of time it’s not the worst,” he said.
Davis told the Tracker that he was struck on the knee with what he believed to be either a rubber bullet or a tear-gas canister.
“Teargas and Stun Grenades in Portland streets,” Davis wrote in a Twitter post. “I’ve been shot in the leg with either a rubber bullet or canister.”
Davis said he did not seek medical attention but that he walked with a limp for a few days after the protest.
Davis said he was wearing a press badge on a lanyard and a helmet with “PRESS” in white letters on one side. He said that, while an agent used a loudspeaker to threaten protesters and journalists with arrest if they were caught trespassing on federal property, the agents on the street did not issue a warning before setting off crowd-control munitions.
Davis and other people filming the scene edged to the east side of the street to keep cameras on the agents as protesters moved north. He said that it appeared agents were firing munitions toward the journalists.
“They were doing it kind of for fun, it seemed,” Davis said.
The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment.
Demonstrators and Federal and local police clash at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland, Oregon, on Oct. 29, 2020
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest, shot / shot at",,,,, Journalist sprayed in face with chemical irritant during DC protest,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-sprayed-face-chemical-irritant-during-dc-protest/,2021-01-22 18:58:54.933340+00:00,2022-08-02 16:06:31.170944+00:00,2022-08-02 16:06:31.096578+00:00,,Assault,,,,Wyatt Reed (Independent),,2020-10-28,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"A police officer sprayed a chemical irritant in Wyatt Reed’s face as the independent journalist covered a protest in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 28, 2020, the journalist told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
Reed is a Washington-based journalist who produces the show By Any Means Necessary for Russian state-owned Radio Sputnik. He was covering the second night of protests over the death of Karon Hylton, a 20-year-old Black man who crashed an electric scooter while being pursued by police on Oct. 23 and died three days later. Police said they had attempted to stop Hylton after he was observed driving on a sidewalk without wearing a helmet.
In a video Reed uploaded to Twitter at 11:01 p.m., a line of police officers can be advancing south on Georgia Avenue, just a block from the Metropolitan Police Department’s Fourth District station, which had emerged as a focal point for protests. Then, what appears to be a firework can be seen exploding to the left of Reed before the footage goes blurry as the camera appears to get doused in a chemical irritant.
“Watch as DC cop targets me and sprays me point blank in the face with high-pressure mace,” Reed wrote on Twitter alongside the video. “I was displaying my press pass & clearly posed no threat. The only other person around me was the photographer you see here.”
Reed told the Tracker he felt he was targeted.
“He [the police officer] was directly in front of me and he went straight for my eyes. It felt like I got pressure washed by bear mace on the inside of my eyeballs,” he said.
Reed said he had to be helped out of the protest after being sprayed and that the effects on his vision were severe even through the next day.
“It probably lasted about two hours before I was really able to open my eyes and not immediately be screaming out for water,” he said. “I went home and basically gave myself an hour under the sink flushing my eyes repeatedly.”
Reed said his vision remained “pretty severely” affected the following day and that he worries his ability to focus his eyesight isn’t the same as it was before getting sprayed.
He said he was also sprayed at another point earlier in the protest, but told the Tracker he wasn’t as severely hurt.
The night before, at another protest over Hylton’s death, Reed had a crowd-control munition fired next to his head at close range by police.
The Metropolitan Police Department didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting hundreds of incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, hit by crowd control munitions or having their equipment damaged at protests around the country. Find these incidents here.
Lexis-Olivier Ray, a freelance multimedia journalist, was tackled to the ground by Los Angeles Police Department officers and beaten with batons, damaging his equipment as he documented the celebrations of the Dodgers’ World Series win in Los Angeles, California, on Oct. 28, 2020.
Los Angeles and cities across the U.S. experienced protests against police brutality throughout the summer, and crowds in L.A. had clashed with police earlier in October during celebrations of the Lakers’ NBA championship win. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
USA Today reported that the Dodger celebrations in L.A. that began the night of Oct. 27 took place mainly in downtown and in Echo Park, a neighborhood near Dodger Stadium. Ray covered the event on assignment for L.A. Taco, a digital-only outlet focused on the city. Ray did not respond to emails requesting comment.
Ray told the Los Angeles Times that he was near the intersection of West 8th and Flower Streets when officers suddenly sprinted forward and pinned him against a car. Ray said that he feared being dragged underneath the car, which was slowly moving forward, if the driver accelerated.
Shortly after midnight, Ray posted a video to Twitter that shows a line of officers in riot gear rushing at him, pushing him repeatedly and ultimately knocking him to the ground. Ray can be heard identifying himself as a member of the press multiple times.
Ray told the Times that he had introduced himself to a police supervisor at the scene moments before the incident, so some of the officers who were standing with the supervisor should have known who he was.
In a subsequent tweet, Ray posted pictures of a few abrasions on his right hand and elbow, as well as damage to his video camera’s microphone and lens. “A group of LAPD officers just broke my camera mic, tackled me to the ground and beat me with their batons, after I identified myself as a journalist multiple times,” he wrote. He noted, however, that he was “OK.”
A group of LAPD officers just broke my camera mic, tackled me to the ground and beat me with their batons, after I identified myself as a journalist multiple times. @LATACO pic.twitter.com/2VaB4sq8IJ
— Lexis-Olivier Ray (@ShotOn35mm) October 28, 2020
“It’s really difficult to be a reporter right now,” Ray told the Times.
The Los Angeles Police Department did not respond to an emailed request for comment as of press time. Officer Lizeth Lomeli, an LAPD spokesperson, told USA Today she had no information about the incident.
Los Angeles Police Department officers in riot gear stand guard near Dodger Stadium on Oct. 28, 2020, following the Los Angeles Dodgers’ World Series win.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, DC police fire crowd-control round past journalist’s head during protest,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/dc-police-fire-crowd-control-round-past-journalists-head-during-protest/,2021-01-22 19:54:02.984288+00:00,2021-11-09 21:01:16.427483+00:00,2021-11-09 21:01:16.385899+00:00,,Other Incident,,,,,,2020-10-27,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020, ignited a sweeping assembly of protesters across the United States — and the globe — a staggering, monthslong outcry for police reform and racial justice. In many moments peaceful, in many others bracingly violent, journalists of all stripes took to documenting these demonstrations. At times, to do the job meant to expose oneself to the effects of riot-control agents, to face harassment from individuals or law enforcement officials, to fear for your safety or have your reporting interrupted. Below is a geographically organized roundup of such examples from around the U.S. during November 2020, a notably fraught month backdropped by an election, rising COVID-19 cases, and an increasingly encumbered economy and workforce.
A full accounting of incidents in which members of the press were assaulted, arrested or had their equipment damaged while covering these protests can be found here. To learn more about how the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents and categorizes violations of press freedom, visit pressfreedomtracker.us.
Oct. 27, 2020
In Washington, D.C.
MPD launched a flashbang just inches from my face as they unleash a brutal crackdown on DC protesters demanding justice for #KaronHylton pic.twitter.com/rwq5RMZNFh
— Wyatt Reed (@wyattreed13) October 28, 2020
Information in this roundup was gathered from published social media and news reports as well as interviews where noted. To read similar incidents from other days of national protests also in this category, go here.
Two journalists were hit with crowd-control munitions fired by law enforcement while documenting celebrations in Los Angeles, California, after the Dodgers won the World Series on Oct. 27, 2020.
Los Angeles and cities across the U.S. experienced protests against police brutality throughout the summer, and crowds in L.A. had clashed with police earlier in October during celebrations of the Lakers’ NBA championship win. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Beverly Hills Courier reporter Samuel Braslow told the Tracker he was covering the downtown celebration with Emily Holshouser, a reporter for California State University Northridge’s student newspaper, The Daily Sundial. Holshouser declined to comment.
The Los Angeles Times reported that celebrations devolved into looting and vandalism in downtown L.A. and the neighborhood of Echo Park.
Holshouser reported on Twitter that one policeman told her there were “not enough” officers to deal with the crowd.
Braslow told the Tracker, “Police were trying to respond to things, but again, they were spread thin.”
On her Twitter feed, Holshouser said that the LAPD issued a dispersal order shortly after 10 p.m., and that a line of officers in riot gear and mounted police were preparing to advance.
Braslow said he and Holshouser were standing with a group of 10-15 people at a street corner when police began advancing toward them. Shortly before midnight, Holshouser posted a clip of nearly a dozen individuals wearing Dodgers-branded apparel posing for Braslow to take a photo.
“These guys made @SamBraslow photograph them and then we got shot at with foam baton rounds,” Holshouser wrote. “I got shot in my hip. I’m fine just mega pissed.”
The Tracker has documented Holshouser’s assault here.
Braslow tweeted an image of a canister for a foam baton round — a crowd-control munition similar to a rubber bullet — at 11:54 p.m., and wrote that he had been hit in the arm by a “less-lethal” round. He told the Tracker he was not certain what type of munition struck him.
“I’m fine, just noting it,” Braslow wrote. “As per usual, camera around my neck, carrying camera bag, and wearing press credentials.”
Whelp, hit by a less lethal in the arm. I’m fine, just noting it. As per usual, camera around my neck, carrying camera bag, and wearing press credentials. pic.twitter.com/sy81UGBe7x
— Samuel Braslow (@SamBraslow) October 28, 2020
Braslow told the Tracker he was also wearing a bulletproof vest and ballistic goggles. Holshouser can be seen in clips from that night wearing a bright yellow vest and press pass.
Braslow said he had some bruising and soreness on his arm, but both he and Holshouser were able to continue reporting that night.
The Los Angeles Police Department did not respond to emailed requests for comment as of press time.
A third journalist, L.A. Taco reporter Lexis-Olivier Ray, was tackled to the ground and struck with batons while filming the celebrations shortly after midnight. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented that assault here.
People celebrate the Los Angeles Dodgers' World Series victory in Los Angeles, California, on Oct. 27, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,shot / shot at,,,,, Journalist receives failure to disperse charge four months after documenting Dodgers celebrations,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-receives-failure-to-disperse-charge-four-months-after-documenting-dodgers-celebrations/,2021-03-08 18:48:38.141484+00:00,2022-05-13 15:25:49.382336+00:00,2022-05-13 15:25:49.310998+00:00,"(2021-03-09 08:39:00+00:00) City attorney declines to charge multimedia journalist, leaves case “open” for later prosecution",Arrest/Criminal Charge,,,,Lexis-Olivier Ray (L.A. Taco),,2020-10-27,False,Los Angeles,California (CA),34.05223,-118.24368,"Four months after covering celebrations in Los Angeles, California, following the Dodgers’ World Series win on Oct. 27, 2020, multimedia journalist Lexis-Olivier Ray says he received a citation for failure to disperse that evening.
Los Angeles and cities across the U.S. experienced protests against police brutality throughout the summer, and crowds in L.A. had clashed with police earlier in October during celebrations of the Lakers’ NBA championship win. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
USA Today reported that the Dodgers celebrations took place mainly downtown and in Echo Park, a neighborhood near Dodger Stadium. Ray was on assignment that evening for L.A. Taco, a digital-only outlet focused on the city.
Ray told the Tracker that while documenting the scene he was assaulted by LAPD officers, who tackled him to the ground and beat him with batons just after midnight, damaging his equipment — an incident which the Tracker has documented here — but he was not detained or issued a citation.
It was a surprise, Ray said, when he got a letter from the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office on March 3, 2021, notifying him that the office had received a report alleging that he had “violated Section PC409 Riot — remaining after warning to disperse on Oct. 27, 2020.”
Failure to disperse is a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $1,000.
The letter ordered him to appear for a hearing on March 8, stating that should he fail to appear, criminal charges may be brought against him.
“I spoke to a public defender that said if I appear it will likely get thrown out,” Ray said, “but I have a lot of questions about why I received this notice in the first place.”
Neither the city attorney’s office nor the Los Angeles Police Department responded to requests for comment as of press time.
Following protests in western Philadelphia, TheBlaze reporter Elijah Schaffer was assaulted while filming looting inside a discount store on Oct. 27, 2020.
Schaffer, who reports for TheBlaze, which was founded by conservative political commentator Glenn Beck and is a part of Blaze Media, was covering protests that broke out in response to the death of Walter Wallace Jr., a 27-year old Black man who was fatally shot one day earlier by two Philadelphia police officers.
According to news reports, protests that had begun peacefully the night of the shooting, to demand justice for Wallace, were disrupted by violence and looting “that officials said were caused by people taking advantage” of the demonstration. On Oct. 27, the second night of protests, The Washington Post reported that law enforcement “took a more aggressive tack,” using lines of riot police to block demonstrators who had gathered at Malcolm X Park in West Philadelphia.
As the protests spread out, some people targeted "big-box stores" in the Port Richmond area and broke into places such as Walmart, according to The Washington Post and Schaffer.
Schaffer told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he followed a group of protesters headed from a nearby police precinct toward Port Richmond, running past officers who were trying to stop him. He said he "ran with the looters trying to document what was happening," which led him into a Five Below, a specialty discount store, at Sepviva Street and East Butler Street. He did not have any press markings displayed at the time, he said, noting that he had not found it "very useful to mark yourself as press."
In a video shared on Twitter, Schaffer films people grabbing things from inside the store when someone approaches him and says, "Hey bro, stop recording," to which he responds, "I'm not recording faces. I'm doing the floor."
He said he was accused of being a white supremacist several times and that he felt targeted for being white. In a video captured by Daily Caller reporter Shelby Talcott, Schaffer can be seen being confronted by several men and backing up before they start attacking him.
Schaffer told the Tracker that his attackers tried to steal his phone, and one of them pulled out a gun. "Another guy punched me right in the face and they started kicking and punching me a couple of times in the head and the gut,” he said.
According to Schaffer, the attackers stopped after a young Black man intervened.
After the incident, Schaffer went on camera to recount the attack. "I was jumped," he said with a bloodied lip. "I might go to the hospital I think to get stitches."
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenny tweeted the next afternoon, "The looting that has taken place is distressing, and it is clear that many of these folks are taking advantage of the situation, harming our businesses and communities, and doing a great disservice to those who want to protest the death of Walter Wallace, Jr."
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Two journalists were hit with crowd-control munitions fired by law enforcement while documenting celebrations in Los Angeles, California, after the Dodgers won the World Series on Oct. 27, 2020.
Los Angeles and cities across the U.S. experienced protests against police brutality throughout the summer, and crowds in L.A. had clashed with police earlier in October during celebrations of the Lakers’ NBA championship win. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Beverly Hills Courier reporter Samuel Braslow told the Tracker he was covering the downtown celebration with Emily Holshouser, a reporter for California State University Northridge’s student newspaper, The Daily Sundial. Holshouser declined to comment.
The Los Angeles Times reported that celebrations devolved into looting and vandalism in downtown L.A. and the neighborhood of Echo Park.
Holshouser reported on Twitter that one policeman told her there were “not enough” officers to deal with the crowd.
Braslow told the Tracker, “Police were trying to respond to things, but again, they were spread thin.”
On her Twitter feed, Holshouser said that the LAPD issued a dispersal order shortly after 10 p.m., and that a line of officers in riot gear and mounted police were preparing to advance.
Braslow said he and Holshouser were standing with a group of 10-15 people at a street corner when police began advancing toward them. Shortly before midnight, Holshouser posted a clip of nearly a dozen individuals wearing Dodgers-branded apparel posing for Braslow to take a photo.
“These guys made @SamBraslow photograph them and then we got shot at with foam baton rounds,” Holshouser wrote. “I got shot in my hip. I’m fine just mega pissed.”
These guys made @SamBraslow photograph them and then we got shot at with foam baton rounds ✨ I got shot in my hip. I’m fine just mega pissed pic.twitter.com/OPH0By53bU
— Emily Holshouser (@emilyytayylor) October 28, 2020
Braslow tweeted an image of a canister for a foam baton round — a crowd-control munition similar to a rubber bullet — at 11:54 p.m., and wrote that he had been hit in the arm by a “less-lethal” round. He told the Tracker he was not certain what type of munition struck him. The Tracker has documented Braslow’s assault here.
“I’m fine, just noting it,” Braslow wrote. “As per usual, camera around my neck, carrying camera bag, and wearing press credentials.”
Braslow told the Tracker he was also wearing a bulletproof vest and ballistic goggles. Holshouser can be seen in clips from that night wearing a bright yellow vest and press pass.
Braslow said he had some bruising and soreness on his arm, but both he and Holshouser were able to continue reporting that night.
The Los Angeles Police Department did not respond to emailed requests for comment as of press time.
A third journalist, L.A. Taco reporter Lexis-Olivier Ray, was tackled to the ground and struck with batons while filming the celebrations shortly after midnight. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented that assault here.
An unidentified man threatened independent photojournalist Maranie Staab with a gun as she covered protests in downtown Portland, Oregon on Oct. 24, 2020.
Staab, whose photos of the protests in Portland have been published by Reuters, The New Yorker and Agence France-Presse, was documenting one of the protests that have been held almost nightly in the city in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 killing of George Floyd, a Black man, in Minneapolis. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
On the night of Oct. 24, Staab was covering demonstrations near the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building, which has increasingly become a focus of the demonstrations, in South Portland.
At around 11 p.m., two men drove by in an unmarked vehicle, said Staab. She was filming at the time because there had been “suspicious vehicles driving around” and “a lot of intimidation happening,” she told the Tracker.
In a video she tweeted, the driver of the car can be seen pointing the gun through his passenger side window and calling her a “bitch.”
“I had my phone up making video and happened to catch him pointing a handgun directly at me,” Staab recalled.
After threatening Staab. the men got out of their car a few hundred feet away and then started to threaten protesters, yelling phrases like “All lives matter!” and “Back the blue!” One of the men said he was military, but there is no evidence to verify that claim, according to Staab. In a different video Staab tweeted, protesters can be heard chanting “Black lives matter!” in response.
The men continued to aggravate protesters until members of the crowd helped de-escalate the situation, she said.
Freelance photojournalist Cole Howard tweeted several photographs of the situation. “The man in the green sweatshirt though not affiliated with the protest de-escalated the situation,” he wrote.
While Staab didn’t file a police report, she said she has been actively working to identify the individuals and is speaking to an attorney to discuss potential legal action.
Austin-based independent videojournalist Hiram Gilberto Garcia was assaulted and had his equipment damaged while covering a protest in Texas’ capital city on Oct. 24, 2020, according to social media posts.
At approximately 6:40 p.m., Garcia — who posts his livestreams and interviews on Facebook and his website — was documenting a march against police brutality organized to mark the six-month anniversary of the death of Mike Ramos, an unarmed Black and Hispanic man who’d been fatally shot by an Austin police officer on April 24.
The protest was also part of a national movement against police brutality that had swept across the country over the summer. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented hundreds of incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or had their equipment damaged while covering protests in 2020. Find all of these cases here.
In his livestream of the Austin march, Garcia identifies a group of demonstrators he believed were affiliated with the Mike Ramos Brigade, which had organized after Ramos’ death to seek “justice for Mike and all victims of police violence.” The MRB had come to be seen by some in the community as militant, and Ramos’ mother, Brenda Ramos, had distanced herself from the group, KXAN News reported.
“The Mike Ramos Brigade — if it is the Mike Ramos Brigade — is not very friendly with me,” Garcia says in the footage, as some two dozen individuals advanced down South Pleasant Valley Road toward the intersection with East Riverside Drive.
Shortly thereafter, Garcia can be seen crossing the street to document the group more closely after confirming that the group did include members of the MRB.
As soon as Garcia gets a few yards ahead of the group, an individual can be seen breaking away, running up to the journalist and holding a sign in front of his camera in order to prevent him from filming. Multiple other individuals can be heard yelling at Garcia, “Fuck you, Hiram!”
Addressing the animosity, Garcia says in his stream, “Specifically, they’re more concerned that I don’t take really extreme measures to blur out their faces or edit footage afterwards. Obviously this is not what the stream is about.”
“As far as the disagreement between MRB and the platform is simply that, one, I’m unbiased—” Garcia says, before a demonstrator interrupts him, saying, “and two, you’re a fucking snitch!”
In the footage, Garcia continues to follow and attempt to film the group as it crosses the street, with participants consistently holding their signs in front of their faces, cursing him and demanding that he leave.
“Hiram, I don’t know why you’re here!” a participant says through a megaphone. “You’re not here for Black lives. You’re here for yourself.”
Someone then grabs for his camera, which flips the point of view of the footage upside down. It is unclear what transpired after that point, though it appears Garcia was pushed back toward the road and his equipment was knocked out of his hands. Within seconds, the stream abruptly stops.
A post to Garcia’s Facebook page said, “Today during our broadcast Hiram was assaulted and had all of his equipment destroyed and taken (not confirmed), police and EMS were dispatched to the scene and asked Hiram if he wanted to go to the hospital to get checked out, to which he agreed and went with EMS to the Hospital.”
The post went on to condemn the attack on Garcia, but also asked that his subscribers not retaliate against the Mike Ramos Brigade or “seek vigilante justice.”
“Please we only want to bring you information about what is happening around you and report as accurately as possible what is happening, so you all have a better source to make decisions from.”
On Oct. 26 an update was posted to Garcia’s page noting that he was “resting at home and going through standard concussion protocol.”
“[Garcia] suffered from a concussion according to the ER, along with a black eye and some other scrapes and bruises,” the post reads. “Again we continue to denounce any violence of any kind, our mission is truth, Justice, and Honor, we will continue on that path.”
In an emailed comment, a representative for Garcia said, “Our comments will always be the same. We are not the story, our mission is simply to show people who are not down on the streets or at events what is happening in their community as the events happen.”
The representative did not respond to requests for elaboration on the number and type of equipment damaged or whether Garcia has filed or plans to file a police report.
Independent photojournalist Sean Bascom said he was hit with crowd-control munitions fired by federal law enforcement officers during a protest in Portland, Oregon, on the early morning of Oct. 18, 2020, despite a court order banning federal agents from targeting press.
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. A temporary restraining order in early July barring the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists was expanded to include federal agents later that month. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
A number of protests in Portland have targeted federal government buildings, and on the evening of Oct. 17, protesters marched on the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in South Portland, in a demonstration that stretched into the early hours of Oct. 18.
Bascom told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was struck by pepper balls fired by federal agents stationed at the ICE building. Around 2:15 a.m, Bascom posted footage on Twitter of the agents firing pepper balls as they moved. His shoes got covered in residue from the munitions as agents fired at him, he told the Tracker. Without a gas mask on, he couldn’t see as he retreated.
“I was clearly marked as press. I have a high-vis vest on, ‘press’ clearly marked on my helmet,” he said.
The federal agents pushed protesters and the press onto Southwest Moody Avenue, just north of the facility, where they then used tear gas. In a video posted by Bascom on Twitter, federal agents can be seen firing pepper balls through clouds of tear gas that filled the street. One hit him in the lower chest, near his lowest rib, and left a paintball-sized welt, he said.
“They gassed it and just started firing pepperballs into the smoky gas. Like we couldn’t see them, and they definitely couldn’t see us,” he told the Tracker. “And it was mostly press that was closest to them, because that’s who gets close to them.”
To Bascom, the actions of the federal agents towards himself and other members of the press “wasn’t explicitly targeting, it was more disregarding,” he said.
The Department of Homeland Security didn’t respond to a request for comment on the incidents. ICE, which operates under the DHS, referred the Tracker to the DHS for comment.
Independent photojournalist Maranie Staab said she was hit with crowd-control munitions fired by federal law enforcement officers during a protest in Portland, Oregon, on the early morning of Oct. 18, 2020, despite a court order banning federal agents from targeting press.
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. A temporary restraining order in early July barring the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists was expanded to include federal agents later that month. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
A number of protests in Portland have targeted federal government buildings, and on the evening of Oct. 17, protesters marched on the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in South Portland, in a demonstration that stretched into the early hours of Oct. 18.
Staab told the Tracker that around midnight she was on an adjacent street outside the ICE building, documenting a standoff between protesters and officers in an alleyway. Staab said she was behind the first row of protesters when officers started to rush at the group, shooting pepper balls while running.
“I was shot numerous times. I took one to the knee that put me on the ground,” she said. “They continued to shoot at me while I was on the ground. I was pretty messed up because they got my finger too.”
Staab added that she was clearly marked as press, yet officers continued to fire at her. She posted images of her injuries on Twitter, including welts on her lower back and knees and a splint on her right middle finger. She later told the Tracker that the finger had been severely sprained.
Additionally, her new camera stopped working out of the blue and was in repair for more than two weeks, Staab said. When she received the $700 repair bill, it stated that damage was caused by “corrosion due to paint and chemical substances.”
“It’s whatever they’ve been gassing us with. It’s getting into equipment and literally causing corrosion to camera,” Staab said. “I was not OK there for a little while, but the reality is I’m tough, because I realize that anything that I’m going through is nothing compared to what people have and continue to go through at the hands of the police. I have every intention to continue doing this work.”
The Department of Homeland Security didn’t respond to a request for comment on the incidents. ICE, which operates under the DHS, referred the Tracker to the DHS for comment.
Independent journalist Brian Conley was hit with crowd-control munitions fired by law enforcement officers while covering a protest at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Portland, Oregon, on Oct. 17, 2020.
Racial justice protests had been held regularly in Portland since the May 25 police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Several protests in the city have targeted federal government buildings, and on the evening of Oct. 17, protesters marched on the ICE building in South Portland.
Conley was filming a standoff between federal agents and protesters when the agents began firing pepper balls and moving forward in an attempt to clear the street. Conley was pushed by one of the agents and then tripped over a person who was already on the ground. Tumbling to the ground, Conley dropped his phone. When he got up and tried to retrieve it, he said officers fired pepper balls at him.
“He barreled directly into me, knocked me into the ground,” Conley told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker when describing how the officer pushed him down. “Then when I went to get my phone, he started shooting the ground around me.”
Conley said he had press markings on his body armor and was visibly filming close to the agents when the incident occurred.
In a video Conley uploaded to Twitter at 11:43 p.m., the footage goes dark as Conley drops his phone and heavy pepper-ball fire can be heard before he picks it up again.
“I’m press, buddy! I’m press. You can’t shoot me!” he yells at one officer after he retrieves his phone. He then approaches another federal agent and says: “Tell your buddy to leave me alone.”
Here's that moment when DHS officers rush the crowd, I try to back up while still shooting, get knocked over a photographer, and if you listen closely you may hear the pepper balls shot at my phone as I retrieved it from the ground. pic.twitter.com/uQZOSlcQ8N
— Brian Conley (@BaghdadBrian) October 18, 2020
Conley told the Tracker he had “pretty bad” shoulder pain after the incident as well as a knot around the area where the back of his skull meets his neck.
The Department of Homeland Security didn’t respond to a request for comment on the incidents from the Tracker. ICE, which operates under the Department of Homeland Security, responded by telling the Tracker to contact the Department of Homeland Security.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Photojournalist Cole Howard said he was sprayed with chemical irritants by law enforcement officers during a protest at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Portland, Oregon, on Oct. 17, 2020.
Racial justice protests had been held regularly in Portland since the May 25 police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Several protests in the city have targeted federal government buildings, and on the evening of Oct. 17, protesters marched on the ICE building in South Portland.
Howard told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was following the crowd that evening when it arrived at the ICE building. He said protesters were attempting to tie balloons to the gate of the facility when federal agents moved in to confront them.
“This one specific officer had a can of mace and unloaded it into my face,” he said. “He aimed at me and then he aimed over. So it wasn’t like I was the only one who was hit in that moment.”
But he said it was definitely a direct blast, even though he was wearing press credentials, including a big press badge on his body armor and another on his backpack.
“I was very obviously press,” he added.
Howard captured the moment the officer sprayed him in a photo.
1 of my first shots of the night. A DHS officer blasts mace into a crowd of protesters and press (including myself). Prior to fleeing the attacks, protesters were hanging balloons on the fence of ICE HQ, which led to this reaction.#PortlandProtests #PDXprotests #jornalismo #pdx pic.twitter.com/9NQZALjtay
— Cole Howard (@RedheadNomad) October 18, 2020
A video shot by journalist Justin Yau and uploaded at 9:09 p.m. showed Howard getting sprayed in the face with a chemical agent at close range as he tried to take photos.
Howard had a gas mask with him, but wasn’t anticipating getting hit with a chemical agent at that point and wasn’t wearing it. After being helped to safety about a block away, he said it took him 10-to-15 minutes to regain vision that was good enough for him to work. He said his skin burned for the next day.
“I always feel like my eyes are kind of foggy after that for a while,” he said. “But I don’t know if that’s something that’s proven on paper or just me feeling disoriented.”
Howard feels that he was targeted initially by the officer, but that they changed their aim when they realized aiming at a journalist “wasn’t going to look good on paper.”
The Department of Homeland Security didn’t respond to a request for comment on the incidents from the Tracker. ICE, which operates under the Department of Homeland Security, responded by telling the Tracker to contact the Department of Homeland Security.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Abdul-Hakim Shabazz, editor and publisher of the online news site IndyPolitics.org, said he was singled out and barred from attending a press conference with Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita on Oct. 14, 2021. Since then, according to a suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana against Rokita on Shabazz’s behalf on Feb. 7, 2022, he has been barred from attending any of the attorney general’s subsequent press conferences.
Shabazz, who is also an attorney, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he had a friendly relationship with Rokita until 2018, when he moderated a Republican Senate primary debate in which Rokita was a candidate. Rokita objected to Shabazz’s involvement, saying that the debate shouldn’t be led by “liberal media figures.” According to NPR-affiliate WFYI, Shabazz is widely considered to have a conservative leaning.
While Rokita lost that race, he was elected to Indiana Attorney General in 2020. Following Rokita’s inauguration in January 2021, Shabazz said he reached out to Rokita’s office to reestablish a professional relationship but didn’t receive a response.
In October, Rokita’s office announced that he would hold one of his first press conferences, specifying that it was for credentialed media and that press had to RSVP to attend; Shabazz said he followed the instructions, believing it was a newsworthy event.
When he arrived at the Indiana Statehouse for the Oct. 14 press conference, Shabazz said he was told he had been denied credentials for that event and would not be allowed to attend. He told the Tracker he had his press pass issued by the Indiana Department of Administration, but that it made no difference.
In the wake of the incident, Shabazz said he emailed the attorney general’s press secretary asking for the criteria it uses for issuing media credentials and, when he received no response, attempted to access the same information through a public records request. Shabazz said received a response confirming that the request was received, but as of February 2022 has not received any additional information.
The attorney general’s office disparaged Shabazz and his credentials in a statement issued after the press conference, WTHR reported.
“Our press conferences are meant for actual journalists reporting on real issues, instead of gossip columnists… Therefore, an OAG press conference concerning a serious investigation is not an appropriate venue for Shabazz,” the statement reads. It also asserts that the attorney general’s press conferences are livestreamed on Facebook, and Shabazz can view them like any member of the public.
“Shabazz has not been denied any public records or been prevented from attending any official public-noticed meetings.”
Shabazz told the Tracker that while he does publish a newsletter called Cheat Sheet that involves statehouse gossip, it is only one facet of the reporting work he does. In addition to his work with IndyPolitics.org, Shabazz is the host of a program on WIBC-FM and is a frequent contributor with Fox 59, WISH TV and the Indianapolis Business Journal.
The ACLU of Indiana’s lawsuit, filed in February 2022, said Rokita’s decision to ban Shabazz is not “viewpoint neutral”:
“The Attorney General’s decision to ban Mr. Shabazz is based on either personal antipathy of the Attorney General towards Mr. Shabazz or on the Attorney General’s opinion that Mr. Shabazz’s reporting is too ‘liberal,’ or perhaps based on both,” the lawsuit states.
Rokita’s press secretary, Kelly Stevenson, said in a statement to FOX59 that the office is considering filing a counterclaim and will “aggressively” defend its actions. The Tracker reached out to the Attorney General’s office via email and did not receive a response as of publication.
“We are confident that our actions are legally sound and needed to protect staff against professional harassment,” the statement said. “As one of the most accessible and highly covered elected officials in the state, it’s clear that Hoosiers know what our Attorney General is doing on their behalf, and they appreciate it.”
Shabazz told the Tracker that not being allowed in the room hampers his ability to observe body language and prevents him from asking questions in real time. His hope with the lawsuit is to regain that access.
“I want to make sure every elected official knows that you cannot tear up the First Amendment,” Shabazz said. “It was a government conference in a government building and I had every right to be there.”
Two journalists for local TV station WSMV News 4 in Nashville, Tennessee, were attacked by an unidentified man on Oct. 12, 2020, as they were doing field reporting for a feature story.
Caresse Jackman, a consumer news investigative reporter for WSMV, and a cameraman were recording B-roll outside of an elementary school for a segment about two women who made COVID-19 masks for students. During the shoot they were approached by a man they did not know, according to social media posts and Mediaite.
“While shooting video for a feature story-a man from across the street kept looking [at] our crew. We never said a word to him,” Jackman posted on her Twitter account. “I got out of the car to record. He started to approach me. My photog tried to get his attention so he wouldn't come my way. The man then attacked us.”
Jackman posted a video of the man, who was wearing a red shirt and gray shorts, walking toward the videographer, who is not identified in Jackman’s social media posts about the incident.
“I told you,” the man can be heard saying before attacking the videographer and his camera equipment.
Jackman also posted a video that she recorded with her phone, showing the man grappling with the cameraman, tearing at his shirt and punching him once in the face. During the scuffle, the assailant falls to the ground.
“Get back or I am calling the police,” Jackman warns the assailant as he struggles to get to his feet. “You assaulted my partner. We could press charges.”
Jackman and her colleague get in their vehicle without any further physical contact with the assailant.
On Oct. 16, Jackman shared on her Facebook account a message from the colleague who was attacked, in which he wrote that police were able to find the assailant. According to the Facebook post, the attacker said he wanted to apologize to the journalists, and they agreed to meet with him personally with a detective present.
“Contrary to what many concluded, this was not an ‘attack on the media’ or ‘politically motivated,’” the photojournalist wrote after that meeting. “I accepted his apology and decided not to press charges.”
Jackman did not respond to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker’s requests for comment.
Two journalists for local TV station WSMV News 4 in Nashville, Tennessee, were attacked by an unidentified man on Oct. 12, 2020, as they were doing field reporting for a feature story.
Caresse Jackman, a consumer news investigative reporter for WSMV, and a cameraman were recording B-roll outside of an elementary school for a segment about two women who made COVID-19 masks for students. During the shoot they were approached by a man they did not know, according to social media posts and Mediaite.
“While shooting video for a feature story-a man from across the street kept looking [at] our crew. We never said a word to him,” Jackman posted on her Twitter account. “I got out of the car to record. He started to approach me. My photog tried to get his attention so he wouldn't come my way. The man then attacked us.”
Jackman posted a video of the man, who was wearing a red shirt and gray shorts, walking toward the videographer, who is not identified in Jackman’s social media posts about the incident.
“I told you,” the man can be heard saying before attacking the videographer and his camera equipment.
Jackman also posted a video that she recorded with her phone, showing the man grappling with the cameraman, tearing at his shirt and punching him once in the face. During the scuffle, the assailant falls to the ground.
“Get back or I am calling the police,” Jackman warns the assailant as he struggles to get to his feet. “You assaulted my partner. We could press charges.”
Jackman and her colleague get in their vehicle without any further physical contact with the assailant.
On Oct. 16, Jackman shared on her Facebook account a message from the colleague who was attacked, in which he wrote that police were able to find the assailant. According to the Facebook post, the attacker said he wanted to apologize to the journalists, and they agreed to meet with him personally with a detective present.
“Contrary to what many concluded, this was not an ‘attack on the media’ or ‘politically motivated,’” the photojournalist wrote after that meeting. “I accepted his apology and decided not to press charges.”
Jackman did not respond to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker’s requests for comment.
Samuel Braslow, a journalist for the Beverly Hills Courier, said Los Angeles Police Department officers hit him with crowd-control munition amid fanfare in downtown Los Angeles, California, on the night of Oct. 11, 2020.
Earlier in the evening, the Los Angeles Lakers had won the NBA championship, drawing thousands of celebrants outside the Staples Center. According to the Los Angeles Times, the festivities “quickly soured,” though, and “the scene devolved into another roving standoff between police in riot gear and throngs of people on the street.” Throughout the summer, Los Angeles and cities across the U.S. saw similar scenes, as thousands took to the streets to protest police brutality. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Braslow told the Tracker he arrived in downtown LA after LAPD officers had already started forming a skirmish line with officers in riot gear on foot and mounted police behind them.
“Even as people were complying and moving backward, LAPD officers continued firing less-lethal munitions at the crowd,” Braslow said.
At 9:43 p.m. on Oct. 11, Braslow posted footage of the advancing police line. Approximately 4 seconds into the clip, an officer on the left side of the frame appears to notice Braslow, aims his crowd-control firearm at the journalist and fires.
“Police aimed at me. Less lethal round literally hits my phone out of my hands (credit to apple, it kept recording),” Braslow wrote on Twitter.
Police aimed at me. Less lethal round literally hits my phone out of my hands (credit to apple, it kept recording) pic.twitter.com/TguhhlZXs7
— Samuel Braslow (@SamBraslow) October 12, 2020
Braslow told the Tracker he was holding his phone in front of the face when it was shot out of his hands, and said that it was clear officers were not following directives to aim crowd-control munitions at the ground or waist-level.
Braslow said he was wearing a Courier press badge and was carrying a large, professional camera around his neck. He said he was not injured and his phone was not damaged from the incident. He was able to continue posting live reports and footage until about 1:20 a.m.
“I was less surprised than I maybe should have been,” Braslow said, “and I just took it in stride.”
LAPD did not respond to a request for comment.
Los Angeles Police Department officers line up in front of the Staples Center as Lakers fans celebrate their team winning the 2020 NBA Championship on Oct. 11, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,shot / shot at,,,,, Photojournalist threatened with weapon while covering Lakers championship celebrations,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-threatened-with-weapon-while-covering-lakers-championship-celebrations/,2021-11-02 16:02:07.281556+00:00,2021-11-02 16:02:07.281556+00:00,2021-11-02 16:02:07.245468+00:00,,Assault,,,,Christian Monterrosa (The Associated Press),,2020-10-11,False,Los Angeles,California (CA),34.05223,-118.24368,"Freelance photojournalist Christian Monterrosa, who was on assignment for the Associated Press, posted on social media that Los Angeles Police Department officers pointed a firearm at him in downtown Los Angeles, California, on the night of Oct. 11, 2020.
Earlier in the evening, the Los Angeles Lakers had won the NBA championship, drawing thousands of celebrants outside the Staples Center. According to the Los Angeles Times, the festivities “quickly soured,” though, and “the scene devolved into another roving standoff between police in riot gear and throngs of people on the street.”
Throughout the summer, Los Angeles and cities across the U.S. saw similar scenes, as thousands took to the streets to protest police brutality. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Monterrosa, who did not respond to requests for comment, captioned a photo posted to Instagram, “An LAPD officer points his firearm at Laker fans on the street including a TV news cameraman, and myself, who were documenting it.”
Some more here after the night devolved into a police vs. crowd situation.
— Christian Monterrosa (@chrismatography) October 12, 2020
For @AP pic.twitter.com/SEobeQPnME
LAPD did not respond to a request for comment as of press time.
Los Angeles Police Department officers threatened an unidentified videojournalist with a firearm amid fanfare in downtown Los Angeles, California, on the night of Oct. 11, 2020, according to social media posts.
Earlier in the evening, the Los Angeles Lakers had won the NBA championship, drawing thousands of celebrants outside the Staples Center. According to the Los Angeles Times, the festivities “quickly soured,” though, and “the scene devolved into another roving standoff between police in riot gear and throngs of people on the street.”
Throughout the summer, Los Angeles and cities across the U.S. saw similar scenes, as thousands took to the streets to protest police brutality. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Photographer Ricardo Salvador Miranda posted footage on Instagram the following day that captured the scene, which he captioned, “LAPD pulls gun on Lakers fans and the Press.”
In the clip, the LAPD officer can be seen jumping out of a cruiser with his pistol drawn, pointing behind the vehicle as multiple objects appear to be thrown in his direction.
The officer quickly gets back into the vehicle just as an object — which appears to be a beer bottle — strikes the passenger side of the cruiser and shatters. The officer once again jumps out of the vehicle with his firearm drawn, aiming at the crowd, when he notices the broadcast cameraman.
The officer, lowering his weapon, approaches the videojournalist and appears to indicate that he should move back or out of the area as other projectiles crash around them. The officer then returns to the vehicle.
Freelance photojournalist Christian Monterrosa, who was on assignment for the Associated Press, also posted the encounter on social media. Monterrosa, who did not respond to requests for comment, captioned a photo on Instagram, “An LAPD officer points his firearm at Laker fans on the street including a TV news cameraman, and myself, who were documenting it.”
Some more here after the night devolved into a police vs. crowd situation.
— Christian Monterrosa (@chrismatography) October 12, 2020
For @AP pic.twitter.com/SEobeQPnME
The Tracker was unable to identify the videojournalist.
LAPD did not respond to a request for comment as of press time.
A 9NEWS producer was arrested alongside a private security guard hired by the TV station, after the guard was involved in a shooting at the site of dueling right- and left-wing protests in Denver, Colorado, on Oct. 10, 2020.
A “Patriot Rally” was organized for 2 p.m. at the park next to the state Capitol; a counter-protest “BLM-Antifa Soup Drive” was planned for 1:30 p.m. at the Civic Center to “drown out” the rally, 9NEWS reported.
As the protests were winding down at around 3:30 p.m., there was a confrontation between opposing protesters near the courtyard of the Denver Art Museum, according to the channel’s report. An unnamed 9NEWS producer was filming as a man attempted to de-escalate the fight. One of the men, later identified as Lee Keltner, eventually pulled out a can of pepper spray, threatening to spray a protester wearing a “Black Guns Matter” T-shirt.
At the 1:30 mark in the producer’s footage of the incident, Keltner appears to notice the producer filming and Denver Post photojournalist Helen Richardson documenting the scene. Keltner walks toward them and out of the frame, and someone can be heard saying, “This is not the place for a camera.”
“Get the cameras out of here or I’m going to fuck you up,” the man continues. It is unclear in the footage that follows whether the speaker was Keltner and whether he then pushes the 9NEWS producer or immediately begins a confrontation with the crew’s security guard, Matthew Dolloff. As the producer backed away from the scuffle, Keltner aimed his spray can at Dolloff as the security guard reached to his belt, according to a police affidavit.
According to the footage posted by 9NEWS, the producer stopped recording on his phone for the next 12 seconds, during which Keltner pepper sprayed Dolloff, who had drawn a handgun, and Dolloff shot Keltner. Those moments, however, were captured by Richardson.
Both Dolloff and the 9NEWS producer were arrested by Denver Sheriff Department deputies, who arrived at the scene within seconds. The producer resumed filming after the shooting, and can be heard identifying himself as a member of the press to officers and informing them that he had a press pass and a 9NEWS hat in his pocket.
The producer also said that the man who was shot “was going to get me.”
“That guy [Dolloff] just saved my fucking life, you know that, right?” the producer can be heard telling officers.
Dolloff can also be heard identifying himself as security for 9NEWS.
Keltner was transported to a local hospital where he died later that day.
After initially being placed under arrest, the 9NEWS producer was released from police custody that evening without charges and is not considered a suspect, the outlet reported.
The station did not respond to an email requesting comment and identification of the producer.
9NEWS management released a statement concerning the incident that read, in part: “9NEWS continues to cooperate fully with law enforcement and is deeply saddened by this loss of life.”
“For the past few months, it has been the practice of 9NEWS to contract private security, through an outside firm, to accompany our personnel covering protests. Pinkerton, the private security firm, is responsible for ensuring its guards or those it contracts with are appropriately licensed. 9News does not contract directly with individual security personnel.”
The station’s management also stated that the news crew Dolloff was accompanying was unaware that he was carrying a firearm, and the station had instructed the security firm that security guards for its news crews should not be armed.
Pinkerton told The New York Times in a statement that Dolloff was not an employee of the firm, but a contractor from Isborn Security. Both Pinkerton and 9NEWS said they had no knowledge that Dolloff was not licensed to work as a security guard.
Independent journalist Alissa Azar said she was harassed and assaulted by Portland police while covering a protest in front of the Police Bureau North Precinct on Oct. 10, 2020.
The protest was among the many demonstrations that broke out in response to police violence and in support of Black Lives Matter following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Law enforcement officers in Portland had targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The city agreed to a preliminary injunction in July to not to arrest or harm any journalists or legal observers of the protests or impede their work.
At 10:22 p.m. on Oct. 10 Azar tweeted a video of officers surrounding protesters, yelling at and aggressively pushing them around. At the 1:10 time mark, an officer approaches Azar saying, “If you want to film, you can do it from down there,” pressuring them to walk away from the scene. Another officer suddenly charges at them, yelling, “Move! I don’t care what the TRO says.”
Azar told the Tracker she was physically pushed and was wearing her National Press Photographers Association pass, as well as a helmet and vest with press markings.
The Portland Police Bureau has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation in the ACLU case.
Independent journalist Melissa Lewis said she was harassed and assaulted by Portland police while covering a protest in front of the Portland Police Bureau North Precinct on Oct. 10, 2020.
The protest was among the many demonstrations that broke out in response to police violence and in support of Black Lives Matter following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Law enforcement officers in Portland had targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The city agreed to a preliminary injunction in July to not to arrest or harm any journalists or legal observers of the protests or impede their work.
Lewis tweeted a video at 11:20 p.m. that captures the initial rush of officers toward the demonstrators.
“I was maced, pushed behind a barrier, forced to jump the barrier, and then forced down the sidewalk under threat of violence,” Lewis told the Tracker.
She said she had a press badge and large press markings on her backpack and helmet.
The Portland Police Bureau has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation in the ACLU case.
Independent social media journalist Brendan Gutenschwager was one of four journalists arrested or detained while covering a protest in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin on Oct. 8, 2020.
The protest followed a Milwaukee County prosecutor’s Oct. 7 announcement that his office would not bring charges against a Wauwatosa police officer who shot and killed Black teenager Alvin Cole on Feb. 2. Cole, 17, had refused to put down a gun and ran away from police following a disturbance at a Wauwatosa mall. The Wauwatosa protest came amid demonstrations against police brutality and racism that had swept for months across the country, including in Wisconsin.
Gutenschwager, who is based in Michigan, said he works as an independent videographer, filming protests and other events to post on social media platforms, then distributing his footage to mainstream media outlets such as CNN, Newsweek, The New York Times and Fox News, all of which have used his footage.
Gutenschwager told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that on the day after the prosecutor’s decision was announced, he followed protesters as they marched several miles from the Milwaukee County Public Safety Building to the suburb of Wauwatosa.
While there had been some confrontations and destruction of property the previous night, Gutenschwager said, the march on the second day was peaceful. However, when marchers encountered National Guard officers deployed in Wauwatosa, he said, demonstrators became anxious about a confrontation; some decided to get in cars to continue to protest by driving through the area. The demonstrations continued after a 7 p.m. curfew in Wauwatosa took effect.
Gutenschwager said he got in a car with other journalists, including Shelby Talcott and Richie McGinniss of the news website the Daily Caller, to follow the protest caravan. The journalists stopped in the parking lot of the St. Matthew Evangelical Lutheran Church, on North Wauwatosa Avenue, to cover a confrontation between police and protesters, he said. Gutenschwager said he stayed in the vehicle, but McGinniss, one of the Daily Caller journalists, got out.
When McGinniss returned to the car, police tackled him to the ground, Gutenschwager said. Officers then surrounded the vehicle and ordered Gutenschwager and others to get out, he said. Gutenschwager said he was trying to exit, but it was difficult to move quickly because he was in the back seat of a two-door car. A video of the encounter posted on Twitter by WISN 12 reporter Caroline Reinwald shows a police officer yanking Gutenschwager from the car and slamming him to the ground, where he struck his head on the pavement. An officer then flipped him over and pinned him face down on the ground as Gutenschwager shouted that he was a member of the press, the journalist said.
What appears to be National Guard arresting protesters at 77th and Milwaukee. It’s a church parking lot. @WISN12News pic.twitter.com/0gcg70jTGQ
— Caroline Reinwald (@WISN_Caroline) October 9, 2020
McGinniss and Talcott both described in interviews and on social media that police beat them with night sticks during the encounter. They were both detained, but released without being arrested after they were identified as credentialed press. Blair Nelson, a freelance journalist who has worked for Scriberr News and Campus Reform, was also arrested.
The Tracker is documenting all arrests here.
Gutenschwager said that he does have press credentials, but they were in his vehicle, which was parked a short distance away. He said he continued to identify himself as press at multiple other times throughout the night.
Gutenschwager said his arms were restrained in zip ties before he was loaded into a police vehicle. He and others who had been arrested were transported to a parking lot, transferred to another van belonging to police in neighboring Waukesha County and then taken to the Waukesha County Jail, he said.
Gutenschwager said that he was processed and held in the jail. When he was released at around 3 a.m., he said police provided no way to get back to where he and others had been arrested. He was able to borrow a cell phone to get a ride from one of the journalists he was with at the time he was arrested, he said.
Gutenschwager was cited for violating an emergency curfew order, with a fine of $1,321, according to a document he provided. He was initially given a court date in November, which has been postponed to Dec. 10.
Gutenschwager said police confiscated his cell phone, saying it could be used for evidence, but did not explain what type of evidence. He said he retrieved his phone a week after he was arrested. When he got it, he said it had been put into airplane mode.
Gutenschwager said that he had significant pain in his back and neck the day after the arrest and went to a hospital in Michigan, where he was given a CT scan and diagnosed with a concussion that likely resulted from his fall during the arrest. He said he was treated for his injuries and told to avoid computer screen time, which he noted was difficult because of his work
Wauwatosa Police Department spokesperson Sgt. Abby Pavlik told the Tracker in an email that Gutenschwager was not wearing anything that identified him as a member of the press and did not show police any credentials when police asked. She did not respond to a question about the use of force during the arrest.
On Oct. 9, the police department posted on Twitter contradicting the reports that four credentialed journalists had been arrested. “Two individuals were arrested and they showed no press credentials at the time of their arrest,” the department wrote.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering these protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
This article has been updated to include comment from the Wauwatosa Police Department.
Richie McGinniss, video director for the national news site the Daily Caller, was beaten and detained by police while covering a protest in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin on Oct. 8, 2020.
The protest came one day after a Milwaukee County prosecutor announced that his office would not bring charges against a Wauwatosa police officer who shot and killed Black teenager Alvin Cole on Feb. 2. Cole refused to put down a gun and ran away from police following a disturbance at a mall. The protests came as demonstrations against police brutality and racial injustice had been held for months across the country, including in Wisconsin.
On the day after the prosecutor’s announcement, protests continued past a 7 p.m. curfew that was in effect in Wauwatosa, a suburb of Milwaukee. McGinniss was detained while he was filming police arresting Tracy Cole, Alvin Cole’s mother, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. McGinniss did not respond to a request for an interview, but described the incident on Twitter.
Video McGinniss posted on Twitter shows that an officer approached him as he was filming the arrest. McGinniss can be heard telling police that he has press credentials and identifying himself as working for the Daily Caller.
Video of @ShelbyTalcott and my detainment.
— Richie🎥McG🍿 (@RichieMcGinniss) October 9, 2020
As I was recording arrests, one officer told me to (quickly) clear the area.
Upon arriving to the car, I was forcibly detained (with press cred in hand) and as you can hear in the video, I tried my best to comply with police orders. pic.twitter.com/2I6GNH2CNX
Officers told him to leave, and as he moved away, someone shouted, “Don’t let me catch you,” the video shows.
The video continues as McGinniss crossed a parking lot to his car, where several officers suddenly shouted to “get down on the ground,” as McGinniss repeated that he had press credentials.
Blair Nelson, an independent journalist who had been accompanying McGinniss, was also ordered to the ground and restrained, Nelson told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. Police also detained McGinniss’s Daily Caller colleague Shelby Talcott and independent journalist Brendan Gutenschwager, who were in the car. The Tracker is documenting all arrests here.
Officers hit McGinnis multiple times with a club, Talcott tweeted in a description of the encounter with police.
Talcott wrote that she and McGinniss were both detained but were released after police determined they were journalists. Gutenschwager and Nelson were both arrested and cited for violating an emergency order.
Photos Talcott posted showed that McGinniss was cut on his forehead during the encounter, and the pair sustained other scrapes and bruises during the encounter.
We’ll have some nice cuts and bruises in the coming days... pic.twitter.com/wSsnumUeCA
— Shelby Talcott (@ShelbyTalcott) October 9, 2020
In response to the incident, Daily Caller publisher and co-founder Neil Patel said in a statement reported by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that “there is a definite problem” in the Wauwatosa Police Department. “They were brutally beaten with clubs for no reason,” he said.
A spokesperson for the Wauwatosa Police Department did not return requests for comment about the incident.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering these protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Shelby Talcott, media reporter for the news website the Daily Caller, was detained and hit with a club by police while covering a protest in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin on Oct. 8, 2020.
The protest followed a Milwaukee County prosecutor’s Oct. 7 announcement that his office would not bring charges against a Wauwatosa police officer who shot and killed Black teenager Alvin Cole on Feb. 2. Cole, 17, had refused to put down a gun and ran away from police following a disturbance at a Wauwatosa mall. The Wauwatosa protest came amid demonstrations against police brutality and racism that had swept for months across the country, including in Wisconsin.
Talcott told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she was following a car caravan protest through Wauwatosa, a Milwaukee suburb, the day after the prosecutor’s announcement. The caravan protest continued after a 7 p.m. curfew went into effect.
Talcott was in a car with her Daily Caller colleague Richie McGinniss, as well as independent social media reporter Brendan Gutenschwager and freelancer Blair Nelson. She said they parked the car when they came upon police making arrests. McGinniss and Nelson left the car to film the scene, but Talcott said she stayed inside because the situation seemed tense and she had a “bad feeling” about it.
McGinniss was filming police as they arrested Tracy Cole, Alvin Cole’s mother, when police confronted McGinniss and told him to leave, video he posted on his Twitter shows. When he jogged toward the car, police ordered him to the ground and hit him with night sticks, Talcott said.
As McGinniss was being detained, Talcott said officers surrounded the journalists’ car, pointed a taser at her head, and ordered her and Gutenschwager to get out and get on the ground. During the interaction, she said, an officer struck her on her upper left arm with a club.
Talcott said that she repeatedly identified herself to officers as a journalist. She did not have her press credentials out at the time she was arrested because she had been riding inside the car, she said. According to Talcott, McGinniss had his displayed, but an officer tossed aside his credentials when the journalists were being detained.
Talcott said her wrists were restrained and she was loaded into a police van. After about 10 minutes, she said she heard an officer outside the van ask if there were any credentialed press inside. When Talcott and McGinniss identified themselves as press, she said, they were released, but Gutenschwager and Nelson, who did not have any form of press credentials with them, were arrested and cited with violating the emergency curfew order.
The Tracker is documenting all arrests here.
The incident in Wauwatosa was the third time this year that Talcott had been arrested or detained while covering protests in 2020. In September she was arrested while covering a protest in Louisville, Kentucky, and in June she was briefly detained at a protest in Washington, D.C.
In response to the Wauwatosa arrests of his journalists, Daily Caller publisher and co-founder Neil Patel said in a statement reported by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that “there is a definite problem” in the Wauwatosa Police Department. “They were brutally beaten with clubs for no reason,” he said.
A spokesperson for the Wauwatosa Police Department did not return a request for comment about Talcott’s detention.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering these protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Freelance journalist Blair Nelson was arrested while covering a protest in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, on Oct. 8, 2020.
Demonstrations began after a Milwaukee County prosecutor said on Oct. 7 his office wouldn’t bring charges against a Wauwatosa police officer who shot and killed Black teenager Alvin Cole on Feb. 2. Police said Cole refused orders to put down a gun after he ran away from police following a disturbance at a mall. The protests came as demonstrations against police violence and racial injustice had been held for months across the country, including in Wisconsin.
Nelson, who has reported for the conservative national college news site Campus Reform and news site The RF Angle, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he decided to go to Wauwatosa from his base in central Illinois to cover protests sparked by a lack of charges in Cole’s death. He wasn’t on assignment for a particular outlet, he said.
On the second day of demonstrations following the prosecutor’s announcement, protesters were driving through Wauwatosa in a car caravan, he said. The protest continued after a 7 p.m. curfew in Wauwatosa took effect.
Nelson said he was following the caravan in a car with three other journalists — Daily Caller reporters Richie McGinniss and Shelby Talcott, and independent social media journalist Brendan Gutenschwager. At one point the group saw police were making arrests, so they parked the car. Nelson said he got out and started filming the scene from the sidewalk. He said he and McGinniss were filming police as they arrested Alvin Cole’s mother when police “swarmed us,” Nelson said.
Nelson said a National Guardsman took his phone and pulled Nelson’s hands behind his back. McGinniss told the officer they were journalists, Nelson said, and the officer released him, returned his phone, and told him to leave.
As they left, Nelson said local police officers chased them. Video McGinniss posted on Twitter shows that police shouted at the journalists to “get down on the ground” as they returned to their car.
Nelson said he followed police orders, got down on the ground and told police he was a journalist, but didn’t have any form of credentials with him.
He said he was handcuffed, loaded into a police van and transported to jail in neighboring Waukesha County. He said he was released at around 2:30 a.m. the following morning.
Nelson was cited for violating an emergency order. He pleaded not guilty at a hearing on Dec. 10, and his attorney told the judge that he was at the protest as press, Nelson said. A date hasn’t yet been set for the next court hearing
Gutenschwager was also arrested and cited for violating an emergency order. Talcott and McGinniss were detained, but released when police identified them as journalists.
Nelson said police confiscated his phone when he was arrested, and that it was not returned to him until Dec. 1.
Wauwatosa Police Department spokesperson Sgt. Abby Pavlik told the Tracker in an email that Nelson wasn’t wearing anything that identified him as a member of the press and didn’t show police any credentials when police asked.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering these protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Jacob Kornbluh, national politics reporter for the national news outlet Jewish Insider, was assaulted by a crowd during anti-lockdown protests in the Brooklyn borough of New York on Oct. 7, 2020, according to tweets from Kornbluh and news reports.
Videos of the assault, which were posted on Twitter, show a group of men in clothing typically worn by members of the Orthodox Jewish community surrounding Kornbluh and pinning him against a wall while screaming “moyser,” or “snitch” in Yiddish.
Kornbluh wrote on Twitter and confirmed in a conversation with the Committee to Protect Journalists that he was “hit in the head and kicked by an angry crowd of hundreds of community members” that were calling him “Nazi” and “Hitler.” New York Police Department officers and several community members helped Kornbluh leave the crowd, according to Kornbluh’s tweets.
The New York Police Department arrested one of the anti-lockdown protest organizers, Heshy Tischler, on Oct. 11, and charged him with inciting a riot and unlawful imprisonment in connection with an assault of a journalist, according to New York state’s online court record system and a tweet from the NYPD.
Before his arrest, Tischler posted on Twitter that he would be pleading not guilty.
The protests were against New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s new COVID-19 restrictions on neighborhoods with high infection rates, including in Borough Park, where the incident occurred and where both Kornbluh and Tischler live, according to Haaretz.
Protests erupted over new COVID-19 restrictions in areas with high infection rates, including this one in Brooklyn’s Borough Park on Oct. 7, 2020, where a reporter with Jewish Insider was assaulted by a crowd.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"coronavirus, protest",,,,, Photojournalist’s hearing damaged by flash-bang grenade thrown by federal agent,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalists-hearing-damaged-by-flash-bang-grenade-thrown-by-federal-agent/,2021-03-24 17:10:13.752925+00:00,2021-03-24 17:10:13.752925+00:00,2021-03-24 17:10:13.716037+00:00,,Assault,,,,Mathieu Lewis-Rolland (Freelance),,2020-10-06,False,Portland,Oregon (OR),45.52345,-122.67621,"Independent photojournalist Mathieu Lewis-Rolland’s hearing was damaged when a federal officer threw a flash-bang grenade at him while he was covering a protest in Portland, Oregon on Oct. 6, 2020.
Lewis-Rolland, whose work has been published by Reuters, Agence France-Presse and other news outlets, was covering one of the many Portland Black Lives Matter protests that had been ongoing for months following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020.
Law enforcement officers in Portland have targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. A temporary restraining order in early July, barring the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists, was expanded to include federal agents later that month. Lewis-Rolland is a plaintiff in the class-action lawsuit.
On the evening of Oct. 6, protesters marched to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building on South Macadam Avenue in south Portland, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting. Federal Protective Service officers, who were guarding the building, declared an unlawful assembly, according to a statement from the Portland Police Bureau. When a protester threw a smoke bomb onto the roof of the building, agents began using flash bang grenades and tear gas to disperse demonstrators, OPB reported.
Lewis-Rolland told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was standing in front of the ICE building around 11 p.m. when the federal officers opened the door and rolled a flash-bang grenade toward him.
In one video posted on Twitter by photographer Clementson Supriyadi, Lewis-Rolland can be seen in a fluorescent yellow vest. He moves to the side of a walkway leading to the entrance of the building as law enforcement officers emerge through the door. One agent throws a metal canister toward Lewis-Rolland, who does not appear to be standing near any protesters or other people. The flash-bang grenade explodes a few feet from the photographer, spewing white fog.
Lewis-Rolland told the Tracker the agents gave no warning.
“I couldn't even react,” he said. “It happened so fast.”
In another video from a different angle, posted on Twitter by Garrison Davis at 10:57 p.m., Lewis-Rolland can be seen in the very first seconds, jumping as the device explodes. He staggers a few steps, before falling to the ground.
Federal Agents have stormed out of the ICE building. Stun Grenades and Teargas being used. #blacklivesmatter #ICE #AbolishICE #portland #PortlandProtests pic.twitter.com/kofM8IUQaj
— Garrison Davis (@hungrybowtie) October 7, 2020
Lewis-Rolland told the Tracker that after the explosion, he was dizzy for the rest of the night. He said he sought medical help for the damage to his hearing in his left ear and was treated with prednisone.
They prescribed me prednisone. Hoping it gets better 🤞
— Mathieu Lewis-Rolland (@MathieuLRolland) October 10, 2020
Lewis said he didn’t return to news coverage for a month after the incident. Nearly six months later, he said he still has very loud tinnitus in his left ear because of the blast, and loud noises cause his hearing to crackle.
In addition to the bright yellow vest, Lewis-Rolland told the Tracker he was wearing a black helmet marked “PRESS” and carrying two large cameras.
The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
An Oregon journalist was attacked on Oct. 4, 2020, in a public park by attendees of what he believed to be a meeting of a local militia group.
Chris Bristol, city editor for the Grants Pass Daily Courier, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was tipped off to what was described to him as a meeting of a local militia group that was being held at Reinhart Volunteer Park in Grants Pass. Bristol referred to the group as the JoCo militia, a reference to Josephine County, Oregon, of which Grants Pass is the county seat.
Bristol had previously covered a Sept. 6 meeting of the group, which he said was organizing for major civil unrest following the presidential elections. Bristol spoke with Joseph Rice, whom he described as a member and purported leader in the group.
"I do have concerns about civil unrest," Rice told Bristol at the time. "Look at what's been happening in Portland for 100 days now. I wouldn't have believed that before."
Since the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25, Portland has been the site of near-nightly civil unrest. The Tracker has captured press freedom violations in that city here.
In an interview with the Tracker, Rice denied having a leadership role in the JoCo group. He said the real leaders of the group asked him to facilitate the Sept. 6 meeting, as well as act as spokesman.
Bristol told the Tracker that he received a tip that the JoCo group was meeting again on Oct. 4 to “hand out assignments.” Bristol arrived at the meeting with colleague Shuan Hall and said “things quickly began to devolve.”
Rice told the Tracker that the meeting of about 15 people held that day in a park pavilion was not affiliated with the JoCo militia — it was a “support group” unaffiliated with the militia group.
Rice said that the JoCo militia was coincidentally holding an unrelated gathering of about 30 people in another part of Reinhart Volunteer Park at the same time.
“He made the assumption that it was a ‘quote-unquote’ militia meeting,” Rice said of Bristol. “It was not.”
Rice said he had no knowledge of the larger gathering on the other end of the park. He declined to disclose what the group he was with was meeting for, citing privacy concerns for those in attendance.
Bristol said some of the attendees to the park meeting did not like his previous coverage and threatened to assault him if he tried to take videos or photos. At that point, Bristol began to take video.
“You’re the problem, not us,” one man said to Bristol, insisting that the group was meeting for a class reunion, according to Bristol’s video.
Bristol said that Rice, who was captured in the video, then called over other members of the group. One man, later identified in both a Oct. 8 column in the Daily Courier and on KOBI-TV NBC5 as Jim Thalhamer, then lunged toward Bristol and began shouting.
“Don’t be taking my fucking picture, cocksucker,” Thalhamer yelled at Bristol, inching close to his face. The journalist, who was also holding a bicycle, said he tried to push Thalhamer away but other individuals grabbed and twisted his arms, causing him to drop his phone.
“They were beginning to mob me when one of them charged into me (I was standing stationary the entire time, holding my bike), getting spittle all over my face as he swore at me,” Bristol told the Tracker in an email. “Just as I realized that I wasn't wearing a mask, the old guy charged into me again. I pushed him away from me, and they all went nuts, accusing me of assaulting the man, grabbing and twisting my arms, knocking my phone out of my hand, and kicking me and my bike.”
Rice said that Bristol’s push caused Thalhamer to fall to the ground and hit his head. Hall, who had picked up the phone for his colleague, pointed it back toward the scuffle showing Thalhamer on his feet and again facing Bristol.
Both Hall and an individual at the meeting called the police, Bristol and Rice said. Paramedics arrived at the scene and examined Thalhamer but did not transport him from the scene. No arrests were made and Bristol said his phone was not damaged.
The Grants Pass Department of Public Safety confirmed to the Tracker that the matter has been referred to the Josephine County District Attorney’s office. The DA’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
Independent videographer Scott Keeler wrote on social media that he was hit with a chemical irritant sprayed by a police officer while covering a Seattle protest on Oct. 3, 2020.
The Portland-based journalist was covering one of the many protests held in Seattle 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. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
The Oct. 3 protest began at night around 7 p.m. in Cal Anderson Park, in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood. Demonstrators marched on Broadway, with some protesters vandalizing buildings with graffiti. In response, Seattle Police officers used pepper spray and arrested 16 people, according to the Seattle Times.
At 9:27 p.m., Keeler tweeted a photo of a camera covered in a substance, writing that he and Lewis had taken “a direct hit of mace while filming an arrest.”
.@PhrenologyPhun and I just took a direct hit of mace while filming an arrest pic.twitter.com/4MV09FT35c
— Soundtrack to the End (@_WhatRiot) October 4, 2020
Keeler, who did not respond to a request for comment, posted a video of the incident on Twitter about an hour later, showing Seattle police in riot gear arresting a number of people on East Denny Way, on the north end of Cal Anderson Park. About 10 seconds in, a police officer is seen firing pepper spray at a group of people, and the spray hits Keeler’s phone.
The Seattle Police Department didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Independent videographer Melissa Lewis said she was hit with a chemical irritant sprayed by a police officer while covering a Seattle protest on Oct. 3, 2020.
The Portland-based journalist was covering one of the many protests held in Seattle 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. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
The Oct. 3 protest began at night around 7 p.m. in Cal Anderson Park, in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood. Demonstrators marched on Broadway, with some protesters vandalizing buildings with graffiti. In response, Seattle Police officers used pepper spray and arrested 16 people, according to the Seattle Times.
Lewis told the Tracker the incident occurred after the protesters returned to Cal Anderson Park. “We were told repeatedly as press that we had to disperse, that we had no right to be there and no right to film, which is bananas, and despite how many times we IDed as press and showed credentials,” she said.
Lewis told the Tracker she believes they were deliberately targeted by the officer. “I got mace on my camera and on my gimbal,” she said. “I was able to wash it off. But I don’t love getting mace on my equipment.”
The Seattle Police Department didn’t respond to a request for comment.
WCCO photojournalist Dymanh Chhoun was assaulted ahead of a rally held by President Donald Trump on Sept. 30, 2020, following a confrontation between a Trump supporter and supporters of Democratic nominee Joe Biden.
The outlet reported that Chhoun was on assignment to get reactions in advance of the president’s rally in Duluth, Minnesota. While gathering footage, Chhoun noticed a Trump supporter confronting a group of counter-protesters.
According to the Star Tribune, the Trump supporter — identified as 70-year-old Duane Waldriff — said he was driving near the airport a few hours before the president was scheduled to arrive when a group of Biden supporters started pushing his truck, which had multiple pro-Trump stickers and signs visible.
Waldriff said he got out of his vehicle to confront the protesters and tell them to stop hitting the truck.
In the cell phone footage captured by Chhoun, Waldriff can be heard telling the protesters, “You guys want to be peaceful? Be peaceful. You want to be violent? Come to me.”
He then seems to notice Chhoun and punches at him, knocking the phone out of Chhoun’s hands. Chhoun was not injured and his phone was undamaged.
“I was scared,” Chhoun told the Tribune. “I’m used to people verbally attacking me but not physically. I was just doing my job.”
Chhoun was caught in tear gas at the end of May while covering a protest against police brutality in the wake of George Floyd’s death during an arrest in Minneapolis.
Waldriff told the Tribune that he did not realize until after the altercation that Chhoun was a journalist. Chhoun said he was wearing a press badge and a WCCO jacket, according to the Tribune.
Multiple journalists at WCCO spoke out online condemning the attack and in support of Chhoun and his professionalism.
I am outraged by this violent attack on my @wcco colleague,friend &photojournalist @Dymanh in Duluth- I am so thankful he was not hurt. The venom must stop, our photojournalists are our truest storytellers &this video tells an important,sad & terrifying one. Thx Dymanh pic.twitter.com/9caREau3HS
— esme murphy (@esmemurphy) October 1, 2020
The Duluth News Tribune reported that Chhoun filed a police report and planned to press charges. Waldriff has since been issued a citation for misdemeanor assault and disorderly conduct. If convicted, he faces up to 90 days in jail, fines totaling $1,000 or both.
While documenting reactions in advance of a rally held by President Donald Trump in Duluth, Minnesota, WCCO photojournalist Dymanh Chhoun filmed a Trump supporter striking at him and knocking his phone to the ground.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,Donald Trump rally,,,,, Social media journalist arrested while covering protests in Portland,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/social-media-journalist-arrested-while-covering-protests-portland/,2021-01-12 19:56:05.347852+00:00,2022-05-12 20:12:49.460270+00:00,2022-05-12 20:12:49.385356+00:00,,Arrest/Criminal Charge,,,,Chris Khatami (Freelance),,2020-09-28,False,Portland,Oregon (OR),45.52345,-122.67621,"Social media journalist Chris Khatami was arrested while covering protests in Portland, Oregon, on Sept. 28, 2020. The journalist was held for several hours and charged with interfering with a peace officer and disorderly conduct.
That night, protesters gathered outside the Portland Police Union building in North Portland as part of ongoing demonstrations against racial injustice and police violence. Khatami hosts an entertainment show on the platform Twitch and has been documenting and livestreaming the city’s protests on social media for several months. He told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was on North Lombard Street filming on his phone what had been a “very uneventful night.”
I am almost at the Portland Police Association for tonight’s BLM protest. I will be covering it here and on Facebook. This is my twitter thread. (Running late of course) pic.twitter.com/fpt76wFV4L
— Ra's Al Crood (@ChrisKhatami) September 29, 2020
At around 11 p.m., Khatami said he was walking across an intersection and filming when he was grabbed from behind by police officers and told he was under arrest because the street had been declared off limits. A police statement said law enforcement declared the gathering an unlawful assembly after protesters started throwing objects at officers, according to news reports.
Khatami told the Tracker he had printed out papers that said “press” and taped them to his sleeves and vest. He said he also told the officers he was a member of the press. The officers asked if he was affiliated with any organization and Khatami told them he was an independent journalist, he said.
Since July, law enforcement officers from the Portland Police Bureau and federal agencies have been barred by court rulings from arresting, harming or impeding journalists or legal observers of the protests.
Despite identifying himself as a member of the media, the officers placed him in zip ties and put him in the back of a police van, he said. About an hour later, he and others arrested at the protests were taken to a police precinct in downtown Portland.
After being held for several hours, he was released early the next morning, Khatami said. He was one of 24 people charged with “Interfering with a Peace Officer” and “Disorderly Conduct in the Second Degree,” according to government records. At an arraignment the next day, officials declined to prosecute him for the charges, Khatami said.
When asked for comment, a PPB Public Information Officer directed the Tracker to the city attorney's office. The city attorney's office did not respond to an email requesting comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Independent journalist Alissa Azar was shoved and hit with batons by law enforcement officers while she was covering a protest in downtown Portland, Oregon, during the early morning hours of Sept. 27, 2020.
The protest was among the many demonstrations that broke out in response to police violence and in support of Black Lives Matter following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Law enforcement officers in Portland had targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The city agreed to a preliminary injunction in July to not to arrest or harm any journalists or legal observers of the protests or impede their work.
On the night of Sept. 26, several hundred protesters gathered in front of the Multnomah County Justice Center for a demonstration that lasted into the early morning hours, according to local news station KGW8. After an unlawful assembly was declared around 11:30 p.m., law enforcement officers “began bull-rushing and pushing protesters, press, and legal observers,” the article said.
A little after midnight, Azar was pushed around, hit with batons and shoved to the ground by officers while covering the demonstration, she told the Tracker.
“Before we knew it, a few riot vans came in and arrested three people just for standing in the street,” she said, noting that officers from the Portland Police Bureau, Oregon State Police and Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office were working together under a unified command.
“They pushed us SO far. And by pushed I mean literally sprinting as fast as they could after us...I saw countless people get pushed and hit,” Azar tweeted at 12:25 a.m.
In a follow-up tweet, she wrote, “I got told to move and to ‘use my brain’ and ‘self accountability’ for saying I’m moving. I then got pushed to the ground, picked up by my backpack strap & pushed again then told to ‘stop flopping around.’ Wrist is already bruising and swelling & hurt my ankle.”
I got told to move and to “use my brain” and “self accountability” for saying I’m moving. I then got pushed to the ground, picked up by my backpack strap & pushed again then told to “stop flopping around.” Wrist is already bruising and swelling & hurt my ankle 😎
— Alissa Azar (@AlissaAzar) September 27, 2020
Azar sustained a minor concussion, numerous bruises, a thumb injury that required medical attention and a cracked phone screen, she said.
She had been wearing a vest and helmet, both labeled with press markings, she said, as well as a National Press Photographers Association press pass.
In a joint statement on that day’s demonstrations, MCSO Sheriff Mike Reese and OSP Superintendent Travis Hampton praised officers for maintaining safety and order while allowing people to exercise their rights.
When reached by email about this incident, the PPB declined to comment, citing pending litigation. MCSO didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment.
OSP spokesperson Timothy Fox told the Tracker that “if someone feels that excessive or improper force was used against them,” they may report it to the Office of Professional Standards for investigation.
Independent journalist Rodrigo Melgarejo was shoved by Portland police while covering a protest in downtown Portland, Oregon, during the early morning hours of Sept. 27, 2020.
The protest was among the many demonstrations that broke out in response to police violence and in support of Black Lives Matter following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Law enforcement officers in Portland had targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The city agreed to a preliminary injunction in July to not to arrest or harm any journalists or legal observers of the protests or impede their work.
On the night of Sept. 26, several hundred protesters gathered in front of the Multnomah County Justice Center for a demonstration that lasted into the early morning hours, according to local news station KGW8. After an unlawful assembly was declared around 11:30 p.m., law enforcement officers “began bull-rushing and pushing protesters, press, and legal observers,” the article said.
“Police push tonight was one of the most brutal show of force by the Portland Police,” Melgarejo tweeted at 3:57 a.m. “Pushing and shoving press members on the ground.”
Police push tonight was one of the most brutal show of force by the Portland Police. Pushing and shoving press members on the ground. in this video, Brent Taylor is seen making an arrest in the midst of the chaos. @NLG_Portland @uspresstracker pic.twitter.com/gT7ioazVI4
— Rodrigo Melgarejo (@Mestizo43) September 27, 2020
In the video, officers in riot gear can be seen aggressively pushing people and repeatedly shouting, “Move!” Melgarejo gets shoved about seven seconds into the video, though it's unclear if the officer directly hits the camera with a baton or uses the baton to push someone into the camera. About 10 seconds later, an officer can be seen grabbing someone from behind and slamming them to the ground.
Melgarejo was wearing a ballistic vest and black helmet, both marked as “press,” he told the Tracker.
In a different video, Melgarejo is walking alongside other members of the press when one officer yells at a person wearing a large “press” sign on their chest, "Do you know how many projectiles we take from people wearing press?” the officer asks. “Police your own.”
When reached by email about this incident, the Portland Police Bureau declined to comment, citing pending litigation.
Independent photojournalist Sean Bascom was pushed by officers several times, he said, including once when he was knocked down over another person while he was covering a protest in Portland, Oregon, early on the morning of Sept. 27, 2020.
Bascom was documenting one of the many protests that had been ongoing for months in downtown Portland and across the U.S. in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Law enforcement officers in Portland have targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The ACLU suit led to a temporary restraining order, and later a preliminary injunction, barring the Portland Police Bureau from harming or impeding journalists. Olmos provided a declaration in support of the class-action lawsuit involving a previous incident.
On Sept. 26, a rally organized by the Proud Boys far-right extremist group drew some 800 people to Portland, while at least 1,000 counter-protesters gathered nearby, The Oregonian reported. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown had declared a state of emergency ahead of the rally, putting officers from the Portland Police Bureau, Oregon State Police and the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office under a unified command. After those protests ended, left-leaning demonstrators gathered downtown later that night, according to The Oregonian, and police declared an “unlawful assembly” around 11:40 p.m.
Videos posted on social media into the early morning of Sept. 27 show police pushing many people who were marked as “press.”
Bascom, whose work has been published in outlets including the Portland Mercury and the Portland State Vanguard, said he was pushed by law enforcement officers at several points during the protest.
In a live video shot just after midnight on Sept. 27, journalists can be seen walking away from law enforcement officers before the camera shakes. That was when an officer knocked him down over another person, Bascom told the Tracker.
Later, the video shows officers once again starting to push Bascom and other journalists, ordering them to move down the street. They can be heard telling Bascom to “Go faster!” and “Stop interfering and move!”
— Sean Bascom (@baaascom) September 27, 2020
Bascom repeatedly tells them he is a journalist. One officer responds, saying. “I understand that you’re press, but you have to move.” As Bascom walks backwards filming the officers, one tells him, “Turn around so you don’t trip.”
In a video Bascom uploaded to Twitter around 1 a.m., officers can be seen pushing Bascom and other journalists with batons as they try to clear the crowd. About 80 seconds into the video, an officer grabs a photographer by his body armor and flings him back towards where Bascom is retreating. In his tweet, Bascom described the officers as being from both the OSP and the PPB.
OSP & PPB bull rush indiscriminately for one block pic.twitter.com/LTXWJdZRpI
— Sean Bascom (@baaascom) September 27, 2020
“Normally there is an avenue for us to go, for press to step aside and exist and document. But on that night it was like building-to-building, wall-to-wall police and pushing, and there was nowhere for anybody to go,” he told the Tracker.
Bascom, who was wearing a high-visibility vest with press markings that night, said officers appeared to be targeting members of the press.
Afterwards, the ACLU called for the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate police treatment of journalists, The Oregonian reported.
Gov. Brown tweeted on Sept. 27 that she asked the individual law enforcement agencies to investigate any allegations about the use of force against members of the press or public. In a statement on behalf of the three agencies, the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office said it was aware that video had been taken of several incidents involving force, which would be reviewed to determine whether any officers violated law enforcement policies, according to The Oregonian.
A spokesperson for the PPB declined to comment, citing ongoing litigation. A spokesperson for the OSP said they weren’t aware of the incidents.
Freelance journalist Michael Elliott said he was repeatedly shoved by law enforcement officers, damaging his camera, while covering a protest in Portland, Oregon, early on the morning of Sept. 27, 2020.
Elliott told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was documenting one of the many protests held for months in downtown Portland and across the U.S. in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Law enforcement officers in Portland have targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The ACLU suit led to a temporary restraining order, and later a preliminary injunction, barring the Portland Police Bureau from harming or impeding journalists.
On Sept. 26, a rally organized by the Proud Boys far-right extremist group drew some 800 people to Portland, while at least 1,000 counter-protesters gathered nearby, The Oregonian reported. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown had declared a state of emergency ahead of the rally, putting officers from the PPB, Oregon State Police and the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office under a unified command. After those protests ended, left-leaning demonstrators gathered downtown later that night, according to The Oregonian, and police declared an “unlawful assembly” around 11:40 p.m.
Videos posted on social media into early the morning of Sept. 27 show police pushing many people who were marked as “press.”
Elliott, who says his work has been published by VICE, Oregon Public Broadcasting and Willamette Week, among others, told the Tracker he was one of the journalists repeatedly shoved by officers using their batons shortly after midnight. At least six other journalists also reported being shoved, pushed or grabbed by law enforcement officers that night.
“I was literally pleading with the law enforcement [officers] to stop pushing me because they were pushing me into protesters who were pushing back,” Elliott said. “They were relentlessly pushing us, a group predominantly of press, and the press was essentially trampling each other at that point.”
Elliott added he believes that at some point during the incident, one of the officer’s batons struck his camera, cracking the glass of his camera’s viewfinder. He said that in addition to his camera, he was wearing a press credential around his neck and a helmet labeled “PRESS.”
The following day, the ACLU called for the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate police treatment of journalists, The Oregonian reported.
Gov. Brown tweeted on Sept. 27 that she asked the individual law enforcement agencies to investigate any allegations about the use of force against members of the press or public. In a statement on behalf of the three agencies, the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office said it was aware that video had been taken of several incidents involving force, which would be reviewed to determine whether any officers violated law enforcement policies, according to The Oregonian.
Since July, law enforcement officers from the PPB and federal agencies have been barred by court rulings from arresting, harming or impeding journalists or legal observers of the protests. The PPB has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation in the ACLU case. A spokesperson for the Oregon State Police said they weren’t aware of the incidents.
Oregon Public Broadcasting reporter Sergio Olmos was pushed by an officer into a tree, according to his social media posts, while he was covering a protest in Portland, Oregon, early on the morning of Sept. 27, 2020.
Olmos was documenting one of the many protests that had been ongoing for months in downtown Portland and across the U.S. in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Law enforcement officers in Portland have targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The ACLU suit led to a temporary restraining order, and later a preliminary injunction, barring the Portland Police Bureau from harming or impeding journalists. Olmos provided a declaration in support of the class-action lawsuit involving a previous incident.
On Sept. 26, a rally organized by the Proud Boys far-right extremist group drew some 800 people to Portland, while at least 1,000 counter-protesters gathered nearby, The Oregonian reported. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown had declared a state of emergency ahead of the rally, putting officers from the Portland Police Bureau, Oregon State Police and the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office under a unified command. After those protests ended, left-leaning demonstrators gathered downtown later that night, according to The Oregonian, and police declared an “unlawful assembly” around 11:40 p.m.
Videos posted on social media into early the morning of Sept. 27 show police pushing many people who were marked as “press.
Olmos captured footage of officers pushing journalists. He tweeted a video at 12:24 a.m. showing police officers pushing a crowd up a street, writing that OSP and PPB officers were pushing journalists, protesters and legal observers with batons.
Immediately after, he tweeted, “This reporter is pushed into a tree.”
The video posted with the tweet shows police pressing people along a street. An officer in riot gear can be seen pushing the back of someone with a camera in a vest labeled “press.” The Tracker couldn’t identify the journalist.
Then another officer can be heard in the video saying, “Go, go, go, get moving!” After Olmos replies, “I’m press,” the camera abruptly shakes and continues to record as it hits the ground, looking up the trunk of a tree. When Olmos leans over to pick up the device, his black vest, labeled with “press” in white letters, is visible.
This reporter is pushed into a tree pic.twitter.com/mXP5Ar1pLN
— Sergio Olmos (@MrOlmos) September 27, 2020
Olmos didn’t respond to a request for comment.
OPB news director Anna Griffin retweeted Olmos’ video, noting that the enforcement actions against a journalist violated the temporary restraining order in the ACLU case. “I’d also love to hear elected officials explain why a reporter from my organization was subject to violence at the hands of law enforcement when judges have made it very clear this is not acceptable,” she wrote.
Afterwards, the ACLU called for the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate police treatment of journalists, The Oregonian reported.
Gov. Brown tweeted on Sept. 27 that she asked the individual law enforcement agencies to investigate any allegations about the use of force against members of the press or public. In a statement on behalf of the three agencies, the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office said it was aware that video had been taken of several incidents involving force, which would be reviewed to determine whether any officers violated law enforcement policies, according to The Oregonian.
A spokesperson for the PPB declined to comment, citing ongoing litigation. A spokesperson for the OSP said they weren’t aware of the incidents.
A livestreamer was punched and shoved to the ground while covering a Sept. 26, 2020, rally in Portland, Oregon. The attacker was filmed kicking the journalist in the face, taking his phone and throwing it over a fence.
Journalists covering the Sept. 26 rally of the Proud Boys, a far-right group, Portland’s Delta Park, captured images of a man assaulting the livestreamer, who goes by the name Jovanni, the Daily Beast reports. The event attracted between 200 and 300 people, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting.
Independent journalist Zack Perry told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that at one point during the rally he witnessed members of the crowd yelling at Jovanni and trying to chase him out of the event. A man clad in jeans, gray shirt and a ballcap punched Jovanni in the eye but the livestreamer managed to get away, according to Perry and a Twitter post by Jovanni.
Jovanni did not respond to the Tracker’s requests for comment.
Perry, Jovanni and two other journalists tried to walk out of the event as a group, but Jovanni’s assailant “kept stalking us and berating us, blaming us for killing Jay Bishop and for burning down the city of Portland,” Perry said.
“Jay Bishop” is an alias for Aaron Danielson, a “friend and supporter” of the right-wing, Vancouver, Washington-based Patriot Prayer group who was shot and killed on Aug. 29, 2020, during a clash of left-wing groups and supporters of President Donald Trump in downtown Portland, the Oregonian reports.
“He pushed me very aggressively multiple times and punched me in the back of the head on two separate occasions but we just kept walking,” Perry said. After Perry was struck, the journalist said he stepped away in order to get “some distance to see if I could capture footage of him fucking with us better.”
The Tracker documented the assaults of Perry and independent journalist Justin Katigbak here.
At that point, Perry said, the assailant who had punched Jovanni earlier assaulted him a second time, throwing him into a fence and kicking him in the face.
Portland Tribune reporter Zane Sparling posted a video on Twitter of the attack at about 4 p.m. in which the man is seen kicking Jovanni in the face, snatching his phone from his hand and throwing the device over the fence. The assailant then falls to the ground himself.
Perry said that both journalists and rally attendees then moved to separate the assailant from Jovanni and that he and other journalists took the livestreamer to be seen by medics on hand at a nearby Black Lives Matter protest.
Jovanni tweeted on Sept. 27 that he went to the hospital and learned that he suffered a concussion from the attack. He said that he was unable to recover his phone but that a “homie got me a temporary.”
The Portland Police Bureau tweeted that the department was investigating the on-camera assault and called on witnesses to come forward. But a department spokesperson told the Tracker that investigators were unable to get in touch with Jovanni to look into the matter further.
“I have not been notified that there has been any change to that case. As far as I can tell it remains inactive,” Portland Police Sgt. Kevin Allen told the Tracker on Feb. 1, 2021.
Two independent photojournalists and a livestreamer were assaulted by an individual at a Sept. 26, 2020, rally in Portland, Oregon, according to interviews and multiple filmed accounts of the incident.
National leaders of the Proud Boys, which the Southern Poverty Law Center designates as a hate group, organized the rally, which drew between 200 and 300 people to Portland’s Delta Park, Oregon Public Broadcasting reports.
Journalists and others at the rally posted videos online showing a man shoving around independent journalists Zack Perry and Justin Katigbak.
The same assailant was also recorded throwing a livestreamer to the ground, kicking him in the face and throwing the journalist’s phone over a fence. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documented the assault on the livestreamer, who goes by the name Jovanni, and damage to his equipment here.
Perry told the Tracker that prior to the assaults, a “huge chunk of the crowd” moved away from a stage erected in the park to chase after Jovanni. A Proud Boys member working security at the event managed to keep the crowd at bay to allow Jovanni to leave, Perry said.
Perry, Jovanni and other journalists walked away from the scene together. But the man followed after them, “stalking us and berating us” and blaming them for “burning down the city of Portland,” Perry said.
The assailant “pushed me very aggressively multiple times and punched me in the back of the head on two separate occasions but we just kept walking,” Perry said.
Katigbak told the Tracker that he began to follow the group after he noticed that the assailant was pursuing the two journalists, recording the altercation with a Nikon Z6.
“I noticed this guy was going after them and I followed to video,” Katigbak said.
Instagram user Gabby Albano posted a video of the assailant following Perry and Jovanni and giving Perry a shove from behind. The Tracker has documented that incident here.
Soon after that exchange, the man shoved Jovanni into a nearby fence and kicked him in the face while he was down before tossing the livestreamer’s phone over the fence.
In Albano’s video, a man wearing a black polo shirt with yellow trim — colors associated with the Proud Boys — is seen trying to restrain the assailant.
The assailant paces for about one minute before turning his sights on Katigbak. The assailant then shoves the journalist into a tree, causing Katigbak to fall to one knee.
In a video posted by Portland Tribune reporter Zane Sparling, Katigbak is seen getting to his feet when another rally attendee, wearing combat gear with a rifle strapped to his vest, shoves the journalist several times before others step between them.
Perry told the Tracker he did not file a complaint. Katigbak said he filed a report with the Portland Police Bureau regarding the assault but that he has not followed up with the department in the months since.
PPB spokesman Derek Carmon told the Tracker on Feb. 1, 2021, that no one has been arrested in relation to Katigbak’s alleged assault and no suspects have been identified.
Independent photojournalist John Rudoff was shoved to the ground by police while he was photographing an arrest during a protest in Portland, Oregon, late on Sept. 26, 2020.
Rudoff, whose work has been published in The New York Times, The Nation and Rolling Stone, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he hit the ground “so hard that my teeth hurt” and that his camera lens was significantly damaged.
Rudoff was documenting one of the many protests that had been ongoing for months in downtown Portland and across the U.S. in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. The Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Law enforcement officers in Portland have targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The ACLU suit led to a temporary restraining order, and later a preliminary injunction, barring the Portland Police Bureau from harming or impeding journalists. Rudoff is a plaintiff in the class-action lawsuit.
Earlier in the day on Sept. 26, a rally organized by the Proud Boys far-right extremist group drew some 800 people to Portland, while at least 1,000 counter-protesters gathered nearby, The Oregonian reported. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown had declared a state of emergency ahead of the rally, putting officers from the Portland Police Bureau, Oregon State Police and the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office under a unified command. After those protests ended, left-leaning demonstrators gathered downtown later that night, according to The Oregonian, and police declared an “unlawful assembly” around 11:40 p.m.
Rudoff told the Tracker that he was following a crowd of protesters around 11:45 p.m. when several police officers ran up the sidewalk and tackled a demonstrator. Rudoff crossed the street and ran to document the arrest, along with several other journalists and photographers.
When Rudoff started taking photographs, standing at least 10 feet back, two officers put their hands on him and pushed him backwards, he said. He didn’t have time to put a foot back to catch his balance, and he landed on his right hip and the right side of his back. The right side of his head got slammed to the ground, he said.
“All the teeth in my mouth hurt from the impact of my helmet on the sidewalk,” he said.
Video posted on Twitter at midnight by Mike Baker of The New York Times shows officers running alongside a wall and tackling an individual to the ground. About 20 seconds into the video, Rudoff, wearing a bright yellow backpack, can be seen standing several yards back from the arrest, holding a camera up to take a photograph. Then two officers approach him, put their hands on his shoulder, and push him to the ground.
Aggressive arrests, baton jabbing and knocking a photographer to the ground. pic.twitter.com/OXdGhfOs3k
— Mike Baker (@ByMikeBaker) September 27, 2020
Rudoff said he was protected from the impact because he was wearing a helmet and body armor. He continued to work for about 20 more minutes before going home. He didn’t require any medical attention, he said, but was sore for the next few days.
His 24-70mm Canon lens, the shorter of two lenses he had with him that night, was significantly damaged and had to be repaired, he said.
Rudoff said he believes PPB officers pushed him, but that it’s possible it was a state trooper.
He doesn’t know whether he was targeted because he was a member of the press, saying it’s possible he was pushed because he was a civilian approaching a police action. However, he believes it’s more likely he was shoved because he was a clearly marked journalist photographing a violent arrest. “That would be the argument, that I was targeted because I was able to record what they were doing,” he said.
Rudoff noted that he had “press” written on his helmet and body armor, press identification around his neck, and professional-grade cameras.
Attorneys involved with the ACLU suit are aware of the incident on Sept. 26, he said.
The ACLU called for the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate police treatment of journalists that night, The Oregonian reported. Matt Borden, a lawyer on the ACLU case, was quoted as saying the incident involving Rudoff “violates basic human decency in addition to the Court’s injunction.”
Brown tweeted on Sept. 27 that she asked the individual law enforcement agencies to investigate any allegations about the use of force against members of the press or public. In a statement on behalf of the three agencies, the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office said it was aware that video had been taken of several incidents involving force, which would be reviewed to determine whether any officers violated law enforcement policies, according to The Oregonian.
A spokesperson for the PPB declined to comment, citing ongoing litigation. A spokesperson for the OSP said they weren’t aware of the incidents.
A law enforcement officer grabbed independent photojournalist Maranie Staab by her backpack and shoved her while she was covering a protest in Portland, Oregon, late on the night of Sept. 26, 2020.
Staab was documenting one of the many protests that had been ongoing for months in downtown Portland and across the U.S. in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Law enforcement officers in Portland have targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The ACLU suit led to a temporary restraining order, and later a preliminary injunction, barring the Portland Police Bureau from harming or impeding journalists.
Earlier in the day on Sept. 26, a rally organized by the Proud Boys far-right extremist group drew some 800 people to Portland, while at least 1,000 counter-protesters gathered nearby, The Oregonian reported. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown had declared a state of emergency ahead of the rally, putting officers from the Portland Police Bureau, Oregon State Police and the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office under a unified command. After those protests ended, left-leaning demonstrators gathered downtown later that night, according to The Oregonian, and police declared an “unlawful assembly” around 11:40 p.m.
Shortly before midnight, Staab was standing next to several other journalists when an officer grabbed her by her backpack and shoved her away.
Independent journalist Rodrigo Melgarejo captured the incident in a video posted on Twitter. Staab, wearing a black vest clearly marked with “press” in large white letters, can be seen standing next to several other people wearing press vests as police officers tell people to leave. An officer abruptly reaches toward her from her right, spins her around by her backpack and pushes her forward.
Retweeting Melgarejo’s video later that day, Staab wrote, “@PortlandPolice continue to unlawfully target members of the Press. While they’re clearly marked. And on the sidewalk. And in no way interfering. This is an affront to our Constitution & democracy. This is taxpayer funded abuse.”
@PortlandPolice continue to unlawfully target members of the Press.
— Maranie R. Staab (@MaranieRae) September 28, 2020
While they’re clearly marked.
And on the sidewalk.
And in no way interfering.
This is an affront to our Constitution & democracy.
This is taxpayer funded abuse. #protectandserve #pdx #policebrutality https://t.co/pyhLiT4p77
After the incident, police began rushing a group of journalists who were on the sidewalk, Staab told the Tracker, adding that she and other members of the press were pushed and shoved back by police.
Staab believed she was targeted because she was a journalist, she said.
The ACLU called for the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate police treatment of journalists that night, The Oregonian reported. Photojournalist John Rudoff was also pushed to the ground by police while covering the same protest, shortly before midnight. Melgarejo and journalists Sergio Olmos and Sean Bascom were also shoved by law enforcement in the early hours of the morning.
Brown tweeted on Sept. 27 that she asked the individual law enforcement agencies to investigate any allegations about the use of force against members of the press or public. In a statement on behalf of the three agencies, the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office said it was aware that video had been taken of several incidents involving force, which would be reviewed to determine whether any officers violated law enforcement policies, according to The Oregonian.
A spokesperson for the PPB didn’t respond to a request for comment, but the bureau has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing the continuing ACLU litigation.
A journalist with Full Revolution Media said he was arrested by police while covering a protest on the night of Sept. 26, 2020, in downtown Portland, Oregon.
The protest was among the many demonstrations that broke out in response to police violence and in support of Black Lives Matter following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Law enforcement officers in Portland had targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The city agreed to a preliminary injunction in July to not to arrest or harm any journalists or legal observers of the protests or impede their work.
Earlier in the day on Sept. 26, a rally organized by the Proud Boys far-right extremist group drew some 800 people to Portland, while at least 1,000 counter-protesters gathered nearby, The Oregonian reported. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown had declared a state of emergency ahead of the rally, putting officers from the Portland Police Bureau, Oregon State Police and the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office under a unified command.
After those protests ended, left-leaning demonstrators gathered downtown later that night, according to The Oregonian, and police declared an “unlawful assembly” around 11:40 p.m. At 10:23 p.m., the MSCO tweeted that "officers have made more than a dozen arrests."
John, the Full Revolution Media journalist, told the Tracker, "I moved south and decided to separate from the protesters by myself to look for a friend that had my charging cable, as my phone was about to die."
John, who asked that his last name not be used out of safety concerns, said an officer asked him to go with the crowd, but he said, "No, I'm going southwest."
"He told me again, and knowing it was not a legal order, I started to walk when he grabbed me and said, 'You are under arrest,'" he said.
John believes he was targeted, noting he had just interacted with that officer about 30 minutes earlier.
He had press markings on the front and rear of his helmet, he said, but was still transported in a "paddy wagon with people with no masks" to the Multnomah County jail, where he was booked for harassment and interfering with a peace officer. The charges were later dropped, John said.
The journalist said he was released on a Sunday and allowed to pick up his personal belongings on Monday when the property room opened, but his work-related belongings were kept in evidence until he filed for their release. On Thursday he was allowed to retrieve his helmet, GoPro camera, Canon camera, and backpack with a backup phone, charger, batteries and other items in it.
"One of my phones (brand new) had been damaged," he told the Tracker. "I was in booking for 14 hours, and if it weren't for help from people outside jail, I wouldn't have been able to pick up my daughter."
The MSCO didn’t respond to a request for comment. The PPB has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation in the ACLU case.
Two independent photojournalists and a livestreamer were assaulted by an individual at a Sept. 26, 2020, rally in Portland, Oregon, according to interviews and multiple filmed accounts of the incident.
National leaders of the Proud Boys, which the Southern Poverty Law Center designates as a hate group, organized the rally, which drew between 200 and 300 people to Portland’s Delta Park, Oregon Public Broadcasting reports.
Journalists and others at the rally posted videos online showing a man shoving around independent journalists Zack Perry and Justin Katigbak.
The same assailant was also recorded throwing a livestreamer to the ground, kicking him in the face and throwing the journalist’s phone over a fence. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documented the assault on the livestreamer, who goes by the name Jovanni, and damage to his equipment here.
Perry told the Tracker that prior to the assaults, a “huge chunk of the crowd” moved away from a stage erected in the park to chase after Jovanni. A Proud Boys member working security at the event managed to keep the crowd at bay to allow Jovanni to leave, Perry said.
Perry, Jovanni and other journalists walked away from the scene together. But the man followed after them, “stalking us and berating us” and blaming them for “burning down the city of Portland,” Perry said.
The assailant “pushed me very aggressively multiple times and punched me in the back of the head on two separate occasions but we just kept walking,” Perry said.
Katigbak told the Tracker that he began to follow the group after he noticed that the assailant was pursuing the two journalists, recording the altercation with a Nikon Z6.
“I noticed this guy was going after them and I followed to video,” Katigbak said.
Instagram user Gabby Albano posted a video of the assailant following Perry and Jovanni and giving Perry a shove from behind.
Soon after that exchange, the man shoved Jovanni into a nearby fence and kicked him in the face while he was down before tossing the livestreamer’s phone over the fence.
In Albano’s video, a man wearing a black polo shirt with yellow trim — colors associated with the Proud Boys — is seen trying to restrain the assailant.
The assailant paces for about one minute before turning his sights on Katigbak. The assailant then shoves the journalist into a tree, causing Katigbak to fall to one knee. The Tracker has documented that incident here.
In a video posted by Portland Tribune reporter Zane Sparling, Katigbak is seen getting to his feet when another rally attendee, wearing combat gear with a rifle strapped to his vest, shoves the journalist several times before others step between them.
Perry told the Tracker he did not file a complaint. Katigbak said he filed a report with the Portland Police Bureau regarding the assault but that he has not followed up with the department in the months since.
PPB spokesman Derek Carmon told the Tracker on Feb. 1, 2021, that no one has been arrested in relation to Katigbak’s alleged assault and no suspects have been identified.
Independent reporter Lynn Murphy, who said she reports on social media about protests, was arrested while covering a demonstration in Richmond, Virginia, early in the morning of Sept. 24, 2020.
The Richmond event was held in response to a Kentucky grand jury’s decision on Sept. 23 not to bring charges against police officers for the shooting death of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman who was killed in her home in Louisville on March 13, 2020.
Murphy is one of three activist journalists who recently told Virginia Public Media they believe Richmond police have targeted them for their coverage of racial justice protests in 2020. She told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that on the day of the grand jury decision in Kentucky, she had been covering a march in Richmond that turned into an hours-long standoff at the police headquarters, continuing past midnight.
Murphy said when she approached one part of a police line outside the building, an officer greeted her by name. Murphy, who was taking photographs, said the officer said she would help Murphy get a better photo. According to Murphy, the officer then stepped up close to her face, grabbed her arm and pulled her through the line of police in order to arrest her. Murphy said she was pulled through the line just as police advanced toward protesters. Richmond activist Jimmie Lee Jarvis tweeted at 1:44 a.m. that police had “snatched” Murphy from the crowd; a video Jarvis posted shows police officers moving toward protesters.
Murphy said she dropped her phone as the officer pulled her. Her glasses were also knocked off and broken, and her arm was bruised, she said.
A Richmond police sergeant told Murphy that she was being taken into custody for an outstanding arrest warrant, but Murphy said the sergeant couldn’t tell her any specific information about the warrant. She said she later learned that the warrant was for a charge of “obstructing free passage” on Sept. 14, when Murphy had been reporting on another protest in Richmond. Murphy said that on that day, she had been covering the protest from the sidewalk with other reporters and was never spoken to by police.
Murphy said police restrained her wrists with zip-ties and transported her to the Richmond City Justice Center, where she was held for 12 hours. At 2:45 a.m., while she was in custody, a magistrate set bond for her at $1,500, according to Murphy. But when a bail bond representative arrived later, the representative was told bail had not been set, Murphy said.
Murphy said she was released after her arraignment on the morning of Sept. 24. At a Nov. 19 hearing, the case was continued until March 2021. Murphy said the charges are still pending while her lawyer seeks to probe whether police unlawfully searched her phone.
Murphy said she got her phone back from police on Nov. 6. When she retrieved it, the case was missing, the screen protector cracked, and the SIM card had been removed, she said. Murphy believes police searched her phone, but she said there was no way for her to determine whether the device had been searched. She said police asked for her passcode, which she did not provide.
According to Murphy, a detective told her multiple times that police were keeping the phone because they had a sealed warrant for it, but she has not been able to locate any warrant in either the circuit or district court.
Murphy said she was wearing a press badge at the time of her arrest. She said that she did not identify herself to police as a reporter, but she believes officers with the police department are familiar with her because they refer to her at protests as “Lynn from Twitter.”
“I really just see them as malicious, the way they target us like this,” Murphy said.
The Richmond Police Department confirmed to the Tracker that detectives had held her phone “due to the ongoing investigation.” The department did not respond to further questions about a warrant.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering these protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Lynn Murphy reports on a protest in Richmond, Virginia, on Sept. 1, 2020.
",arrested and released,charges dropped,Richmond Police Department,None,None,False,None,[],None,returned in full,False,law enforcement,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, court verdict, protest",,blocking traffic: obstructing free passage,,, "Reporter arrested, held for 16 hours while covering Louisville protests",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-arrested-held-16-hours-while-covering-louisville-protests/,2020-11-08 17:51:21.176946+00:00,2022-08-05 18:56:24.874072+00:00,2022-08-05 18:56:24.812345+00:00,,Arrest/Criminal Charge,,,,Shelby Talcott (Daily Caller),,2020-09-23,False,Louisville,Kentucky (KY),38.25424,-85.75941,"Daily Caller reporter Shelby Talcott was held in police custody for 16 hours after she was arrested while covering protests and unrest in Louisville, Kentucky, on Sept. 23, 2020.
Protesters marching daily for months in downtown Louisville were inflamed anew that day after a grand jury decided not to charge police officers for the shooting death of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman, in her home on March 13, 2020.
Talcott and Jorge Ventura, her colleague at the right-leaning news and opinion outlet, were reporting from the city center late on Sept. 23 when police began using a controversial crowd control technique called kettling that restricts people from dispersing.
Talcott tweeted at 10:44 p.m. that police were moving in on a scattered crowd at a park. Video she posted showed a line of officers with shields advancing along a street. A few minutes later she tweeted that police had everyone on the ground, and had begun zip-tying people’s wrists.
In a video Talcott posted on Twitter at 11:06 p.m., she can be heard trying to tell police that they were journalists. “Sir, we’re press,” she repeats twice. “Stay where you’re at,” an officer responds. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented Ventura's arrest here.
We are all on the ground right now and police are taking people and putting them in zip tie cuffs pic.twitter.com/eIJJF1t1Ub
— Shelby Talcott (@ShelbyTalcott) September 24, 2020
Talcott wrote in a Daily Caller article that she identified herself as a journalist to several other officers as she was taken into custody. One officer asked for her credentials, which Talcott didn’t have, but she offered to verify that she was a journalist by calling people who could vouch for her.
When she asked another officer if she was being detained, he told her she was being arrested, she wrote. The officer told her that members of the press weren’t exempt from the city’s curfew or the unlawful-assembly order, she wrote, contradicting previous statements from the Louisville Metropolitan Police Department. Police had emailed reporters that day saying they wouldn’t be subject to curfew or unlawful-assembly orders, according to correspondence shared on Twitter by a Louisville Courier-Journal reporter.
The LMPD didn’t respond to a request for comment about why the reporters were arrested.
Police took Talcott’s backpack, zip-tied her wrists behind her back, and patted her down, before she was taken into a garage where police were processing arrests, she wrote.
Geoffrey Ingersoll, editor in chief of the Daily Caller, tweeted at 11:37 p.m. that he had notified the LMPD that the two reporters were press, and expected they would be released swiftly. A short time later he posted he learned that they would be processed and charged.
Talcott wrote that she underwent a second, more invasive pat-down as she was processed. She wrote in a second account of her experience that she was held in a cell with approximately 28 women, no room to social distance, and not everyone was provided with a mask. She said she was in custody for 16 hours before she was released.
Talcott was charged with unlawful assembly and failure to disperse. She pleaded not guilty to the charges on Sept. 30. A court dropped the charges against both Talcott and Ventura on Oct. 20, the Daily Caller reported.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering these protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Police stand guard in Louisville, Kentucky, as people react to a Sept. 23, 2020, decision in the criminal case against officers involved in the shooting death of Breonna Taylor, a Black woman, earlier in the year.
",arrested and released,charges dropped,Louisville Metro Police Department,2020-09-24,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, court verdict, kettle, protest",,"curfew violation: breaking curfew order, rioting: unlawful assembly",,, "Reporter arrested, held 12 hours while covering Louisville protests",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-arrested-held-12-hours-while-covering-louisville-protests/,2020-11-08 18:00:04.001915+00:00,2022-08-05 18:57:09.505149+00:00,2022-08-05 18:57:09.448801+00:00,,Arrest/Criminal Charge,,,,Jorge Ventura (Daily Caller),,2020-09-23,False,Louisville,Kentucky (KY),38.25424,-85.75941,"Daily Caller reporter Jorge Ventura was arrested while covering protests and unrest in Louisville, Kentucky, on Sept. 23, 2020, and detained more than 12 hours.
Protesters marching daily for months in downtown Louisville were inflamed anew that day after a grand jury decided not to charge police officers for the shooting death of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman, in her home on March 13, 2020.
Ventura and Shelby Talcott, his colleague from the right-leaning news and opinion outlet, were reporting from the city center late at night when police began using a controversial crowd-control technique called kettling that restricts people from dispersing, according to an account of the arrests Talcott later published. The U.S. Press freedom Tracker has documented Talcott’s arrest here.
Video Talcott posted on Twitter shortly before the two journalists were arrested shows she told nearby police officers that they were members of the press several times.
Geoffrey Ingersoll, editor in chief of the Daily Caller, tweeted at 11:37 p.m. that he had notified the Louisville Metropolitan Police Department that the two reporters were press, and expected they would be released swiftly. A short time later he posted that he learned that they would be processed and charged.
While he was held in the police processing center, Ventura was called over to a supervising police officer who told him that Ingersoll had called, Ventura said in an interview with Fox News. He said he thought then that the two journalists would be released, but the officer briefly left, and when he returned, told him that they would be arrested and held overnight.
Ventura was released early in the afternoon on Sept. 24.
Released from jail in Louisville after being detained for +12 hours. My colleague @ShelbyTalcott is still detained at the moment, as well as journalist @livesmattershow. Thank you to everyone for the support , I am truly grateful! pic.twitter.com/E6Ooau4viQ
— Jorge Ventura Media (@VenturaReport) September 24, 2020
Ventura was charged with violating a county ordinance and failure to disperse, CNN reported.
The LMPD didn’t respond to a request for comment about why the reporters were arrested. In an email to members of the media earlier on Sept. 23, the department said journalists wouldn’t be subject to curfew or unlawful-assembly orders, according to correspondence shared on Twitter by a Louisville Courier-Journal reporter.
A court dropped the charges against both Talcott and Ventura on Oct. 20, the Daily Caller reported.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering these protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
A man in Louisville, Kentucky, holds up a sign during a Sept. 23, 2020, protest for Breonna Taylor, a Black woman shot dead by local police earlier in the year.
",arrested and released,charges dropped,Louisville Metro Police Department,2020-09-24,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, court verdict, kettle, protest",,"failure to obey, rioting: failure to disperse",,, Independent reporter arrested while covering Louisville protest,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-reporter-arrested-while-covering-louisville-protest/,2020-11-23 17:20:31.448993+00:00,2022-08-05 18:57:31.982817+00:00,2022-08-05 18:57:31.913152+00:00,(2020-11-24 14:54:00+00:00) Charges dropped for reporter arrested while covering Louisville protest,Arrest/Criminal Charge,,,,Ian Kennedy (Freelance),,2020-09-23,False,Louisville,Kentucky (KY),38.25424,-85.75941,"Social media reporter Ian Kennedy was arrested while covering a protest against police violence in Louisville, Kentucky, on Sept. 23, 2020.
Racial-justice demonstrations, which had been occurring daily in Louisville for months, were reinvigorated when a grand jury decided not to bring charges against police officers for the shooting death of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman, in her home on March 13, 2020.
Kennedy, who reports for his independent media outlet Concrete Reporting, streams unedited video footage of protests live to social media.
Kennedy told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was following a large group of protesters who continued to demonstrate in downtown Louisville after a 9 p.m. curfew went into effect. Near midnight, city police officers used a crowd-control technique called kettling, in which police block protesters from leaving the area.
Video Kennedy posted of the protest on Periscope shows police lines blocking both directions of a wide city street, firing pepper balls toward the ground and ordering protesters to sit down. As police moved in toward the group of protesters Kennedy had been following, he crossed the street to stand on the opposite sidewalk, where he and others were also ordered to sit on the ground.
He said he identified himself to police as a reporter multiple times. On his video, he can be heard telling one officer that he had just arrived from Seattle to cover the protest for his work. “I’m not a protester, I’m just doing my job. I’m press,” he tells the officer.
A short time later, another officer searches through his backpack and pulls out a copy of Kennedy’s press pass, which Kennedy said includes his name, Concrete Reporting, and a QR code that links to the website.
“Yeah, that’s fake,” the officer says.
Kennedy told the Tracker he was held in jail for 18 hours after he was arrested. Court documents show he was charged with failure to disperse and unlawful assembly. A hearing in his case is scheduled for Nov. 24.
The Louisville Metro Police Department didn’t respond to requests for comment about Kennedy’s arrest.
Two Daily Caller reporters, Jorge Ventura and Shelby Talcott, were arrested covering the same protest in Louisville on Sept. 23.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering these protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
WLNE-TV ABC 6 cameraman Paul Duddy had his camera kicked by an individual during a protest in Providence, Rhode Island, on Sept. 25, 2020, according to social media posts by station employees.
An ABC 6 news crew had been following a protest march against the Sept. 23 announcement that a Kentucky grand jury would not be filing charges against police officers for the killing of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old unarmed Black woman who was shot and killed during a botched police raid on her Louisville apartment on March 13. The announcement rekindled racial justice protests across the country, including in Providence.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting arrests, assaults and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
At 10:11 p.m., ABC 6 reporter Brittany Comak tweeted a video showing an individual in white sneakers breaking off from the march, running toward the lens of a camera as it filmed the scene and kicking it.
“Many of the protesters were hostile to the media. This happened walking the Brown University Campus. We are okay. Please remember we are just trying to do our jobs,” she wrote.
Many of the protesters were hostile to the media. This happened walking the Brown University Campus. We are okay. Please remember we are just trying to do our jobs. @ABC6 pic.twitter.com/8haz790vaz
— Brittany Comak (@BComakABC6) September 26, 2020
She later wrote on Twitter that the kick was “dangerously close to my photographer’s head.”
Kim Kalunian, a reporter at WPRI 12 who was also at the march, reported seeing the incident as well.
“One of the protesters just kicked the lens of a camera being manned by a photojournalist from @ABC6,” she wrote on Twitter at 9:23 p.m. “We heard them saying they should smack our cameras just moments before.”
Shiina LoSciuto, another WPRI 12 reporter, tweeted: “It sounded like a few people were threatening to scratch our cameras because we are ‘not on their side.’”
A later tweet from ABC 6 reporter Amanda Pitts identified the cameraman whose camera was kicked as Paul Duddy.
Staff at ABC 6 and WPRI 12 did not respond to requests for comment.
Independent photojournalist Ariston Vallejos said he was shoved by local police officers while covering a protest in Portland, Oregon, on Sept. 23, 2020.
Vallejos was covering one of the many protests that have broken out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the deaths of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky, and others. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Law enforcement officers in Portland have targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The ACLU suit led the city to agree to a preliminary injunction in July to not arrest, harm or impede the work of journalists or legal observers of the protests.
The Sept. 23 protest was called in response to a Kentucky grand jury’s decision that day to not prosecute Louisville police officers for shooting and killing Taylor.
Demonstrators gathered in downtown Portland outside the Multnomah County Justice Center, a focus of Portland protests because it houses a jail, courtrooms and a police station. According to a report in The Oregonian, sometime after 9 p.m., some protesters threw rocks at the windows to the Central Precinct station, located on the Second Avenue side of the Justice Center.
In response, Portland police declared the protest a riot and used crowd-control munitions on demonstrators. At around 10:30 p.m., a protester threw a Molotov cocktail at officers.
Throughout the night, Vallejos filmed and tweeted from the protests. In a Twitter message posted at 10:17 p.m., Vallejos wrote he was “repeatedly shoved and screamed at,” despite his being marked as press.
A video Vallejos posted about an hour later captures an officer arresting someone on the ground. After Vallejos gets closer, a police officer pushes him back, and tells him to “get the fuck out of here.”
Vallejos confirmed the videos to the Tracker and that he felt targeted.
The PPB has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation in the ACLU case.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Social media journalist Chris Khatami was hit with a law enforcement munition used for crowd control while covering protests in Portland, Oregon, on Sept. 23, 2020. Khatami told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he did not believe he was targeted.
Khatami, who hosts an entertainment show on the platform Twitch, has been documenting and livestreaming the city’s protests for racial justice and against police brutality on social media for several months.
On Sept. 23, protesters gathered outside the Multnomah County Justice Center in downtown Portland to demonstrate against the Kentucky Attorney General’s announcement that a grand jury had declined to charge any police officers in the March 2020 death of Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky.
According to Khatami, around midnight, officers began pushing protesters away from the building and through Chapman Square, which housed a large encampment of homeless people. It was a chaotic scene, Khatami told the Tracker, as he tried to film officers pushing and grabbing protesters in the dark, while not trampling the belongings of the encampment’s residents.
In the midst of this, Khatami said he was hit on the hand by a crowd-control munition, but that it did not leave a mark or cause injury. He said he was not sure what kind of munition it was, and he did not believe he was targeted.
At Wednesday’s protest I was hit by DHS munitions and all I got was this amazing shot.#PortlandProtests #portland #pdx #policeriot #copriot #PoliceBrutality pic.twitter.com/5VexF9wRug
— Ra's Al Gabaghul (@ChrisKhatami) September 25, 2020
Earlier that evening, around 11 p.m., Khatami said police officers threw a gas canister directly toward where he was standing with a group of journalists, all of whom were clearly labeled “press.” Khatami was wearing homemade signs that said “press” taped to his backpack, shirt and helmet, he told the Tracker.
The journalist said the canister bounced away and he was not hit with any chemical irritant.
In this video from last night's protests in Portland you can see a cop throw a CS gas canister at me, and you can hear me be an indignant baby about it! #pdx #PDXprotests #portland #PortlandProtests #PoliceBrutality #csgas #copriot #PoliceRiots pic.twitter.com/b6ktNW4lKb
— Ra's Al Gabaghul (@ChrisKhatami) September 24, 2020
Since July, law enforcement officers from the PPB and federal agencies have been barred by court rulings from arresting, harming or impeding journalists or legal observers of the protests. Sergeant Kevin Allen, a Portland Police Bureau Public Information Officer, told the Tracker in an email that he was unable to provide comment on the incident because “there is active litigation involving the City of Portland on the topic you’re asking about.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Lexis-Olivier Ray, a multimedia journalist for local outlet L.A. Taco, says he was repeatedly pushed by Los Angeles Police Department officers while documenting protests in Los Angeles, California, on Sept. 23, 2020.
The Los Angeles Times reported that hundreds had taken to the streets of downtown L.A. that day following the grand jury decision in the case of Breonna Taylor, a Black woman who’d been fatally shot in her Louisville, Kentucky, home by police in March. Protesters were also demanding the removal of Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey, whom they claimed hadn’t done enough to hold the police department accountable in cases of excessive use of force and officer-involved shootings.
The protest was just one in a surge of demonstrations against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement that have been held since May. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Ray told the Tracker he was following marchers as they made their way through downtown toward LAPD headquarters, near the intersection of South Main and West First streets.
“I arrived kind of late and was trying to catch up with people as they headed toward the police station and City Hall, which is nearby,” he said. “To get where the group of people was, I had to cross police lines.”
Ray said that he identified himself as press, but when he then attempted to cross the line, a few officers gave him a “hard time.” He said he then took a few steps back and told the officers he would stay where he was.
“They weren’t happy about that,” Ray said. “They told me to back up and eventually started pushing me down the street pretty aggressively.”
LAPD pushing a shoving me down a public sidewalk after I repeatedly identified myself as a journalist. @LATACO pic.twitter.com/2HRRFPrfw1
— Lexis-Olivier Ray (@ShotOn35mm) September 24, 2020
Ray said that he then walked approximately 30 to 40 feet farther down the police line and asked different officers if he could be allowed to cross the line in order to document the protest, again identifying himself as a member of the press. According to Ray, the officers said, “Oh yeah, sure,” and he was able to reach the protest without further incident.
“I had my press pass and I had a system for dealing with the police,” Ray said. “I stayed on the sidewalk, in a public area. I was careful about identifying myself and making sure that they knew I was a journalist and I tried to keep my distance from the officers.”
The LAPD did not respond to an emailed request for comment.
Independent videographer Melissa Lewis says she was shoved by local police officers while covering a protest in Portland, Oregon, on Sept. 23, 2020.
Lewis was covering one of the many protests that have broken out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the deaths of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky, and others. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Law enforcement officers in Portland have targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The ACLU suit led the city to agree to a preliminary injunction in July to not arrest, harm or impede the work of journalists or legal observers of the protests.
The Sept. 23 protest was called in response to a Kentucky grand jury’s decision that day to not prosecute Louisville police officers for shooting and killing Taylor.
Demonstrators gathered in downtown Portland outside the Multnomah County Justice Center, a focus of Portland protests because it houses a jail, courtrooms and a police station. According to a report in The Oregonian, sometime after 9 p.m., some protesters threw rocks at the windows to the Central Precinct station, located on the Second Avenue side of the Justice Center.
In response, Portland police declared the protest a riot and used crowd-control munitions on demonstrators. At around 10:30 p.m., a protester threw a Molotov cocktail at officers.
Lewis told the Tracker she was filming a confrontation between an officer and a protester on Broadway in downtown Portland. After she walked on the crosswalk to film, a police officer began to yell at her.
Video published by independent journalist Laura Jedeed at 10:55 p.m. captures Lewis, with the words “press” on her helmet walking backwards while an officer follows. Then, the officer pushes her to the ground.
“I reached the sidewalk and he shoved me over. My ankle caught the curb. I felt it pop and snap,” Lewis told the Tracker. “Medics were concerned I broke my ankle because it swelled, so I got evacuated to the ER.”
At Providence Portland Medical Center, Lewis learned her ankle didn’t break. But medical staff told her the officer’s push resulted in torn soft tissue in her ankle.
The PPB has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation in the ACLU case.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Jefferson Public Radio reporter April Ehrlich was arrested while covering police evictions of a homeless encampment in a public park in Medford, Oregon, on Sept. 22, 2020.
Medford police arrested JPR reporter April Ehrlich as she was covering the MPD's operation this morning removing campers from the city's Hawthorne Park. She was one of 11 people arrested during the police action. We'll have more details as they become available.
— JPR News (@JPRnews) September 22, 2020
JPR Executive Director Paul Westhelle said in a statement that Ehrlich had arrived at Hawthorne Park near downtown Medford in the early morning to interview some of the nearly 100 unhoused people who had taken up residence in the park. Police arrived at approximately 8 a.m. to enforce a 24-hour eviction notice.
Officers directed members of the press to a “media staging area” located at one of the entrances to the park, Westhelle said. He added that “it was not possible to adequately see or hear interactions between police officers and campers, or gather audio” from the staging area.
MPD’s Lt. Mike Budreau told the Committee to Protect Journalists, a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, that Ehrlich was arrested after reportedly refusing to go to the media staging area. Budreau added that members of the press “had full access to the park up until the public closure and the media staging location was well within view of the officers’ interactions with campers.”
JPR reported that Ehrlich was released later that afternoon with charges for criminal trespassing, interfering with a peace officer and resisting arrest.
If convicted, Ehrlich could face more than a year in prison and fines up to $7,500.
“April is a professional journalist and part of her job is being present during charged situations that sometimes involve law enforcement,” Westhelle wrote. “She knows how to be close enough to report without interfering.”
“JPR stands by April’s award-winning journalism and supports the courage it can take to tell compelling stories that don’t echo the narratives the institutions we cover sometimes lead us to.”
The Oregon Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists issued a statement condemning the arrest, as did CPJ and Reporters Without Borders.
JPR News Director Liam Moriarty told the Tracker that Ehrlich has a preliminary court appearance on Oct. 22.
Freelance photojournalist Ed Thompson said he was assaulted and threatened with a firearm by an individual while covering a protest in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Sept. 22, 2020.
Thompson was covering one of the many protests that broke out across the U.S. in 2020 in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
On Sept. 22, protesters demonstrating against police violence and the arrest of a prominent activist marched on the home of Pittsburgh mayor Bill Peduto in the city’s Point Breeze neighborhood.
Thompson told the Tracker in an interview that as protesters were leaving Peduto’s home, he ran ahead to get better shots of them. As he did, he said, a resident of the neighborhood about a block down from the mayor’s residence began to spray him with a hose. Speaking to the Tracker, Thompson said the man then threw a handful of small rocks at him before charging him and punching his hand. Thompson said the assault pushed his camera into his face but left him uninjured.
Following that altercation, Thompson said the man retreated into his residence before reemerging on his balcony, where he threatened to shoot Thompson and others in the crowd before briefly producing what appeared to be a handgun in a holster.
Covering a protest tonight in Pittsburgh when a older man first punched me and threw a hand full of rocks at me. Then, continued to his porch and said he’ll shoot me if I don’t get off his property. Subsequently pulls a handgun on me and points it at me. This world in messed up. pic.twitter.com/Jb25iSk4jz
— Ed Thompson (@ThompsonFoto12) September 23, 2020
In video Thompson recorded of the incident, the man can be seen standing on a balcony that had signs hanging from it reading “VOTE TRUMP ALLRED,” “NO DEM COMIE CHAOS” and “ALL USA LIVES MATTER.” Apparently speaking to Thompson, the man says, “Get off my property.” Thompson informs him he is on the sidewalk. Seconds later, the man says, “Get off my grass right now. I’ll shoot you.”
“He’s got a gun! He’s got a handgun!” Thompson can be heard shouting as he backs up.
A video shot by photographer and videographer Dan Lampmann showed the man flash what appears to be a holstered weapon more clearly.
Here is some video of the man pulling out a hand gun briefly after he says he’s going to shoot me. Video via @danlampmann. Thank you for having my back tonight. You could have been injured too if he had carried out his threats https://t.co/F3QIJqJcLr
— Ed Thompson (@ThompsonFoto12) September 23, 2020
The incident had Thompson scared for the safety of himself and those around him, he told the Tracker.
“If he would have shot, he probably would have hit me,” he said. “I was 20 feet away. Even if he was a bad shot, if he pulled off five or six rounds he probably would have got me. But I was worried about the crowd, too.”
While police officers were nearby, Thompson described their response as “nonchalant” and “real chill.”
Thompson said that the man involved in the incidents had previously harassed protesters on other marches to the mayor’s residence. He said the man, who is white, had at times turned to racial taunts.
A video recorded by independent journalist Christian Snyder and uploaded to Twitter at 9:36 p.m. shows the man standing on the balcony shouting, “I’ll shoot you, you fucking cocksuckers!”
Another video shot by Snyder shows the man being confronted by police while holding a hose and yelling at protesters. He eventually drops the hose and walks away while shouting at the protesters, “If it was up to me, you’d all be dead!”
Thompson is unsure whether he was targeted for being press. Part of him thinks that he was just the closest of the crowd to the man. But given the pro-Donald Trump signs on the man’s balcony, he said he worries that the president’s anti-media rhetoric played a role.
“Who knows, maybe it was because I had a camera. I had three cameras and a badge saying I was a journalist. I can’t say either. You can probably assume both,” he said.
Speaking to WTAE-TV the following day, the man, whom the station identified, claimed he “slipped” and hit Thompson’s camera and did not punch him. A video later posted by Thompson that he says was filmed by Snyder showed the man approaching the photographer and appearing to reach up toward him before Thompson stumbles backward.
In the interview with WTAE-TV, the man said he had a microphone in his hand, not a gun, but did say he had threatened to shoot protesters to “protect myself.” He said he may have “accidentally squirted” protesters with his hose or “maybe the hose had a mind of its own.” He added: “They needed a bath anyway.” During the interview, he wore a “Make America Great Again” hat.
Thompson said police took his information down at the scene and said they would be in touch with him regarding the incident. He said at the time they noted that he had video of the incident.
But “to the date, I haven’t been called by a detective or a police officer yet regarding that case,” he told the Tracker in mid-December, nearly three months after the march.
On Sept. 23, the Pittsburgh Current, where Thompson is a contributing photojournalist, reported that police told the paper that they were “aware of the incident and are investigating.”
Responding to a request for comment from the Tracker, Cara Cruz, a spokesperson for Pittsburgh’s Department of Public Safety said the incident had been investigated by detectives but “after a review of available video, it was determined that no charges would be filed.”
Ronald Weaver II, an independent filmmaker, was arrested while covering a protest against immigration policy and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in New York City on Sept. 19, 2020.
The protest, which began in Times Square, was prompted by a whistleblower’s allegation that immigrant women held at a privately run detention center in Georgia were forced to undergo hysterectomies. Weaver, a New York-based filmmaker, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker the protest was part of a broad protest movement against racial injustice that swept across the country over the summer.
Weaver said he began documenting racial justice protests in New York City in June. He said he initially attended protests as a participant with his camera, but by late June he said he was primarily attending to photograph and video the protests with the goal of making a documentary project. He has worked in the past as a commercial videographer and photographer, and has been documenting protests in New York and in other parts of the country on Instagram. He said he has sold his footage to outlets including the Daily Mail and NBC News.
Weaver said there was a heavy police presence as the protesters gathered midday in Times Square. When protesters on bicycles started to lead a march, Weaver said police began stopping and arresting them. In response, he said, other protesters moved off the sidewalk and sat in the middle of Seventh Avenue, prompting police to make more arrests.
Weaver said he left Times Square for police headquarters in Lower Manhattan to film the release of arrested protesters from One Police Plaza. However, he said, as more protesters started showing up, police started to restrict movement. Weaver said it appeared police were preparing to block the street, a tactic known as “kettling,” to restrict protesters’ movements.
Around 3:30 p.m., Weaver said he was filming police as they physically restrained a young woman, when a New York Police Department officer in riot gear suddenly shoved him in the back. Weaver said he kept his balance, despite holding his heavy equipment at the time. He said he then noticed a second officer, who was about 10 feet away from him, had started to run toward him.
“It was obvious that they were targeting me because of what I was filming,” Weaver said.
Weaver said he believed he was about to be tackled, so he ran away. As he ran, he said he shouted, asking what he did wrong. A group of about five other police officers came around a corner in front of him, he said, and stopped him. Weaver said the officers allowed him to put down his camera, and then arrested him.
Weaver said the officers asked if he had press credentials, which he didn’t. He said he explained to his arresting officer that he was there to observe, not participate, and had been documenting and filming protests through the summer.
New York Police Department didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Weaver said police took his camera equipment when he was arrested and returned it to him, undamaged, when he was released after 8 p.m.
Weaver was charged with disorderly conduct. He said his original court hearing scheduled for Dec. 18 was postponed because of court closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and a new date hasn't been scheduled.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Freelance journalist Laura Jedeed said federal law enforcement officers fired tear gas and smoke towards her, and then shoved her, while she was covering a protest outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland, Oregon, on Sept. 18, 2020.
Jedeed, a contributor to Portland Monthly and Willamette Weekly, was covering one of the many Portland protests in response to law enforcement violence that first erupted after the killing of George Floyd, a Black man, in Minneapolis on May 25. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Law enforcement officers in Portland have targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The case resulted in a temporary restraining order on July 2 barring the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists, which was expanded to include federal agents later that month.
The Sept. 18 demonstration began in the evening, as demonstrators marched several blocks south from Elizabeth Caruthers Park in the South Waterfront district to the ICE building, and stretched past midnight. The demonstration came after a whistleblower alleged that ICE was medically neglecting detainees at a private detention center in Georgia and overseeing hysterectomies on detained women. Demonstrators also chanted against the Trump administration’s policy of separating children from parents, in place from 2017 to 2018, and the lack of progress in reuniting all of the families.
Jedeed was documenting the scene as federal agents dispersed the crowd to the north after protesters started pushing at the gates of the ICE building. Then the Portland police joined in the enforcement effort and declared the protest an “unlawful assembly,” according to local news outlet KOIN. Eleven people were arrested by the police on a range of charges, and law enforcement officers fired crowd-control munitions at the crowd to drive them away from the ICE building.
A video published by Jedeed on Twitter at 10:37 p.m. shows tear gas enveloping a street where protesters were retreating. After her camera pans to capture law enforcement officers standing on a street, a munition bounces close to her, and green smoke comes out.
“It landed right near me, and it was a plume of green smoke. It made it impossible to film, and there was only press there,” Jedeed told the Tracker, adding that believes federal officers targeted her to stop her from filming.
Earlier in September, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler had banned the Portland Police Bureau from using tear gas for crowd control, and he tweeted the day after the protest that the police had abided by his order. Federal agents, however, have continued to deploy tear gas during Portland protests.
After pulling back to the ICE facility, law enforcement officers again rushed the crowd and made an aggressive arrest around midnight. Jedeed was pushed to the ground during the rush, she told the Tracker, adding that believes a federal law enforcement officer shoved her.
Footage published by Jedeed on Twitter shortly after shows a group of officers running down a street near the ICE facility. About nine seconds in, the camera points downward and then shuts off as she is pushed. “I get shoved and skid along the asphalt,” wrote Jedeed in a post accompanying the video.
The Department of Homeland Security didn’t respond to a request for comment on the incidents.
The U.S. Department of Justice ordered Al Jazeera’s U.S.-based social media division, AJ+, to register as a foreign agent under the Foreign Agents Registration Act on Sept. 14, 2020.
In a letter obtained by Mother Jones, Jay Bratt, chief of the DOJ’s counterintelligence and export control section, wrote that AJ+ acts “at the direction and control” of the leaders of Qatar.
“Despite assertions of editorial independence and freedom of expression, Al Jazeera Media Network and its affiliates are controlled and funded by the Government of Qatar,” Bratt wrote.
Al Jazeera condemned the order, referencing “relentless lobbying efforts” by the government of the United Arab Emirates to shutter the outlet. Since 2108, Republican members of Congress have sent three letters requesting that the DOJ compel Al Jazeera’s registration, Mother Jones reported.
Entities registered under FARA must include disclaimers about their government connections in their reporting and provide details about operations and funding to the Justice Department.
The Trump administration has ordered bureaus of multiple other foreign outlets to register under FARA or the Foreign Missions Act, in some cases leading to retaliation against journalists in those countries.
A spokesperson for Al Jazeera said in a statement to Mother Jones that the act effectively “hobbles” the outlet.
“We are deeply disappointed by the Department’s decision, which runs counter to the extensive factual record we provided demonstrating that FARA registration is not applicable to AJ+,” the statement reads. “The legal structure, editorial structure, editorial policies, budgeting process and content of AJ+ clearly demonstrate its independence.”
The statement added that the outlet is reviewing the determination and considering its options moving forward.
Student journalist Abel Reyes was confronted and harassed by a group of individuals who demanded that he delete all the photos he had taken while documenting protesters in Long Beach, California, on Sept. 14, 2021.
Reyes told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker a counterprotest was organized in opposition to a rally with President Joe Biden and Gov. Gavin Newsom at Long Beach City College. He said he was leaving an area with a lot of people he identified as supporters of former President Donald Trump when the harassment began.
“It started with a lady who noticed my camera and the press badge around my neck, and she started asking me a bunch of questions, whether I was part of the ‘fake news,’ where I was from,” Reyes said.
The student journalist said he tried to walk away, but the woman followed him and continued yelling at him, telling him to take off his “China mask,” in reference to the face mask he was wearing as a coronavirus safety measure.
Suddenly, Reyes said, a group of men surrounded him. One of the men demanded that Reyes show him the photos he had taken. Reyes said he explained that he had taken close to 400 photos and that he couldn’t show the man all of them. The man then told Reyes to delete all of his images.
“I didn’t argue, I didn’t want to argue, I didn’t say anything. At that point I just wanted to leave because it was not a good situation,” Reyes said, adding that he felt they wouldn’t let him leave until he complied with their demands.
According to Reyes’ Instagram post that night, once the group was convinced he had deleted all of the images one of them told him, “You’re lucky we’re nice.”
Reyes left the protest shortly after without attempting to take any additional photos, and told the Tracker that he has avoided any demonstrations with counterprotesters since the incident.
As a young journalist himself, he is particularly upset by the impact of harassment on student journalists.
“I worry about what ripple effects this is having on journalism as a whole,” Reyes said. “How do you expect someone to go into journalism if they can’t even get through student journalism without something like this happening?”
Abel Reyes, center with camera, documents an August demonstration in Fullerton, California. Reyes was harassed by a group of people who insisted he delete photos off his camera.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"protest, student journalism",,,,, Journalist arrested while covering break-up of LA protest encampment,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-arrested-while-covering-break-la-protest-encampment/,2020-12-06 14:20:12.713130+00:00,2022-05-12 20:22:31.576528+00:00,2022-05-12 20:22:31.506102+00:00,(2021-07-07 15:32:00+00:00) Charges dropped against journalist arrested while covering break-up of LA protest encampment,Arrest/Criminal Charge,,,,Talia Jane (Freelance),,2020-09-13,False,Los Angeles,California (CA),34.05223,-118.24368,"Freelance journalist Talia Jane was arrested while covering a police raid of a protest camp in Los Angeles on Sept. 13, 2020.
Los Angeles law enforcement officers moved in to break up the encampment in the city’s Grant Park, across from City Hall, early on the morning of Sept. 13, the Los Angeles Times reported. The encampment had been established in June by activists, in part to support protests for racial justice and against police brutality that began following the police killing of George Floyd, a Black man, in Minnesota on May 25.
Jane told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she was reporting on the police action for social media. Jane has freelanced for publications including VICE, Elle, and Mic. Before her arrest, Jane said, she was following a standoff between law enforcement officers and protesters involved with the group Black Unity LA.
At around 8:30 a.m., police ordered protesters to disperse, she said. Jane said she continued to film a line of police officers forming across a street, as she walked about half a block in front of the police.
Video she posted on Instagram shows four officers suddenly running toward her. “Put your hands behind your back,” one said repeatedly.
“You’re arresting me?” she asked.
According to Jane, she was identified as press on her hat and backpack and had a digital press badge from the Freelance Journalists Union on the lock screen of her phone. She said she told arresting officers multiple times that she was a journalist.
Jane said she was held for eight hours before she was released without bail. She said she faces a misdemeanor charge of failure to disperse and was given a citation for $5,000. According to Jane, she was given a court date in January 2021.
A spokesperson for the LAPD told the Tracker the department would not comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering these protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
On the evening of Sept. 12, 2020, deputies with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department tackled and arrested journalist Josie Huang while she was covering officers making an arrest, she confirmed to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Huang, who is a reporter for a National Public Radio member station KPCC and local news website LAist, wrote on Twitter that she was attending a press conference led by Sheriff Alex Villanueva at the St. Francis Medical Center in Los Angeles and had just gotten in her car to head home when she heard shouting. She wrote that she got out of her car and went to investigate what was happening, noting that she was wearing a press ID around her neck.
Last night I was arrested and charged with obstructing a peace officer by @LASDHQ after videotaping their interactions with protesters in Lynwood. This is what I remember and what I have on video and audio.
— Josie Huang (@josie_huang) September 13, 2020
“A handful of men were on the sidewalk. A couple were carrying large flags. Others were filming deputies and taunting them,” she wrote. “I started filming on my phone, standing off to the side. No one took issue with me being there.”
Huang wrote that she followed deputies down the street and filmed as they arrested an individual, using the zoom on her camera to maintain a physical distance.
The deputies suddenly told Huang to back up and, “Within seconds, I was getting shoved around. There was nowhere to back up,” she wrote.
A video published by OnScene.TV shows deputies throwing Huang to the ground and arresting her. She also tweeted that the officers stomped on her phone and damaged it, but did not break it.
Deputies detained Huang for approximately five hours before releasing her with a citation for obstructing a police officer, according to Huang’s posts on Twitter and a copy of the citation seen by the Committee to Protect Journalists.
If convicted of obstructing police, a misdemeanor, Huang could face a fine up to $1,000, imprisonment in a county jail for up to one year, or both, according to the California penal code.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department tweeted the morning following Huang’s arrest that she did not identify herself as a member of the press and that she “later admitted she did not have proper press credentials on her person.” However, in a video Huang filmed while she was being arrested, she can be heard clearly identifying herself as a reporter for KPCC.
LAist published her full account on Sept. 13.
Committee to Protect Journalists, a founding partner of the U.S.Press Freedom Tracker, called the sheriff’s department for comment and was told by the person who answered that they are not answering questions at this time because there is an ongoing investigation. Deputy Grade Medrano, a department spokesperson, sent an emailed statement to CPJ that said the sheriff’s department was aware of the incident, and that an active investigation was underway.
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, a Tracker partner, and a coalition of 65 press freedom organizations — including more than a dozen other Tracker partner organizations — sent a letter on Sept. 16 calling on the sheriff’s department to drop all charges against Huang. It also urged the department to take immediate action to prevent future arrests of working members of the press.
Journalist Josie Huang was arrested outside of St. Francis Medical Center in Los Angeles. Protesters and law enforcement were gathered there following the shooting ambush of two LA County Sheriff's Department deputies.
",arrested and released,charges dropped,Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department,2020-09-13,None,True,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,"obstruction: resisting, delaying or obstructing a public officer",,, Julian Assange subpoenaed in defamation suit,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/julian-assange-subpoenaed-in-defamation-suit/,2021-04-16 02:37:26.229109+00:00,2022-04-06 15:28:48.828914+00:00,2022-04-06 15:28:48.750267+00:00,,Subpoena/Legal Order,,,,Julian Assange (WikiLeaks),,2020-09-12,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"In the early hours of July 10, 2016, Seth Rich, a 27-year-old staffer with the Democratic National Committee, was fatally shot while walking to his home in Washington, D.C. His death, while unsolved, is believed to be the result of a robbery gone wrong. It quickly, however, became a flash point for conspiracy theories: that Rich had been behind a DNC email dump to WikiLeaks and its founder, Julian Assange, and that he’d effectively been assassinated because of it. None of the claims have ever been substantiated.
On March 26, 2018, Rich’s brother, Aaron, filed a defamation suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against a slew of defendants — Texas businessman and then-frequent Fox News guest Ed Butowsky, the Washington Times, America First Media Group and its founder, Matt Couch — who he’d alleged had shown a “reckless disregard for the truth” and falsely linked both himself and his brother to the email leak.
During the course of three years of litigation, attorneys for both sides collectively subpoenaed nearly a dozen news outlets and members of the press. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents all subpoena requests individually; Find a complete overview of the known subpoenas for this case in the blog post, “Nearly a dozen journalists, outlets and third parties subpoenaed in defamation suit.”
In January 2021, both Couch and Butowsky publicly apologized and retracted prior claims made about the Rich brothers, though Butowsky deleted his statement of contrition almost immediately, according to Law & Crime. Couch and Rich reached a settlement agreement on Jan. 19; Butowsky and Rich reached an agreement on March 22. The lawsuit was terminated officially when District Judge Richard Leon granted Rich’s motions to dismiss the charges against the defendants on March 29. The details of the settlement agreements were not made public.
In July 2016, some four months before the U.S. presidential election, WikiLeaks “released a trove of 20,000 emails stolen from the servers of the Democratic National Committee,” according to Vox. How WikiLeaks obtained those emails fueled endless speculation around Seth Rich and his death. The WikiLeaks founder proceeded to imply that Rich may have been the source of the leak, but specified that WikiLeaks does not reveal the identities of any of its sources. The outlet was also subpoenaed over the course of the lawsuit, which the Tracker has documented here.
Assange was taking refuge in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London when Aaron Rich filed the defamation suit, but during the discovery process, he was expelled from the embassy and arrested by British authorities. He remains imprisoned in the U.K. today.
Status of Subpoena
According to a claim filed against the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, deputies “pushed, struck and threatened” independent photojournalist Nash Baker while he was covering officers making an arrest on the evening of Sept. 12, 2020.
Baker, who works for the video wire service OnScene.TV, filed the claim for damages in January 2021 alleging the assault. When reached by the Tracker on April 28, 2021, Baker declined to comment, citing an upcoming press conference.
According to the complaint, which was reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, Baker was covering the scene outside the St. Francis Medical Center, where two deputies had been taken after being shot in their patrol car, according to NPR, and where a crowd of demonstrators had gathered.
According to the claim, at approximately 10:30 p.m., Baker captured footage of “deputies using excessive force and threatening the use of deadly force” against a group of retreating protesters. When he attempted to document the arrest of one protester he was prevented from doing so and assaulted by a deputy: “In order to prevent Mr. Baker from making a photographic record of the arrest, a deputy pushed, struck and threatened Mr. Baker,” the complaint reads. “The deputy can be heard stating, ‘Get out of here or I’ll break your f--king camera.’”
In footage Baker captured of the incident, the photojournalist can be heard repeatedly identifying himself as press as a deputy yells at him to leave the area and shoves him backward.
At a press conference the day after the incident, he stated: “I feel that [the sheriff administration] should take notice that when we’re out there, when we’re filming these events, that all of us are safe.”
Moments after he was pushed down the street, Baker’s footage captured a second journalist, Josie Huang, being tackled and arrested, a case the Tracker has documented here. Huang, who is a reporter for National Public Radio member station KPCC and local news website LAist, shared footage captured by Baker on Twitter the following day.
Thank you https://t.co/5ajOiRV1m6 for what is the clearest footage of my arrest by @LASDHQ.
— Josie Huang (@josie_huang) September 14, 2020
It’s how I remember it — like being tossed around in the ocean and then slammed into rock pic.twitter.com/G3rfCR1NiI
Baker’s claim for damages, which is the precursor to filing a lawsuit, asks for at least $500,000 in restitution.
“The attack on Mr. Baker was unprovoked,” the complaint states. “The actions of the LASD served to stifle press coverage, to suppress and chill free speech, and to prevent accurate dissemination of news reports regarding the LASD’s treatment of citizens engaged in constitutionally protected, non-violent protest.”
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department did not respond to an emailed request for comment as of press time.
Freelance photojournalist Nathan Howard encountered a hostile group of armed individuals on Sept. 10, 2020, while reporting on forest fires in Estacada, Oregon, a city about 30 miles southeast of downtown Portland, he told the Committee to Protect Journalists in a phone interview.
Howard, who was on assignment for Getty Images, said that he had pulled up to a house that had clearly been evacuated, in order to take pictures. After he parked, a blue pickup truck pulled up, a man got out and Howard said he told the man who he was and showed his press pass, issued by the National Press Photographers Association.
“I thought he was a volunteer firefighter, and that he was angry I was working in an evacuation zone,” Howard told CPJ, a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. At the time, there was a level three evacuation order in effect for the area. The man who came out of the truck asked Howard why he had Washington license plates, the journalist said.
Howard speculated that the man may have believed he was a looter. “At that point in time, I didn’t need to be there anyway. I said there was a misunderstanding, and I said I’d leave,” Howard told CPJ.
The man then spoke into his lapel, as if he had a mic on, and read Howard’s license plate number, the journalist said; after that, he told Howard that he needed to go, stating that he had “boys coming.”
Howard said he left and noticed that the man followed in his own truck, tailgating Howard for five miles before a white pickup truck pulled up perpendicular to Howard.
“The guy in the white pickup truck got out with an assault rifle and his finger was on the trigger. I didn’t feel like they ever wanted to hurt me, they just wanted to intimidate me,” Howard said.
The man from the white pickup truck asked Howard what he was doing, and the photojournalist replied that he was working. Within a couple of minutes another truck arrived. A man got out of the third truck, examined Howard’s credentials and cameras and told him to photograph evacuation on the main roads, Howard said.
“One of them told me, ‘If we see you up here again, we’re going to put you in a ditch,’” Howard said.
In a separate incident, Alissa Azar told CPJ that she encountered a group of armed men while she was out reporting on the same fires around Molalla, a town 30 miles south of Portland, with colleagues Justin Yau, a freelancer, and Sergio Olmos, who works for Oregon Public Broadcasting.
Azar, a freelance photojournalist, said she was trying to get a good shot when she noticed three men who each carried a rifle and had a handgun at his waist. During their conversation with Azar, Yau and Olmos, two of the men put their rifles away in their vehicle, according to Azar.
Azar said the men wanted to know why the journalists were there taking pictures. The journalists showed their press credentials and offered to show their work to the men.
“They told us to just get the fuck out of there to avoid any problems or further confrontation with them,” Azar said. The three photojournalists got in their car and drove away, with the men filming their faces and car.
A fire-damaged forest in Estacada, Oregon in September 2020.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, "Man charged with throwing rocks at WABC studios in Manhattan during broadcast, damaging WPIX equipment",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/man-charged-with-throwing-rocks-at-wabc-studios-in-manhattan-during-broadcast-damaging-wpix-equipment/,2021-02-05 14:23:30.477879+00:00,2021-02-05 14:23:30.477879+00:00,2021-02-05 14:23:30.416696+00:00,,Equipment Damage,,,"building: count of 1, lighting unit: count of 1",,,2020-09-09,False,New York,New York (NY),None,None,"New York City police arrested a man on criminal mischief charges for damaging a WPIX-11 crew’s equipment and throwing rocks marked with profanities at the windows of the WABC Eyewitness News studio. Both incidents occurred on Sept. 9, 2020.
The criminal charges allege that Jerry Velez, 41, pushed over a light pole that TV station WPIX set up outside Manhattan’s Hudson Yards at about 10 a.m. on Sept. 9, causing it to crash into a set of LED lights and a battery pack and causing $2,000 worth of damage, according to court papers shared by the district attorney’s office.
The New York Post reports that a reporter and a photographer were present for the attack on WPIX’s equipment.
About two hours later, Velez was allegedly caught on camera clad in a black T-shirt bearing the white skull logo for the “Punisher” comic book character as he tossed rocks at two windows of WABC’s studio in Manhattan’s Upper West Side. The channel’s noon broadcast was underway at the time.
One of the rocks had “Fuck ABC 7” written on it and the other carried the message “Whore 666,” the Post reported.
Police say that the rock attack caused $40,000 worth of damage to the station’s windows, court papers state.
The attacks touched off a brief manhunt before the New York City Police Department tweeted on Sept. 10 that officers arrested Velez in connection with the incident at WABC.
According to court records, Velez told an NYPD detective that he was the culprit in both attacks. He faces three charges of second-degree criminal mischief, which is a felony charge.
A district judge in Pennsylvania barred reporters from two local newspapers from observing a preliminary arraignment at the York County District Court on Sept. 9, 2020.
Dylan Segelbaum, a reporter for the daily newspaper the York Daily Record/Sunday News, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he and Logan Hullinger, a reporter for the morning newspaper York Dispatch, were prevented from entering the courtroom to observe the arraignment of Mike Cleveland. Cleveland is accused of embezzling almost $23,000 while serving as general manager of the York Ice Arena.
Segelbaum declined to comment further and Hullinger did not respond to an emailed request for comment as of press time.
Segelbaum reported in an article for the Daily Record that preliminary arraignments are held by judges to inform the accused of charges and the right to counsel, as well as to set bail. Such proceedings are “presumptively public proceedings,” Melissa Melewsky, media law counsel for the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association, told the Daily Record. That means the proceedings are always assumed to be open to the public unless it would jeopardize the defendant’s right to a free trial.
The Daily Record reported that County District Judge Linda Williams refused to unlock the door to the courtroom for the reporters, saying that it was a hearing, not an arraignment. Williams also cited the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic as justification and said she had arraignments via video scheduled for after the Cleveland proceeding.
“You can have all the information when I’m finished,” Williams said, according to the Daily Record.
Melewsky told the Daily Record that district judges do not have the authority to seal a record or proceeding that is defined as “presumptively public.” She noted that ensuring public access is crucial to equal treatment under the justice system.
“Public access guarantees that everyone is treated equally by the justice system, because everyone is subject to the same process — and anyone who’s interested can view,” Melewsky said. “The press functions as the eyes and the ears of the community they serve.”
Pablo Unzueta, a freelance photojournalist and video editor for California State University, Long Beach’s newspaper, the Daily 49er, was arrested while documenting protests in the South Los Angeles area on Sept. 8, 2020.
Unzueta told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was following a group of protesters as they gathered for the fourth consecutive night outside the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department following the fatal shooting of Dijon Kizzee, a Black man, by deputies on Aug. 31.
At approximately 8:30 p.m. on Sept. 8, Unzueta said, deputies declared the protest unlawful and ordered the crowd to disperse. Following the order, Unzueta said he saw deputies firing tear gas and flash-bang grenades into the crowd around the intersection of Normandie Avenue and West Imperial Highway.
Unzueta said officers pushed the crowd north on Normandie as they advanced, and that many of the protesters began splitting off and dispersing.
“I didn’t know the area that well so I made a left into this neighborhood on this very narrow street,” Unzueta said. “The sheriffs would get on the trucks and then the truck would speed up through the street and then they would start firing more [flash-bang grenades] and then more tear gas.”
“I kept ducking behind cars while I’m running so I wouldn’t get hit.”
Unzueta said a few minutes passed as he kept looking for a way to get back to his car, which was parked near the Sheriff’s Department, but realized that he was stuck on a long, narrow block.
Two sheriff’s vehicles pulled up at approximately 9:30 p.m., Unzueta said, and deputies began arresting the demonstrators that remained.
“This was sort of a ‘holy shit’ moment for me, and I immediately identified myself as press just to avoid getting tackled or being shot with a rubber bullet,” Unzueta said.
He said that after a couple of deputies saw his credentials and camera and didn’t stop him, he thought he would be allowed to leave and began to head back the way they had come to return to his vehicle.
“I start walking on the sidewalk and that’s when an officer from up above in the truck said, ‘Hey! Grab that guy!,’” Unzueta said. “Again I yelled, ‘Press, press, press!’ And that’s when the officer...just grabbed me, threw my camera on the ground and ripped my backpack off my back.”
Unzueta told the Tracker he was wearing press credentials from Mt. San Antonio College, where Unzueta used to be a student, and his College Media Association badge, and repeatedly told the deputies to call the newspaper’s adviser.
During the course of his arrest, Unzueta said that officers tightened his metal handcuffs so tightly that he lost all feeling in his hands, and that they called him demeaning names and slurs. Unzueta said deputies then pushed him into the back of a department van, causing him to fall on and rupture multiple pepper balls. The officers left him to struggle to breathe amid clouds of pepper powder, he said.
Unzueta also alleges that some of the officers used their personal cell phones to photograph him and other detainees.
“The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department values the media and highly respects the freedom of the press,” Department spokesperson Deputy Trina Schrader told the Tracker in an emailed statement. “Please be aware an administrative investigation has been launched into the circumstances surrounding this incident. A lieutenant from South Los Angeles Station has been assigned and will be contacting Mr. Unzueta to investigate these allegations.”
Unzueta said deputies seized his iPhone and Nikon D800 camera. He said he was handcuffed for about two hours. He was transported to the South Los Angeles Sheriff’s Station where he was booked at 10:30 p.m., and then transferred to the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in downtown Los Angeles.
Unzueta estimated he was in police custody for 10 or 11 hours. His booking data, reviewed by the Tracker, shows he was released the following day with a citation. A copy of the citation shared with the Tracker shows Unzueta was arrested for unlawful assembly, a misdemeanor, and was ordered to appear in court two days later.
Unzueta said his equipment and cell phone weren’t returned to him upon his release.
The Student Press Law Center, a Tracker partner organization, connected Unzueta with the Criminal Justice Clinic at the University of California, Irvine School of Law. LAist, part of Southern California Public Radio, reported that the clinic was able to secure the release of Unzueta’s camera, but the memory card — which Unzueta told the Tracker contained two years worth of freelance work — had been removed.
Unzueta said deputies first claimed that the camera hadn’t contained an SD card and then that it may have fallen out when the deputy threw it to the ground during the arrest. Unzueta disputed both of these assertions, and said the design of the camera makes it nearly impossible for the memory card to call out.
In a letter sent on Unzueta’s behalf, the clinic asked that the cell phone and memory card be returned, assurance that the case wouldn’t be presented to the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office for prosecution, a copy of his arrest report and an apology from the department.
“Sheriff’s deputies had no basis to arrest Mr. Unzueta,” the letter reads. “A truck full of deputies passed by, and a deputy pointed at Mr. Unzueta and said, ‘Get him.’ Mr. Unzueta repeatedly identified himself as a member of the press and as a student journalist, displaying his student press badge, but the deputy who arrested him ignored him.”
Unzueta confirmed to the Tracker that he still hasn’t regained complete feeling in his palms more than two and a half months later, attributing the numbness to the overly tight handcuffs.
The Long Beach Press Telegram reported on Nov. 17 that the department hadn’t responded to the letter, according to one of Unzueta’s lawyers.
“I’ve been photographing protests since the Trayvon Martin protest, which was in 2013 and I was 17 at the time. I’ve been doing this a long time, and I never thought I’d have to experience something like I experienced on September 8th,” Unzueta said.
Unzueta told the Long Beach Post that while he has always had a passion for photography, he was shaken by the incident.
“I don’t feel safe going out anymore,” Unzueta said. “This is the last thing I want to do.”
Independent journalist Alissa Azar was pushed by a police officer while she was covering a protest in Portland, Oregon, on Sept. 8, 2020, according to the journalist and her social media posts.
Azar was documenting one of the many protests that have been held 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. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Law enforcement officers in Portland have targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The ACLU suit led to a temporary restraining order, and later a preliminary injunction, barring the Portland Police Bureau from harming or impeding journalists.
The Sept. 8 demonstration began at Waterfront Park downtown after 9 p.m., according to KOIN, the local CBS affiliate. Demonstrators then marched to the nearby Transit Police Department Offices, where protesters threw eggs and water bottles at police officers, KOIN reported.
Sometime before 11 p.m., Azar was filming police officers arrest a protester when some of the officers yelled at her and other members of the press to move back. One of the officers then started pushing Azar with a baton.
“The cops also held back a group of press and stopped us from joining protesters twice. They pushed us pretty hard while already on the sidewalk,” Azar tweeted at 10:53 p.m.
About 20 minutes later, Azar posted a video on Twitter showing the incident. About 30 seconds into the video, while Azar’s camera is trained on the arrest, an officer can be seen pushing Azar backwards with a baton. Azar can be heard responding that she was “on the sidewalk.”
Also around that time, a police officer threatened to arrest Azar and other journalists if they stood in the street. In a video Azar posted on Twitter the next day, a police officer can be overheard saying, “If they’re press and they’re in the street, take them into custody.”
Azar confirmed the events to the Tracker.
The PPB, in a statement on that night’s protest, said several arrests were made of people who were blocking traffic or throwing projectiles at officers during the protest at the transit police offices.
PPB spokesman Derek Carmon declined to comment on the specific incident, but said the department is committed to upholding civil rights for all citizens, including by requiring officers to report any use of force for review.
Freelance journalist and National Press Photographers Association member Julianna Lacoste was struck with crowd-control munitions, assaulted by law enforcement and arrested while documenting protests in Los Angeles, California, on Sept. 8, 2020.
Lacoste told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in an email that at around 7:30 p.m. she’d arrived at the intersection of Normandie Avenue and West Imperial Highway, where protesters had gathered outside the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department following the fatal shooting of Dijon Kizzee, a Black man, by deputies on Aug. 31.
According to Lacoste, at approximately 8:30 p.m., the deputies declared the protest unlawful and ordered the crowd to disperse. Shortly thereafter, she said, they began to advance on the crowd and fire crowd-control munitions.
“I began to run down Normandie trying to escape the clouds of tear gas, rubber/foam bullets, pepper balls, stinger grenades and sand bags being fired,” Lacoste said. “I kept running, but it seemed like I couldn’t get away from the action.”
Lacoste said that as things began to calm down, about an hour later, she saw some people walking to their cars and that no deputies were in sight. Lacoste said she continued to move and had just passed a group of individuals when she felt a crowd-control munition strike her hand and knock her phone away.
“Then my head was shot, but I was luckily wearing a helmet,” she said. “Then my shoulder was shot as well. At that point I was only looking to find shelter because I was simply getting pelted with shots.”
Lacoste said she was eventually able to crouch behind a nearby car, but almost immediately after hunching down, two deputies appeared beside her. Lacoste said one aimed a weapon at her as the other forced her onto her stomach.
“I said, ‘I’m not resisting. I’m press. OK, OK, I’m not resisting,’” Lacoste recounted. She said she had a press badge in her bag and her helmet featured a “PRESS” label.
Lacoste said that the camera she was wearing around her neck broke from the weight of the deputies during the course of the arrest. “Their knee was on my back and neck as they wrestled for the cuffs,” she said.
Lacoste said the deputies secured the handcuffs incredibly tight, which worsened the pain in her injured hand.
She said they refused to pick up her cellphone from where it had fallen and escorted her to an LASD vehicle, where she waited as others were loaded in “like sardines.” The detainees were taken to a van and then transported to the Imperial Sheriff’s station, Lacoste said. There, she said, deputies used a knife to cut the straps of both her backpack and camera in order to pull them off without removing her handcuffs.
Lacoste also alleged that at the station some of the officers used personal cellphones to photograph her and other detainees. Student journalist Pablo Unzueta, who was also arrested that evening, made similar allegations. The Tracker has published his case here.
“The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department values the media and highly respects the freedom of the press,” Deputy Trina Schrader, a spokesperson for the department, told the Tracker in an emailed statement when asked for comment on Unzueta’s arrest. Schrader also noted that an investigation had been launched into the events that day. The department did not respond to an emailed request for comment about Lacoste’s arrest as of press time.
Lacoste said she was detained for more than an hour before being transported to a hospital for treatment. At approximately 6 a.m. the following day, she said, she was transported back to the sheriff’s station.
Lacoste said that at around 10 a.m. she was finally able to speak with her lawyer, who informed her that her bail had been posted and she should be released within two hours. According to Lacoste’s bail paperwork, which was reviewed by the Tracker, she posted a $5,000 bond.
Before her release, Lacoste said, she was transferred to the women’s jail and asked about her injuries. Upon detailing them, the officer processing Lacoste rejected her paperwork and instructed deputies to transport her back to the hospital so her injuries could be fully documented. According to Lacoste, deputies did not transport her back to the hospital, however, and placed her in a cell at the sheriff’s station.
“After hours of begging for a phone that worked they finally let me use the phone,” Lacoste said. “At that point I called my boyfriend and he informed me that I was going to get out soon and they had been making hundreds of calls on my behalf. During that phone call is when I got released.”
Lacoste was charged with misdemeanor failure to disperse and ordered to appear in court on Jan. 6, 2021. Lacoste hasn’t responded to the Tracker’s latest requests for comment, and the status of her case remains unknown.
Photojournalist Brian Feinzimer was shot with crowd-control projectiles while reporting on a protest in Los Angeles on Sept. 8, 2020, he told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
Racial justice protests, held regularly in Los Angeles since the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25, were renewed in early September after Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies shot and killed 29-year-old Dijon Kizzee on Aug. 31.
Demonstrators gathered outside the South LA sheriff’s station several days in a row in early September, and tensions escalated between demonstrators and police, the Los Angeles Times reported. On Sept. 8, the sheriff’s department declared an unlawful assembly at around 8 p.m. and deployed crowd control munitions on demonstrators, according to the Times.
Feinzimer, whose work has been published by LAist, Capital & Main and other publications, told the Tracker he was photographing a line of deputies facing off with protesters. After a while, he said, the sheriff’s department issued a dispersal order and rushed the crowd, firing pepper balls and flash-bang grenades.
Feinzimer said he was facing the deputies directly, from a distance of about 15 feet, as he photographed them. He said he wasn’t initially hit with any of the crowd-control measures but decided to move away when the deputies neared him. He said he turned to walk in the same direction as the deputies, staying to the side, and continued to take photos while many nearby protesters ran from the officers.
As Feinzimer was walking away, he said, he was hit in the hand with a pepper ball, which also covered his camera with residue. He was then struck in the back of his right thigh with a crowd-control munition, which he believes was either a foam baton or a 40-millimeter rubber bullet.
Feinzimer said that although the impact from the projectile was painful, he was able to continue covering the protest that night. He said he had a large bruise where he had been hit, and his leg remained sore for several weeks.
Feinzimer said he was wearing a press credential issued by the LASD around his neck, and was carrying two cameras at the time he was hit.
Feinzimer told the Tracker he believes he was targeted because he was a journalist. He said he was clearly identifiable to the deputies just before he was shot because he was facing them and photographing them.
“I figure that there was no way that they didn't know who I was or what I was doing based on my previous moments before that,” he said.
LASD did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting arrests, assaults and other obstructions to journalists covering protests across the country.
Independent journalist Brian Conley was shot with paintballs by a person participating in a pro-Donald Trump rally in Salem, Oregon, on Sept. 7, 2020.
For months, Oregon’s largest city, Portland, had witnessed frequent and heated protests over racial justice and police violence that were initially sparked by the May 25 police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. At times, those demonstrations attracted counter-protesters, particularly ones who visibly claimed support of President Trump.
On Sept. 7, a large group of Trump supporters gathered in Oregon City, a suburb to the south of Portland. Later, some of those gathered drove nearly 50 miles south to the Oregon Capitol in Salem. Among the supporters were members of far-right groups such as the Proud Boys and Patriot Prayer. Some showed up with guns and other weapons.
Ahead of the election, President Trump amplified his denunciations of the media at rallies and online. As of Oct. 1, the president had tweeted negatively about the press more than 2,300 times since declaring his candidacy in 2015, according to a U.S. Press Freedom Tracker analysis.
The pro-Trump camp was met in Salem by a smaller group of opposing protesters, chiefly supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement.
At one point that afternoon, Conley was in the park across the street from the capitol building speaking with a Trump supporter who had an American flag he said he had “liberated” from the Black Lives Matter movement. The man described the flag as having been “under a vehicle, upside down” and on the ground — at which point Conley started asking why he hadn’t destroyed the flag, which Conley asserted was dictated by the U.S. Flag Code. (Although the U.S. Flag Code says the flag should never touch the ground, it prescribes destroying the flag, preferably by burning, when it “is no longer a fitting emblem for display.” The flag touching the ground alone doesn’t necessitate its burning. While the guidelines are technically federal law, they are unenforceable and remain advisory.)
Conley’s questions soon attracted a crowd that grew hostile.
“Other allied protesters, they came in and one guy with a kind of GoPro on a little handheld monopod sort of thing started calling me “lying press,” “fake press” and “Antifa press,” and a couple more people came over,” Conley told the Tracker by phone. Facing increasing harassment, Conley said he lost his cool and gave that person the middle finger before trying to leave the area. Conley said he tried to ignore a crowd that followed him as he attempted to leave.
“And then I got shot, I think three or four times in the back, by this guy with a paintball gun,” said Conley, who was wearing body armor emblazoned with the word “PRESS.”
In a video captured by journalist Sergio Olmos, Conley can be seen walking away from a crowd shouting at him and heckling him when several shots from a paintball gun can be heard.
After Conley was shot with the paintballs, the Trump supporter he had been interviewing before stepped forward to protect Conley saying “I’m not going to let you get shot at” but told Conley that he had been “disrespectful.”
A photo tweeted out by the South Salem High School newspaper The Clypian at about 4:30 p.m. shows Conley standing in a crowd with the back of his body armor stained pink and orange by paintball impacts. “A member of the press corps from Portland was just shot with paintballs as protestors yelled “Antifa press” at him,” the paper’s tweet said.
A photo later shared by Conley on Twitter showed a man with a paintball gun who Conley says is the man that shot him. Conley said the man denied shooting him when he turned around to confront them after getting shot.
The paintballs hit Conley’s body armor and he was uninjured.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting hundreds of incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, hit by crowd control munitions or having their equipment damaged at protests around the country in 2020. Find these incidents here.
Freelance photojournalist Jintak Han said he was shot in the face with a crowd-control munition fired by a sheriff’s deputy while covering a protest in Los Angeles, California, on the evening of Sept. 7, 2020.
Han was photographing a protest over the death of Dijon Kizzee, a 29-year-old Black man who was shot by deputies of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department in South Los Angeles on Aug. 31. The killing of Kizzee, who had been stopped while riding a bicycle before he was shot 15 times, reinvigorated protests over racial justice and police brutality that had been occurring regularly in Los Angeles and across the nation throughout the summer.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Speaking to the Tracker, Han said he had been at the intersection of Imperial Highway and Normandie Avenue near the sheriff’s department’s South LA station for nearly three hours when deputies began to fire crowd control munitions at around 10 p.m. Shortly thereafter, he said, as he walked backward from law enforcement and continued to take photos, he was hit by a projectile fired by law enforcement.
“All of the sudden I had a big impact right above my eye,” he said. “Luckily I had safety goggles on.”
Hit with a foam or rubber round above the left eye. Goggles on so I’m okay. Lost glasses though. @pressfreedom @rcfp @nppa @aaja
— Jintak Han (한진탁) (@jintakhan) September 8, 2020
In a video captured by Daily Caller reporter Jorge Ventura, Han can be seen walking backward while taking photos as protesters retreat. About 15 seconds into the video there is a bang and Han recoils before falling to the ground.
Han told the Tracker that after he was hit he had trouble seeing—both from tear gas that had been deployed and as a result of losing the eyeglasses he was wearing under his goggles. After ensuring that he didn’t have too many injuries and his cameras were still working, he resumed working despite his now-limited vision. Later, after the protest had dissipated, he found his glasses smashed on the ground.
In a photo Han shared on Twitter early the next morning, abrasions can be seen surrounding his left eye.
Glad to walk away with just this pic.twitter.com/DATwsCNa6U
— Jintak Han (한진탁) (@jintakhan) September 8, 2020
Given where the munition hit him, Han fears that he could have been seriously injured if he had not been wearing goggles that night.
“I’m really glad I had the goggles on, because otherwise I have no idea what would have happened to my eye,” he said.
Han was also wearing a high-visibility vest with press markings as well as a white helmet with press markings at the time he was hit. While he was identifiable as press, he does not feel he was targeted by sheriff’s deputies.
“A lot of the protesters got hit, so I think they were just indiscriminately firing in that general direction rather than targeting press specifically,” he told the Tracker.
In a statement to the Tracker, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department public information officer Shawn DuBusky said deputies began to use crowd control munitions after protesters “became hostile and began to throw objects (i.e. frozen water bottles, concrete, bricks, rocks, and fireworks).”
He added: “At no time did anyone, including Mr. Jintak Han, identify themselves as being injured during this incident.”
While Han was photographing the Sept. 7 protest independently, his shots from that night and other protests over Kizzee’s death later appeared in Los Angeleno.
Rach Wilde, an independent photojournalist working with Black Zebra Productions, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she was shoved and arrested while covering protests against police violence in Portland, Oregon, on Sept. 7, 2020.
Wilde was documenting protests that had been ongoing for months in downtown Portland and across the U.S. in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. The Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Law enforcement officers in Portland have targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The ACLU suit led to a temporary restraining order, and later a preliminary injunction, barring the Portland Police Bureau from harming or impeding journalists.
In the early hours of Sept. 7, Wilde said demonstrators had moved from PPB’s North Precinct toward a nearby parking garage. According to a news report, officers blocked off certain streets from the march and created a closure area. Wilde said the crowd started to dwindle and there was not a lot going on.
“Then a rush came and a bunch of folks started getting arrested and just picked off,” Wilde told the Tracker. Along with several other journalists and legal observers, she said she followed the officers to document the arrests. Soon after, officers asked them to leave and ordered them onto the sidewalk.
“Out of nowhere, the [Portland Police] Rapid Response van arrived and they beelined [toward us],” she said. “One officer on the team had over and over again targeted me at different demonstrations. She knew exactly who I was. She would stand next to me at every demonstration and follow me specifically.”
Wilde said the officer pushed her off the sidewalk right as she was stepping onto it. Another Black Zebra journalist there repeatedly told the officer that Wilde was a member of the press; Wilde said she also had a press pass around her neck.
“I have the entire thing on camera. It was very clear that she was targeting me,” Wilde told the Tracker. Her reporting partner, whom Wilde had been “standing next to the entire time this demonstration,” was not arrested. The officer placed Wilde in temporary handcuffs, took her phone and brought her to where the demonstrators were being detained. She said she was then transported to and processed at Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office for interfering with a peace officer and disorderly conduct.
Wilde said she was released several hours later, around 6 a.m., and that when she received her phone back, the screen was destroyed. “That was the day my charges were dropped, but I didn’t find out until a month later,” she said. Wilde was contacted by a pro bono attorney, who confirmed this information. “They [Portland police] had spelt my name wrong,” she told the Tracker.
When reached for comment during ongoing protests in the fall of 2020, the PPB told the Tracker it wouldn’t be commenting on specific incidents, citing continuing litigation in the ACLU case. Then in early 2021, PPB spokesperson Derek Carmon said the department is committed to upholding civil rights for all citizens, including by requiring officers to report any use of force for review. When reached by email about this incident, Carmon said he had no additional comment.
Daily Caller reporter Jorge Ventura said he was hit by a pepper ball fired by Los Angeles law enforcement while covering a protest in South Los Angeles, California, on Sept. 7, 2020. The Daily Caller, a “conservative news and opinion site” according to The New York Times, is based in Washington, D.C.
The protest was organized several days after the Aug. 31 police shooting of Dijon Kizzee, a 29-year old Black man who was killed after Los Angeles sheriff's officials stopped him for what they described as a vehicle code violation as he was riding his bicycle.
According to news reports, dozens of protesters gathered outside the South Los Angeles Sheriff's Station to protest the shooting of Kizzee. Officials declared the gathering an unlawful assembly after deploying nonlethal crowd control munitions and giving dispersal orders, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Ventura arrived around 9 p.m., according to a tweet he posted, and recorded a standoff between protesters and sheriff's officials. He posted a video of demonstrators retreating and chanting "Black lives matter."
"Crowd retreats after police shoot pepper bullets, tear gas and flash bangs," he wrote.
"Got hit by a pepper bullet today during the mix," Ventura wrote in a tweet at 10:59 p.m. "I'm all good and headed back home to enjoy the rest of this vacation."
The next morning, he shared another photo of a bruise where the munition hit him. Ventura told the Tracker he did not have press markings that night, but was reporting for the Daily Caller.
In a tweet Monday evening, the sheriff's department said it supports peaceful protests, but is concerned about individuals outside the community and state who want to "incite riots."
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
WCVB-TV reporter Ted Wayman was assaulted while reporting in Boston’s Copley Square on Sept. 6, 2020. A station spokesperson told the Boston Globe that Wayman was taken to a hospital and is “going to be fine.”
According to a police report posted online by the Boston Police Department, officers were called to the intersection of Dartmouth and Boylston streets shortly after 9 p.m. to investigate a stabbing. A victim said an individual had been “antagonizing” him and others throughout the day.
“The victim stated when he asked the suspect to leave him alone, the suspect responded by taking out a pair of scissors,” the report said. The man then began stabbing at the passenger’s side window of the victim’s van, scratching the glass.
The report continued, “As the victim attempted to close the door to the van, the suspect stabbed him on the left forearm causing a severe laceration.”
The Globe identified WCVB’s Wayman as the victim, and the station confirmed that he had been stabbed while reporting on a story in Copley Square. BPD told the Globe it could not comment on or confirm the incident.
Police arrested a suspect, identified as Cirlio Aldana-Peraedes, a few blocks from the scene; he has been charged with assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon.
The photojournalist working alongside Wayman was uninjured in the attack and helped treat Wayman’s injuries before he was taken to a local hospital, the Globe reported.
An independent photojournalist says police fired pepper balls at him and detained him on Sept. 5, 2020, while he was covering protests in Rochester, New York.
Mustafa Hussain said he was detained after photographing protesters getting tackled during a demonstration protesting the death of Daniel Prude, whose killing in Rochester was ruled a homicide after police physically restrained him. Prude died by asphyxiation in police custody in March 2020, but details surrounding his death only came to light after police body camera footage was released by his family on Sept. 2.
Sept. 5 was the fourth straight night of protests in Rochester, and the scene was chaotic, Hussain said, as police officers clashed with protesters downtown near the Blue Cross Arena.
“On video...from what I saw, RPD [Rochester Police Department] fired the first round and engaged first...at that point they opened fire on the protesters,” Hussain told the Tracker. According to the Rochester First news site, police said some in the crowd had fireworks and threw bottles at officers. In response, the site said, police fired pepper balls and tear gas at protesters.
“Then they deliberately were aiming at press as well, we were getting shot at, there was tear gas everywhere,” Hussain told the Tracker.
Hussain said he was within a group that should have been easily identified as press, because they wore press helmets and badges and some carried large, professional cameras.
Despite all the markings, he said he was hit numerous times by pepper balls, resulting in welts and bruises on his arms and legs. Hussain said his torso was protected by a ballistic vest. He said he received first aid from street medics for the effects of tear gas and pepper balls.
“I do believe RPD intentionally fired upon press to prevent us from doing our job,” Hussain told the Tracker.
Later on that evening, Hussain said he watched as police “were chasing young protesters and tackling them to the ground.” He said he moved to the middle of the street to get a better photo angle, “and it was at that point that two officers came and grabbed me and took me to the ground and arrested me,” Hussain told the Tracker.
Hussain said he was near the Kodak Tower downtown, with two other journalists, one of whom captured Hussain’s detainment and posted it on Twitter. Georgie Silvarole, from USA Today, took pictures that showed Hussain lying on the ground with officers hovering over him, Hussain in handcuffs and another picture that showed an officer confiscating Hussain’s backpack and camera.
He went across the street to get a better angle of the protesters standing in the intersection and was tackled by police. They put him in the back of a squad car, and placed his cameras and backpack in a plastic tote. pic.twitter.com/00F2I6lCSD
— Georgie Silvarole (@gsilvarole) September 6, 2020
“They dragged me to the ground,” Hussain said, describing the event as “very abrupt” and “very shocking.”
Hussain said he was not wearing press credentials, but he had his cameras with him and told police he was press.
Officers put Hussain in the back of a police car, he said, and while he was detained, they drove around and tried to arrest someone else. When the car headed to the police station, “They got a call from a supervisor, or a Rochester Police public relations officer,” Hussain said. “They were pretty much given an earful for arresting a member of the press.” Hussain said he believes that someone from the Democrat and Chronicle, a Rochester newspaper, had called the police department on his behalf. “So they let me go,” he said, releasing him from custody near his car and returning his photo equipment.
Hussain said he opted not to file a complaint about his detainment. “As a journalist this is not about me,” he said. “I wasn’t beaten, they could have tackled me and they could have put their knee on my neck.” But they did not, he said, “so I didn’t feel that I needed to bring more attention to it.”
The Rochester Police Department did not respond to a request for comment on Hussain’s case.
Daniel Prude’s death on March 30 took place almost two months before the death of George Floyd on May 25. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country in the aftermath of these and other killings.
Police officers in riot gear fire pepper balls during a protest over the death of Daniel Prude in Rochester, New York on Sept. 5, 2020.
",detained and released without being processed,not charged,Rochester Police Department,None,None,True,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, chemical irritant, protest, shot / shot at",,,,, "Journalist pushed, threatened with arrest as Portland protest declared a riot",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalists-assaulted-portland-protest-declared-riot/,2021-01-20 16:31:42.371782+00:00,2021-11-09 21:33:29.226635+00:00,2021-11-09 21:33:29.181802+00:00,,Assault,,,,Lesley McLam (KBOO Community Radio),,2020-09-05,False,Portland,Oregon (OR),45.52345,-122.67621,"KBOO podcast host Lesley McLam, who filmed demonstrations in the early morning hours of Sept. 5 in north Portland, reported on her Twitter account that police pushed her and threatened her with arrest.
Police were deployed to block protesters who had gathered at Ventura Park from marching on a police precinct building located several blocks away at Southeast 106th Avenue, the Oregonian reported.
Protesters had targeted law enforcement buildings and surrounding areas, sometimes breaking windows, setting fires and tagging structures with graffiti. Police used tear gas on Sept. 5 for the first time in a month and made 59 arrests at the protest near Ventura Park, according to a department news release.
At 12:43 a.m., McLam posted a video on Twitter of a police line near the police union headquarters, writing in the post that officers had driven protesters to the west from the police union headquarters on Lombard Street.
“Cops are moving,” McLam can be heard saying on the video as officers approach and surround a station wagon moving on the street in front of them.
“Then this happened. An officer pushed me back off the line,” wrote McLam, who didn’t respond to requests for comment.
In the video, McLam can then be heard interacting with an officer who apparently orders McLam to back away from the scene.
“We were told ‘sidewalk,’ we’re fine,” McLam said.
“The rules can change … Back up, thank you, ma’am. Back up. Thank you,” the officer said.
“You’re touching me. You were talking to someone else and you just physically touched me and shoved me backwards,” McLam said.
McLam can then be heard interacting with another officer.
“Ma’am you need to back up or you’re going to be under arrest,” the second officer says to McLam. “I’m not kidding.”
According to McLam’s statements on the video, the second officer also begins to push the journalist back onto a sidewalk, despite her insistence that she kept a six-foot distance from the group of officers.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
A photojournalist said police fired what appeared to be pepper balls at him “dozens of times” on Sept. 5, 2020, while he covered protests in Rochester, New York.
Protests in the city focused on the March 2020 asphyxiation death of Daniel Prude by Rochester police. Details surrounding Prude’s death, ruled a homicide, came to light after police body camera footage was released by his family on Sept. 2 after a public records request. Calls for justice in Rochester joined national protests for Black Lives Matter and against police brutality following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Sept. 5 was the fourth straight night of protests and was the most shocking he had ever covered, Zach Roberts, a photographer for Nurphoto agency, told the Tracker.
“They [police] brought out dogs, LRADs and BearCats,” he said, referring to long-range acoustic devices and a type of armored vehicle.
Earlier that day, New York State Attorney General Letitia James moved Prude’s death investigation to a grand jury. By that evening, around 1,500 people had gathered, starting with a rally at the corner of Jefferson Avenue and Dr. Samuel McCree Way — where Prude was restrained by police.
Roberts arrived at the rally around 6 p.m. and encountered a peaceful gathering, he said. The group marched along Jefferson Avenue and headed for a route stopping at various points around the city, including the City Hall building in downtown Rochester.
Tensions between police and protesters intensified, Roberts said, and he found himself hit multiple times by pepper balls fired by police.
“I probably got shot dozens of times,” Roberts told the Tracker. He said his messenger bag took the brunt of the impact.
“They’re supposed to shoot them [pepper balls] at inanimate objects...they’re not designed to be shot at people.”
Roberts said police could see he was a member of the press, as he was wearing multiple press badges and two large cameras around his neck.
Later that night Roberts followed protesters as they ended up near the Gannett building next to the Monroe County Supreme Court building.
There was a standoff between police and protesters, Roberts said, and he was positioned off to the side. “I was standing alone when I got shot [again] doing nothing, I was far away enough,” Roberts said.
A Twitter user posted a video of the standoff and wrote that “a photojournalist was shot with impact munitions.” The thread also shows the injury to Roberts’ arm.
#RochesterProtest on 9/5: Police and protesters are on opposite sides of a metal barricade. Police pepper spray protesters and fire impact munitions without clear justification.
— /r/2020PoliceBrutality (@r2020PB) September 14, 2020
During the incident, a photojournalist was shot with impact munitions.
(Angle 2/6)
[@AFriendlyDad] pic.twitter.com/4NRgKaD4G9
Roberts said he was stunned and injured, and returned home after the incident. The whole night was “just chaos, just [police] bringing purposeful terror,” he said
The Rochester Police Department didn’t respond to a request for comment on the incident.
Photojournalist Zach Roberts captured this image while documenting a protest around downtown Rochester, New York, on Sept. 5, 2020. Roberts, who was injured by a projectile, said the night was “just chaos."
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, chemical irritant, protest, shot / shot at",,,,, Independent journalist struck in the neck with shrapnel on 100th day of Portland protests,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalist-struck-in-the-neck-with-shrapnel-on-100th-day-of-portland-protests/,2021-02-04 19:04:02.636358+00:00,2021-02-04 19:04:02.636358+00:00,2021-02-04 19:04:02.596836+00:00,,Assault,,,,Tuck Woodstock (Freelance),,2020-09-05,False,Portland,Oregon (OR),45.52345,-122.67621,"Tuck Woodstock was struck in the neck with what the independent journalist believes was shrapnel from a flash-bang grenade while covering a protest against police violence in Portland, Oregon, on Sept. 5, 2020.
Woodstock was reporting from one of many protests that have broken out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
In Portland, nightly protests over Floyd’s death began on May 29, prompting Mayor Ted Wheeler to declare a curfew that lasted three days. Even after the nightly curfew was lifted, journalists continued to be targeted by police, according to a class-action lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon in June. Woodstock is a plaintiff in the suit, which resulted in a temporary restraining order and an agreement by the city of Portland in July to not arrest, harm or impede any journalists or legal observers.
Sept. 5 marked 100 straight days of protests in Portland. “It was wild for many reasons,” Woodstock told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, describing the events of the night.
A large group gathered in Southeast Portland’s Ventura Park, where organizers planned a march to Portland Police Bureau’s East Precinct according to the Portland Mercury.
By the time people were gathering to walk, police were announcing that the march was unpermitted. Woodstock said protesters marched anyway and were met by a “riot line” of officers. Next, Woodstock said, someone in the crowd threw two Molotov cocktails. “I remember thinking this was a huge escalation,” Woodstock said.
Woodstock, who was wearing press identification and working from among a group of other journalists, tweeted just after 9:15 p.m. they were hit in the neck.
Posted this out of thread but you’re going to want to watch it https://t.co/84F0LvJdaW
— Tuck Woodstock (@tuckwoodstock) September 6, 2020
While Woodstock couldn’t say exactly who or what hit them, a bunch of flash-bang grenades were exploding nearby. The shrapnel “felt consistent with flash bangs.” The injury caused minor bleeding, and left a mark on their throat for months, Woodstock said. Woodstock tweeted a picture of the injury several days later. They didn’t seek medical attention.
After the Molotov cocktails were thrown, a man caught fire from one of them and police declared a riot. There were also fireworks exploding in the street.
“Everything was exploding everywhere...that’s what stood out, I hadn’t seen anything like that before,” Woodstock told the Tracker.
When reached for comment during ongoing protests in the fall of 2020, the PPB told the Tracker it wouldn’t comment on specific incidents, citing continuing litigation in the ACLU case. Then in early 2021, PPB spokesman Derek Carmon said the department is committed to upholding civil rights for all citizens, including by requiring officers to report any use of force for review.
Democrat and Chronicle photographer Shawn Dowd was hit with crowd-control munitions while covering protests in Rochester, New York, on Sept. 5, 2020.
For the fourth straight night, demonstrators marched in protest of the death of Daniel Prude, a 41-year-old Black man who died by asphyxiation while in the custody of Rochester police in March; details surrounding his death came to light only after police body camera footage was released on Sept. 2. The protest was just one of many that had occurred across the nation throughout the summer in protest of police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Dowd, who had also been hit the night before, told the Tracker that he “made the conscious decision to [put himself in the front line] again.”
Dowd said he was hit with a volley of pepper balls, including on the heel of his right hand, which he’d been using to hold his camera to take a photo. Afterward, Dowd said, his hand was swollen and he avoided using his pinky finger for several weeks.
When the police officers “would open fire,” Dowd said, “it seemed like they were just spraying.” He said he saw a number of individuals who were unidentifiable as protesters or press, and connected that to the indiscriminate targeting of less-lethal weapons by the police.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Multiple journalists were hit with munitions on Sept. 5, the fourth night of protests in Rochester, New York, following the release of body camera footage related to the death of a Black man in the city in March 2020.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, chemical irritant, protest, shot / shot at",,,,, Knock LA journalist shot with projectiles at Los Angeles protest,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/knock-la-journalist-shot-with-projectiles-at-los-angeles-protest/,2021-04-13 13:34:18.251725+00:00,2022-03-09 22:56:22.478347+00:00,2022-03-09 22:56:22.415135+00:00,,Assault,,,,Alex McElvain (Knock LA),,2020-09-05,False,Los Angeles,California (CA),34.05223,-118.24368,"Alex McElvain, news coordinator for the nonprofit community news site Knock LA, said he was shot with crowd-control projectiles while reporting during a protest in Los Angeles, California, on Sept. 5, 2020.
Racial justice protests had been held regularly in Los Angeles since the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. Demonstrations were renewed in early September after Los Angeles Sheriff Department deputies shot and killed 29-year-old Dijon Kizzee on Aug. 31.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting arrests, assaults and other obstructions to journalists covering protests across the country.
Protesters marched on the sheriff’s South LA station on the afternoon of Sept. 5 and continued demonstrating into the evening, when law enforcement fired crowd control munitions and chemical irritants on the gathering, LAist reported.
McElvain told the Tracker in an email that he was not reporting on the march earlier in the day, but decided to go cover it when he saw on social media that law enforcement officers were deploying flash-bang grenades and tear gas on protesters.
When he arrived at the LASD South LA station on Imperial Highway around 9:45 p.m., there were no protesters but there were several dozen deputies. According to McElvain, he waved at the officers and one waved back, which he understood to mean that he was not perceived as a threat.
McElvain began taking photographs and notes at the east end of the building, but he said that the deputies shined high powered lights that interfered with his photography. The deputies told him he had to leave, according to McElvain, and one said there had been a dispersal order. McElvain said he repeatedly told them that he was there as a journalist, and asked multiple times where he should stand to observe and report.
“When I got into specifics about whether there was a PIO I could speak with, or where would be an acceptable location (to) stand that would allow me to cover the events occurring at the station, they stopped responding and essentially pretended they couldn’t hear me, and began shining lights in my direction when I took pictures,” McElvain told the Tracker.
About 20 minutes after he arrived, half a dozen protesters came near where McElvain was reporting, so he said he moved across the driveway, in part to make clear that he was not with the protesters.
According to McElvain, deputies threw tear gas and flash-bang grenades toward him without any warning. He hid behind a sign for the sheriff station.
The deputies then started firing crowd-control munitions toward the protesters, he said. He tried to leave by walking away from the station toward the street, and was hit with a projectile that he believes was a pepper ball, so he returned to shelter behind the sign. Another photographer took cover by the sign and began shouting that he was leaving, so McElvain started shouting with him.
A video McElvain posted on Twitter shows an empty street. Voices can be heard shouting, “I’m leaving! I’m leaving!” The video shakes as he appears to move across the street, yelling out multiple times in pain.
Hit at least a dozen times as I ran with hands up pic.twitter.com/HzjuCjuDVv
— Alex McElvain (@alexmce) September 6, 2020
McElvain said he was hit roughly a dozen times on his back and the back of his legs.
McElvain told the Tracker in an email that he believes he was struck with both pepper balls and foam projectiles. He said he had bruises from the projectiles for about two weeks.
McElvain said he did not know if he was targeted because he was a journalist.
“I think what is more likely is that as a journalist as I was considered lumped in with a group of people — the protesters I was also covering — that they felt challenged by and thus relished an opportunity to use force against,” he said.
A spokesperson for LASD told the Tracker in an email that they were unaware of the incident.
Freelance journalist Brian Conley said he was hit with shrapnel and knocked to the ground by law enforcement officers as he covered the police response to Sept. 5, 2020, demonstrations in Portland, Oregon.
Protests had been held In Portland almost nightly 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. Sept. 5 was the 101st consecutive day of civil unrest in the city.
Conley told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was covering demonstrations on the evening of Sept. 5 just west of Ventura Park in east Portland, near the intersection of Southeast Stark Street and 113th Avenue.
Police were deployed to block protesters who had gathered at Ventura Park from marching on a police precinct building located several blocks away at Southeast 106th Avenue, the Oregonian reported.
Protesters had targeted law enforcement buildings and surrounding areas, sometimes breaking windows, setting fires and tagging structures with graffiti. Police used tear gas on Sept. 5 for the first time in a month and made 59 arrests at the protest near Ventura Park, according to a department news release.
Conley, who has reported from conflict zones in Libya and Iraq, said that at about 9 p.m., he was struck on the back of his leg with munitions that he believed to be shrapnel from an exploding tear gas canister.
A short time later, Conley captured video of a Molotov cocktail exploding on the street, setting fire to a protester’s legs.
Other journalists and bystanders also filmed the scene, in which the protester is seen thrashing around the street before onlookers help to extinguish the flames crawling up his lower body. The footage went viral.
“When they started throwing Molotov cocktails, all hell broke loose,” Conley said.
At that point, police that had formed a line near the scene suddenly rushed toward protesters, Conley told the Tracker.
Oregon Public Broadcasting reporter Sergio Olmos posted video of the police “bull rush” that knocked Conley to the ground on Twitter.
“I tucked my shoulder and rolled,” Conley told the Tracker. “None of my equipment was damaged.”
Conley said fellow journalists on the scene helped him to his feet. He didn’t seek medical attention after the fall, nor did he file a complaint with the Portland Police Bureau regarding the incidents.
PPB said protesters threw Molotov cocktails at officers and that officers at the scene had declared the protest had turned into a riot, according to a department news release.
“This criminal activity presented an extreme danger to life safety for all community members, and prompted a declaration of a riot,” the release states. “The crowd was advised over loudspeaker that it was a riot and they were to leave the area to the east immediately. They were warned that failure to adhere to this order may subject them to arrest, citation, or crowd control agents, including, but not limited to, tear gas and/or impact weapons.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
News10 NBC reporter Charles Molineaux was hit with crowd-control munitions while covering protests in Rochester, New York, on Sept. 5, 2020, according to social media posts.
For the fourth straight night, demonstrators marched in protest of the death of Daniel Prude, a 41-year-old Black man who died by asphyxiation while in the custody of Rochester police in March; details surrounding his death came to light only after police body camera footage was released on Sept. 2. The protest was just one of many that had occurred across the nation throughout the summer in protest of police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
The protest on Sept. 5 seemingly started without contention, according to Molineaux’s Twitter feed. Around 8:30 p.m., he tweeted, “Virtually no Rochester police presence visible as marchers preparing to step out.… except for the police drone periodically flying overhead.”
As the protest made its way to the Public Safety Building, police presence became visible, according to Molineaux, with the street blocked off a few blocks to the east. The journalist wrote: “Police have kept their distance throughout the march. Different story at Broad Street and Exchange Boulevard where Exchange is blocked between here and police headquarters and a large detachment of police in tactical gear is behind the barricades.”
Molineaux tweeted at 10:15 that police had set up a barricade at Broad Street and Exchange Boulevard. Around 10:20, he reported that protesters had begun “throwing things” at police and that dispersal orders could be heard on loudspeakers. At 10:25, he wrote: “Police repeatedly announcing the assembly has been declared unlawful and crowds must disburse. Objects being thrown at the police, police now shooting pepper balls at the crowd.”
In the early hours of the next morning, photojournalist Brandon Schoepfel posted a photo of Molineaux with a bloodied mark near his left ear, writing, “Our reporter @WHEC_cmolineaux was hit by what we believe was a rubber bullet earlier in the night.”
Our reporter @WHEC_cmolineaux was hit by what we believe was a rubber bullet earlier in the night. @news10nbc pic.twitter.com/3Mc8ujmkR5
— Brandon Schoepfel (@bschoepf3) September 6, 2020
Molineaux did not respond to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker’s request for comment.
The Rochester Police Department did not respond to an emailed request for comment, but Spectrum News reported that it had confirmed that the Rochester Police Department does not use rubber bullets. In a Sept. 6 press conference, city officials did not mention journalists being caught up in crowd-control munitions.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
The New York Times said it was barred from attending a press briefing call organized by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence on Sept. 4, 2020, in apparent retaliation for an article published by the New York Times Magazine.
The Times reported that then-director John Ratcliffe organized an embargoed press briefing with his office’s chief privacy officer and officials from the FBI and NSA following a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court ruling on the FBI’s warrantless surveillance programs. Such briefings are routine when the government declassifies technically or legally complex documents about surveillance programs, the outlet reported.
According to a letter sent by Times deputy general counsel David McCraw to the ODNI on Sept. 15, reporters from the Times were not told about the call, while reporters from the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal and other new organizations were invited.
According to the Times, someone familiar with internal deliberations at the ODNI said that Ratcliffe had ordered his communications staff not to speak to the outlet after the magazine published a piece in early August about pressure from the White House to downplay intelligence reports about Russian efforts to influence the 2020 election.
“This exclusion was unwarranted,” McCraw wrote. “To our knowledge, ODNI has invited New York Times reporters — along with reporters from the Post and Journal — to join every multi-agency briefing on newly declassified materials since it began doing the briefings in 2013.
“We ask that ODNI provide written assurance by September 30, 2020, that The Times will be put back on the list of news organizations invited to join briefing calls. If no assurance is forthcoming by then, we will explore our legal options.”
Times spokesperson Danielle Rhoades Ha told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker the outlet received no official response from the ODNI.
When reached for comment, Amanda Schoch, Assistant Director of National Intelligence for Strategic Communications for the ODNI, said via email she could not comment on legal discussions.
“However, we have robust and ongoing engagements with the New York Times and its reporters,” Schoch wrote. “A free and fair press is a cornerstone to our democracy and the ODNI is committed to fostering productive relationships with reporters to inform the American people.”
Democrat and Chronicle photographer Jamie Germano said he was hit with crowd-control munitions while covering protests in Rochester, New York, on Sept. 4, 2020.
Demonstrators that night had marched to the city’s Public Safety Building in protest of the death of Daniel Prude, a 41-year-old Black man who died by asphyxiation while in the custody of Rochester police in March. Details surrounding his death came to light only after police body camera footage was released on Sept. 2. The protest was just one of many held across the nation throughout the summer in protest of police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Germano told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the police rushed the protesters to push them back over the Court Street Bridge and then began with a volley of pepper balls. He said he was hit in the legs and hands, and pepper ball residue got on his camera, but he didn’t notice until he’d gotten home that night. Each time that he lifted the camera to his face to take a picture, he said, his eyes and face burned.
Germano said that he “was never trying to get in the way” and that he felt like “collateral damage” due to his closeness to protesters.
The Rochester Police Department did not respond to an emailed request for comment as of press time.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Find all incidents in Rochester, New York, here.
Democrat and Chronicle photographer Jamie Germano's camera was coated with pepper ball powder during September 2020 protests in Rochester, New York. The residue burned his face each time he took a picture, he said.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,no,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, chemical irritant, protest, shot / shot at",,,,, Journalist caught in chemical irritants and threatened with arrest while covering Rochester protests,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-caught-in-chemical-irritants-and-threatened-with-arrest-while-covering-rochester-protests/,2021-02-25 18:11:12.899872+00:00,2022-03-10 14:50:08.839666+00:00,2022-03-10 14:50:08.775461+00:00,,Assault,,,,Vanessa J. Cheeks (Freelance),,2020-09-04,False,Rochester,New York (NY),43.15478,-77.61556,"Freelancer Vanessa J. Cheeks was caught in crowd-control agents and threatened with arrest while covering protests in Rochester, New York, on Sept. 4, 2020.
For the third straight night, demonstrators had marched in protest of the death of Daniel Prude, a 41-year-old Black man who died by asphyxiation while in the custody of Rochester police in March; details surrounding his death came to light only after police body camera footage was released on Sept. 2. The protest was just one of many held across the nation throughout the summer in protest of police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
In a phone interview with the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, Cheeks, who also works as a news producer for WROC-TV, the city’s CBS affiliate station, said that when she’d arrived near the Court Street Bridge on the evening of Sept. 4., the situation between protesters and law enforcement was tense. At 10:53 p.m. the journalist tweeted a video in which the Rochester Police Department could be heard declaring the gathering “an unlawful assembly” and ordering the crowd to disperse. Two minutes later, she posted, “Pepper balls man.”
Cheeks told the Tracker she “definitely got the pepper in my face and threw up a couple of times.”
As the demonstrators moved away from the bridge and headed east toward MLK Park, Cheeks said members of the media took to a nearby building’s terrace to cover the scene. At 12:18 a.m., she tweeted, “Things escalated. We got tear gassed.” Cheeks told the Tracker that she believed that the police did not take into account the members of the media in the crowd while targeting their less-lethal munitions.
She said she saw police shooting pepper balls up to the terrace as reporters were ducking behind trees to avoid them. “You can absolutely tell, we are not protesters,” she said, adding, “We were not up there with protesters.”
She said that as she ran from the area to avoid the tear gas and pepper ball fire, she encountered WROC photographer Patrick Riley and the station’s security guard. She said that the group watched a line of police officers walking past the park and identifying individuals they wanted to disperse.
At 12:45 a.m., Cheeks tweeted that she heard an officer state, “Individual in white shirt, backpack. Move or you’ll be subject to arrest.” She said she fit that description and was baffled that the officer couldn’t tell that she was a member of the press. Cheeks had a press badge around her neck and says Riley was clearly identifiable as press. She said she held up her press badge to identify herself and that the officer did not act on the threat.
The Rochester Police Department did not respond to an emailed request for comment as of press time.
Two Democrat and Chronicle photographers were also hit by less-lethal munitions on Sept. 4. Find all incidents in Rochester, New York, here.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or having their equipment damaged while covering Black Lives Matter protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Photojournalist Nathan Howard said he was pushed to the ground by an officer while covering a protest in Portland, Oregon on Sept. 4, 2020.
Howard, whose work has been published by Reuters, Getty Images and the Associated Press, was documenting one of hundreds of demonstrations held across the U.S. in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25.
Law enforcement officers in Portland have targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The ACLU suit led to a temporary restraining order, and later a preliminary injunction, barring the Portland Police Bureau from harming or impeding journalists. Lewis-Rolland is a plaintiff in the class-action lawsuit.
On Sept. 4 protesters gathered outside of the headquarters of the Portland Police Association, the union that represents city police officers. Police declared an unlawful assembly at 11:45 p.m., KATU reported.
Howard told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that police came out and started to make targeted arrests of people in the street. He said he was taking photographs of an arrest when an officer came toward him.
Howard said he put his hands up and told the officer multiple times that he was a member of the press while he was backing up. While Howard continued to back up, he said the officer became more aggravated. Eventually the officer shoved him, he said, causing him to fall backwards. He said he landed against a metal street sign pole.
Howard said he was initially alright, and took advantage of his angle on the ground to try to photograph an arrest happening nearby.
Howard said he felt someone fall with him but couldn’t recall who landed on top of whom. He added that in the process, his head was pushed back, hitting the metal street sign pole. He said the impact was jarring, and needed to take a break for a few minutes.
Howard said he was wearing a vest that identified him as press.
The PPB declined to comment on the incidents. The police department has declined to comment to the Tracker on other cases in Portland due to ongoing litigation.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Photojournalist Mathieu Lewis-Rolland said a police officer shoved him, causing him to land on top of another journalist, while covering a protest in Portland, Oregon, on Sept. 4, 2020.
Lewis-Rolland, whose work has been published by outlets including Reuters and Agence France-Presse, was documenting one of hundreds of demonstrations held across the U.S. in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25.
Law enforcement officers in Portland have targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The ACLU suit led to a temporary restraining order, and later a preliminary injunction, barring the Portland Police Bureau from harming or impeding journalists. Lewis-Rolland is a plaintiff in the class-action lawsuit.
On Sept. 4 protesters gathered outside of the headquarters of the Portland Police Association, the union that represents city police officers. Police declared an unlawful assembly at 11:45 p.m., KATU reported.
Lewis-Rolland told the Tracker he was photographing an arrest across the street from the Portland Police Association building. An officer came up from behind him, grabbed him by the backpack, and threw him to the ground, he said.
In a video Lewis-Rolland posted on Twitter, a police dispersal announcement can be heard while two police officers hold down an individual. The image suddenly becomes blurry and a voice can be heard saying “get back.” For a few seconds, the camera is pointed up toward a street sign, then the image refocuses facing toward the pavement.
Just got thrown to the ground by PPB while documenting an arrest. pic.twitter.com/j3ga3NsJVy
— Mathieu Lewis-Rolland (@MathieuLRolland) September 5, 2020
Lewis-Rolland said he wasn’t injured, but was rattled.
“There's something unique about having someone physically throw you to the ground,” he said. “It feels very violating.”
Lewis-Rolland said he was wearing a helmet and backpack that were both marked “PRESS.” He also wore a reflective yellow vest and carried two cameras.
The PPB declined to comment on the incidents. The police department has declined to comment to the Tracker on other cases in Portland due to ongoing litigation.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Shawn Dowd, a photographer for the Democrat and Chronicle, was hit with crowd-control munitions while covering protests in Rochester, New York, on Sept. 4, 2020.
Demonstrators that night had marched to the city’s Public Safety Building in protest of the death of Daniel Prude, a 41-year-old Black man who died by asphyxiation while in the custody of Rochester police in March. Details surrounding his death came to light only after police body camera footage was released on Sept. 2. The protest was just one of many held across the nation throughout the summer in protest of police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Dowd told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in a phone interview that upon arriving in the area he and colleague Jamie Germano split up, to more fully document the scene. Dowd said he made his way to the front of the crowd, where police had lined up along a barricade they’d set up earlier in the evening. At one point, Dowd said, “The police opened up with pepper balls to drive the protesters back,” adding, “We all got lit up.”
Dowd said he “took a shot to the side of the head,” as well as in the neck and ear. He said that he turned to protect himself and in a second volley “took a couple in the back, one in the back of the legs and then one to the foot.”
Dowd said he’d decided to avoid wearing an insignia marking him as a working member of the press due anti-media sentiment he’d encountered from demonstrators at prior protests, but he said he did have his press badge around his neck.
When the police officers “would open fire,” Dowd said, “it seemed like they were just spraying.”
The Rochester Police Department did not respond to an emailed request for comment as of press time.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here. Find all incidents in Rochester, New York, here.
Democrat and Chronicle photographer Tina MacIntyre-Yee was hit in the helmet with a pepper ball shot fired by law enforcement while covering protests in Rochester, New York, on Sept. 3, 2020.
Demonstrators had marched that day to the Public Safety Building in protest of the death of Daniel Prude, who died by asphyxiation in police custody in March; details surrounding his death came to light only after police body camera footage was released on Sept. 2.
In a phone interview with the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, MacIntyre-Yee explained that she had been called in as the protest “was getting bad” and was told to “bring protection” because the police had been shooting pepper balls. She brought along a bike helmet, which she said she put on nearly immediately upon approaching the scene.
At 11:19 p.m. she tweeted that the police in front of the PSB responded to a thrown water bottle with a “volley of pepper balls.”
A few minutes thereafter, police went inside the PSB and protesters proceeded to remove the perimeter of fence barricades and advance toward the building, according to a video captured by MacIntyre-Yee’s colleague Will Cleveland. Just before 11:30 p.m., according to Cleveland’s Twitter feed, “Police are exiting the PSB with helmets and shields now. It looks like they went inside to get new gear.”
MacIntyre-Yee told the Tracker that, when she saw the protesters’ advance, she quickly moved away, assuming that they would soon be shot at. MacIntyre-Yee said she moved to the left of the roughly 100 individuals who’d gathered and thought that the police could “clearly see that I was media but who knows.”
She said she was wearing all black, coincidentally matching several of the protesters, but had tried to lean over a cement wall surrounding the building with her camera in an obvious way to highlight the fact that she was there in a journalistic capacity.
Soon, there was an outburst of pepper ball fire. MacIntyre-Yee described to the Tracker how the shooting began at the end of the police line directly across from the protesters and rippled down to where she was. While behind a cement barricade, MacIntyre-Yee filmed the scene, including the moment she was hit.
Got hit in the head but had helmet, then got pinned down finally they told me to leave pic.twitter.com/eleEggEbXd
— Tina MacIntyre-Yee (@tyee23) September 4, 2020
She told the Tracker that officers soon came up to the wall she was hiding behind and yelled at her to leave.
A picture posted of her helmet minutes later shows a mark where the pepper ball hit. Even after brushing away the powder, MacIntyre-Yee told the Tracker that there was a permanent scratch. Fortunately, she said, she was uninjured and continued to report.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Photojournalist Zach Roberts was hit multiple times with pepper balls and another crowd-control irritant fired by law enforcement as he covered a protest against police brutality in Rochester, New York, on Sept. 3, 2020.
Demonstrators took to the streets in Rochester to demand justice for Daniel Prude, a Black man who died in March after Rochester law enforcement pinned him to the ground and he lost consciousness. Prude, who had a history of mental illness and was naked and in distress at the time, died in hospital a week later. Law enforcement body camera footage released months later, on Sept. 2, sparked protests against police handling of the incident.
A day after the footage was released, demonstrators had gathered outside the Rochester Public Safety Building. Roberts said he was covering the gathering when police — standing behind a metal fence at the building — began firing a crowd-control irritant into the protest.
According to the New York Times it was unclear what prompted the law enforcement action. “Unfortunately, I was nailed with that pretty quickly,” Roberts told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. “It was like indiscriminate, it was basically like they were spray-painting a wall,” he said.
When protesters tried to move the metal fence, officers fired the irritant again, according to the Times account.
Roberts, who was photographing for the international agency NurPhoto, based in Italy, said he had not expected any violence and was not wearing protective gear. That night he tweeted that “this was one of the more violent things I've seen in my years in journalism.”
Rochester Police just retook the fence in space with a full court charge with about a hundred officers using rubber bullets. And pepper bullets. This was one of the more violent things I've seen in my years in journalism. Almost every single person here is affected I got hit too. pic.twitter.com/y4zqUhEMpB
— Zach D Roberts (@zdroberts) September 4, 2020
According to Roberts, officers began pushing people away from the public safety building and chasing after them as they fled. “They did it in such a chaotic way, no direction, no warning,” said Roberts. “I asked multiple times, where do you want us to go and there was nothing, no response from police officers,” he told the Tracker.
Roberts said that in the chaos, police rushed at the crowd, firing pepper balls as they pushed people across the street, into a parking lot and then onto an overpass. “That’s when the shocking amount of violence occurred,” Roberts said.
Roberts said that as he took photos of protesters, he was wearing press credentials, yelling “press” to identify himself to police and carrying two cameras that he felt made him clearly identifiable as a journalist. He said he was hit in the back at one point as officers yelled at him to move away. “There is basically no way that they didn’t know that I was a journalist,” he said.
According to Roberts one of his cameras was hit with pepper pellets but not damaged. “I assume they were aiming for me, I mean, maybe they were aiming for the cameras, I don’t know which one is better.”
Roberts said he did not seek medical care for pain and bruises and suffered no long-term health issues. He said he also did not file a complaint against Rochester police.
The captain of the Rochester Police Department responded to a Tracker query, saying that the department is “going to start an internal review of the incident.”
On Sept. 1, 2020, a police officer in Kenosha, Wisconsin, sprayed independent filmmaker Ashley Dorelus with a chemical agent after she knocked away his hand, according to Dorelus and video of the encounter. Dorelus, who said she has been traveling the country to make a film about the Black Lives Matter movement, said that she batted away the officer’s hand because he had inappropriately touched her.
Dorelus told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she was reporting in a Kenosha park that had become a gathering place for protesters after the Aug. 23 shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, by a white police officer. She said that before the incident with the policeman, she was trying to interview a man who described himself as a member of the Proud Boys, a far-right group, and a woman accompanying him. Dorelus said that as she sought to ask the man questions about the Proud Boys, a crowd of protesters followed them, chanting “Proud Boys go home.”
One demonstrator also antagonized Dorelus, apparently because she was trying to interview the self-described Proud Boy. “You’re media, you’re media,” the demonstrator shouts at her in a video that Dorelus live streamed on Instagram. A few minutes later, the video shows several police officers arriving to separate the man and the woman from the crowd. As Dorelus, together with other members of the press, walks along close to law enforcement escorting the self-described right-wing activists, one of the officers shoves her away “Hey that was my breast, don’t touch me,” she can be heard screaming, and then again: “don’t touch me,” right before the officer sprays her.
The incident was also caught on camera by New York Times reporter Nicholas Bogel-Burroughswho tweeted the video and it was later reported in The New York Times. Bogel-Burroughs’ footage shows the officer, who is white, shoving away Dorelus, who is Black, and then spraying her after she swatted his hand. Dorelus said that she swiped at the officer’s hand because he had touched her inappropriately. “I’m a woman, you don’t think I know when a man touches my breast, come on,” she told the Tracker. Dorelus also said that she was wearing press credentials when she was sprayed. “I was trying to explain to the police, I was interviewing these people,” she said. “He could have just told me to step back, whereas his initial reaction was to mace me.” Dorelus said that her eyes were burning badly for two days and her head was also exposed to the spray.
Dorelus said she did not file a complaint against the officer. The Kenosha Police Department has not responded to Tracker requests for comment.
The same day Dorelus was sprayed and allegedly touched inappropriately, President Donald Trump visited Kenosha, where he offered support to law enforcement but did not speak about Jacob Blake or meet with his family members.
George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020, ignited a sweeping assembly of protesters across the United States — and the globe — a staggering, monthslong outcry for police reform and racial justice. In many moments peaceful, in many others bracingly violent, journalists of all stripes took to documenting these demonstrations. At times, to do the job meant to expose oneself to the effects of riot-control agents, to face harassment from individuals or law enforcement officials, to fear for your safety or have your reporting interrupted. Below is a geographically organized roundup of such examples from around the U.S. during September 2020. Protests in Portland, Oregon, were particularly acute in the summer of 2020. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented incidents that occurred there in a separate roundup.
A full accounting of incidents in which members of the press were assaulted, arrested or had their equipment damaged while covering these protests can be found here. To learn more about how the Tracker documents and categorizes violations of press freedom, visit pressfreedomtracker.us.
Sept. 3, 2020 - Sept. 4, 2020
In Rochester, New York
Officers just fired directly at me. I’m standing alone, just filming pic.twitter.com/bliFSD8m0L
— Will Cleveland (@WillCleveland13) September 4, 2020
Officers advancing now — saying MOVE pic.twitter.com/eHawl93iDa
— Will Cleveland (@WillCleveland13) September 4, 2020
Tear gassed again. I got hit badly. My eyes, my nose, my throat. Whew. This is awful.
— adria r. walker (@adriawalkr) September 4, 2020
Pepperballed by Rochester PD on the river walk separate from the protest I engaged officers. "doesn't matter who you are you're going home." (yes, i forgot credentials). @FreedomofPress @evandawson @david_andreatta @DandC @Reuters @AP @nytimes @News_8 @13WHAM @Sifill_LDF #BLM pic.twitter.com/5TZXXgrIoB
— Chris Baker- Digital Media Producer (@HHCreativeNY) September 7, 2020
Sept. 7, 2020
In Salem, Oregon
Now in Salem, where there are people on opposing sides of a street. Guns on the right-wing side and at least one bat on the left-wing side. A few Proud Boys demanded to see my credentials, and one made some threatening comments so that I would leave their side of the street. pic.twitter.com/8YS0QDP66O
— Mike Baker (@ByMikeBaker) September 7, 2020
Sept. 23, 2020
In Louisville, Kentucky
.@LMPD arrested this group of protesters at 5th & Liberty, and threatened me with arrest if I continued to take pictures even after I informed them I was a member of the press. #BreonnaTaylor pic.twitter.com/kwEV7LJVEu
— Philmonger (@phillipmbailey) September 24, 2020
Sept. 24, 2020
In Minneapolis, Minnesota
Folks, I’m backing off. Multiple people threatening to take and break my cameras. Been berated most of the night by a small group of organizers and anarchists.
— Aaron Lavinsky (@ADLavinsky) September 25, 2020
Folks, I’m backing off. Multiple people threatening to take and break my cameras. Been berated most of the night by a small group of organizers and anarchists.
— Aaron Lavinsky (@ADLavinsky) September 25, 2020
Information in this roundup was gathered from published social media and news reports as well as interviews where noted. To read similar incidents from other days of national protests also in this category, go here.
Police officers try to break up a fight between demonstrators outside the Capitol in Salem, Oregon on Sept. 7, 2020.
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On the night of Aug. 30 and early hours of Aug. 31, Jasiura was covering protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement in downtown Washington, D.C.
The journalist, who has been covering the protests for several months as an independent photographer and filmmaker, said he was in the pedestrian area outside of the White House that was renamed “Black Lives Matter Plaza,” when a police officer fired a smoke grenade. Jasiura said that based on his past experience covering protests, he believed the grenade was a warning that officers were going to begin firing tear gas. The journalist walked across the street to put on a sweatshirt with a hood and a gas mask for protection, he told the Tracker.
As he was bent over to put on the hoodie and gas mask, a rubber bullet hit him in the rear end, he told the Tracker. Police officers had begun to fire rubber bullets to clear protesters from the plaza, but Jasiura believed he was targeted because he was “50 feet away from the police line…. and nowhere near the protesters.”
In a separate incident on Aug. 13, Jasiura told the Tracker he was released after being detained by police officers for several hours when a Metropolitan Police Department lieutenant recognized him.
The Metropolitan Police Department did not respond to a Tracker request for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Oyoma Asinor, an independent photographer, was covering a Black Lives Matter protest in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 31, 2020, when he was arrested by D.C. police and his camera and other equipment seized.
According to an ACLU of DC lawsuit filed on Asinor’s behalf in August 2021, Asinor arrived around midnight at Black Lives Matter Plaza to cover a BLM protest and found Metropolitan Police officers with shields and helmets standing in front of St. John’s Church, where barricades had been set up.
Protesters stood directly in front of the barricades, chanting, as Asinor moved around the intersection of 16th and H Streets taking photographs.
A group of MPD officers formed a line in the intersection of 16th and H Street, across H Street, blocking people from moving east. These officers wore helmets, and several were equipped with gun-shaped weapons attached to small tanks, according to the lawsuit.
Asinor continued photographing the officers, standing with another photojournalist at the northwest corner of the intersection of 16th and H Streets.
As Asinor continued photographing, he saw a small item — believed to be a water bottle — thrown from behind him toward the officers at the barricades, the document stated.
Moments after the water bottle was thrown, an officer behind the 16th Street barricade walked up to the barricade and rolled a smoke munition onto 16th Street. The munition produced a large cloud of smoke on 16th Street, the ACLU said.
Around the same time, a police officer deployed at least one stun grenade near where Asinor was standing. The stun grenade produced smoke and a loud noise that Asinor found “terrifying and disorienting.”
Asinor walked north on 16th Street, where he found several small concrete blocks across the street and police officers lined up “and pointing, but not firing, cannon-shaped weapons at Mr. Asinor and the others near him,” according to the document.
Asinor and a few other journalists and demonstrators stopped around ten feet away from the blocks.
Demonstrators standing about five to seven feet behind Asinor threw two water bottles at the officers, which either missed them or landed near them harmlessly.
Officers responded by shooting rubber bullets at the demonstrators. After that, Asinor did not see the demonstrators throw anything else or attack or threaten the officers in any way, according to the ACLU document.
Then officers ran between the blocks, charging at Asinor and others who had stopped. Asinor had been facing the officers and taking photos, but he turned around to run north on 16th Street as soon as he saw them charge.
“A police officer sprayed liquid chemical irritants at Mr. Asinor and others running away. The spray hit Mr. Asinor, causing him to feel a burning sensation on his skin as he was running. He additionally felt a burning sensation in his nose, his eyes watered, and he had trouble breathing. Mr. Asinor had goggles with him, but he was not wearing them so that he could better use his camera,” according to the legal document.
As Asinor was running up 16th Street, Asinor and others became boxed in between officers moving north and south.
Asinor attempted to leave the area, but “one of the bike officers struck him in the chest with her arm and stopped him, before forcing him to the ground and handcuffing him.”
According to the document, Asinor told the officer that he was a member of the press multiple times, repeatedly telling her that he was carrying a camera for journalistic purposes; however, she did not allow him to leave.
Another officer later told Asinor that he was being arrested for “felony rioting.”
The ACLU document said “nothing Mr. Asinor did on August 30 or 31, 2020 provided probable cause to believe that he violated D.C. Code § 22-1322 or any other law.”
After the arrest, an officer removed Asinor’s camera, cellphone and goggles. He was then taken to the second police district, where he remained in police custody overnight. He continued to feel the effects of the chemical irritants with which he had been sprayed.
According to an MSN report, the ACLU said: “MPD did not return these items for almost a full year, even though he requested them multiple times, and MPD had no lawful basis to keep them.”
Asinor was released after about 17 hours in custody, at which point he was informed that he would not face any charges, according to the document.
The ACLU has filed a lawsuit against the D.C. government and the MPD officers claiming false imprisonment, assault and battery and unlawful use of chemical irritants, based on this incident and another with independent photojournalist Brian Dozier.
MPD told the Tracker they did not comment on ongoing cases.
Scott Keeler, an independent journalist, said he was shoved and shot with pepper balls by law enforcement officers while covering a protest in northeast Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 30, 2020.
Keeler was documenting one of the many nightly protests held in Portland in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the killing of George Floyd, a Black man, in Minneapolis on May 25. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Law enforcement officers in Portland have targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The ACLU suit led the city to agree to a preliminary injunction in July to not arrest, harm or impede the work of journalists or legal observers of the protests.
Keeler was outside the Penumbra Kelly Building, which has been a repeated focus of demonstrators because it houses the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office and some Portland Police Bureau units. The Aug. 30 protest was declared an “unlawful assembly” at 10:40 p.m. after protesters threw rocks and eggs at officers, according to the local KATU news station.
Keeler was covering a confrontation between protesters and law enforcement across the street at around 11 p.m. when the incidents occurred. Video posted on Twitter by Keeler shows officers from the PPB and MCSO taking several protesters to the ground and arresting them.
These protesters were just standing here before being targeted, attacked and kidnapped by unidentified men in black masks. Police would not let anyone leave the area before this happened. @R3volutionDaddy, @econbrkfst, an NLG observer and myself where shoved, and shot here. pic.twitter.com/KGWENDXRGY
— Soundtrack to the End (@_WhatRiot) August 31, 2020
In a separate tweet, Keeler said he and other members of the press “were shot in the feet with pepper balls from no more than a foot away to force us to back despite being forced to stay in the completely confined space by another cop on the opposite side of the scrum.”
The MCSCO didn’t respond to a request for comment. The PPB has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation in the ACLU case.
Independent journalist Wyatt Reed was struck in the shoulder with a crowd-control munition while covering a protest in Washington, D.C., early on the morning of Aug. 30, 2020.
Regular protests over racial justice held in Washington and across the country since the May 25 killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis were amplified by anger over the Aug. 23 police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin. In addition, thousands had gathered in the nation’s capital on Aug. 28 for the 57th anniversary of the civil rights era March on Washington.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting arrests, assaults and other obstructions to journalists covering protests across the country.
Marchers on the evening of Aug. 29 converged on Black Lives Matter Plaza, just north of the White House, and protests continued into the morning of Aug. 30. According to DCist, after 1:30 a.m. on Aug. 30, about 100 protesters gathered at the intersection of 16th Street and K Street Northwest, where police began using crowd-control rounds to disperse the crowd after a rock was thrown at them.
Reed, who is also a producer for the radio show By Any Means Necessary on Russian state-owned Radio Sputnik, was filming a confrontation between police and protesters at that intersection when he was hit in the left shoulder with a crowd-control munition.
“DC cops just shot me in the shoulder with a huge rubber round as I filmed them dousing everyone in a 25 ft radius with chemical spray,” he tweeted at 2:08 a.m.
In a video he posted alongside the tweet, a police officer can be seen spraying a chemical irritant at protesters in a sweeping, indiscriminate fashion. Some of the spray appears to hit Reed. Then, the sounds of crowd-control rounds being fired can be heard.
“Fuck, I just got fucking shot, they just fucking shot me, oh fuck,” Reed can be heard saying in the video.
A person who appears to be acting as a street medic rushes over to Reed and can be seen ripping open his left sleeve before saying “you’re good” and “that’s going to be a good scar.”
This is how DC cops have been treating journalists for 3 months pic.twitter.com/esZMrHNhT8
— Wyatt Reed (@wyattreed13) August 30, 2020
Speaking to the Tracker, Reed described the projectile, which he picked up after, as a “rubber puck” that tore through his shirt as it hit his shoulder. When he was hit, he was standing near the front of the protest crowd, close to the line of police officers. He said he was wearing a press identification and believes he was targeted.
Right before he was hit with the crowd-control round, Reed said he was peripherally sprayed with the chemical agent that can be seen being deployed in the video. However the rubber puck left a more painful and lasting injury.
“It was bruised for a few good weeks,” Reed said. “It left a fairly gnarly little scar.”
The D.C. Metropolitan Police Department didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Earlier at the same protest — late on the evening of Aug. 29 — Reed was sprayed with a chemical irritant as police tried to clear protesters from H Street.
Freelance journalist Alissa Azar was shoved and shot with pepper balls by law enforcement while documenting protesters getting arrested outside the Penumbra Kelly Building, in northeast Portland, Oregon on Aug. 30, 2020, according to social media posts.
Azar was documenting one of the many nightly protests held in Portland in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the killing of George Floyd, a Black man, in Minneapolis on May 25. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Law enforcement officers in Portland have targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The ACLU suit led the city to agree to a preliminary injunction in July to not arrest, harm or impede the work of journalists or legal observers of the protests.
The Kelly building has been a repeated focus of demonstrators because it houses the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office and some Portland Police Bureau units. The Aug. 30 protest was declared an “unlawful assembly” at 10:40 p.m. after protesters threw rocks and eggs at officers, according to the local KATU news station.
Azar tweeted that she “got shot with a pepper bullet for recording an arrest, pushed down to the ground aggressively.”
Griffin Malone, another independent journalist, captured the scene from across the street in a video he posted on Twitter.
The MCSCO didn’t respond to a request for comment. The PPB has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation in the ACLU case.
Independent journalist Nicholas Lee said he was pushed by law enforcement officers while documenting protesters getting arrested outside the Penumbra Kelly Building, in northeast Portland, Oregon on Aug. 30, 2020.
Lee was documenting one of the many nightly protests held in Portland in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the killing of George Floyd, a Black man, in Minneapolis on May 25. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Law enforcement officers in Portland have targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The ACLU suit led the city to agree to a preliminary injunction in July to not arrest, harm or impede the work of journalists or legal observers of the protests.
The Kelly building has been a repeated focus of demonstrators because it houses the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office and some Portland Police Bureau units. The Aug. 30 protest was declared an “unlawful assembly” at 10:40 p.m. after protesters threw rocks and eggs at officers, according to the local KATU news station. Law enforcement officers pushed people to the west of the building, Lee told the Tracker.
Lee was covering a confrontation between protesters and law enforcement across the street at around 11 p.m. when the incidents occurred.
In a video posted to Twitter, an officer from the sheriff’s department is seen pushing back Lee, who was wearing a helmet and backpack marked as “press,” while telling him to “back up.” Lee can be heard responding, “I’m on the sidewalk.”
These protesters were just standing here before being targeted, attacked and kidnapped by unidentified men in black masks. Police would not let anyone leave the area before this happened. @R3volutionDaddy, @econbrkfst, an NLG observer and myself where shoved, and shot here. pic.twitter.com/KGWENDXRGY
— Soundtrack to the End (@_WhatRiot) August 31, 2020
“[The officer] pushed me into a bush,” Lee said.
The MCSCO didn’t respond to a request for comment. The PPB has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation in the ACLU case.
Independent reporter Garrison Davis was shoved by a police officer while filming a protester getting arrested near the police union building in north Portland, Oregon, in the early hours of Aug. 29, 2020.
Davis, a contributor to iHeartRadio, was covering one of the many nightly protests held in Portland in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the killing of George Floyd, a Black man, in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Law enforcement officers in Portland have targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The ACLU suit led to a temporary restraining order, and later a preliminary injunction, barring the Portland Police Bureau from harming or impeding journalists.
Sometime after midnight on Aug. 29, the door to the Portland Police Association building was set on fire. After a riot was declared, police chased protesters into the parking lot of a gas station across the street, tackling and arresting some of them, Davis told the Tracker.
In a video tweeted by Davis, an officer can be seen confronting him as he moves closer to film an arrest in front of the gas station. The officer can be heard yelling, “Move back! Move back!” Then the video goes dark as the officer shoves Davis.
Police approach me & begin to shove this reporter back as I’m walking in the open area around where arrests are happening. My phone is turned off in the process. #blacklivesmatter #protest #pdx #Portland #Oregon #BLM #PortlandProtest #pdxprotest #portlandpolice pic.twitter.com/WhKBnrgJqO
— Garrison Davis (@hungrybowtie) August 29, 2020
Robert Evans, a journalist for Bellingcat and iHeartRadio, captured the rest of the incident in a video he posted on Twitter. “Police officers very likely violate the TRO by shoving Garrison back to stop him from filming an arrest,” tweeted Evans.
Evans’ video shows the officer pushing Davis, who is holding his arms in the air. “Stay back over here where you were told to stay,” the officer can be heard telling Davis, who is clearly marked “press” on his helmet. Police can also be heard giving instructions over an LRAD warning protesters and press not to “interfere.”
Davis told the Tracker that he felt targeted as press by the PPB in this instance.
“He’s acting like I was repeatedly told to stay somewhere and I’m not, which isn’t what happened,” he said. “I wasn’t told to stay anywhere previously.”
The PPB has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation in the ACLU case.
Mike Baker, Seattle bureau chief for The New York Times, said he was hit with less-lethal munitions, identified as paintballs, while covering a pro-Trump caravan that went through downtown Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 29, 2020.
Baker was covering the “Trump cruise rally,” which began at the Clackamas Town Center parking lot, about nine miles outside of Portland. Trump supporters were met with counter-protesters as they drove through the downtown, sparking confrontations, according to local news outlet KATU.
Oregon Public Broadcasting reported online videos showing the “flag-adorned trucks driving through groups of protesters, firing paintball guns at crowds and deploying what appears to be pepper spray,” leading to “dangerous, tense confrontations.”
Baker was filming the pro-Trump caravan at the intersection of Southwest Fourth Avenue and Southwest Washington Street downtown when a man riding in the bed of a black pickup truck flying a Trump flag opened fire with a paintball gun.
“The person in the back of the truck just started shooting their paintball gun into the crowd, just kind of shooting indiscriminately at anyone,” Baker told the Tracker. He was hit by a paintball in the back of the shoulder as he was turning away, he said, adding that it caused bruising but no serious injury. Baker was wearing body armor with press markings at the time he was hit, he told the Tracker
Baker captured footage of the incident, which he posted on Twitter at 8:15 p.m. As pickup trucks adorned with Trump and American flags drive through the intersection, a counter protester can be seen trying to light a Trump flag on fire and another extends their middle finger at the caravan. A clear liquid of some kind can be seen being sprayed towards the caravan from the anti-Trump crowd, as a man in the back of a pickup fires a paintball at Baker and other people gathered on the sidewalk. Then a man in the next pickup deploys a yellow-tinted chemical irritant.
Clashes. Trump people unload paintballs and pepper spray. They shot me too. pic.twitter.com/PwU5pZMLnV
— Mike Baker (@ByMikeBaker) August 30, 2020
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests that have broken out across the country in response to police violence and in support of Black Lives Matter following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
A social media journalist told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was shot in the leg with a projectile while reporting on a protest in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 29, 2020.
Regular protests over racial justice held in Washington and across the country since the May 25 killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis were amplified by anger over the Aug. 23 police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin. In addition, thousands had gathered in the nation’s capital on Aug. 28 for the 57th anniversary of the civil rights era March on Washington.
The Tracker is documenting arrests, assaults and other obstructions to journalists covering protests across the country.
Marchers on the evening of the 29th converged on Black Lives Matter Plaza, just north of the White House, and protests continued into the morning of the 30th.
The journalist, who requested the Tracker identify him by his Twitter handle Rawsmedia, posts video and photos of protests on social media. He said he was covering the march as it ended at Black Lives Matter Plaza on the 29th.
Between 9 and 10 p.m., he said, protesters gathered near barricades on the edge of the plaza. He said he suddenly heard police start to deploy flash-bang grenades and tear gas canisters, prompting the crowd to start running away.
Rawsmedia said he was trying to move out of the area when he was hit in the right shin near his ankle with a crowd-control projectile that he described as a rubber puck. The injury was extremely painful, he told the Tracker, and he needed to be carried out from the area.
A video posted on Twitter by journalist Chuck Modiano shows Rawsmedia wearing a helmet and vest, both marked “PRESS,” being helped by a group of people toward a tent where protest medics were treating people, while someone asks for medical assistance for him.
Police injure local journalist, bodies literally falling everywhere & running out of medics as flash-bangs go off. This is crazy. Forget the #MarchOnWashington. Welcome to the real #DCProtests last 90 days pic.twitter.com/F2v5d2O6aK
— ChuckModi (@ChuckModi1) August 30, 2020
Rawsmedia told the Tracker that medics put ice on his leg at the protest. He didn’t seek further treatment that night, but he decided to go to the hospital the next day. He said his wound was treated with seven stitches, and it took about three weeks to fully heal.
Rawsmedia said he believes he was targeted because he was a journalist. He said that in addition to having the word “press” written on his helmet and vest, he shouted out to identify himself as a journalist. He said that he was in a gap in the crowd at the time that he was hit, and was not immediately near any protesters.
“I was the only person in that open space, so I felt like I was targeted by that,” he said.
The Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Bryan Dozier, an independent photojournalist, was covering Black Lives Matter protests in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 29, 2020, when he was targeted by chemical irritants and stun grenades by Metropolitan Police officers, according to an American Civil Liberties Union of DC lawsuit filed on Dozier’s behalf.
In August 2021, the ACLU filed a lawsuit against the D.C. government and the MPD officers, based on this incident and another involving independent photographer Oyoma Asinor. The Tracker documented Asinor’s arrest, assault and equipment seizure here.
Dozier was documenting the BLM protests in central D.C. when police deployed chemical irritants and stun grenades, even though these tactics have been banned by the D.C. Council for dispersing protesters, according to the legal documents issued by the ACLU, and reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. Dozier did not respond to an emailed request for comment.
The Metropolitan Police Department’s use of chemical irritants and stun grenades violated the D.C. First Amendment Assemblies Act and D.C. common law, according to the ACLU.
On that day protesters gathered at about 7 p.m. and arrived at the junction of 16th Street and H Street NW, near Black Lives Matter Plaza, around 11 p.m.
At about 11.30 p.m. Dozier saw one of the officers closest to a barricade on H Street shove a demonstrator. When the protesters near the individual yelled at the officer, Dozier moved closer to film the incident, according to the document.
Dozier, whose work has been published in The Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, the Financial Times, and The Guardian, did not see any demonstrator touch the officers, throw objects at the officers, or do anything other than continue to verbally protest.
But a Metro Police officer who was standing farther west on H Street, by or behind the H Street barricade, released a munition into H Street. Dozier heard “a hissing sound, like pressure being released, and then saw some form of gas or smoke with chemical irritants ascend rapidly,” the report said.
The smoke prompted Dozier and many protesters to back farther away from the barricade. As protesters were moving back, a second officer released another munition, causing more smoke or gas with chemical irritants to fill the air.
The document stated: “Despite Mr. Dozier’s attempt to retreat, the irritants made contact with him and caused him to cough. Dozier ran east on H Street toward its intersection with Vermont Avenue to escape. Many demonstrators started running in that direction too.”
Near the intersection, Dozier saw officers wearing riot gear with helmets and batons marching forward in a line spanning the width of H Street. As Dozier was looking for an exit, the riot officers marched through the intersection and past him.
But suddenly one police officer grabbed Dozier, “lifted him, and pushed him west on H Street, through the line of riot officers that had just passed by him, and back near the clouds of chemical irritants produced by the two munitions Mr. Dozier had been running from.”
Dozier was forced to continue west on H Street, through the clouds of irritants. He “struggled to breathe as he moved through the chemical irritants. He continued to cough, his nose ran, and he felt burning across his face. He continued west on H Street, then turned north onto 16th Street.”
Another officer began deploying a series of at least six stun grenades in close succession, near the intersection of 16th and H Streets. At that time, Dozier said he had not seen any protester make contact with officers, throw objects at them or engage in any violent behavior, the document reported.
Dozier, who was described in the document as terrified and disorientated, feared that “either the officers or explosive devices deployed by the officers” would hit him. At that point Dozier left the protest and went home.
For about 30 minutes after returning to his apartment, “he felt intense burning in his eyes and could feel the sting of the irritants in his nose and throat. He took a shower to wash off the irritants but continued to feel a burning sensation on his skin. After the shower, he dry heaved for approximately half an hour,” the document stated.
The Aug. 29 attack caused Dozier “significant psychological distress, the effects of which continue to this day.” The legal document reported that Dozier met with a psychologist after the incident, who noted that he had several symptoms consistent with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and that he continues to experience some of the PTSD symptoms, including “heightened sensitivity to loud noises, sudden, unexpected anxiety attacks, and a fear of being trapped with no ability to exit. He additionally continues bi-weekly therapy sessions, which help him deal with his PTSD symptoms.”
MPD told the Tracker they did not comment on active cases.
Cory Elia, an editor at Village Portland and host of a KBOO podcast said he was hit with projectiles that he identified as paintballs while covering a pro-Trump caravan that went through downtown Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 29, 2020.
Elia was covering the “Trump cruise rally,” which began at the Clackamas Town Center parking lot, about nine miles outside of Portland. Trump supporters were met with counter-protesters as they drove through the downtown, sparking confrontations, according to local news outlet KATU.
Oregon Public Broadcasting reported online videos showing the “flag-adorned trucks driving through groups of protesters, firing paintball guns at crowds and deploying what appears to be pepper spray,” leading to “dangerous, tense confrontations.”
Elia tweeted a video of a Trump flag-adorned truck driving away. “This truck start shooting at counter-protesters and then came under attack. I got shot right in the corner of my mouth by a projectile.”
Elia told the Tracker that they had been firing projectiles before his video even started and had been for quite a while. “I was struck in the cheek with the paintball and it left a small welt,” he said.
This truck start shooting at counter-protesters and then came under attack. I got shot right in the corner of my mouth by a projectile. pic.twitter.com/iqcWgSgOFT
— Cory Elia (@TheRealCoryElia) August 30, 2020
He also tweeted a photo of an orange round, writing “This is the exact projectile that hit me. I’m good.” Elia said he had a large press marking on his bulletproof vest and several credentials around his neck.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests that have broken out across the country in response to police violence and in support of Black Lives Matter following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Independent journalist James Stout said he was pepper sprayed and pushed with a club by police while he was covering a protest in San Diego, California on Aug. 28, 2020.
Demonstrators gathered in San Diego in the days after Jacob Blake, a Black man, was shot by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin on Aug. 23, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported. Protests against racism and police brutality had been held across the country for months, sparked by the May 25 killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, and other deaths of Black people at the hands of police.
Stout, an independent journalist whose work has been published in Slate, The Appeal and other outlets, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was taking pictures of police arresting a woman who was driving a car that provides support for demonstrators.
More protesters and police soon arrived at the scene, and Stout continued to take photographs. Stout said he was standing near a line of police officers who were blocking the intersection, looking through his camera viewfinder when he suddenly felt pepper spray on his face. He said he doesn’t know if he was targeted.
Stout said he lowered his camera to try to see who had sprayed him when a police officer was suddenly in his face shouting at him.
“He starts shoving me and I'm like, no, no I'm a journalist,” Stout said.
The officer pushed him back with his hands and with a baton, he said. At the time, Stout said he was under the impression that the officer may have been trying to get his camera, so he held it up above his head.
“I got really mad after he eventually backed off,” Stout said. “I was like, What are you doing, why are you doing this? You're not supposed to attack journalists.”
Stout said he verbally identified himself as a journalist several times. He was wearing a black vest with the word PRESS written in white, and he carried credentials issued by the Industrial Workers of the World Freelance Journalists Union, he said. He said he didn’t have any bruises or injuries from the incident because he was wearing a bulletproof vest.
According to an article Stout wrote for Slate, the journalist approached the captain of patrol operations for the San Diego Police Department, who was there at the time, to ask why they were targeting journalists. The official turned his back and walked away, Stout wrote. Stout told the Tracker that the San Diego Police Department has denied his requests for body camera footage of the incident.
The San Diego Police Department didn’t return a request for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Journalist Sam Richards, a freelancer who writes for Vice News and other outlets, was arrested and charged with a misdemeanor for breaking curfew while covering civil unrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Aug. 27, 2020.
On the night of the 27th, Richards said he was documenting the effects of the second night of a city-wide curfew, posting reports on Twitter. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey had imposed the curfew the day before in the wake of civil unrest.
Richards told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that shortly after the curfew went into effect at 8 p.m., he was on Nicollet Mall, a shopping and dining district in downtown Minneapolis, when he saw a man being arrested. Richards began filming the man, and approached the group of law enforcement officers to ask them about the situation, he told the Tracker. Moments later, he said, several officers surrounded him, constrained him in zip ties, and put him under arrest for violating the curfew.
Oh hey, I know that young man https://t.co/ulOg9VQMrE
— Sam Renegade BLM (@MinneapoliSam) August 28, 2020
Richards said he was not wearing any press credentials, but told the officers several times that “I am a reporter and we are exempt from the curfew.” He said he also gave them the name of the outlets he works for, as well as his Twitter handle, in hopes they would look up his work online. But they did not, according to Richards. The city’s declaration of local emergency states that members of the news media are exempt from curfew.
Richards and the man he’d been filming were taken to the Hennepin County Jail, where they were processed and then released shortly after 9 p.m., he told the Tracker.
Was just arrested for violating curfew, already booked and released. Uploading video in a hot second. #Minneapolis
— Sam Renegade BLM (@MinneapoliSam) August 28, 2020
After being released, Richards said he took “the long route home,” and continued to document what he saw along the way. In a video he posted to Twitter on his walk he said he was told “If I was spotted out here again then I would be arrested, which was confusing because I was under the impression that I was already arrested.”
Video of my curfew arrest didn't save, here is a quick summation. #Minneapolis pic.twitter.com/5EQeo64vHm
— Sam Renegade BLM (@MinneapoliSam) August 28, 2020
According to a citation notice that Richards shared with the Tracker, the journalist was charged with violating an imposed curfew and was called to appear at an arraignment on Dec. 28. Violation of curfew is a misdemeanor offense in Minneapolis and “is punishable by a fine not to exceed $1,000.00 or imprisonment for not more than 90 days, pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, Section 12.45, and MCO Section 1.30,” according to the City of Minneapolis website.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Actions by Metropolitan Police Department officers led to damage of a camera used by freelancer Andrew Jasiura while he was covering protests in Washington D.C., according to the journalist.
On the night of Aug. 27, 2020, Jasiura, who has been documenting the protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement for several months, was covering demonstrations in downtown Washington D.C. Protesters were gathered in the pedestrian area outside of the White House that was renamed “Black Lives Matter Plaza,” when a man arrived at the scene wearing blackface, Jasiura told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
When protesters started chasing the man, police officers moved to protect him, detaining a protester who allegedly assaulted the man, Jasiura said. Another protester sought to intervene and was pushed away by a police officer, according to the journalist. Jasiura had been photographing the encounter, and the officer shoved the protester in his direction, he said. “He threw that person into me and I hit a barricade. The screen on one of my cameras broke,” Jasiura told the Tracker.
MPD broke the screen on my camera last night while I was recording an unjust arrest. The protestor was released less than two hours later with no charges. This was the occasion where MPD was protecting the white man in BLM Plaza wearing black face pic.twitter.com/Pf1OkDUUyr
— DrewJazzyPhoto (@PhotoJazzy) August 28, 2020
According to Jasiura, police officers told him that if he sent in his footage they could review it and determine if any police misconduct had occurred. “But giving that footage to the police could put protesters at risk, so I didn’t do it,” he told the Tracker.
The Metropolitan Police Department did not respond to a Tracker request for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Rubber bullets fired by law enforcement officers injured a photojournalist from a national media outlet covering a protest against police brutality in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Aug. 25, 2020.
Alyssa Schukar, who was on assignment for The New York Times, said she was hit in her left hand while documenting clashes between law enforcement and demonstrators in front of the Kenosha County Courthouse that had continued past an 8 p.m. state of emergency curfew. In an effort to disperse protesters, officers fired pepper balls and tear gas, according to several press reports.
Schukar told U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she was struck as she stood to the side of the demonstration, about 30 yards from the protesters and an equal distance from the line of police. The bullet struck the base of her index finger, shattering the bone and causing fractures.
“I went straight to the medic area and then I had to go straight to the hospital, it was very obviously broken,” she said. Since then, Schukar has had two surgeries, and she is now in physical therapy.
Schukar said that law enforcement officers were firing from a narrow gap behind a barricade and that when she was hit, she was standing far away from protestors. Although she said she could not be certain whether she was deliberately targeted, “it feels a bit suspect to me.”
Schukar said she was wearing a helmet and goggles, but no body armor. She added that when she was struck, her hand was on top of her stomach, where she was carrying one of her cameras.
“These are highly trained law enforcement folks,” she said. “To me, it doesn’t make sense that they could [accidentally] hit me so squarely in the middle of my body.”
Schukar said she did not file a complaint with police, but legal counsel for The New York Times submitted a letter to police and to the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department asking for an investigation into the shooting.
“It’s important this is on the record, because this is happening increasingly,” she said. As of late October the Times had not received a response, according to Schukar.
The Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department and the police department have not responded to requests for comment.
Protests in Kenosha started on Aug. 23, 2020, after police officers shot Jacob Blake, a Black man, in front of his three children, leaving him paralyzed. Hundreds of people in Kenosha joined public protests against police brutality and while many demonstrations were peaceful, some buildings in the city were set on fire.
The night Schukar was hit by a rubber bullet, a group of armed vigilantes patrolled the streets of Kenosha. Later that night, two protesters were shot dead and another man was injured. A 17-year-old was arrested and now faces criminal charges for those killings.
Law enforcement officers stand guard on Aug. 25, 2020, after protests erupted in Kenosha, Wisconsin, following the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man two days before.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest, shot / shot at",,,,, AFP reporter hit with a rubber bullet while covering unrest in Kenosha,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/afp-reporter-hit-rubber-bullet-while-covering-unrest-kenosha/,2020-11-11 14:33:28.709978+00:00,2022-03-10 15:04:13.333852+00:00,2022-03-10 15:04:13.265718+00:00,,Assault,,,,Robert Chiarito (Agence France-Presse),,2020-08-25,False,Kenosha,Wisconsin (WI),42.58474,-87.82119,"Robert Chiarito, a journalist on assignment for the news agency Agence France-Presse, said he was hit in the leg by a rubber bullet while covering a confrontation between demonstrators and law enforcement in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Aug. 25, 2020. At least two other reporters were hit by rubber bullets during the same protest.
About an hour after an 8 p.m. curfew, Chiarito said he was reporting on a clash between protesters and law enforcement in front of the Kenosha County Courthouse when he was hit in the leg. He told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he thought he’d been hit with a rock, until a protester picked up a rubber bullet and gave it to him. “I think you got hit by that, you earned it,” the protester told him.
Chiarito later posted a photo of the plastic bullet, a 40-millimeter rubber baton, a type of non-lethal munition used by law enforcement. “It hit the ground first and then it hit my leg,” Chiarito told the Tracker. “I got lucky that I came out of there with a souvenir,” he said.
Chiarito told the Tracker that when he was hit, he was surrounded by protesters and the closest officers were about 50 feet away.
“It was dark out, I was wearing my press credential, but unless you were close to me, there was no way of knowing who I was,” he told the Tracker. “I don’t believe I was targeted, but it shows just how indiscriminate it was just firing in the crowd, because they weren’t targeting any specific person,” he said.
Hundreds of people protested in the streets of Kenosha against police brutality following the shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, by police officers on Aug. 23. Many demonstrations were peaceful but some turned violent and some buildings in the city were set on fire.
The same night Chiarito was hit, a group of civilian men carrying assault rifles and handguns began patrolling the streets. Later that night two demonstrators were shot dead and a third was wounded. Officers arrested a 17-year-old from Antioch who had arrived in Kenosha with an assault rifle.
Law enforcement officers stand guard on Aug. 25, 2020, after protests erupted in Kenosha, Wisconsin, following the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man two days before.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,no,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest, shot / shot at",,,,, "CBS 58 reporter struck in neck by projectile during Kenosha, Wisconsin protest",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cbs-58-reporter-struck-neck-projectile-during-kenosha-wisconsin-protest/,2020-12-23 14:24:08.598714+00:00,2022-03-10 15:04:32.831080+00:00,2022-03-10 15:04:32.774229+00:00,,Assault,,,,Mark Stevens (WDJT-TV),,2020-08-25,False,Kenosha,Wisconsin (WI),42.58474,-87.82119,"Mark Stevens, a reporter for CBS 58 News in Milwaukee, said he was struck and injured by a projectile — possibly a crowd control weapon — while covering a protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Aug. 25, 2020.
Protests began in Kenosha after police shot Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man, on a residential street on Aug. 23. Demonstrations against police violence and racism had been held across the country, including in Wisconsin, since late May.
Stevens told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was covering a protest outside the Kenosha County Courthouse with a CBS 58 photojournalist and a security guard on the evening of the second day of demonstrations. The protest was largely peaceful at the beginning, but Stevens said some protesters became more aggressive as the evening wore on.
In preparation for a live broadcast at 9 p.m, Stevens said he initially set up with a view of the burned wreckage of dump trucks parked near the courthouse. However, he said the CBS 58 team moved into a nearby park, farther away from protesters, when some people started pulling debris from the trucks to throw at police and the National Guard.
Stevens said the team kept the camera light off to avoid attracting attention, then turned it on just before the broadcast was set to begin.
About two minutes before he was supposed to go live, Stevens said, a projectile struck him in the back of his neck, knocking him to the ground and leaving him with a bruise and broken skin.
Protest medics who came to help him told him they believed he was hit by a rubber bullet. Based on footage his colleague recorded of the incident, Stevens said he thought it might have been a bean bag, a cloth sack of lead shot that police use for crowd control.
But Stevens said he wasn’t certain what the projectile was, or who fired it, though it may have come from police. Law enforcement parked an armored vehicle near where the journalists were filming, he said, and there were reports that police had used projectiles for crowd control during protests the previous night.
A spokesperson for the Kenosha Police Department said police had no report about the incident and declined to comment on it.
Stevens said he was wearing press credentials on a lanyard around his neck when he was hit. He said his group was clearly identifiable as a television news crew because of the camera gear they carried. He said he didn’t seek further medical attention or report the incident to police.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering these protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
A reporter for the Davis Vanguard, a California-based nonprofit news organization, was pushed several times by Portland Police Bureau officers while covering protests in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 25, 2020.
Roman Mendoza was documenting one of the many nightly protests held in downtown Portland in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the killing of George Floyd, a Black man, in Minneapolis on May 25. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Law enforcement officers in Portland have targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The ACLU suit led to a temporary restraining order, and later a preliminary injunction, barring the Portland Police Bureau from harming or impeding journalists.
Mendoza told the Tracker protesters had gathered that night at a different park than usual, with plans to march to the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse, which had emerged as a nightly flashpoint between protesters and federal agents in July. The protesters instead marched toward City Hall.
“I ended up behind the protest march, and I noticed that there were some police officers on a riot van that were making their way down the street behind the protesters,” Mendoza said. “I was just recording them, so I positioned myself on the sidewalk facing the street and I was just recording the officers as they were going by.”
One of the officers noticed Mendoza, came up to him and told him to move. Mendoza said he repeatedly identified himself as a journalist.
“I tell him I’m press and I’m just reporting. And he starts pushing me,” Mendoza said. “I keep telling him, ‘I’m press, I’m reporting, do you need to see my credentials? I’ll pull them out for you, whatever you need to see.’”
Full video of me being accosted by an officer. I was marked pressed and offered my badge, under my sweater. He would not identify himself. #PortlandProtest pic.twitter.com/iX9EGwLfk6
— Rome_VanWA (@oh_rome) August 26, 2020
Mendoza said the officer pushed him half a block toward the end of the street before a group of protesters noticed what the officer was doing and started heckling him. When the officer turned his attention to the protesters, Mendoza said he made his way back to his original position, where the rest of the officers were staging.
Mendoza asked the other officers to identify the one who had pushed him, but the officers ignored him.
“As I was asking them to identify themselves, a sheriff who was with them pointed his pepper spray at me,” Mendoza said. “He didn’t deploy it, but it was clear that he was threatening me.”
Mendoza said he backed up a bit from the officers, and soon after they got back on the riot van and drove away.
Later that night, Mendoza said he was filming as officers arrested an individual. Police directed the members of the press who were present at the scene to move across the street and film from there. Mendoza said he didn’t comply with the officer’s direction, believing he was far enough away to not interfere with the officers’ actions.
“After a couple of minutes, they approached me and specifically moved me off the street, saying I couldn’t record there,” Mendoza said. “They grabbed me by my arm and just moved me across the street.”
Mendoza said he also asked that officer for his badge number but received no response.
The PPB declined to comment when emailed about this incident.
Independent journalist Teebs Auberdine said she was threatened by an individual while covering a protest in downtown Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 25, 2020.
The protest was one of many demonstrations that broke out in response to police violence and in support of Black Lives Matter following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Several hundred people marched to City Hall the evening of Aug. 25, and the police quickly declared an “unlawful assembly” after the property was damaged, according to The Oregonian.
While Auberdine was livestreaming, she likely recorded some minor property crime, she said. She was approached by someone dressed in mostly black bloc, a tactic used by some protesters to conceal their identities by wearing black and baggy clothing and face coverings, wearing a helmet and respirator, she told the Tracker. They threatened her, she said, saying, "What did you see? Didn't see shit.”
"I was in the process of moving backward and then they came after me,” she said. “They threatened me and slapped my camera, which destabilized the gimbal, but it didn’t fall out of the clip."
"It was very physically threatening in a non-specific way, but it was very unsettling," she said.
The individual told her that if she filmed in a way that they weren’t comfortable with, she would be "run out" or have her camera smashed, Auberdine told the Tracker.
She asked someone she knew to watch after her, but that person "ended up getting arrested by the Portland Police Bureau that night for standing beside me,” she said. “initially I felt very responsible."
Auberdine was wearing a vest with large press markings on the front and back, she said, and also had a gimbal, microphone and reporting equipment.
“Whoever did it needs to direct their anger somewhere other than inflicting trauma on their allies. I've spent hundreds of hours, plenty of my own $, and sacrificed my health to stream,” she tweeted afterward.
In a follow-up tweet, she added, “Tonight was a mess. I’m a mess.”
Scott Olson, a Getty photojournalist, said he was struck in the head with a rubber bullet fired by law enforcement officers while covering a protest against police brutality in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Aug. 25, 2020.
Olsen was documenting clashes between law enforcement and demonstrators in front of the Kenosha County Courthouse that had continued past an 8 p.m. state of emergency curfew. In an effort to disperse protesters, officers fired pepper balls and tear gas, according to several press reports.
Olson told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was hit during the same protest as he photographed demonstrators taking cover behind a dumpster. He said he was wearing a helmet and a gas mask for protection when a rubber bullet struck the side of his head, tearing cartilage in his ear and leaving him bleeding and with a temporary hearing loss. He said his hearing came back about twenty minutes later, and his physical injury did not result in long-term damage.
Olson said he was standing about 15 feet from protesters and roughly 30-50 feet from police officers. He added that from where he stood, the side profile of his body would have been visible to law enforcement officers, who were behind a fence surrounding the courthouse.
“I think they were firing in between the opening of the fence,” he told the Tracker.
Because of his position, and because he was carrying two professional cameras, Olson believed it was clear that he was a member of the press. He said that there was also another photojournalist close to him.
“I think we were pretty identifiable,” he told the Tracker, adding that, since he was far away from demonstrators, he felt that the rubber bullet that hit him had been deliberately targeted.
“I was further up away from them [protesters] where I wouldn’t look like I was part of that group and there was really no one around me other than another photojournalist,” he said. “So not only I think I was targeted, I think I was targeted in my head.”
The Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department and the police department have not responded to requests for comment.
Protests in Kenosha started on Aug. 23, 2020, after police officers shot Jacob Blake, a Black man, in front of his three children, leaving him paralyzed. Hundreds of people in Kenosha joined public protests against police brutality and while many demonstrations were peaceful, some buildings in the city were set on fire.
The night Scott Olson was hit by rubber bullets, a group of armed vigilantes patrolled the streets of Kenosha. Later that night, two protesters were shot dead and another man was injured. A 17-year-old was arrested and now faces criminal charges for those killings.
Reporters Katherine Revello of The Maine Wire and Evan Popp of the Beacon were barred from Maine’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s weekly livestreams after the agency changed its media policy on Aug. 25, 2021, to exclude those it deemed to be “advocacy journalists.”
The agency reversed the policy on Oct. 6. Earlier that day, the Maine Policy Institute, a policy and lobbying organization and parent company to The Maine Wire, had publicized the initial policy change in a series of tweets.
1/4 @MEPublicHealth is not allowing our journalist at @TheMaineWire to participate in Maine CDC press briefings because the agency "can no longer accommodate 'advocacy journalists'".
— Maine Policy Institute (@MainePolicy) October 6, 2021
First off, @polisciwrites is not an advocacy journalist. Second, how does a govt agency determine
Lauren McCauley, editor of the Maine People’s Alliance-affiliated Beacon, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that Popp was notified by email on Aug. 25 that he could no longer attend the weekly news briefings.
In that email, CDC Communications Director Robert Long wrote that the agency could “no longer accommodate advocacy journalists,” and asked that any questions be directed to him.
Long did not respond to the Tracker’s requests for comment.
McCauley told the Tracker that Long later explained the change in policy during a phone call, saying it was done because the briefings had gotten too long and the agency needed to “preserve the CDC director’s time.”
According to McCauley, Beacon reporters had regularly attended the briefing without issues throughout the spring and summer.
McCauley told Maine’s Bangor Daily News that the decision to exclude Beacon reporters, “harms the public interest and is especially damaging for folks who too often are left out of the conversation already.”
Jacob Posik, the editor of The Maine Wire, said Revello was hired in late May as a news reporter to cover the regular briefings and had attended one held on July 28 after requesting a link from the Maine CDC to attend.
The once-daily briefings were halted by the agency during the summer as cases decreased, but weekly briefings began in early September as the Delta variant spread throughout the state, Posik told the Tracker.
But, according to Posik, The Maine Wire had stopped receiving media advisories about the briefings in early September.
Posik said the outlet has been highly critical of the state’s CDC data in their reporting of the pandemic and believes that the policy changed only after the outlet asked to attend the news briefings.
“Once we hired a full time news reporter to hold the administration accountable, they kicked us out and called us advocacy journalists,” he said.
Posik said that he contacted CDC communications director Long in September after not receiving an invitation to attend two consecutive briefings. After almost three weeks of messaging and calling state officials, Posik said he got an answer to his original inquiry from Long on Oct. 6 that stated “We are no longer able to accommodate advocacy journalists during the media briefings.”
“I responded to him by saying ‘Respectfully, that’s not how the First Amendment works — please show me a copy of the policy that you’re using to bar the attendance of my journalist to these briefings,’” Posik said.
Posik has filed Freedom Of Access Act requests for a copy of the state CDC’s media policy and for the agency’s internal emails and messages that could explain the policy change but said he has not yet received any documents.
During the Oct. 6 briefing, a reporter attending the livestream asked Maine’s Health asked Commissioner Jeanne Lambrew and CDC Director Dr. Nirav Shah how the CDC determines which outlets are allowed to ask questions during the briefings and how the policy agrees with the First Amendment.
Both Lambrew and Shah defended the agency’s policy to restrict the briefings by saying they were reserved for officials to “answer questions in the space of an hour from a set of credentialed reporters.”
McCauley and Posik confirmed to the Tracker that following the Oct. 6 briefing the agency sent an email to the outlets reinviting them to attend future briefings.
During an Aug. 24 clash between law enforcement and protesters in Kenosha, Wisconsin, officers fired a tear gas canister at two journalists who say they were standing several feet away from any protesters. One of the journalists, Jesus J. Montero, said the canister hit him on his right arm, and that he experienced itching and difficulty breathing but did not require medical care.
Montero, an independent reporter who was covering the protest on his social media, and Maria Guerrero, from the Chicago-based DePaul University newspaper The DePaulia, were outside the Kenosha County Courthouse as protestors defied an 8 p.m. curfew. According to the journalists, police and sheriff’s deputies warned demonstrators that they would use tear gas if the crowd didn’t leave. When demonstrators and press remained, police moved to break up the crowd, according to Guerrero, who tweeted a video of the scene. The journalists said they were about six feet away from the demonstrators and opposite the line of police, when police fired a tear gas canister that hit Montero in his right arm, causing him itching and difficulty breathing for some hours. Guerrero said she was able to run away from the gas without suffering any difficulties.
Both journalists say they were wearing press credentials at the time. Montero told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he does not believe he was targeted as a member of the press. He said that as he was in the area not far from demonstrators, officers may have had trouble clearly distinguishing journalists from protesters. Aug. 24 was the second day of protests in Kenosha.
“As the weeks went on police had a better understanding that this is the press,” Montero told the Tracker. But when protests first began, he said, “there was no regard to who you were affiliated with.”
However, Guerrero, who is also managing editor of La DePaulia, the Spanish-speaking sister newspaper of The DePaulia, said she believes that she and Montero were deliberately targeted as journalists. “I try my best to stand out from demonstrators,” she said, explaining that on that night she felt she was clearly identifiable as press because she wore goggles and press credentials and carried a professional camera. “As press we’re just there to tell a story and to tell what’s going on,” she told the Tracker.”
Protests in Kenosha were ignited on Aug. 23 by the killing of Jacob Blake, a Black man who was shot seven times by a white police officer in front of his children. While many demonstrations were peaceful, some escalated into violence with some buildings being vandalized and set on fire. The evening after Montero was struck by the tear gas canister, two protesters were killed and a third was injured when civilians armed with assault rifles and guns also took to the streets claiming their intention was to protect private property. A 17-year-old was accused of the killings.
Rebecca Brannon, an independent photojournalist who was on assignment for the conservative website Alpha News, was followed, harassed and assaulted by a group of individuals during a protest in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Aug. 24, 2020.
Protests had roiled Minneapolis regularly since the police killing of George Floyd in the city on May 25. On Aug. 24, protesters were brought to the streets by the shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man who was shot seven times in the back by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin the day before, an event that reinvigorated racial justice protests nationwide.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting arrests, assaults and other obstructions to journalists covering protests across the country.
In a video shared by Alpha News, which describes itself as a “media outlet focusing on politics and social issues you may not see in traditional media,” a crowd can be seen following and shouting at Brannon at the Government Plaza light rail station in downtown Minneapolis. Members of the crowd yell that Brannon isn’t welcome and she needs to leave.
“We know who you are, get out of here Rebecca. Get out!” yells one woman.
“Why can’t I be here?” Brannon responds.
“You know the fuck why bitch, get the fuck out!” the woman yells back before apparently trying to grab or hit Brannon’s phone.
The crowd continues following and shouting at Brannon, with individuals criticizing the website Brannon works for and calling her a “Trump lover” at points.
Nearly two minutes into the video, a water bottle can be seen flying in the air towards Brannon, who is saying “I want to stick to myself” as the crowd continues yelling at her. After four minutes, the woman who initially appeared to reach for Brannon’s phone can be seen grabbing a plastic traffic-control post as she moves towards Brannon. Somebody can be heard yelling “I’m going to kick your ass” as Brannon tries to tell them she is trying to get to her car. The woman with the traffic post appears to strike Brannon with it as Brannon shouts “get away from me!”
On Twitter, Alpha News wrote that her phone “was stolen & destroyed but this footage was recovered. The video abruptly ends when the phone was ripped from her hands.”
Just after midnight on July 25, Brannon tweeted about the assault earlier that evening and said she had tried to defend herself using pepper spray.
Several protesters from the group currently at the Hennepin County Government Center assaulted me tonight. I tried to defend myself w/ pepper spray.
— Rebecca Brannon (@RebsBrannon) August 25, 2020
I asked for them to leave me alone so I could go back to my car.
I was recording the encounter but my phone was taken.
According to court documents posted online by Alpha News, Brannon told police the incident occurred between 10 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.
Earlier that same evening, protesters had yelled at Brannon and told her she needed to leave as she filmed a confrontation with police in front of the Minneapolis Police Department’s 1st Precinct on North Fourth Street. In that incident, protesters appeared upset by her affiliation with Alpha News, calling her “right wing news” and saying she was working for “a fascist news organization.” Alpha News shared footage of the encounter on Facebook.
“My job is to provide video footage and let viewers interpret the footage and make their own assessment. They destroyed some very valuable equipment and have inflicted physical and emotional damage on me that at this time may prevent me from providing future coverage,” she said the day after the assault, according to Alpha News. “No journalist should be subjected to harassment or violence by police, protestors or anyone.”
In September, a woman was charged in Brannon’s assault, but those charges were later dismissed, with prosecutors saying the woman had been wrongly identified. According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, the woman who was falsely charged was camping 140 miles from Minneapolis when the incident occurred. According to court documents posted online by Alpha News, the Complainant — a woman believed to be Brannon but only identified in court documents by the initials “R.M.B.” — told police she had received a tip naming the wrongly accused woman as a perpetrator of her assault.
Alpha News is controversial in Minnesota.
In 2015, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported that Alpha News’ launch was first promoted by the Minnesota Tea Party Alliance. According to Minnesota Public Radio, the organization has ties to a prominent Republican donor. In 2019, the alternative Minneapolis newspaper City Pages charged that Alpha News’s crime coverage was racially biased.
A website that appears to be Brannon’s own media production company takes credit for several conservative political ads from the 2020 election cycle; Two of those ads feature footage from protests and riots, with one having a voiceover about how "everything used to be okay before bad people wanted to destroy our country.” According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Brannon was a volunteer coordinator with Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign. In the past, one of her Facebook pages described her as a “political consultant.”
Neither Brannon nor Alpha News responded to requests for comment.
The Minneapolis Police Department didn’t provide additional comment when contacted by the Tracker. When the Tracker requested the police report related to the assault, police told the Tracker to file an open records request. As of publication, there has been no response to the open records request.
Independent multimedia journalist Grace Morgan said she was tackled to the ground by several police officers while walking away from them during protests in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 23, 2020.
Morgan was documenting one of the nightly protests held in downtown Portland in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the killing of George Floyd, a Black man, in Minneapolis on May 25. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
In the early morning hours of Aug. 23, Morgan was covering a protest outside of the North Precinct. She told the Tracker that the police had given protesters orders to disperse, which don’t apply to members of the press, according to a preliminary injunction the city agreed to in July that bars police from harming or impeding journalists.
After forming a riot line, officers began pushing protesters to the west, Morgan said. She stood on the sidewalk filming, but the riot line extended to cover the sidewalk as well, which she described as unusual. Four officers approached Morgan, who was clearly labelled as press and filming while walking backwards, and told her to leave.
“I turned around to walk quicker and disperse essentially, and then I got pushed from behind, face forward,” Morgan explained. “I fell and caught myself on my knees and hands, and that’s when four officers held me down on the ground.”
Her phone fell out of her pocket onto the sidewalk, according to Morgan. The next thing she remembered was someone, who she later learned was a medic, lifting her up by her backpack and pulling her away from the officers. Morgan said the officers made no effort to chase or detain them.
“I realized pretty quickly that my phone was gone,” Morgan said. “Immediately I turned on the iPhone tracker and it was tracked to the North Precinct for the duration of the night, but turned off the next morning.”
The next day, Morgan said she went to the Portland Police Property Room on Northwest Industrial Street to try to claim her lost phone. She told the clerk about the incident and that the phone had been tracked to the North Precinct, but the clerk didn’t find anything relevant in the evidence log. The clerk then asked for Morgan’s contact information and said she could call again for updates.
“I kept calling the next couple of days and on the third day, the clerk said maybe an officer accidentally put it in their car or pocket and took it home,” Morgan reccounted. “I was like what? How is that a thing an officer can do?”
Morgan never got back her phone, which had cost $1,200. She said the clerk later suggested that a protester might have taken the phone, even though Morgan had tracked it to the police precinct.
The morning after the incident, Morgan went to the hospital and was diagnosed with a hairline fracture on her knee cap, she said. This was the first time she had visited a hospital for protest-related injuries despite previous incidents. Additionally, she was bruised in several areas and had to wear a soft knee brace for a month.
The Portland Police Bureau has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation.
Eric Kriesel, a photojournalist for CBS 58 television, said he was struck in the leg with a brick or rock while covering protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Aug. 23, 2020.
Protesters began to gather hours after police shot Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man, in the back seven times on a residential street in Kenosha. Demonstrations against police violence and racism had been held across the country, including in Wisconsin, since late May.
Kriesel told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he and a reporter with CBS 58 arrived to cover the police shooting and the community’s reaction in the evening shortly after Blake was shot. He said a couple of hundred people had gathered to protest. Police had put up police tape around the perimeter of the scene, and a few other police cars were parked outside of the perimeter, he said.
Kriesel said protesters began jumping on the police cars, damaging them and breaking their windshields. Someone threw some sort of projectile that hit a police officer and knocked the officer to the ground, he said. Other officers retrieved the one who had been hit, who Kriesel said appeared to be unconscious, and police began to leave.
Kriesel and the CBS 58 reporter started to walk away from the scene, ahead of a live broadcast at 9 p.m., he said. They were walking alongside the police vehicles that were driving away, and protesters were throwing objects at the cars.
As he walked, Kriesel said, an object struck him in the lower left shin. He said he believes a brick or a rock ricocheted off of the back windshield of a police car into his leg, and that he didn’t think it was directed at him.
Kriesel said he had a bruise and swelling on his leg for about a month. He had the injury checked at a hospital, but said he didn’t require any treatment.
Kriesel said he was carrying a large and noticeable professional television camera at the time he was hit. He couldn’t recall whether he had his ID card issued by CBS 58 on him at the time, but said he typically carries the credentials when reporting on situations like the demonstration in Kenosha. The Kenosha Police Department didn’t return a request for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering these protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Protesters confront Kenosha County Sheriffs Deputies outside the Kenosha Police Department in Wisconsin following the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, on Aug. 23, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,unknown,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, Pennsylvania reporter assaulted while covering picket line,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/pennsylvania-reporter-assaulted-while-covering-picket-line/,2021-01-08 20:57:45.808931+00:00,2021-01-08 20:57:45.808931+00:00,2021-01-08 20:57:45.760260+00:00,,Assault,,,,Michael Roknick (The Sharon Herald),,2020-08-23,False,Farrell,Pennsylvania (PA),None,None,"Michael Roknick, a reporter for The Sharon Herald, was assaulted while covering a steel union picket in Farrell, Pennsylvania, on Aug. 23, 2020, according to his.
The Herald reported that approximately a dozen union members were protesting outside NLMK Pennsylvania’s steel plant and told the outlet that they had been instructed not to speak to the press.
When Roknick attempted to photograph the picket line using his cell phone, members blocked their faces with signs, the outlet reported. Two of the picketers then rushed Roknick, and one threw him to the ground. Roknick’s elbow was scraped during the fall, but the reporter was otherwise uninjured.
The Herald reported that the outlet had filed an incident report with the Farrell Police Department, but did not plan to press charges.
Independent journalist Heather Van Wilde was documenting protests in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 23, 2020, when a police officer briefly seized her walker and the camera attached to it, resulting in a fall that caused injuries and exposure to tear gas.
Van Wilde, who publishes her journalism on Raindrop Works, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she was documenting one of the many nightly protests held in the city following the killing of George Floyd, a Black man, in Minneapolis on May 25.
The Tracker documented assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement across the country.
Law enforcement officers in Portland had targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The ACLU suit led the city to agree to a preliminary injunction in July to not arrest, harm or impede the work of journalists or legal observers of the protests.
Van Wilde has fibromyalgia, vertigo and a form of traumatic arthritis, and as a result must use a walker to ensure her safety and mobility, according to a declaration in support of a separate lawsuit against the city and law enforcement officials.
She told the Tracker that she was covering demonstrations outside of the Portland Police Bureau’s North Precinct, and positioned herself at the steps of the Boys & Girls Club nearby in order to position herself and her walker off the sidewalk and out of the way of other press, protesters and police.
According to her declaration, Van Wilde continued to document from that position, with a DSLR camera around her neck and an action camera mounted on her walker using an eight-foot selfie stick until approximately 11:36 p.m., when a crowd of protesters and police ran past.
“I heard the tenor of the crowd change, and when I looked up everyone was running past and three cops were coming in my direction,” Van Wilde told the Tracker. “One of them yelled at me to move. I was wearing my distinctive press gear and I said I was press, which they should have known exempted me from the dispersal order.”
She confirmed to the Tracker that she was wearing a press pass around her neck as well as a bright pink hard hat with ‘PRESS’ printed on the left and right sides, and that she had no doubt the officer was aware that she was a member of the press.
“[The officer] was gesturing sort of a ‘go away’ gesture, which I took to mean that he didn’t care that I was press and still wanted me to go,” Van WIlde said. “Then he grabbed my walker, which was behind a handrail and wasn’t blocking his path or anything.”
As Van Wilde attempted to retrieve her walker so she could continue reporting, she told the Tracker she fell to the ground, breaking the seal on her gas mask and exposing her to the chemical irritants in the air. She found out later that the officer had moved the walker 10 to 15 feet away from her, also causing her camera to fall.
“Upon review of footage from other journalists on the ground that night, it appears that I was the only press member targeted for dispersal,” her declaration states. “Several press members were within arms-reach of police officers, and rarely were they asked to step back, much less told to leave or physically engaged with.”
Van Wilde told the Tracker she received basic aid from street medics at the scene after another journalist helped her stand and helped her retrieve her walker and camera. She went to a hospital three or four days after the incident for ongoing pain in her left shoulder and leg, as well as respiratory issues.
“I’ve definitely been a lot more anxious and fearful being around cops, to the point where, I think, since then I’ve only filmed one protest where there was any kind of law enforcement anticipated. And that one, I stayed so far back from the event that basically my footage was useless,” Van Wilde said. “So I ended up having to pivot everything I do to avoid protest coverage, which is still ongoing.”
The Portland Police Bureau has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing ongoing litigation.
Footage from livestreamer Eric Greatwood shows reporter Heather Van Wilde, bottom left in pink helmet, having fallen after an officer pulled her walker away from her during a protest in Portland, Oregon, in August 2020.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,returned in full,False,law enforcement,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,no,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, chemical irritant, protest",,,,, VICE freelancer hit with mace and projectiles during clash of rival rallies in Portland,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/vice-freelancer-hit-mace-and-projectiles-during-clash-rival-rallies-portland/,2020-11-05 21:51:38.036981+00:00,2022-03-10 16:31:47.406537+00:00,2022-03-10 16:31:47.219035+00:00,,Assault,,,,Donovan Farley (VICE News),,2020-08-22,False,Portland,Oregon (OR),45.52345,-122.67621,"While covering rival protests in Portland for VICE News on Aug. 22, 2020, freelance journalist Donovan Farley posted a series of tweets reporting that he was maced and hit with projectiles. In his tweets, Farley identified his attackers as right-wing protesters.
According to Oregon Public Broadcasting, the protest began around noon as two groups faced off in front of the Multnomah County Justice Center. In a tweet, Farley characterized one group’s action as a “pro-police” rally. Countering that gathering was a group identified as anti-fascists, according to OPB.
At 1:07 p.m.Farley tweeted that he had been shot with paintballs “like five times” by a protester. About 10 minutes later he tweeted that he was hit by a water bottle in the “dome,” apparently referring to his head, as “right folks opened fire on protester and press alike” with various projectiles. Farley did not specify which group threw the water bottle and he did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
“Within an hour of meeting, protesters began to push each other and throw objects,” OPB said in its report. “Some demonstrators on the pro-police side fired paintball guns and deployed pepper spray on counterdemonstrators. Other protesters used baseball bats. Many people wore helmets and body armor as they punched, kicked and tore at each other.”
At 1:23 p.m. Farley posted what he identified as photos of paintball stains on his clothes. His tweet showed a bright yellow helmet labeled “MEDIA” as well as a photo of his chest area, above his press pass. “I took quite a lot of hits. Got my arms too,” Farley wrote.
A few minutes later, Farley tweeted that he was “shot directly in the phone” (he did not specify with what). “It’s a bunch of things being thrown by both sides at the moment but it sure seems #BlueLivesMatter is targeting press. Not everyone mind you—it’s mostly Proud Boys. A few of the other folks have been fine,” he tweeted.
He also tweeted that a group he said was mostly members of the far-right Proud Boys tried to push over a van with an unidentified member of the press on it. In a video tweeted by Farley at 1:41 p.m., the person standing on the van is clearly marked “PRESS” on their neon vest and appears to be holding a camera.
A few minutes later Farley tweeted, “I’m now realizing I got maced at some point as all my skin is on fire.” He speculated that it might have been “bear mace” in a later tweet. Bear spray is a defense against wildlife that contains capsaicin and related capsaicinoids. Capsaicin is the active ingredient that makes chili peppers hot.
According to OPB, most of the right-wing demonstrators left the downtown area by 2:30 that day, before the Portland Police Bureau declared an unlawful assembly at 2:50 p.m.
At 3:28 p.m. Farley tweeted that he was feeling the effects of the mace and was leaving the downtown area. “I am on absolute fire,” he said.
Mason Lake, an independent videographer, said he was shoved by police officers while covering a protest in the early morning of Aug. 22, 2020 in Portland, Oregon.
Lake was documenting one of the many protests that have been held 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. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Law enforcement officers in Portland have targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The ACLU suit led to a temporary restraining order, and later a preliminary injunction, barring the Portland Police Bureau from harming or impeding journalists.
In the early hours of Aug. 22, Lake and a group of other journalists were covering a demonstration at the PPB’s North Precinct station. After the gathering was declared a riot around 1 a.m., police used smoke and physical force to disperse protesters, according to Al Jazeera.
In a video shared by Oregon Public Broadcasting journalist Sergio Olmos on Twitter at 12:58 a.m., a police LRAD can be heard warning that “all persons, including press and legal observers,” must move onto Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
In a video posted by Olmos at 1:37 a.m., an officer approaches and pushes Lake.
The PPB has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation in the ACLU case.
This article was updated to identify a previously ‘unidentified journalist’ as videographer Mason Lake, who confirmed the incident to the Tracker.
Portland Tribune journalist Zane Sparling said a police officer shoved him as he covered a rally in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 22, 2020.
Protests in the city had been held 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. Sparling was covering a pro-Trump rally that attracted counter-protesters. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Law enforcement officers in Portland have targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The ACLU suit led to a temporary restraining order, and later a preliminary injunction, barring the Portland Police Bureau from harming or impeding journalists.
At around 11 a.m. Sparling began covering the far-right rally at the Multnomah County Justice Center downtown. The rally attracted left-wing counter-protesters, and the two sides clashed throughout the day.
After several hours of coverage, Sparling was pushed by a police officer while he was filming Tusitala “Tiny” Toese, a well-known member of the Proud Boys, a far-right group. Sparling focused on Toese because there had been an active warrant out for his arrest over his alleged involvement in a beating in Seattle, he told the Tracker.
Footage taken and published by Sparling on Twitter shows Toese walking past PPB officers. About 10 seconds into the video, the camera goes askew as Sparling gets pushed. “Tiny Toese just walked past Portland police, they did not arrest him. Officer grabbed me by shirt and shoved,” Sparling tweeted.
Sparling said he was clearly identifiable as press because he was actively filming, though he doesn’t remember if his press identification was showing at the time.
“He grabbed on to my shirt and swung me in an orbit to move me to a different spot,” Sparling told the Tracker. “Lots of people were walking past these police officers, including someone with an active warrant. I don’t know why it was more interesting that I was walking past. I don’t know why I was the one that seemed to be the threat there. ”
The PPB has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation in the ACLU case.
Independent videographer Melissa Lewis said she was doused with bear mace by individuals at a far-right protest while covering clashing demonstrations in Portland, Oregon on Aug. 22, 2020. Lewis, whose work has been published by Yahoo News, said she required medical treatment for injury from the chemical irritant.
Clashes erupted between members of far-right groups and counter-protesters on Aug. 22 outside the Justice Center in downtown Portland, the Washington Post reported. Members of the extremist group the Proud Boys and supporters of then-President Donald Trump gathered for a “Back the Blue” rally, and hundreds of counter-protesters, including Black Lives Matter activists, organized in opposition.
In video footage captured by Lewis, she appears to be filming clashes from behind a van parked on the edge of Chapman Square, a small park opposite the Multnomah County Justice Center. A man wearing a T-shirt that reads “TRUMP” approaches her and tells her to leave.
Seconds later, another man wearing a helmet and a gas mask appears and begins spraying an irritant, hitting Lewis. As that assailant retreats, a man in khaki shorts, taking cover from counter-protesters behind newspaper vending boxes, appears to spray an irritant toward Lewis. She takes a few steps backwards and a third individual appears from behind the van and sprays an irritant directly at Lewis.
As the Proud Boys and other “Patriots” pushed forward with shields, mace was used. One man asked @PhrenologyPhun to get behind him, where other men would have done her harm. Another man told her to LEAVE NOW. Finally Swinney and another man sprayed her multiple times. pic.twitter.com/JPjkcCe1k7
— Cascadianphotog Media (@Cascadianphotog) August 23, 2020
Lewis tweeted that when one individual sprayed her “head to toe,” she turned her head away and the chemical irritant went down her ear canal.
While filming for @Cascadianphotog, I was trapped against snack van and Alan Swinney took advantage of my vulnerable position. He sprayed me head to toe with bear mace. I instinctively turned my face away and the mace went down my ear canal.
— Melissa “Claudio” Lewis (@Claudio_Report) August 22, 2020
After retreating, Lewis said she began “furiously” removing her gear, but once she took off her gas mask, the irritant flowed into her face and all over her body.
“Because my hair was so soaked, it just ran down as soon as I took off my gas mask — that’s what was holding it back,” she said.
Lewis said the irritant caused her intense pain.
“It was like I had showered in it. I was absolutely bathed in bear mace,” she told the Tracker. “It was the most pain that I’ve ever been in.”
With ambulances unable to reach the area due to the unrest, Lewis said some other protesters carried her away from the area until she could get an ambulance to a hospital emergency room, where she said she was treated with pain medication.
Lewis and several counter-protesters filed a lawsuit on Sept. 25 against several far-right group members and supporters who were involved in the unrest on Aug. 22. As of March 2021, she said the suit was still pending.
Lewis was wearing a press badge while she was covering the protests, according to the lawsuit. She told the Tracker she does not know if her attackers identified her as a journalist.
“I was sprayed because I was recording and not right wing,” she told the Tracker in an email.
Protests in support of the Black Lives Matter movement had been held in Portland daily for months, sparked by the May 25 killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Independent photojournalist Cole Howard said he was hit with paintballs fired by a right-wing activist while he was covering confrontations between protesters in Portland, Oregon on Aug. 22, 2020.
Howard said he was also sprayed with mace by a second individual.
Clashes erupted after more than 100 far-right protesters, including members of the extremist group the Proud Boys and supporters of then-President Donald Trump, gathered outside the Justice Center for a “Back the Blue” rally on Aug. 22, the Washington Post reported.
Hundreds of counter-protesters amassed in opposition. Protests in support of the Black Lives Matter movement had been held in Portland daily for months, sparked by the May 25 killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Howard, whose work has been published by Reuters, Newsweek and other outlets, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was documenting the confrontation between protesters and counterprotesters when a man on the right-wing side of the clash began firing paintballs at him.
Howard said the man made eye contact with him before firing three paintballs, which hit him across his torso and shoulder. “To have one paintball hit you is one thing,” Howard told the Tracker, adding that because he was hit multiple times, he believes he was deliberately targeted.
Howard said he was “very obviously marked as press” wearing both a flak jacket and helmet with press markings.
Less than an hour after he was struck by paintballs, Howard said another person from the Proud Boys side of the confrontation ran at him and sprayed a chemical irritant, which Howard said he believed was bear mace, in his face.
“From what I could see there wasn’t anybody right next to me — it was pretty obvious that he was targeting me,” he said.
In a photo Howard provided the Tracker, an assailant’s hand can be seen spraying a chemical irritant in the direction of the camera.
Howard said he was wearing goggles, which delayed the effects of the irritant, giving him a few seconds to move away. The irritant caused his eyes to swell shut for about 20 minutes, he said.
He said the irritant left him in pain that day and through the next day.
In September the Multnomah County District Attorney’s office filed multiple assault charges against a man, who was arrested for allegedly attacking people with paintballs and mace at two protests, including the one on Aug. 22. The indictment against Alan Swinney alleges that on Aug. 22 he used a paintball gun to cause physical injury, pointed a revolver at a person and unlawfully discharged “mace or a similar substance” toward another person. The charges do not name any of the alleged targets.
In October, a judge denied a motion for Swinney’s release, and as of March 2021, he was still being held in prison, according to the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Department. Swinney's lawyer, Eric Wolfe, did not respond to requests for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Photojournalist Cole Howard was documenting dueling protests in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 22, 2020, when he says he was targeted with paintballs and later a chemical irritant, which he captured in this image.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, chemical irritant, protest, shot / shot at",,,,, Journalist’s hand broken by assailant at ‘Back the Blue’ rally,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalists-hand-broken-by-assailant-at-back-the-blue-rally/,2021-03-23 17:36:01.559522+00:00,2021-03-23 17:36:01.559522+00:00,2021-03-23 17:36:01.522115+00:00,,"Assault, Equipment Damage",,,mobile phone: count of 1,Robert Evans (iHeart Radio & Bellingcat),,2020-08-22,False,Portland,Oregon (OR),45.52345,-122.67621,"An unidentified man attacked Bellingcat journalist Robert Evans with a baton, breaking bones in his hand, Evans said, as the journalist was covering demonstrations in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 22, 2020.
Clashes erupted after more than 100 far-right protesters, including members of the extremist group the Proud Boys and supporters of then-President Donald Trump, gathered outside the Justice Center for a “Back the Blue” rally on Aug. 22, the Washington Post reported. Hundreds of counter-protesters, including Black Lives Matter activists, amassed in opposition.
Evans, a reporter for investigative news site Bellingcat and host of a podcast for iHeartMedia, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that shortly after 1 p.m. he saw a fight break out as he was reporting on the protests outside the Justice Center.
Video he posted on Twitter shows that as Evans nears the skirmish, a man in a gray baseball hat and orange-tinted sunglasses turns around and hits his baton downward at Evans’s hand, knocking his phone to the ground.
While I am filming a right wing activist charges out and assaults me, breaking my finger with an asp baton. Sergio has more footage of the confrontation that follows pic.twitter.com/gPdPsQ70b5
— Robert Evans (The Only Robert Evans) (@IwriteOK) August 22, 2020
Evans told the Tracker that he had an open fracture, meaning the blow broke the skin on his hand.
In a second video Evans posted, he approaches the man, who is now holding a blue sign that says “God Bless America.” Evans tells him, “you just assaulted a press guy.”
Journalist Garrison Davis posted another video of Evans, blood dripping from his finger, speaking to the man. Evans’s words are indistinct, but his assailant repeats “move back.” When Evans continues to speak, the man uses his sign to slam the journalist in the chest and head.
The person with the “God Bless America” shield assaulted journalist Robert Evans @IwriteOK and cut his hand. As Robert talks about the incident he continues to be assaulted. pic.twitter.com/3cOSQxrrXR
— Garrison Davis (@hungrybowtie) August 22, 2020
Evans, who was wearing a helmet and a protective vest that were both marked with the word PRESS, said he believes he was targeted because he was filming the clashes.
“I made very certain that he knew what he had done and that he knew who he had assaulted,” Evans said.
Evans said a medic who was helping protesters dressed his wound with a bandage and splint on site, and he continued to cover the protest for several hours. He later went to a hospital emergency room for treatment. He told the Tracker his hand was broken in two places.
Evans said his Samsung Galaxy phone screen was cracked and the charging port broken when he was attacked. He was able to continue using it to report for the rest of the day, but later needed to replace it.
Portland Police Bureau did not respond to emailed questions about the attack on Evans. A spokesperson for the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office said they had no record of a case related to the incident.
Evans told the Tracker in February 2021 that he planned to take legal action against his attacker but had not yet done so. He noted that police had not made any arrests related to the attack.
Protests in support of the Black Lives Matter movement had been held in Portland daily for months, sparked by the May 25 killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Oregon Public Broadcasting reporter Sergio Olmos wrote that he was hit with paintballs fired by a right-wing activist while they were covering confrontations between protesters in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 22, 2020.
Clashes erupted after more than 100 far-right protesters, including members of the extremist group the Proud Boys and supporters of then-President Donald Trump, gathered outside the Justice Center for a “Back the Blue” rally on Aug. 22, the Washington Post reported.
Hundreds of counter-protesters amassed in opposition. Protests in support of the Black Lives Matter movement had been held in Portland daily for months, sparked by the May 25 killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Olmos posted on Twitter at 6:32 p.m. that while he was being shot with a paintball by a right-wing protester he pointed to his press pass, but the man continued to shoot paintballs.
In a video Olmos posted with his tweet, a man wearing a black helmet can be seen firing a paintball gun into the crowd amid clashes between far-right groups and opposing protesters. At one point in the video, several paintballs can be seen flying past Olmos’s camera as he films.
Olmos did not respond to requests for comment.
In September, the Multnomah County District Attorney’s office filed multiple assault charges against a man, who was arrested for allegedly attacking people with paintballs and mace at two protests, including the one on Aug. 22. The indictment against Alan Swinney alleges that on Aug. 22 he used a paintball gun to cause physical injury, pointed a revolver at a person and unlawfully discharged “mace or a similar substance” toward another person. The charges do not name any of the alleged targets.
In October, a judge denied a motion for Swinney’s release, and as of March 2021, he was still being held in prison, according to the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Department. Swinney's lawyer, Eric Wolfe, did not respond to requests for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Police officers shoved videographer Dustin Tolman who was covering protests in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 22, 2020, according to social media posts.
Tolman was documenting one of the many protests that have been held 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. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Law enforcement officers in Portland have targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The ACLU suit led to a temporary restraining order, and later a preliminary injunction, barring the Portland Police Bureau from harming or impeding journalists.
In the early hours of Aug. 22, Tolman and a group of other journalists were covering a demonstration at the PPB’s North Precinct station. After the gathering was declared a riot around 1 a.m., police used smoke and physical force to disperse protesters, according to Al Jazeera.
In a video shared by Oregon Public Broadcasting journalist Sergio Olmos on Twitter at 12:58 a.m., a police LRAD can be heard warning that “all persons, including press and legal observers,” must move onto Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
About a half hour later, as police were using force to disperse protesters, Tolman was among several journalists, clearly marked as “press,” who were pushed while trying to film an arrest. In a video posted by Olmos at 1:37 a.m., an officer is seen pushing Tolman.
The PPB has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation in the ACLU case.
An officer shoved independent photojournalist Maranie Staab while she was covering protests in Portland, Oregon, in the early mornings of Aug. 22, 2020.
Staab was documenting one of the many protests that have been held 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. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Law enforcement officers in Portland have targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The ACLU suit led to a temporary restraining order, and later a preliminary injunction, barring the Portland Police Bureau from harming or impeding journalists.
In the early hours of Aug. 22, Staab and a group of other journalists were covering a demonstration at the PPB’s North Precinct station. After the gathering was declared a riot around 1 a.m., police used smoke and physical force to disperse protesters, according to Al Jazeera.
In a video shared by Oregon Public Broadcasting journalist Sergio Olmos on Twitter at 12:58 a.m., a police LRAD can be heard warning that “all persons, including press and legal observers,” must move onto Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
About a half hour later, as police were using force to disperse protesters, Staab was among several journalists, clearly marked as “press,” who were pushed while trying to film an arrest. In a video posted by Olmos at 1:37 a.m., Staab can be seen wearing a black baseball cap backwards, with a camera in her right hand and a phone on a gimbal in her left. An officer approaches and pushes Staab.
A few seconds later, the officer rushes at Staab again, pushing her hard into another photojournalist, and yelling, “Stay back!”
“I didn’t do anything to draw attention to myself,” Staab told the Tracker. “Some officers might respect the first amendment and the TRO that’s been in place, but the majority don’t.”
The PPB has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation in the ACLU case.
Freelance photojournalist Ringo Chiu, a member of the National Press Photographers Association, was struck by a rubber bullet while covering clashing demonstrations in the Tujunga neighborhood of Los Angeles on Aug. 21, 2020.
According to a complaint Chiu filed with the Los Angeles Police Department, which he shared with the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, Chiu had arrived near the intersection of Foothill Boulevard and Saluda Avenue at approximately 5:30 p.m. to cover a demonstration by supporters of President Donald Trump. Officers were lined up to separate the Trump supporters from a nearby group of Black Lives Matter counter-protesters, Chiu said in the complaint.
“I began photographing the event when I [was] stopped by the police,” Chiu wrote in the complaint. Chiu added that he was allowed to continue working after showing police his media passes. According to NPPA General Counsel Mickey Osterreicher, Chiu was wearing both his LAPD and Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department media credentials that day, and was carrying three cameras.
As tensions between the two crowds began to escalate, first verbally and then into physical fighting, Chiu wrote, LAPD officers attempted to separate them by pushing them back onto sidewalks and out of the street. Chiu wrote that he was standing with other photographers documenting the scene and had just shifted to a new location when he was struck in the abdomen with a rubber bullet that he estimated was fired from officers approximately 15 feet away.
“In that moment, I felt a surge of hot pain in my body and immediately ran away from the police, and sat below a tree on the sidewalk,” Chiu wrote. According to Chiu, as police continued shooting at the protesters, a group of protesters surrounded him and helped him make his way to a nearby parking lot.
Chiu wrote that some of the protesters provided him with first aid, and when an ambulance was unable to reach him because of the clashes, a protester drove him to Kaiser Permanente Hospital.
Chiu told the Tracker that he didn’t have any broken bones from the incident, but that the munition’s impact broke the skin and left a visible scar on his abdomen. Chiu filed his complaint to police on Aug. 24 and told the Tracker in mid-December that he hadn’t received a response from the LAPD.
Osterreicher, the photographer’s association counsel, told the Tracker that an LAPD spokesperson told him on Dec. 16 that the investigation into Chiu’s complaint was “recently completed and is in the review process.” The spokesperson added that, following an internal review, the complaint would be adjudicated and it would be another one to two months before the department would notify Chiu by letter about the outcome.
In a Facebook post shared with the Tracker, Chiu wrote, “Never would I have thought that I would also need to protect myself from the police, those that I believed would always protect us during times of chaos.”
“Although you may have your credentials displayed and carry cameras that show your intent, the risk is far greater than before, as many other photojournalists on the field have also sustained equal or even harsher wounds than I have,” Chiu continued. “Sometimes it feels like, as media covering our community, we can be in danger from every direction when exercising our First Amendment right.”
Independent visual journalist Rodrigo Melgarejo was shoved by Portland police while covering protests in downtown Portland during the early morning hours of Aug. 21, 2020.
The protests were among many demonstrations that broke out in response to police violence and in support of Black Lives Matter following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Law enforcement officers in Portland had targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The city agreed to a preliminary injunction in July to not to arrest or harm any journalists or legal observers of the protests or impede their work.
The demonstration on Aug. 20 began peacefully in North Portland with little interaction between police and protesters, according to The Oregonian. However, several protesters were arrested in a later demonstration outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in South Portland, where Portland police declared an unlawful assembly.
“Tonight, PPB declared an unlawful assembly, saying anyone not press was going to be arrested if they don’t leave,” Melgarejo wrote in a tweet at 3:21 a.m. on Aug. 21. “Yet I was shoved, down the sidewalk and into the street.” He told the Tracker he was wearing a ballistic vest and black helmet, both marked with press labels.
In a video accompanying the tweet, Melgarejo is facing a row of officers in riot gear. At 0:11, one officer states, “If you are not press, you need to leave.” Another repeats the same statement a few seconds later, adding that protesters who refuse to leave will be arrested. The same officer then begins to physically pressure people to move and says at 0:20, “Get out of my way. If you’re in my way, I’m going to push you.”
At 0:34, the camera suddenly jostles and an officer’s face can briefly be seen very close to the lens. Melgarejo continues to film one particular officer who repeatedly demands, “Move!” and pushes people forward. This continues for another minute until demonstrators, press, and officers are all on the street. At 1:29, an officer can be seen pointing right at the camera, yelling, “Get out of the street!” and then shoving him.
When reached by email about this incident, the PPB declined to comment citing pending litigation.
Multimedia journalist Grace Morgan said she was hit with pepper balls shot by federal agents while covering protests against police violence in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 20, 2020.
Morgan was documenting protests that had continued for months in downtown Portland and across the U.S. in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
On the evening of Aug. 20, demonstrators marched from Kenton Park to the Portland Police Association headquarters, ending the protest by 10 p.m. Around that time, another group of protesters gathered at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement building, the site of what Portland Police declared a riot the previous night.
Morgan said many of the protesters had gotten pushed back to another park two blocks away, but she decided to stay by the building to monitor what the federal agents and Portland police would do next. After about 40 minutes, protesters marched back to the facility. Morgan filmed from the sidewalk as federal agents formed a line and began firing pepper balls and flash-bang grenades into the crowd. Unidentified officers also deployed tear gas, Morgan told the Tracker.
“Suddenly I got hit in the hand that I was filming with,” Morgan said. “It wasn’t until I later reviewed footage by another journalist that I realized I was hit in the head as well.”
In a video she tweeted at 11:38 p.m. on Aug. 20, Morgan drops her phone when she is hit with a pepper ball. She quickly picks the phone back up and walks away from the scene.
Here where they aimed, and hit me, directly at my camera / hand and I was able to pick it back up lol. I am clearly marked as press and on the sidewalk #PortlandProtest after this I distinctly smelled CS gas pic.twitter.com/9o1s6LOrvJ
— Peter (@gravemorgan) August 21, 2020
Griffin Malone, another independent journalist, captured Morgan’s incident around the 19-second mark in a video he shared. In it, what appears to be a flash-bang grenade bounces off of Morgan’s helmet. She said she clearly displayed her press badges and had markings on her helmet as well.
“I actually wasn’t even that close to the protesters, so it seems like I was specifically targeted,” Morgan told the Tracker. “They were firing 20 or 30 feet to my right and then one thing comes straight at me.”
Morgan said she didn’t know which agency fired the projectile that hit her. The Department of Homeland Security, which coordinated the federal presence, didn’t respond to messages seeking comment.
At the time, a preliminary injunction a judge put in place in July barred federal agents from harming or impeding journalists. The ruling was upheld by an appeals court in October.
Justin Yau, an independent journalist, said he was pushed by a police officer in the early hours of Aug. 20, 2020, while attempting to film an arrest during a protest in southwest Portland, Oregon.
Yau, a student at the University of Portland whose work has been featured by the Daily Mail and The New York Times, was covering one of the many protests that had broken out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement after the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Law enforcement officers in Portland have targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. Yau provided a declaration in support of the ACLU suit, which led to the city agreeing to a preliminary injunction in July to not arrest, harm or impede the work of journalists or legal observers of the protests.
On the night of Aug. 19, Yau had been covering a demonstration at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building, After a riot was declared, protesters returned to Elizabeth Caruthers Park, a few blocks north. Federal agents had pushed protestors out of the park before the Portland Police Bureau took over enforcement.
Shortly after midnight on Aug. 20, Yau was filming an arrest near the northwest corner of the park when the pushing incident occurred, he told the Tracker. A PPB sergeant approached Yau, and other members of the press, who were standing back from the arrest, to expand the perimeter. Then another officer started pushing Yau and other journalists back before dropping a tear gas canister at their feet.
In a video of the incident filmed and tweeted by Yau, an officer can be heard saying, “back up, back up.” Then the camera goes askew and the video cuts out as Yau gets pushed.
By 12:04AM, Several arrests have been made during this dispersal operation. News media personnel have gathered to document the incident. https://t.co/h20gcSxXiU pic.twitter.com/9vCCoq5xEP
— Justin Yau (@PDocumentarians) August 20, 2020
A different angle of the incident was captured and posted by Sergio Olmos of Oregon Public Broadcasting. Yau, wearing a black helmet marked “press,” can be seen getting shoved about 40 seconds into the video.
The PPB has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation in the ACLU case.
Independent journalist Alissa Azar said she was shot with munitions and had a stun grenade and tear gas thrown at her by law enforcement officers while covering a demonstration in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 20, 2020.
Azar was covering one of the many protests in Portland that have been held on almost a nightly basis since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Law enforcement officers in Portland have targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The ACLU suit led to the city agreeing to a preliminary injunction in July to not arrest, harm or impede the work of journalists or legal observers of the protests. The injunction was expanded to include federal agents later that month.
On the night of Aug. 20, protestors gathered outside the building housing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in southwest Portland. Demonstrators sprayed graffiti on the building and tampered with the gate and windows, according to local news station KPTV, prompting officers from the Portland Police Bureau and Federal Protective Service, who emerged around 11:20 p.m., to confront the group.
Federal agents then began shooting pepper balls, stun grenades and tear gas at the crowd of protesters and press. The PPB was cited by KPTV as saying its officers didn’t fire crowd-control munitions or tear gas.
Azar posted a video on Twitter showing her getting hit several times, first with a stun grenade and then by some type of munitions. Soon after, she tweeted, “I had a stun grenade thrown at my ankle, tear gas canisters thrown at me got shot at. I’m ok just hurts.”
Here’s the cannister that you can see the feds rolled right at my feet before one of them shot me. I was bleeding above my foot from this and where I got shot is quite swollen. #BlackLivesMatter #AbolishICE #PortlandProtests #PortlandProtest #PDXprotests #pdx #DefendPdx #ACAB pic.twitter.com/jjni5nzqAU
— Alissa Azar (@R3volutionDaddy) August 21, 2020
Freelance journalist Griffin Malone captured the incident from another direction in a video he published on Twitter. About 30 seconds into the video, Azar, wearing a visible press badge, is seen running away and saying, “Ow!”
In a follow-up tweet, Malone published a photo of Azar with a welt on her body, writing that Azar “was hit in ankle with flash bang and then shot at.”
Azar said she believes the officers purposefully fired towards her. “I was standing close to them when it happened. The canister and getting shot [by munitions] were both intentionally aimed at me,” Azar told the Tracker. “I was standing with a group of media who were all visibly press as well.”
A spokesperson for ICE referred the Tracker to FPS, a Department of Homeland Security agency that deployed to Portland, for comment, but the agency didn’t respond. PPB has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation in the ACLU case.
Independent journalist Scott Keeler said he was pushed by a police officer in the early hours of Aug. 20, 2020, while attempting to film an arrest during a protest in southwest Portland, Oregon.
Keeler, an independent videographer, was covering one of the many protests that had broken out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement after the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Law enforcement officers in Portland have targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon.
Shortly after midnight on Aug. 20, a Portland Police Bureau sergeant approached Keeler and other members of the press, who were standing back from the arrest, to expand the perimeter. Then another officer started pushing Keeler and some other journalists back before dropping a tear gas canister at their feet.
Keeler can be seen in a video posted by Sergio Olmos of Oregon Public Broadcasting kneeling in front of the press scrum in a black helmet and backpack clearly marked press. About 43 seconds into the video, the officer pulls Keeler to his feet and pushes him back, knocking his helmet off.
Keeler tweeted, “Cop just ripped my mask off and threw a tear gas canister under me as I was kneeled filming an arrest of another member of press. I had been in the same position filming for quite a while before this cop decided to target me.”
The PPB has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation in the ACLU case.
Videographer Melissa Lewis said a tear gas canister fired by law enforcement struck her in the head while covering a demonstration in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 20, 2020.
Lewis was covering one of the many protests in Portland that have been held on almost a nightly basis since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Law enforcement officers in Portland have targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The ACLU suit led to the city agreeing to a preliminary injunction in July to not arrest, harm or impede the work of journalists or legal observers of the protests. The injunction was expanded to include federal agents later that month.
On the night of Aug. 20, protestors gathered outside the building housing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in southwest Portland. Demonstrators sprayed graffiti on the building and tampered with the gate and windows, according to local news station KPTV, prompting officers from the Portland Police Bureau and Federal Protective Service, who emerged around 11:20 p.m., to confront the group.
Lewis said she was hit with the tear gas canister during that same round of law enforcement fire, though the incident wasn’t captured on video. “I was standing in an area that was exposed. They shot a tear gas canister, and it hit me right in the head,” Lewis told the Tracker. “Thankfully I was wearing a helmet and my gas mask.”
Lewis then went to a hospital emergency room for treatment, she said. She tweeted the next day that she likely had a “mild concussion.”
Lewis said that while she didn't feel personally targeted by the officers, she does believe they were targeting the press assembled there.
A spokesperson for ICE referred the Tracker to FPS, a Department of Homeland Security agency that deployed to Portland, for comment, but the agency didn’t respond. PPB has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation in the ACLU case.
Independent videographer Nicholas Lee said a Portland police officer shoved him, causing his head to hit the pavement, while he was covering a protest in Portland, Oregon, in the early hours of Aug. 19, 2020.
The protest was one of many that have broken out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Law enforcement officers in Portland have targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The ACLU suit led to the city agreeing to a preliminary injunction in July to not arrest, harm or impede the work of journalists or legal observers of the protests.
The protest Lee was covering began in the evening of Aug. 18 and stretched past midnight. After gathering in Colonel Summers Park in southeast Portland at around 9 p.m. protesters marched nearly a mile to the Multnomah Building, the county seat of government, on Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard. Some protesters started fires in dumpsters and inside the building, according to The Oregonian, prompting the Portland Police Bureau to declare the gathering a riot around 10:30 p.m.
Lee, who had been shoved by a PPB officer earlier in the night, was pushed again by an officer just after midnight, he said.
“They gave me a shove, and my helmet fell off,” Lee told the Tracker. “Then the cops gave me a big shove when my head was unprotected. I fell right back and smacked my head on the pavement.”
A video published by independent journalist Justin Yau shortly after midnight shows the aftermath of the shove. Lee is seen on the ground, surrounded by a group of police officers. “Officers tackled a videographer @econbrkfst and knocked off his helmet, during enforcement actions earlier,” Yau wrote in the post.
Officers tackled a videographer @econbrkfst and knocked off his helmet, during enforcement actions earlier. #PortlandProtests #PDXprotests #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/SXc4KhRxqU
— Justin Yau (@PDocumentarians) August 19, 2020
Lee said that after being pushed, he went to the doctor and got checked for a concussion, but he didn’t have one. “But I got bad whiplash to the extent that when I laid in bed I couldn’t lift my head up. It was excruciatingly painful,” he said.
When reached for comment during ongoing protests in the fall of 2020, the PPB told the Tracker it wouldn’t be commenting on specific incidents, citing continuing litigation in the ACLU case. Then in early 2021, PPB spokesman Derek Carmon said the department is committed to upholding civil rights for all citizens, including by requiring officers to report any use of force for review. The PPB wasn't available for comment on this incident.
Independent journalist Teebs Auberdine said she was shot at and shoved by law enforcement officers while covering protests in front of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland, Oregon, on the night of Aug. 19, 2020.
The protests were among many demonstrations that broke out in response to police violence and in support of Black Lives Matter following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Law enforcement officers in Portland had targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The city agreed to a preliminary injunction in July to not to arrest or harm any journalists or legal observers of the protests or impede their work. The injunction was expanded to include federal agents later that month.
Throughout the night of Aug. 19, federal officers and Portland police worked to push protesters away from the ICE facility and direct the crowd toward Elizabeth Caruthers Park, a few blocks north, according to The Oregonian. Police declared a riot at around 11 p.m. after demonstrators had thrown various objects at the officers and spray-painted across the building's windows.
Auberdine told the Tracker that within 15 minutes of arriving that night, she was shot in the arm with a beanbag-like metal round fired by Department of Homeland Security agents. "I was standing on the northwest corner [of the facility]," she said. "It was a direct line between the DHS who shot me. There was no one in front of or behind me."
Soon after, law enforcement officers began a push that continued for about six blocks to the north of the facility, she said. "I was forced to move along the sidewalk, so I didn't have a chance to really account for what had just gone on," she told the Tracker. "There was a hole in my sweater and red marking as well. It hurt a lot, but I didn't know immediately that I was bleeding."
She found street medics to help clean and bandage her arm, she said, and now has a scar.
Later that night, while Portland police officers were walking in a riot line to move protesters away from the ICE building, the officers "suddenly bull rushed and grabbed their batons," Auberdine said. She was the "first one in front of them," and got "shoved onto the hood of an SUV."
Auberdine was livestreaming at the time, and at around the 7:25 mark, officers can be seen suddenly running towards several individuals and pushing them toward a car. For a brief moment, her camera flips sideways, as she gets pushed. A loudspeaker can be heard urging protesters and journalists to head to the north.
She said she had a vest visibly labelled with press markings. "I think this type of violence has a much greater impact on me because this is a direct physical violation…of my body," she told the Tracker.
The Portland Police Bureau has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing the continuing ACLU litigation. The DHS didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment.
Independent videographer Nicholas Lee said a police officer pushed him and smashed his phone on the street while he was covering a protest in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 18, 2020.
The protest was one of many that have broken out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Law enforcement officers in Portland have targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The ACLU suit led to the city agreeing to a preliminary injunction in July to not arrest, harm or impede the work of journalists or legal observers of the protests.
Around 8 p.m., protesters gathered in Colonel Summers Park, in southeast Portland, and about an hour later marched nearly a mile to the Multnomah Building, the county seat of government, on Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard. Some protesters started fires in dumpsters and inside the building, according to The Oregonian, prompting the Portland Police Bureau to declare the gathering a riot around 10:30 p.m.
Lee arrived at the protest around that time and witnessed police officers pushing demonstrators away from the Multnomah Building and making several arrests, he told the Tracker.
About an hour later, while Lee was covering some protesters several blocks away from the building, he said, Portland police officers told protesters and press to remain on the sidewalk.
“There were several cops there. I’m on the sidewalk with other members of the press. They’re like, ‘Move! Move!’ pushing us back,” said Lee.
At one point during the crush on the sidewalk, a police officer took his phone, he said.
”I was holding it, and it had a tether attached to it and it was around my wrist. [The officer] grabbed my phone and tried to wrench it away from me,” Lee told the Tracker. “He pulled on it so hard he got it out of my hand and then smashed it on the street.”
The police officer damaged his phone when he threw it on the street, said Lee. “It wasn’t broken, just cracked. There wasn’t significant damage, but I had to replace the screen protector,” he said.
Later in the night, after midnight, Lee was shoved again by an officer, he said. The Tracker documented the Aug. 19 incident here.
When reached for comment during ongoing protests in the fall of 2020, the PPB told the Tracker it wouldn’t be commenting on specific incidents, citing continuing litigation in the ACLU case. Then in early 2021, PPB spokesman Derek Carmon said the department is committed to upholding civil rights for all citizens, including by requiring officers to report any use of force for review. The PPB wasn't available for comment on this incident.
Independent photojournalist Teri Jacobs was shoved to the ground and hit several times by Portland police while covering protests in downtown Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 18, 2020, according to news reports and a legal filing.
The protests were among many demonstrations that broke out in response to police violence and in support of Black Lives Matter following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Law enforcement officers in Portland had targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The case resulted in a temporary restraining order on July 2 barring the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists, which was extended later that summer.
Demonstrators on that Tuesday the 18th marched to the Multnomah County Justice Center, where police declared the site of a riot around 10:30 p.m., according to news reports. Portland police officers in riot gear pushed protesters toward the north, where Jacobs was documenting along Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard, according to The Portland Mercury.
In a video shared by Twitter user @johnthelefty, an officer uses a baton to knock Jacobs’ head and shoves her to the ground, the newspaper reported. When she rolls over to sit up, he hits her on the forehead again with the baton.
Jacobs has filed a legal complaint with the United States District Court and is represented by attorneys from the Oregon Justice Resource Center, according to the Portland Mercury. “As Ms. Jacobs was knocked to the ground, she was terrified that the officer was going to continue to attack her and she feared that she might never get up again if he continued with his violent attack,” the complaint reads, according to the article. “An entire squad of Portland Police Officers witnessed this act, failed to intervene, and allowed this officer to walk away after committing a violent crime against Ms. Jacobs.”
In an interview with Fox 12, Jacobs’ attorney Juan Chavez said she was wearing a press credential and that prior to the documented shove, she was also hit “repeatedly on the head, neck and back with a truncheon” by the officer. Chavez added that her camera was broken “when she was knocked to the ground.” According to The Portland Mercury, Jacobs is “seeking punitive damages and attorneys’ fees from the city and PPB officers involved.”
Jacobs declined to comment to the Tracker. When reached by email about this incident, the PPB declined to comment citing pending litigation.
Journalist Melissa Lewis said she was pushed by law enforcement officers while she was covering demonstrations in downtown Portland on Aug. 16, 2020.
Lewis was covering one of the many protests that have broken out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Law enforcement officers in Portland have targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed on June 28 by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The ACLU lawsuit resulted in a temporary restraining order against the Portland Police Bureau and other law enforcement agencies working with the Portland police, and eventually led to a preliminary injunction in July barring the police from harming or impeding journalists and legal observers.
Lewis, an independent journalist who at the time was documenting Portland protests for Cascadianphotog Media, was also covering law enforcement officers stationed outside the Central Precinct. Lewis was filming on the corner of Southwest Second Avenue and Southwest Main Street, just north of the precinct.
Lewis’ livestream of the downtown Portland protest was published on Twitter at 10:36 p.m. At about 48 minutes into the video, the livestream captures more than a dozen officers advancing on Lewis and other journalists from multiple sides. Lewis can be seen in the video wearing a helmet with “press” on it. As officers from the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office walk aggressively toward Lewis, she can be heard asking “Where would you like me to go, the street or the sidewalk?” A voice is then heard saying, “Keep going, keep going, keep going.”
As Lewis says she’s “trying” to comply with the sheriffs’ directions, one officer appears to push her with a baton.
In an interview, Lewis said that Portland Police Bureau officers and Multnomah County Sheriff’s officers were giving her contradictory directions while advancing on her.
“The officers said get on the sidewalk and the sheriffs said get off the sidewalk. I was obeying PPB’s orders,” she said, referring to the Portland Police Bureau. “As a result I got pulled back from the backpack and batoned in the ribs by the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office.”
Lewis said she later went to a hospital. “As the adrenaline wore off, it really hurt. I wanted to go and get an X-ray on my ribs,” she said. “They were bruised, not broken, but it hurt to inhale.”
The Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office did not respond to a request for comment.
Independent photojournalist Maranie Staab said she was thrown to the ground by police in Portland, Oregon, while covering protests in the city’s downtown on Aug. 16, 2020.
Staab, whose photos of the 2020 protests in Portland were published by Reuters, The New Yorker and Agence France-Presse, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she was documenting a protest in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 killing of George Floyd, a Black man, in Minneapolis.
At approximately 1:30 a.m. that Sunday the 16th, Staab was documenting protests outside the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office when Portland police deployed tear gas. According to news reports, police declared the gathering a riot at midnight and eventually came in tactical gear to disperse the crowd.
In a video Staab posted on Twitter, a police officer can be seen pushing a protester into a wooden pole, ripping off their gas mask and throwing Staab to the ground. She said she was wearing a large vest marked “press.”
“When he saw that I was filming, he very casually threw me to the ground,” Staab told the Tracker. She continued filming even though she hit her head and scraped her elbows.
In an email, Portland police spokesman Derek Carmon said he reviewed the video and that, among other questions, it wasn’t clear whether the journalist was thrown down or tripped. He said the department was committed to upholding civil rights for all individuals. He detailed the PBB’s crowd-control policies and noted any use of force prompts a lengthy review.
“We have made a very intentional effort to share additional information with the public about the entire context of each nightly event,” Carmon wrote. “If you look at our press releases, you’ll find nightly summaries that discuss why the Incident Commanders gave the direction that they did, including the use of crowd control munitions.”
At the time, a preliminary injunction issued by a U.S. District Court judge barred Portland police officers from harming, arresting or impeding journalists. Carmon declined to comment on pending litigation.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Law enforcement officers hit Juniper Simonis with pepper spray and impact rounds as the independent journalist and scientist reported on protests in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 16, 2020, they told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
On the night of Aug. 15 and early into the morning of Aug. 16, Simonis was covering demonstrations against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. Simonis has been publishing information for several months about law enforcement’s use of chemical irritants at protests on Twitter and on the website chemicalweaponsresearch.com.
Law enforcement officers in Portland targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The ACLU suit led to a temporary restraining order, and later a preliminary injunction, barring the Portland Police Bureau from harming or impeding journalists.
Shortly after midnight on the 16th, Simonis was outside the Penumbra Kelly Building on East Burnside Street when a confrontation flared up between a line of police officers and protesters. Simonis told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker they saw a police officer pull a woman into a bush and arrest her. Another protester ran across the street toward them to intervene, but was met by a group of several officers who fired tear gas at him.
Simonis was filming the incident from the sidewalk when a group of officers approached and noticed the equipment Simonis said was for scientific documentation. In footage of the incident that Simonis filmed with a body cam and later posted on Twitter, the journalist can be heard yelling “I am press and that is scientific equipment!” as a police officer tells him, “well it’s a weapon right now.” Simonis said the equipment consisted of a metal bucket filled with sand and fireplace tongs used to extinguish and examine hot objects, such as gas canisters.
good morning!
— Dr. Juniper L Simonis; The Professor (@JuniperLSimonis) August 16, 2020
here's what happened last night while i was scientifically documenting the use of chemical weapons in Portland, as a member of the press
stuff really escalated (i got sprayed and shot) when an officer grabbed my clearly marked and stated equipment aka "my own shit" pic.twitter.com/uvgCTOsvJj
The journalist said they were wearing a helmet and hazard vest that had “press” written on them in black permanent marker.
As the officer grabbed the bucket and tongs from Simonis, the two struggled until an officer sprayed the journalist with pepper spray, Simonis told the Tracker. At that point, Simonis said, the equipment and cell phone went flying. With tear gas on their face and back, Simonis approached the officers and began yelling angrily. Simonis was then hit in the thigh and rear with two crowd-control rounds.
Simonis then walked to where their car was parked nearby and washed off the tear gas. The journalist was missing their phone and car keys, which had been attached to the bucket with a carabiner. Several hours later, Simonis said a friend returned to the scene and convinced the officers to return his bucket and fireplace tongs. Simonis also said an unidentified individual found and returned the cell phone but didn’t provide more information.
Simonis posted photos to Twitter showing bruises on their thigh and hip area from the impact rounds.
Portland Police Bureau spokesman Sgt. Kevin Allen declined to comment on the incident, citing continuing litigation involving the City of Portland.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Oregon Public Broadcasting reporter Sergio Olmos said on social media that a Portland police officer hit him with a baton while he covered protests in the city on Aug. 16, 2020.
The protests were among many demonstrations that broke out in response to police violence and in support of Black Lives Matter following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Law enforcement officers in Portland had targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The city agreed to a preliminary injunction in July to not to arrest or harm any journalists or legal observers of the protests or impede their work.
Protesters gathered outside the Penumbra Kelly building, where Portland police declared a riot at 11:57 p.m. on Aug. 15 and deployed crowd control munitions, according to news reports. Shortly after midnight, Olmos was documenting hundreds of demonstrators marching toward the Multnomah County’s Sheriff’s Office in southeast Portland. In a video posted to Twitter at 12:34 a.m., Olmos is hit with a baton and repeated calls to move can be heard. “Police bull rush, two officers run on the sidewalk and use butons [sic] to push press, including this reporter,” his tweet reads.
Olmos didn’t respond to requests for comment. When reached by email about this incident the PPB declined to comment, citing pending litigation.
Journalist Beth Nakamura said she was pushed by law enforcement officers while she was covering demonstrations in downtown Portland on Aug. 16, 2020.
Nakamura was covering one of the many protests that have broken out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Law enforcement officers in Portland have targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed on June 28 by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The ACLU lawsuit resulted in a temporary restraining order against the Portland Police Bureau and other law enforcement agencies working with the Portland police, and eventually led to a preliminary injunction in July barring the police from harming or impeding journalists and legal observers.
Nakamura, a photojournalist for The Oregonian newspaper, said she spent much of the night of Aug. 16 covering demonstrations outside the Multnomah County Justice Center, an epicenter of Portland protests because it houses a jail, courtrooms and a police precinct.
In an interview with the Tracker, Nakamura said that around 10 p.m. she went to the back of the Justice Center, which is also the entrance to the Portland Police Bureau’s Central Precinct, where some protestors had gathered. The entrance is on Southwest Second Avenue, between Southwest Main Street and Southwest Madison Street
Video published on Twitter at 10:20 p.m. by Portland-based independent journalist Catalina Gaitan shows Nakamura, wearing a vest with the word “press” on it, filming police near a garage door where a police vehicle from Gresham, Oregon, was trying to enter. Gresham is a suburb of Portland. The video shows an officer, who appears to be from the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office, pushing Nakamura away from the garage entrance. The same officer can be seen pushing away another person who is wearing a vest marked “press” and riding a bicycle. The Tracker was unable to verify the identity of that person.
Nakamura said she was not interfering with the garage entrance or the police car driving up to it. “That was a very aggressive officer and it was completely uncalled for. You end up feeling targeted,” she said.
The Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office did not respond to a request for comment on the shoving incidents.
MLive reporter Samuel Robinson was arrested while covering a rally in Kalamazoo, Michigan, on Aug. 15, 2020.
Robinson, who did not respond to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker’s requests for comment, was livestreaming from a downtown rally organized by members of the far-right group the Proud Boys and which drew counterprotesters, MLive reported. Violence between the two groups began to escalate around 1:30 p.m., according to a tweet posted by Robinson.
Hell has broken loose pic.twitter.com/SBj5GqdhFq
— Samuel J. Robinson (@samueljrob) August 15, 2020
In a subsequent tweet, Robinson noted that as violence broke out, he was caught in pepper spray deployed by members of the Proud Boys amid the melee.
After about half an hour, dozens of police officers arrived at the rally, MLive reported. In a Facebook Live broadcast captured by Robinson, who is Black, he can be heard identifying himself as a reporter as officers took him to the ground. As he repeatedly states that he is being arrested, the video feed abruptly cuts out.
Robinson was charged with impeding traffic and released from police custody on a $100 bond shortly after 5 p.m., according to a tweet he posted.
Apologize for the delay. Police arrived as Proud Boys retreated to a parking garage nearby the Raddison HotelI. I was arrested and charged with impeding traffic while reporting live on Facebook for @MLive. pic.twitter.com/KcGL7v2crg
— Samuel J. Robinson (@samueljrob) August 15, 2020
John Hiner, vice president of content for MLive Media Group, condemned Robinson’s arrest in a statement to the outlet.
“The working press must be assured the right to cover public events that clearly are in the public interest, without reprisals,” Hiner said.
At a press conference on Aug. 16, Kalamazoo Mayor David Anderson announced that the charge against Robinson had been dropped and the city’s police chief issued a public apology.
“I want to make an apology here and I want to address the arrest of the MLive reporter who they believed to be interfering and obstructing with their operations to restore the order,” Public Safety Chief Karianne Thomas said.
“I personally want to apologize for that event. The reporter was wearing a visible credential and should not have been arrested. I apologize for the trauma that it caused this young man.”
MLive reporter Samuel Robinson was arrested while covering a rally in downtown Kalamazoo organized by members of the far-right group Proud Boys and which drew counterprotesters on Aug. 15, 2020.
",arrested and released,charges dropped,Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety,None,None,True,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"chemical irritant, protest, white nationalist protest",,blocking traffic: impeding traffic,,, Photographer says was assaulted twice by Chicago police during protest,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-says-was-assaulted-twice-chicago-police-during-protest/,2020-11-11 17:27:20.798426+00:00,2022-03-10 21:54:18.027044+00:00,2022-03-10 21:54:17.968509+00:00,,Assault,,,,Dominic Gwinn (Freelance),,2020-08-15,False,Chicago,Illinois (IL),41.85003,-87.65005,"Freelance photographer Dominic Gwinn said he was physically assaulted by two police officers in separate incidents while covering a protest against police violence in Chicago on Aug. 15, 2020.
A stringer for Zuma Press, Gwinn had been following protesters as they marched down Michigan Avenue. He said he stood atop the median in the center of the street taking pictures around 6 p.m. when a police officer shoved him off the median. In a picture Gwinn tweeted, the police officer can be seen pulling his shirt as the photographer’s hands are raised.
08/15/2020
— Dominic Gwinn (@DominicGwinn) August 17, 2020
Credit: @dudgedudy pic.twitter.com/sile3OX2lN
In the photo, Gwinn is wearing press credentials from The Smoke Eater, a Substack newsletter, around his neck. Gwinn was also wearing a backpack that he said had a “press” patch affixed to it.
Gwinn said he threw up his hands immediately. “I’m just like, you know, ‘Dude, that’s fine, but you can’t throw me down,’ because he starts grabbing and tugging at me and trying to shove me down off the flower bed,” Gwinn told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in an interview. Gwinn said he was cautious because the surface where he stood was concrete. ”It’s wet, it’s raining, I could very easily slip and fall and crack my skull open,” he said.
Gwinn told the Tracker that the officer let him go, but shortly thereafter, he was assaulted by another officer as he sought to photograph a woman, who was being dragged and arrested by police.
“A young officer and his colleague, they move forward towards me...and they’re like you can’t be here, you gotta move,” Gwinn said. The photographer said he again threw up his hands and told police he was moving. “Then the guy starts shoving me [...] and pushing me hard on the back and is whaling on my back with what feels like a baton,” Gwinn said.
According to Gwinn, the officer continued pushing him towards the protesters and through a cloud of pepper spray. “Everything just starts burning,” Gwinn said .
Gwinn tweeted a video he took as he ran, pursued by police, with other individuals down LaSalle Street, near the cross street of Adams Street.
Kettled.#ChicagoProtests pic.twitter.com/tXkrksEkQp
— Dominic Gwinn (@DominicGwinn) August 16, 2020
Police eventually surrounded the crowd in a kettle, a police tactic used in protests to exert crowd-control by trapping protestors within a circle of officers.
Gwinn tweeted a video showing protestors trapped at the southwest corner of Marble Place and LaSalle Street, where police demanded to inspect the bags of people inside the kettle.
Attack ppl. pinning in. Can't move.send help making us open bags. #ChicagoProtests pic.twitter.com/oFgZLhwSVf
— Dominic Gwinn (@DominicGwinn) August 16, 2020
The photographer said police let another member of the press out of the kettle but that he opted to stay in and continue documenting the situation. Gwinn said he was not searched, and that when the police action ended, he was given a police escort outside the confines of the protest area.
Gwinn said he opted not to file a complaint with the Civilian Office of Police Accountability due to fears of retaliation from the Chicago Police Department.
A request for comment from the CPD was not answered.
The Aug. 15 protest drew hundreds of people and was organized by a number of local groups, including GoodKids MadCity, Blck Rising, March For Our Lives Chicago, Increase the Peace and others according to the Chicago Tribune.
Atlanta-based independent journalist Anissa Matlock was repeatedly pushed by a police officer while reporting during a rally in Stone Mountain, a city in the Atlanta suburbs, on Aug. 15, 2020.
Stone Mountain’s nine-story high depiction of Confederate leaders, carved into the mountain that gives the city its name, is considered a shrine for white supremacists. On Aug. 15 several far-right and white supremacist groups arrived in Stone Mountain to protest against a movement calling for removal of the monument.
Those groups were met by counterprotesters carrying signs in support of racial justice and Black Lives Matter. After a few hours officers in riot gear intervened to stop the altercations between members from the opposite groups.
According to Matlock, an officer who was part of a law enforcement line dispersing the crowd aggressively confronted her, pushing his riot shield against the front of her body, as she walked backwards.
“We were asked to disperse, to move back, so I started moving back but I had my camera on the police line in front of me,” Matlock told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. She said that the officer who confronted her took several strides ahead of the line in her direction. “He broke the line to get closer to me as I was moving back and then leaned the shield against my gas mask, my head and began to push forward,” she said.
Matlock video recorded the confrontation and tweeted it that night. The video shows Matlock, who was wearing her press credentials and a gas mask, being pushed back while complying with the officer’s order to move. “I have press credentials sir,” she can be heard saying as the officer forces her back, pressing his shield against her. “I’m moving, I’m complying,” she says.
Matlock, who posts her videos of Black Lives Matter protests on her social media channels, believes that she was targeted because she was pointing her camera on the officer’s face. “I feel that because I was zooming, he tried to get me out of the way,” she explained.
Matlock said she did not file a complaint about the incident. The Stone Mountain Police Department and the DeKalb County Police Department did not return requests for comment.
Law enforcement damaged livestreaming equipment belonging to independent journalist Jon Ziegler while he was covering protests in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 15, 2020.
On the night of Aug. 15 and early into the morning of Aug. 16, Ziegler was covering demonstrations in northeast Portland against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. Ziegler, who previously worked with the media collective Unicorn Riot, has been documenting protests for his independent livestreaming account, RebZ.tv.
Sometime after 9 p.m., law enforcement declared the gathering a riot and forced protesters to disperse, Ziegler told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. The journalist said he was walking behind a line of police officers and filming them as they chased protesters down the street, when he saw an officer shove a woman in front of him. In a recording of the incident posted to Twitter, the woman can be seen falling to the ground. Ziegler is then seen following the officer and asking for his badge number. The officer turns, yells “right up behind you” and lunges at Ziegler.
As cops chased and ran protesters down the street from the police precinct, some of the cops took out their aggression on the press trailing behind
— Jon Ziegler “Reb Z” (@Rebelutionary_Z) August 17, 2020
This one tried to rip my phone off my monopod but failed at the tug of war...and the livestream kept going! (but my clip is broken) pic.twitter.com/0vpzMAZjz4
The officer tried to grab Ziegler’s phone, but was unsuccessful, the journalist told the Tracker. The officer pushed Ziegler’s RetiCAM smartphone tripod mount so forcefully into this chest, however, that the clamp broke and the journalist was left with a minor scrape. Ziegler said he was wearing a bulletproof vest with a fluorescent press insignia. “It was obvious from two blocks away that I was press,” he told the Tracker.
Portland Police Bureau spokesman Sgt. Kevin Allen declined to comment on the incident, citing continuing litigation involving the City of Portland. Since July 2020, law enforcement officers from the PPB and federal agencies have been barred by court rulings from arresting, harming or impeding journalists or legal observers of the protests.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Independent journalist Alissa Azar said she was shoved multiple times by police officers while covering protests in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 15, 2020.
Azar told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that Portland police officers were “being super aggressive with members of the press” that night. She posted a tweet, alongside a video of officers repeatedly calling “Move!” and pressuring people to walk in one direction; Azar called the confrontation “terrifying.”
“People almost fell off the railing from how hard the cops were pushing. We were not even next to the protesters,” she told the Tracker.
Azar said officers pushed her several times, including pushing her into a car at one point.
@PDocumentarians got maced and they wouldn’t let us get to him to help. I just got pushed into a car
— alissa azar (@AlissaAzar) August 15, 2020
“I’m still shaken. I honestly was afraid for everyone’s safety,” Azar said.
She said she had been wearing a vest and helmet, both labelled with press markings, as well as a credential from Pacific Northwest Press Corps, which describes itself as an association of independent journalists covering ongoing protests in Portland and other parts of the Pacific Northwest.
Portland Police Bureau spokesman Sgt. Kevin Allen declined to comment on the incident, citing continuing litigation involving the City of Portland. Since July, 2020, law enforcement officers from the PPB and federal agencies have been barred by court rulings from arresting, harming or impeding journalists or legal observers of the protests.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Independent journalist Raven Geary said her bag was searched by police without her consent while she reported on a protest in Chicago, Illinois, on Aug. 15, 2020.
Geary, a freelancer who later wrote about the demonstration for the Chicago Reader, was covering a protest against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. Protests against racial injustice had been held across the United States since George Floyd was killed during an arrest in Minneapolis on May 25. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Geary was following protesters in downtown Chicago when she first noticed that police had the group surrounded on all sides, she told the Tracker. She was toward the back of the group of protesters when she saw people running and police chasing people, she said. On LaSalle Street, she said, police moved in to form a ring around the group to block protesters from leaving — a tactic called “kettling.”
While one line of officers closed in tightly to restrict the group of protesters, another line of police formed an outer ring, she said, adding that she was stuck in the “no man’s land” between the two rings.
Geary estimated that she was in the space between the two lines of police for about five minutes. At first, she tried to film police arresting people from the group of protesters who had been restricted against the side of the building, she said, but police officers kept her back by swinging their bicycles at her in an aggressive way.
After a few minutes, she said police forced her to move away. A video she posted on Twitter shows multiple officers with bicycles walking toward her and a few other people along the street, repeating, “Move back! Move back!” Geary shouts out, “I’m press! I’m press!” multiple times.
They're forcing people to dump their bags before they can leave.
— Angry Woman Who Isn't Funny & Ruins Everything Fun (@dudgedudy) August 16, 2020
Lost some items.
Pandemonium in the Loop rn.
Saw some arrests. They attacked the crowd they kettled. I couldn't see much from where I was.
This is hell. pic.twitter.com/Petq0Gvp1j
Geary told the Tracker that once she had been pushed to the outer ring of police, officers demanded that she and protesters who had been in the same area hand over their belongings in order to leave.
A video published by the Chicago Reader on YouTube shows Geary, wearing a black helmet with bright green tape marked “press,” standing near a wall in front of a line of police officers.
One officer grabs her backpack, which is also marked “press,” from her, turns it upside down and shakes it repeatedly, spilling her belongings onto the ground. In a YouTube video posted by Chicago Reader, Geary can be heard saying, “I am a reporter! I am a reporter!”
Geary said she was able to grab some of her items, but couldn’t get everything before she was forced to leave. She lost an insulated water bottle, a pair of shoes and a bike tool, she said. The phone she was using to report that day wasn’t searched or seized, she said, and she had no other reporting equipment with her at the time.
Geary said she didn’t report the incident to the police because she believed it would be a waste of time.
A spokesperson for the Chicago Police Department said in a statement that anybody who feels they were mistreated by an officer can file a complaint. The department “strives to treat all individuals our officers encounter with respect and remains committed to ensuring members of the press are able to do their jobs safely,” the spokesperson said in an email.
Independent journalist Jacob Prescott said he was shoved to the ground by police officers while covering protests in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 15, 2020.
Prescott, who livestreams on social media, was filming demonstrations in Portland against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement on the night of Aug. 14 and early into the morning of Aug. 15. At around 1 a.m, on the 15th, freelance journalist Justin Yau posted a video to Twitter with the caption “Portland Police executed a running charge across the bridge after a short standoff with protesters.”
In the video, a line of police officers is seen running across the bridge, instructing protesters to disperse and telling the press to stay off to the side. A man in a long sleeved gray shirt, later identified as Prescott, is running on the sidelines and then begins running backwards in the middle of the bridge while filming the officers.
Portland Police executed a running charge across the bridge after a short standoff with protesters. The crowd continues to splinter as the police continues it's pursuit. #PortlandProtests #PDXProtest #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/WM66T3BCwl
— Justin Yau (@PDocumentarians) August 15, 2020
In a subsequent post, freelancer Yau wrote “One Portland Police officer shoved a livestreamer who dropped his equipment after the bullrush. I assumed from the audio it was because he didn't stay back far enough away from officers.” In the accompanying video, Prescott is seen picking up what appears to be a phone from the ground and then walking backward as he reattaches his phone to a tripod. Without any apparent warning, an officer approaches him from behind and pushes him to the ground.
One Portland Police officer shoved a livestreamer who dropped his equipment after the bullrush. I assumed from the audio it was because he didn't stay back far enough away from officers. #PortlandProtests #PDXprotests #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/SNxJ4mcmPx
— Justin Yau (@PDocumentarians) August 15, 2020
In another video of the incident posted to Twitter by photojournalist Dave Blazer, Prescott is seen being pushed by one officer, after he picked up his phone from the ground, and then is shoved hard a few seconds later by a different officer whose action pushed Prescott to the ground.
Press person repeatedly attacked by the Portland Police, eventually thrown on the ground (if someone can identify him, it would be much appreciated). Then an officer squares up with a woman who is fearless.#FIGHTUntilLastBREATH #PDXprotests #Portland #PortlandProtesters pic.twitter.com/vtKaH0DqxV
— Dave Blazer Photography (@dave_blazer) August 16, 2020
Prescott later retweeted Blazer’s post and identified himself as the person in the video.
Prescott also retweeted footage of the incident taken by another journalist, with the caption “Portland Officer assaults me from behind.” In a subsequent message he posted a photo of a man he believed to be the officer who pushed him to the ground.
Prescott did not respond to Twitter and email messages from the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker seeking comment.
Portland Police Bureau spokesman Sgt. Kevin Allen declined to comment on the incident, citing continuing litigation involving the City of Portland. Since July, 2020, law enforcement officers from the PPB and federal agencies have been barred by court rulings from arresting, harming or impeding journalists or legal observers of the protests.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Independent photojournalist Sean Bascom said he was hit by police during a protest in Portland, Oregon, on the night of Aug. 14, 2020.
Portland had experienced regular protests since the May 25 police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. On the evening of Aug. 14, protesters gathered in North Portland's Peninsula Park and began marching. According to The Oregonian, their intended destination was believed to be the Portland police union headquarters.
Just before 10:30 p.m., Bascom was filming at the intersection of Killingsworth Street and North Mississippi Avenue as Portland police officers charged a line of shield-bearing protesters and began pushing protesters and members of the media down the street.
Over a loudspeaker, police can be heard declaring an unlawful assembly, saying that “paint bombs and other projectiles” had been thrown at officers. They also can be heard addressing the press and legal-rights observers, saying that they would adhere to a temporary restraining order and allow them to do their jobs so long as they moved off the roadway and didn’t interfere with officers.
In July, a U.S. district judge issued a temporary restraining order barring police in Portland from using physical force against, dispersing, arresting or threatening to arrest journalists and legal-rights observers.
In a video Bascom shared with the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, the journalist can be seen complying with police orders, walking on the sidewalk while continuing to film while moving north on North Mississippi Avenue.
Meanwhile, police were making arrests in the street, “knocking people down and dragging them across the pavement” Bascom said. At one point, Bascom moved between parked cars to film a protester being thrown to the ground by police. An officer can be heard shouting: “Get out of the street now!”
In the video, Bascom tells the officer he is a member of the press and then the camera shakes.
“He came barreling in out of my view and just yelled “press out of the street” and then immediately hit me, it must have been with his baton, like right in my ribs,” said Bascom.
Bascom said he was wearing bright clothing and a helmet with press markings. He added he was also using a camera with a large lens and that he believed it was clear to the officer that he was a member of the press.
He told the Tracker he felt sore for about a month, experiencing pain when he breathed deeply. He didn’t get the injury checked out by a medical professional, but said it felt like he previously had bruised ribs while snowboarding and skateboarding.
While he technically wasn’t on the sidewalk, Bascom said he wasn’t in the way of police actions and that the officer was taking advantage of a technicality.
“I can’t be in their way because of the cars that are parked on either side of me,” he said. “The Portland police seem to have decided that when they’re clearing a street if press are on the sidewalk, then they’re fine, but as soon as they step one foot off of the sidewalk, they are totally free to use as much force as they want.”
In a press release regarding the Aug. 14 protest, the Portland Police Bureau wrote that “several people with ‘press’ affixed to them shined flashlights in officers eyes.” A spokesperson for the PPB told the Tracker they were unable to comment on the incidents due to ongoing litigation.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Garrison Davis, an independent journalist, said police attempted to grab his phone while he was filming a protest in Portland, Oregon, on the night of Aug. 14, 2020.
Portland had experienced regular protests since the May 25 police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. On the evening of Aug. 14, protesters gathered in North Portland's Peninsula Park and began marching. According to The Oregonian, their intended destination was believed to be the Portland police union headquarters.
Over a loudspeaker, police can be heard declaring an unlawful assembly, saying that “paint bombs and other projectiles” had been thrown at officers. They also can be heard addressing the press and legal-rights observers, saying that they would adhere to a temporary restraining order and allow them to do their jobs so long as they moved off the roadway and didn’t interfere with officers.
In July, a U.S. district judge issued a temporary restraining order barring police in Portland from using physical force against, dispersing, arresting or threatening to arrest journalists and legal-rights observers.
That night, an officer tried to grab Davis' phone away from him as he recorded, the freelance videographer said.
In a video filmed sometime before midnight, a Portland police officer can be seen approaching Davis, telling him to “back off away from our van” and then moving his hand toward the journalist’s phone in an action Davis said was an attempt to grab the device. Davis repeatedly told the officer he was on the sidewalk and not in their way. He had previously shouted at officers telling him to move that he was with the press.
“Portland Police continuing to blatantly ignore the federal restraining order. An officer comes off of the riot van, approaches me, and grabs my phone” Davis tweeted.
Portland Police continuing to blatantly ignore the federal restraining order. An officer comes off of the riot van, approaches me, and grabs my phone. #blacklivesmatter #protest #pdx #Portland #Oregon #BLM #acab #PortlandProtests #PDXprotests #PortlandStrong pic.twitter.com/7GWQojHlq0
— Garrison Davis (@hungrybowtie) August 15, 2020
Davis told the Tracker he felt that he and other journalists had been targeted that night.
“At this point I think they were mad at press because the reason why they keep getting in trouble is because the press is thoroughly documenting their crimes,” he said.
In a press release regarding the Aug. 14 protest, the Portland Police Bureau wrote that “several people with ‘press’ affixed to them shined flashlights in officers eyes.” A spokesperson for the PPB told the Tracker they were unable to comment on the incidents due to ongoing litigation.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Independent journalist Brian Conley said he was shoved by police during a protest in Portland, Oregon, on the night of Aug. 14, 2020.
Portland had experienced regular protests since the May 25 police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. On the evening of Aug. 14, protesters gathered in North Portland's Peninsula Park and began marching. According to The Oregonian, their intended destination was believed to be the Portland police union headquarters.
Over a loudspeaker, police can be heard declaring an unlawful assembly, saying that “paint bombs and other projectiles” had been thrown at officers. They also can be heard addressing the press and legal-rights observers, saying that they would adhere to a temporary restraining order and allow them to do their jobs so long as they moved off the roadway and didn’t interfere with officers.
In July, a U.S. district judge issued a temporary restraining order barring police in Portland from using physical force against, dispersing, arresting or threatening to arrest journalists and legal-rights observers.
Conley said that later that night he was pushed by a Portland police officer clearing a street in North Portland. On Twitter, he wrote that he and legal-rights observers had been pushed by a police officer at 11:45 p.m. for not walking fast enough. The officer “then struck me hard enough to knock the light from my camera. There was nowhere to go because too many people were in front of us,” he added.
In a video shot by freelance journalist Justin Yau, officers can be seen pushing people with batons, telling them to walk down the street faster. At one point, Conley can be seen turning around to film officers as he walks backwards using a camera with a light mounted on top of it. A voice can be heard saying “stop shining this light in my eyes” as one officer’s hand reaches out towards Conley’s camera.
“I was walking. I was not on the street. I was on the sidewalk,” Conley told the Tracker. “There was a mass of people in front of me. I really couldn’t go any faster” unless he stopped filming, he added.
Conley said the light mounted on his camera was knocked to the ground and retrieved by another journalist. It was undamaged.
At the time, he was wearing body armor marked “press” as well as a gas mask and a helmet. He said he had verbally identified himself as press as well, adding he believes the officer knew he was a member of the media.
“He was already kind of pushing me more than he should have been and there was nowhere for me to go,” he said. “I wasn’t a danger to him.”
In a press release regarding the Aug. 14 protest, the Portland Police Bureau wrote that “several people with ‘press’ affixed to them shined flashlights in officers' eyes.” A spokesperson for the PPB told the Tracker they were unable to comment on the incidents due to ongoing litigation.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Freelance journalist Kian Kelley-Chung was arrested while covering protests in Washington, D.C. on Aug. 13, 2020, and held overnight in jail. Although police dropped felony riot charges against him, the journalist’s two cameras and cell phone were seized by law enforcement officers and were not returned for over two months, Kelley-Chung told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
On the evening of Aug. 13 and into the morning of Aug. 14, protestors demonstrating against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement marched through the neighborhood of Adams Morgan, according to local news reports. Protestors said they were surrounded and corralled on 18th Street NW, between Florida Avenue and Willard Street, by police officers who then began arresting people in the crowd, according to news reports. In a statement, the Metropolitan Police Department said that officers arrested 41 people on charges of “Felony Riot Acts and Assault on a Police Officer offenses” and alleged that protestors had also been involved in acts of arson and destruction of property.
Kelley-Chung, who has been covering Black Lives Matter protests for several months as an independent photographer and filmmaker, was among those arrested and charged with felony rioting, according to police records. The journalist told public radio station WAMU/DCist that he was arrested while trying to photograph the aftermath of an altercation between police and a protester. Kelley-Chung said his camera was clearly visible and that he told officers he was documenting the protests as a journalist, according to television network WUSA 9. “I just remember asking constantly, ‘Why am I being arrested? Why am I being arrested?...I’ve been here for months...You’ve seen my work,’ ” he was quoted as saying. Kelley-Chung told WAMU/DCist that he was taken into custody and held at the 7th District police precinct overnight and then detained at Superior Court before being released on the evening of Aug. 14, when the charges were dropped.
“What am I out here doing ‘rioting’. I’m a documentarian. I’m a photo journalist. I’m a member of the media. And they violated my 1st Ammend. rights. And that’s why we’re out here. That’s why they had to let me go”
— ChuckModi (@ChuckModi1) August 14, 2020
My media colleague Kian @uncleiso after release at #DCProtests pic.twitter.com/vBKIfJivY0
In a brief video interview posted to twitter by Deadspin journalist Chuck Modi the day after his release, Kelley-Chung said, “they thought they could stop me, they can’t stop me. I’m going to continue to be out here.” But the journalist said he was using his father’s camera because the two cameras he had been using, in addition to his cell phone, were still in police custody.
Kian in action. Despite being fellow journalist, he is one of 41 arrested Thurs. Didn’t know til now, police have not given him back his camera or phone yet (which explains arrest).
— ChuckModi (@ChuckModi1) August 16, 2020
He is back out w/father’s camera. Would be nice if corporate media showed solidarity #DCProtests pic.twitter.com/X8iw2mV3MD
I just did the math and MPD confiscated over $3000 worth of equipment. Thank you so much to everyone who has donated and shown support. Please keep sharing. I still don't have my stuff. https://t.co/8ik7AKBX2V
— kian (@uncleiso) August 16, 2020
DC Police still have Kian’s cameras they seized in illegal kettle arrests 10 days ago. He is press. He shares story of deep “sentimental value” of them #DCProtests pic.twitter.com/l9btqsVpW9
— ChuckModi (@ChuckModi1) August 23, 2020
Seven weeks later, in a letter dated Oct. 6 that Kelley-Chung shared with the Tracker, Acting United States Attorney Michael R. Sherwin wrote that the MPD, in conjunction with the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia, was conducting an investigation into the events in Adams Morgan on Aug. 13-14 and that they believed that the journalist’s cameras “may contain information relevant to the investigation. We are writing to inquire whether you would voluntarily turn over data in the above-described cameras or produce such information voluntarily in response to a subpoena.”
After objections from Kelley-Chung’s lawyer, Sherwin wrote the journalist in another letter, dated Oct. 22, that his “Office has indicated to MPD that we have no objection to its disposition of Mr. Kelley-Chung’s property,” but that, “we are formally requesting the preservation, pending potential legal process and until further written notice, of all photographs, videos, audio recordings, and other evidence, created or captured on August 13-14, 2020.” However, the letter concluded, “this request does not obligate Mr. Kelley-Chung to produce any materials to the government at this time." Kelley-Chung told the Tracker that his possessions were released to him the following day, Oct. 23.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Freelance journalist Andrew Jasiura was detained and held for two hours by law enforcement while covering protests in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 13, 2020. Jasiura was released without charges after a Metropolitan Police Department lieutenant recognized him, the journalist told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
On the evening of Aug. 13 and into the morning of Aug. 14, protestors demonstrating against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement marched through the neighborhood of Adams Morgan, according to local news reports. Protestors were surrounded and corralled on 18th Street NW, between Florida Avenue and Willard Street, by police officers who then began arresting people in the crowd, according to news reports. In a statement, the Metropolitan Police Department said that officers arrested 41 people on charges of “Felony Riot Acts and Assault on a Police Officer offenses” and alleged that protestors had also been involved in acts of arson and destruction of property.
Jasiura, who has been covering Black Lives Matter protests for several months as an independent photographer and filmmaker, was among those detained. Jasiura told the Tracker that he repeatedly told police officers he was a member of the press and showed them his press credential, but they ignored him. He said he also received no answer when he asked repeatedly if he was being detained or arrested, but when he asked if he could leave, he was told no. After about two hours, Jasiura said police officers began taking people one by one into custody, including his colleague Kian Kelley-Chung, and driving them away to jail. The Tracker has documented Kelley-Chung’s arrest here.
Jasiura said he was told to put his hands behind his back, and an officer was putting zip ties around his wrists, when another officer recognized him. That officer “knew I was press, and I had my press credentials, so he let me go,” Jasiura told the Tracker. The officers returned Jasiura’s possessions to him and released him without charge in the early hours of Aug. 14.
BREAKING: Cops have arrested dozens of the activists they illegally kettled at 18th and S St, including press & medics. They finally released one person--journalist @PhotoJazzy--who explained what happened and how they took his colleague @uncleiso. pic.twitter.com/GA8DnuFeKN
— Wyatt Reed (@wyattreed13) August 14, 2020
#FreeKian #FreeIso https://t.co/GWZBDczLfJ
— DrewJazzyPhoto (@PhotoJazzy) August 14, 2020
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
On Aug. 13, 2020, a judge granted a Tennessee Bureau of Investigation request for a subpoena of the Commercial Appeal for photographs and videos taken by the Memphis daily during its coverage of a protest on July 4, 2020. A gag order was also put into effect.
The protest took place outside the home of Shelby County District Attorney General Amy Weirich amid a monthslong surge of demonstrations across the country, sparked by the May death of George Floyd, a Black man, while in police custody in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
On July 4, protesters had gathered outside Weirich’s house, calling for her firing, launching fireworks and burning American flags near her property line, the Commercial Appeal reported.
Shortly thereafter, according to the paper, the Memphis Police Department requested that the Commercial Appeal turn over images from its coverage for use in the department’s investigation of the day’s events. The paper did not comply with the request. The following month, the TBI filed a subpoena for the videos and photographs.
The paper reported that it filed a motion to quash the subpoena on Aug. 19, arguing that the state shield law and state precedent protected the images as part of journalistic work product.
“Enforcement of the subpoena in this case would discredit movants as disinterested gatherers of information, would violate their rights under the cited statutory and constitutional provisions, and would have an intimidating effect on them in the reporting of events observed and investigated by them in their capacity as journalists," Lucian Pera, an attorney for the Commercial Appeal, told the paper.
On Aug. 20, attorneys from the state attorney general’s office, representing the TBI, agreed to drop the subpoena and the gag order was lifted.
Neither the TBI nor the Commercial Appeal responded to emails requesting comment.
Independent photojournalist Maranie Staab was pushed to the ground by Portland police while covering protests in downtown Portland on Aug. 11, 2020.
Staab, whose photos of the 2020 protests in Portland have been published by Reuters, The New Yorker and Agence France-Presse, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she was documenting a protest in downtown Portland, where demonstrators had been gathering nightly in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 killing of George Floyd, a Black man, in Minneapolis.
At 1:40 a.m. on Aug. 11, Staab said she was at the Portland Police Bureau’s North Precinct station, covering what she said was an arrest of a woman leaving the protest area. Shortly before midnight, Portland Police declared an unlawful assembly at the North Precinct area and tweeted that people should leave or be subject to arrest, citation or crowd control actions. In a video Staab shared on Twitter, officers can be seen running across the street, surrounding a car and yelling at individuals to “get out of the road.”
About 15 seconds in from a video shared by independent journalist Anissa Matlock, Staab turns to walk away from the scene and is pushed from behind by a police officer. With a camera in her right hand and a phone on a stabilizing device for recording in her left, she falls face forward onto a bush, then turns over to continue documenting the scene. In the video Staab can be heard saying, “I’m a member of the press and you just threw me to the ground.”
Last nite I was again assaultd by @PortlandPolice
— Maranie R. Staab (@MaranieRae) August 12, 2020
This is my perspective & the next video is by @matlockartist
I was identifid as Press & filmng as they slashd a protesters tires. I was in no way interfering.
This was2AM. The later it gets there's less Press & more impunity pic.twitter.com/0qhLkbSH0F
At the time, a preliminary injunction issued by a U.S. District Court judge barred Portland police officers from harming, arresting or impeding journalists.
Staab said the same officer who pushed her during the Aug. 11 protest had assaulted her more than five times. “I was wearing a big blue vest with white writing and there’s no mistaking me that I’m press,” Staab told the Tracker.
The Portland Police Bureau has said they wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation.
A journalist was chased by unknown individuals while covering unrest in Chicago on Aug. 10, 2020.
Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Movement have been held across the country after a viral video showed a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Mark Guarino, the Chicago correspondent for The Washington Post, went downtown in the early hours of Aug. 10 to report on widespread looting and destruction of property, he told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. “All of this looting has definitely turned a lot uglier,” Guarino said.
The journalist differentiated the atmosphere on the night of the incident from the previous months of civil unrest. “It was definitely not really about any protests for equity or anything like that,” Guarino said. “It was really criminals.”
At around 2:30 a.m., Guarino observed about a dozen unidentified individuals vandalizing and breaking into a convenience store at Rush and Illinois streets, he told the Tracker. The journalist was the only member of the press on the scene, he said.
A few of the looters saw Guarino taking photographs on his phone from across the street and told him to stop taking pictures, he said. Guarino, who was wearing press badges around his neck, said he told them he was a journalist and not a police officer. Four men left the group to approach him, at which point Guarino turned and started walking away. When he saw that the men were continuing to follow him, he started running and the four men began chasing after him, Guarino told the Tracker.
After running for more than a block Guarino reached an area where police officers were guarding buildings from damage. The men stopped pursuing him and left, the journalist said.
“They were going to beat me up, no doubt about it,” Guarino said. “It was pretty scary.”
“Since June I’ve been covering the protests as well as other looting incidents, and I never thought about my safety,” he said. “This was the first time I felt things were pretty dangerous,” Guarino said. “This week was definitely different.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
According to a local news report, an unidentified broadcast cameraman was robbed at gunpoint while loading gear into a news vehicle in Berkeley, California, on Aug. 10, 2020.
CBS affiliate KPIX 5 reported that the incident took place outside Congregation Netivot Shalom. In security camera footage time-stamped 5:01 p.m. and published by KPIX, an individual can be seen approaching the journalist as he loads a camera into a news vehicle. After the individual draws a gun and points it at the journalist, the journalist attempts to hand the camera off before placing it on the ground. The individual then picks it up and runs away.
According to KPIX, the camera was valued at $25,000. The Tracker was unable to verify the identity of the journalist or station.
On Sept. 10, Berkeley police arrested a man identified as Jimmy Ray, having found items in his home that connected him to the robbery, according to a department news release. It is unclear whether the camera itself was found and, if so, in what condition it was in.
According to the news release, Ray was charged the following day on several counts, including robbery.
When contacted for comment, the Berkeley Police Department was unable to provide further details about the condition of the camera or the cameraman's identity.
Police arrested freelancer Veronica Coit, who was covering protests in Asheville, North Carolina, on Aug. 9, 2020, and charged the journalist with “failure to disperse on command” and impeding the flow of traffic with a vehicle.
The Aug. 9 demonstration was held to protest police brutality and the death of John Elliott Neville, who died in 2019 after a medical episode led to him being restrained in handcuffs by corrections officers in a North Carolina jail. Video of Neville in custody with the corrections officers was not released until August 2020.
Coit arrived at the protest around 6 p.m., the journalist wrote in an account on the local website The Asheville Blade. According to a published note from editor David Forbes, Coit had been working for the news outlet since June as a freelance journalist and videographer, helping to document local events and protests in the city.
Around an hour after arriving, Coit wrote, the demonstrators began to march and the journalist followed them by car because of a medical condition that makes walking difficult. Coit was following the protesters along Haywood Street near the intersection with College Street, with car hazard lights flashing, when a police siren sounded. “There was a large crowd in front of me, parked cars on the street, and other cars beside me too, I couldn’t exactly go anywhere at that moment,” Coit wrote. “I was moving, but slowly. The next thing I see is a cop at my passenger door, ripping it open with no warning.”
In a video of the incident posted to YouTube by a bystander, a police officer is seen pulling Coit out of the car by the arm as Coit says, “I haven’t done anything illegal…I’m press, you want my press credentials?” Coit repeatedly yells “you are arresting a member of the press” as police zip tie the journalist’s hands and lead Coit away. After being arrested and spending five hours in jail, Coit was released and charged with failing to disperse on command and impeding the steady flow of traffic, the journalist wrote.
In a statement by the Asheville Police Department that was reported by local media outlets, the department said that it had “asked organizers to follow traffic laws, not block or obstruct streets, and remain on the sidewalks. Organizers were notified that individuals violating these laws would be arrested.” The APD said it had arrested five people, including Coit, on charges of failing to disperse on command and for traffic infractions. Police officials said Coit was “asked by law enforcement several times to not block the intersection,” according to the local daily the Citizen-Times.
In the account for the Blade, Coit wrote of being left with bruises after the incident and of being mistreated by officers and subjected to an unnecessary body search during detention. According to the Citizen-Times, representatives of the APD later called to ask if Coit wanted to make a complaint. The paper said Coit declined to do so, believing it would not have any effect. The department also said Coit was welcome to review body cam footage of the incident, the Citizen-Times reported. Coit told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in an email that a hearing on the charges is scheduled for early 2021.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Chris Phillips, an independent filmmaker, was hit in the face with pepper spray at close range while he covered a protest in Ferguson, Missouri, on Aug. 9, 2020.
The demonstration was held on the sixth anniversary of the day Michael Brown, a Black teenager, was shot and killed by police in 2014. Mass protests against police violence and racial injustice were held across the U.S. for months in 2020, fueled by the killings of George Floyd in Minneapolis and Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky, among others.
Phillips, a resident of the same complex where Brown lived, made a documentary, Ferguson 365, about the movement that followed Brown’s killing, and has been documenting the aftermath of Brown’s killing ever since. Phillips runs the production company Maverick Media Group and said his work has been published by outlets including the Associated Press and CBS.
Phillips said he arrived at the police department at night, where protesters and police had been in a standoff. However, he said, about an hour after he arrived, the atmosphere seemed relaxed. He remembered filming a scene of a woman sitting in a lawn chair in the police department parking lot, chatting with officers.
He went to pick up a camera battery he had left charging on the opposite side of the street from the police department. As he pulled the plug from the outlet, he said he heard screaming and turned to see police rush into the crowd.
Phillips said he grabbed his camera and started toward the confrontation to film it. His camera was still powering up, he said, and he was getting positioned to film two police officers who were throwing someone to the ground. Suddenly, he said, a different police officer fired pepper spray into his face from less than 10 feet away. Phillips said there were no protesters close to him at the time.
“For me to get sprayed like that — that was a deliberate act,” he said.
Phillips said the spray was very painful and temporarily blinded him. He said he turned around and tripped, slamming his camera into the pavement.
Protesters came to his aid and helped him to a medical station, where they tried to neutralize the impact of the spray with milk and water, he said. His eyes and face hurt for two days after he was sprayed, he said.
Thank you @MissJupiter1957 for capturing this. One of my eyes is still in pain this morning from the pepper spray. The police use these harsh chemicals without warning. #policebrutality #policeaccountability #ferguson #ferguson365 https://t.co/udquiBycKa
— Chris Phillips (@maverickmedia1) August 10, 2020
Phillips said he heard no warning before police rushed into the crowd, or before he was sprayed. He wasn’t wearing any form of press identification, he said, but he was carrying an elaborate, professional-grade cinema camera. He said he didn’t have an opportunity to identify himself to police before he was pepper sprayed, though he is well-known as a filmmaker in Ferguson, according to other journalists in the area.
Chris Phillips of Maverick Media was pepper-sprayed. He is well-known media by everyone in Ferguson and STL. This is what journalists deal with in Ferguson since 2014.
— ChuckModi (@ChuckModi1) August 10, 2020
6th Anniversary of Michael Brown Jr. murder. #MikeBrown pic.twitter.com/jhLknFsQLa
Phillips said his camera rig was inoperable after the fall. The only component that still worked was the microphone. He said the RED Scarlet-W “brain” of the camera, which he purchased for $12,500, suffered significant interior and exterior damage, so he decided to replace it with a newer model, which he did with the help of an online fundraiser. He also needed to replace a $280 Zoom H-5 audio recorder that was damaged. He said he hadn’t been in contact with police about the incident, but he was considering his legal options.
St. Louis County Police Department spokesperson Tracy Panus told the Tracker in an email that the agency wasn’t familiar with Phillips or aware that he was pepper sprayed. According to Panus, police directed protesters to disperse multiple times over a loudspeaker before beginning to arrest people who didn’t follow the orders.
“While taking several individuals into custody, St. Louis County Police Officers did deploy pepper spray in an effort to make the arrests or prevent interference by others attempting to interfere with those arrests,” Panus said.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering these protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
While covering an on Aug. 9, 2020, protest in Ferguson, Missouri, filmmaker Chris Phillips was pepper-sprayed at close range by law enforcement. “For me to get sprayed like that — that was a deliberate act,” he said.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, chemical irritant, protest",,,,, "Independent videographer says he was shoved, shot in finger by law enforcement while covering Portland protest",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-videographer-says-he-was-shoved-shot-finger-law-enforcement-while-covering-portland-protest/,2021-01-22 14:54:11.067174+00:00,2022-03-10 16:34:55.530222+00:00,2022-03-10 16:34:55.445636+00:00,,Assault,,,,Nicholas Lee (Freelance),,2020-08-09,False,Portland,Oregon (OR),45.52345,-122.67621,"Independent videographer Nicholas Lee said police officers shoved him and shot him in the finger with a crowd control munition while he was covering a protest in Portland, Oregon, in the early morning hours of Aug. 9, 2020.
The protest was one of many that have broken out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Law enforcement officers in Portland have targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The ACLU suit led to the city agreeing to a preliminary injunction in July to not arrest, harm or impede the work of journalists or legal observers of the protests.
Lee was covering a demonstration that began outside the Portland police union building in North Portland on the night of Aug. 8 and continued into the next morning. The police declared a riot shortly before midnight, after some demonstrators lit a fire inside the Portland Police Association headquarters.
Sometime around midnight, Lee was shoved to the ground by officers while he was on the sidewalk. “I'd been grabbed by the cops, shoved to the ground again because it seems they didn't want a brutal arrest filmed,” he wrote in a tweet that has since been deleted.
After a while, said Lee, law enforcement officers from the Portland Police Bureau and Oregon State Police fired sting-ball grenades that drove protesters in the direction of Kenton Park. Once the protesters had gathered in the park, police officers continued to fire crowd control munitions, he said.
At around 12:25 a.m., Lee noticed a tear gas canister on the ground in the park and approached it, he said. “I remember hearing, ‘If you touch that, you’re going to get shot,’” Lee told the Tracker. Soon he felt a rubber bullet, fired by a PPB officer, hit the tip of his middle finger.
“It hit my finger, and there was blood everywhere,” he said. “Another photographer took me to the emergency room.”
The PPB has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation in the ACLU case.
An individual attending a rally slapped away a freelance photojournalist’s camera as he photographed an Aug. 9, 2020, rally in Seattle, Washington, according to the photojournalist and a video of the incident.
Noah Riffe, 20, a student and freelance photographer, had been covering protests that began in Seattle in the wake of the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Riffe told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was on assignment for Turkish news platform Anadolu Images on Aug. 9, photographing a rally against the defunding of the Seattle Police Department.
The early afternoon rally outside Seattle City Hall attracted city officials and pro-police demonstrators, as well as anti-police counterprotesters, some of whom were dressed in black clothing with black face coverings, a tactic known as black bloc that is used to conceal a person’s identity.
Riffe said that the street directly in front of City Hall had been closed and barricaded, and the counterprotesters were gathered just outside of the barricaded area. Riffe said he saw a pro-police protester leave the contained area and approach some counterprotesters, dumping a bottle of water over a flag they had been burning. Riffe followed, also leaving the contained area in front of City Hall.
Riffe said that at that point, he was directly behind the pro-police protester who had dumped the water, following her and taking pictures of the counterprotesters pushing back on the woman.
One of the counterprotesters then “reached their hand out and smacked my camera and tried to knock it to the ground,” said Riffe.
Riffe said he then took a step back and “tried to have a conversation” and explain he was a member of the media, but that the person who hit his camera said he “didn’t care.”
The brief altercation was captured on video by Seattle reporter Jason Rantz. In the video, Riffe can be seen in a yellow shirt and holding a camera, with the woman in a bright green shirt; both are surrounded by counterprotesters. One of the individuals reaches out quickly and slaps the camera out of Riffe’s hand. Riffe catches it, and briefly yells back.
Riffe said that his equipment was not damaged and he was not physically hurt, but that after the confrontation he left the area, as the counterprotesters kept pushing him back and out of the way as he tried to photograph.
Riffe said that Seattle police officers, while present at the scene, did not intervene. The Seattle Police Department did not respond to a request from the Tracker for comment.
Independent social media journalist Teebs Auberdine said she was hit with a projectile and pushed into a cactus by law enforcement officers while covering a protest in Portland, Oregon, in the early hours of Aug. 9, 2020.
Demonstrations had been held in Portland on almost a nightly basis since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering BLM protests across the country.
Law enforcement officers in Portland have targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The case resulted in a temporary restraining order in July barring the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists.
Late in the evening of Aug. 8, police declared a riot in North Portland after a small group of protesters broke into the Portland Police Association, the union that represents city police officers, and set a small fire on the floor of the office, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported. The Portland Police Bureau and Oregon State Police dispersed the demonstration from that area, though protests continued in the early hours of the morning in Kenton Park, about a half mile north.
Auberdine, who livestreams video of protests on her social media channels, said she was covering the protest in Kenton Park when she was hit with a metal projectile. While standing under a tree for shelter, she was struck in the arm with what she believes was a 40mm puck round fired by a PPB officer, she told the Tracker. The projectile ricocheted off of the tree and hit her from above, she said, adding that it didn’t cause her any injury.
Auberdine said other journalists were also standing near the tree at the time she was struck. She said she didn’t know whether the police had intended the projectile to hit anyone.
About 20 minutes later, she said, she was reporting near the front of a protest in the Kenton neighborhood, a few blocks from the park. Because of where she was standing, she said it was hard to move out of the way. Then a state trooper cross-checked her into a planter box in front of a restaurant or bar, she said. She broke her fall with her left arm by grabbing onto the side of the box. As she did, she said, the needles of a cactus stabbed through her sweater and into her arm.
Got shot in the arm by a canister tonight (clearly marked press) It ricocheted off a tree, so the impact didnt cause any significant injuries, but it ended a few day streak of me not getting shot :/
— Teebs (@TeebsGaming) August 9, 2020
Also got pushed into a cactus by a state trooper. That sentence exists now...
She said she pulled most of the needles out a short time later when the confrontation calmed down, but she wasn’t able to remove all of them until she went home.
Auberdine wore a black bullet resistant vest with the word “press” on the front and back in large white letters, she said, and also carried recording equipment, including a microphone.
“While I bet they would have shoved anyone in arms reach into that planter box, they 100 percent knew what they were doing,” Auberdine told the Tracker.
In response to an email inquiry, a spokesperson for the OSP didn’t specifically address the incident, but said that concerns about excessive use of force could be reported to the state police Office of Professional Standards.
When reached by email, PPB spokesperson Greg Pashley told the Tracker that he didn’t have any information to release about the incident.
Independent journalist Seth Dunlap said his arm was fractured after being struck with what he believed to be a flash-bang grenade tossed by a police officer while he was covering a demonstration in Portland, Oregon, in the early hours of Aug. 9, 2020.
Dunlap, a contributor to the social media news outlet FrontLine Access, was covering one of the protests that had been held in Portland on almost a nightly basis since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Law enforcement officers in Portland have targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon alleges in a class-action lawsuit. The ACLU suit led to the city agreeing to a preliminary injunction in July to not arrest, harm or impede the work of journalists and other legal observers of the protests.
Late on Aug. 8, Seattle-based Dunlap was covering a demonstration outside the Portland police union headquarters in North Portland. The Portland Police Bureau declared a riot around 11:40 p.m., after a group of demonstrators lit a fire inside the Portland Police Association building. The PPB and Oregon State Police used crowd-control munitions and physical force to disperse the crowd.
Just after midnight, Dunlap was standing near ACLU legal observers when what he described as a flash-bang grenade was thrown in his direction by a PPB officer, injuring his arm, he told the Tracker.
“Luckily I had my left arm up recording at the time, and the flash-bang went off and hit my arm,” Dunlap said. “Otherwise it probably would have hit my face, and who knows what would have happened then.”
Independent journalist Suzette Smith tweeted a video of the chaotic scene, writing that Dunlap was struck with a “less-lethal munition.”
“He was on the ground and unresponsive for an agonizing number of seconds, during the chaos of the rush,” Smith wrote.
Medics at the scene tended to Dunlap and Smith posted a photo of his bruised arm.
Thank you to everybody for their incredible help during and after. Seriously, what heroes 🙏❤️🙏❤️. I’m OK. Hurting, but OK. Direct shot from a flashbang or something in the left arm. Don’t remember being out at all, so that’s extra scary. https://t.co/QFxkZ4Dg8m
— Seth Dunlap (@sethdunlap) August 9, 2020
Dunlap said that hours after he was struck, he “one-arm drove” home to Seattle. The next day, his arm “swelled up like a balloon.”
He went to an emergency room and learned that the orbital bone in his left arm was fractured, he said. “So that basically put me out of work for about a month.”
Dunlap, who was wearing a helmet and reflective clothing with markings that identified him as a journalist, said he felt targeted as a member of the press. "Considering I’m 6’7” and was wearing very visible and reflective press gear, and I was standing in a group of neon green-clad legal observers, I believe it’s pretty clear they threw that munition at us intentionally,” he said.
PPB spokesperson Kevin Allen declined to comment on the incident in an email to the Tracker, citing the ongoing ACLU litigation.
Joseph Rushmore, a freelance documentary photographer, was arrested by police officers and charged with two misdemeanors while covering a demonstration in the early hours of Aug. 8, 2020, in northeast Portland, Oregon.
The protest was one of many that have broken out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Law enforcement officers in Portland have targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The ACLU suit led to the city agreeing to a preliminary injunction in July to not arrest, harm or impede the work of journalists or legal observers of the protests.
Rushmore was covering a protest that began at around 9 p.m. in Laurelhurst Park. Protesters then marched about a half mile to the Penumbra Kelly building, a repeated focus of demonstrators because it houses the Multnomah County Sheriff's office and some Portland Police Bureau units.
Protesters blocked the road in front of the building while chanting, making speeches and yelling at officers, Rushmore told the Tracker. At one point, police officers rushed into the crowd, driving protesters into the surrounding residential neighborhood.
At some point after midnight, about 50 protesters regrouped to head back to the Kelly building, said Rushmore, who was following them. When the group was about a block from the building, officers blocked the way and started pushing protesters and journalists west along East Burnside Street.
Footage of Rushmore’s arrest, taken by an observer sometime after 1 a.m. and shared with the Tracker, shows officers rushing into the street and knocking down Rushmore and several protesters. Rushmore can be seen getting grabbed from behind and thrown to the ground. A group of officers then restrains Rushmore and arrests him.
“I have two very large cameras around my neck at all times so it is quite obvious I am press,” said Rushmore, though he wasn’t wearing any press credentials or clothing marked as press.
“During this rush, an officer with Portland Police Bureau grabbed me from behind, spun me around and threw me to the ground, slamming my head hard into the pavement,” said Rushmore, adding that his helmet protected him from injury. “At least one more officer got on top of me, and they held me down while zip-tying my hands behind my back. I yelled to the officer that I was press multiple times. He told me, `Now you're part of the riot.’ And when I told him again I was just press, he said, ‘Then you shouldn’t have been rioting.’”
The officers searched Rushmore and seized his helmet, camera, backpack and phone before being taken to the Kelly building, he said. He was then sent to the jail at the Multnomah County Justice Center downtown, where he was detained in a general holding area. By noon, Rushmore was released, he said. He got all his equipment back two days after his arrest.
Rushmore was charged with two misdemeanors, interfering with an officer and disorderly conduct, but the charges were dropped sometime in the weeks after the arrest, he said.
Portland City Attorney Tracy Reeve didn’t respond to a request for comment. The PPB has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation in the ACLU case.
Photojournalist Nathan Howard was hit in the ankle with a flash-bang grenade and shoved by a police officer into a bush while he was reporting on protests in Portland, Oregon early on the morning of Aug. 8, 2020.
Protests against racial injustice had been held nightly in Portland since the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25.
Law enforcement officers in Portland have targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The ACLU suit led to a temporary restraining order, and later a preliminary injunction, barring the Portland Police Bureau from harming or impeding journalists.
Howard, who was covering the protest for The Associated Press, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was photographing a demonstration at the East Precinct of the PPB, which also houses the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Department office.
At around 1 or 2 a.m., police formed a riot formation and protesters started backing off, he said.
Howard said he was in a gap in the street between protesters and police as he photographed law enforcement advancing. He heard a metal clang and felt something bounce off his ankle, he said.
“I looked down and kind of had enough time to go, ‘Oh, this is gonna suck,’ and a half second later the flash-bang went off,” he said.
Howard told the Tracker the device was resting against his ankle when it exploded, cutting and burning him. The blast also melted pieces of metal into his shoes. He said that he kept following the protest, limping, as police drove the protesters away from the police building and onto side streets.
A short time later, Howard said he was standing with another journalist, photographing police arrest a protester in a yard. An officer came up behind them and told them that they had to leave. Howard said they couldn’t easily leave because they were in the space between protesters and police. He said they tried to explain that to the officer, but the officer said he did not care.
As Howard started backing up, he said, the officer shoved the other journalist into a bush. Howard told the Tracker he thinks he tried to take a photograph or said something to the officer to identify them as journalists, and the officer then shoved him into the bush.
The Tracker could not confirm the identity of the second journalist.
Howard said he was clearly marked as a journalist, wearing a vest marked “PRESS” and had credentials hanging around his neck.
Howard said he believed he was targeted because he was a journalist.
Howard told the Tracker he had a gash about 1 inch wide and 4 inches long from the flash-bang grenade. He said the heat from the explosion cauterized the cut, so it didn’t bleed much. A protest medic dressed the wound that night, and Howard said he continued to monitor it over the following days. More than six months later, he said he still had a scar on his ankle.
A spokesperson for PPB declined to comment on the incident. The police department has refused comment to the Tracker in other incidents citing ongoing litigation.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Independent videographer Melissa Lewis said police officers hit her in the neck with a baton while she was covering a protest in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 7, 2020.
The protest was one of many that have broken out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Law enforcement officers in Portland have targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The ACLU suit led to the city agreeing to a preliminary injunction in July to not arrest, harm or impede the work of journalists or legal observers of the protests.
On the night of Aug. 7, Lewis was livestreaming a demonstration outside the Penumbra Kelly building in northeast Portland. The building, which houses the Multnomah County Sheriff's office and some Portland Police Bureau units, has been a repeated focus of demonstrators.
Shortly after protesters arrived around 10 p.m., police declared an “unlawful assembly,” according to KGW8. The local news outlet quoted the PPB as saying that after officers began making arrests, “members of the crowd started throwing rocks toward officers.” Oregon State Police officers were also involved in the enforcement effort, according to the story.
Lewis said that at around 11 p.m. police officers rushed towards a group of protesters, driving them south of the Penumbra Kelly building. While advancing on protesters, police officers swung batons at them, Lewis told the Tracker.
Lewis, who was wearing a helmet and backpack with the words “press” on them, said one officer swung a baton at her and hit her “on the base of my helmet, right where it ended, right on my [cervical] spine.”
The next day, Lewis went to the emergency room to get an X-ray. “Can’t rotate my head all the way back or side to side,” she tweeted. She also posted a picture of her diagnosis — a contusion to the neck.
Getting an X-ray for my neck, after getting hit with a baton. Can’t rotate my head all the way back or side to side. They hit right underneath my press sticker.
— Melissa “Claudio” Lewis (@Claudio_Report) August 8, 2020
“I was tender over the bones,” she told the Tracker.
The PPB has said it wouldn’t comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation.
Daily Mail photographer Michael Arellano was arrested on Aug. 7, 2020, while covering a protest in northeast Portland, Oregon.
The protest was one of many that broke out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Law enforcement officers in Portland have targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations in late May, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The ACLU suit led to the city agreeing to a preliminary injunction in July to not arrest, harm or impede the work of journalists or legal observers of the protests.
The protesters began at Laurelhurst Park in southeast Portland and marched to the Penumbra Kelly Building on East Burnside Street and 47th Avenue, according to The Oregonian. The building, which houses the Multnomah County Sheriff's office and some Portland Police Bureau units, has been a repeated focus of demonstrators.
Within a few minutes of the crowd’s arrival, police declared an “unlawful assembly.” Officers moved toward a group of journalists standing near the Kelly building, The Oregonian reported. “The journalists, including an Oregonian/OregonLive photographer, were staying behind a line of orange cones that police had set up. Police moved in and detained one photographer working on behalf of The Daily Mail,” the paper reported, identifying him as Arellano.
In a statement about the night’s police actions, the PPB said it had announced that anyone remaining on the Kelly building property would be arrested for trespassing. “People who remained standing on the property after multiple public address announcements were arrested,” the PPB said. Arellano was booked for criminal trespassing in the second degree.
At 9:48 p.m., independent journalist Griffin Malone tweeted a video of Arellano’s arrest from across the street. In the video, Arellano doesn’t appear to be behind the cones with the other members of the press, but it’s also not apparent that he was on the Kelly building property. Officers can be seen pulling him backwards toward the building during the arrest.
Arrested press and retreated. pic.twitter.com/maH2Dd9NUG
— Griffin - Live Protest News (@GriffinMalone6) August 8, 2020
Photojournalist Nathan Howard retweeted the video and added, “Here's Michael Arellano photographer with the @DailyMail getting arrested for no apparent reason tonight. He has been covering this for weeks. No warnings, no dispersal order (which press are immune to anyway).”
The Oregonian reported that police “were keeping the loudspeakers farther away from the crowd than usual,” making it difficult for protesters to hear announcements.
The PPB has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation in the ACLU case. Arellano didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Portland police assaulted and arrested Independent photojournalist Maranie Staab as she covered protests in downtown Portland on Aug. 6, 2020, according to Staab. Staab, whose photos of the 2020 protests in Portland have been published by Reuters, The New Yorker and Agence France-Presse, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she was held overnight at the Multnomah County Detention Center and released the next morning. Her charges of harassment and interfering with a police officer have been dropped.
On the night of Aug. 6, Staab said she was near the Portland Police Bureau’s East Precinct station. Shortly before 10 p.m., police declared the gathering an unlawful assembly due to vandalism and property destruction. The night before, police had declared a protest there a riot. During the Aug. 6 protest, Staab said Portland police officers had formed a line and started to run towards the protesters. According to Staab, some journalists were caught up with the protestors as officers rushed toward them. Along with other members of the press, Staab said, she was being pushed along on the sidewalk.
Staab said that while walking backwards with a camera in each hand, she was pushed to the ground by a police officer. Staab said she had “press” written on her front and back in white text.
“I tried to get up, he pushed me down a second time,” Staab told the Tracker. When she tried to get up again, Staab said, “He pushed me down a third time and then pulled me off of the sidewalk into the street.” Staab said that the officer then handcuffed and arrested her.
In a video shared in a tweet by freelance journalist Justin Yau, police officers can be seen physically blocking the area and using flashlights to prevent other journalists and legal observers from clearly filming Staab’s arrest. According to Yau’s tweet, the arrest took place at 10:20 p.m.
At 2220 last night, photojournalist @MaranieRae was arrested by Portland Police while she was documenting the protest. They used flashlights & physically blocked other journalists and legal observers from filming the arrest. #PressFreedom #PortlandProtests #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/yc1lGjoy8p
— Justin Yau (@PDocumentarians) August 8, 2020
Staab said police transported her in a van to the Multnomah County Detention Center where she was processed and charged with harassment and interfering with a police officer. According to the police report of the arrest, Staab resisted arrest and physically pushed the officer. Staab has denied the police account and said she had “cooperated in full.”
At the detention center, Staab said, the officers took her phone, camera, gas mask and hat when she was arrested, but returned her belongings the next day. Although she was able to keep her phone with her, Staab said the phone screen cracked when she was slammed to the ground. Staab said she was released at 4 a.m. on Aug. 7. She said the charges against her were later dropped.
In July, a U.S. District Court judge issued a preliminary injunction barring Portland police officers from dispersing, arresting or impeding journalists covering the city’s nightly protests, which began in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement after the killing of George Floyd, a Black man, in Minneapolis on May 25.
The Portland Police Bureau has said it would not comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation.
A journalist who is a member of an independent press collective known as the 45th Absurdist Brigade was shoved twice by police while reporting on protests in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 6, 2020.
The journalist, who asked not to be named, was covering one of the many protests that broke out in Portland in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Law enforcement officers in Portland have targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The ACLU suit led to the city agreeing to a preliminary injunction in July to not arrest, harm or impede the work of journalists or legal observers of the protests.
On the night of Aug. 6, the journalist was reporting on protests outside the Portland Police Bureau’s East Precinct when police began trying to clear the area, they told the Tracker.
Officers were moving people northeast, clearing an area toward Southeast Stark Street, the main thoroughfare, the journalist said. Walking backward alongside the police line, the journalist was filming the gap between the police and the protesters. While staying on the sidewalk, they saw officers start to “shove” members of the press, when they were suddenly pushed themselves.
“I was walking backwards and an officer was like, “Get back! Get back on the sidewalk!,’” they said, adding that the officer then “tried to slap my camera down.”
The journalist’s camera was tethered to their wrist, they said, so it just briefly fell out of their hands before they grabbed it again. But soon after, they were shoved again back toward the sidewalk, they said.
“Since I was already walking backwards when I got shoved, I just kind of went back on my back foot,” the journalist said. “And I just kind of stumbled back and got up, and continued walking, trying to make sure I didn't get trapped.”
A video the journalist posted on Twitter at 10:50 p.m. captures the shoving. The first push can be seen around 40 seconds in, and then the camera angle goes askew. Several seconds later, the journalist gets shoved again.
The push pic.twitter.com/RmL4t1A2in
— 45th parallel absurdist brigade (@45thabsurdist) August 7, 2020
The shoving was captured from another angle by independent videographer Garrison Davis. “An officer tried to slap @45thabsurdist’s phone out of their hand, then when that failed an officer just pushed them around,” Davis tweeted.
The journalist wasn’t physically harmed, they said, and their equipment wasn’t damaged.
The PPB didn’t respond to a request for comment on this incident.
Independent journalist Alissa Azar said she was pushed by a law enforcement officer while she was covering protests on Aug. 5, 2020, in Portland, Oregon.
The protest was one of many that have broken out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Law enforcement officers in Portland have targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The ACLU suit led to the city agreeing to a preliminary injunction in July to not arrest, harm or impede the work of journalists or legal observers of the protests.
On Aug. 5, Azar was covering a demonstration that started at Floyd Light City Park in Southeast Portland at around 8 p.m. Protesters then marched to the Portland Police Bureau’s East Precinct station, about a five-minute walk from the park. When protesters arrived at the precinct, some of them vandalized surveillance cameras and set small fires outside the precinct, according to KGW8, the local NBC affiliate.
At around 10 p.m., after declaring the protest a riot, law enforcement officers responded with tear gas, driving the demonstrators away from the precinct station into the surrounding residential neighborhood.
At 10:36 p.m., Azar posted a video on Twitter showing a police officer directing protesters to move north as another group of officers arrests someone on the ground in the middle of a street. Azar continues to film as officers push observers from the progressive legal organization National Lawyers Guild away as they try to film the arrest. About 40 seconds in, an officer appears to approach Azar, and then her camera goes askew as she yells out.
“They pushed me and nlg for trying to film this,” Azar, who didn’t respond to interview requests from the Tracker, wrote on the post accompanying the video.
The incident was also captured by Oregon Public Broadcasting reporter Sergio Olmos from across the street. About 45 seconds into footage he posted, an officer can be seen pushing the NLG observer and Azar. There was a combination of Portland police and Oregon State Police involved in clearing the protesters, according to Olmos.
Portland Police Bureau spokesman Derek Carmon declined to comment on the video and Azar’s allegation, citing continuing litigation.
Freelance photographer John Rudoff said he was pushed by law enforcement while covering protests against racial injustice and police brutality in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 5, 2020.
That night and into the following morning of Aug. 6, demonstrations were held in North Portland outside the headquarters of the Portland Police Association, the union representing the Portland Police Bureau. Shortly before midnight, law enforcement declared the gathering an unlawful assembly after an unidentified individual tried to break into the building, according to statements by the police to local news media.
Police bull rushed the crowd, protestors were cleare from the area pic.twitter.com/qWZAzDS8Tq
— Sergio Olmos (@MrOlmos) August 5, 2020
Police officers then moved to disperse the crowd, pushing people off the street and onto the sidewalk, Rudoff told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
Rudoff, who wasn’t on assignment that night but whose photographs were used by wire services, said he was in the middle of the “scrum of… journalists, activists and everyone in-between” who were pushed by officers onto the sidewalk.
He told the Tracker he was clearly identifiable as a journalist as he was wearing press gear “literally head to toe,” including a fluorescent yellow press vest, a helmet that said press, a gas mask, body armor, and was carrying two large cameras. Rudoff told the Tracker he was uninjured and continued photographing.
In a video of the events that night shared on Twitter by freelance journalist Justin Yau, a police officer is seen telling a group of journalists trying to film an arrest that, “press needs to stop interfering,” and then pushing a female journalist wearing a white press helmet. Rudoff and Yau identified the journalist as freelance videographer and photographer Emily Molli.
Since July 2020, law enforcement officers from the PPB and federal agencies have been barred by court rulings from arresting, harming or impeding journalists or legal observers of the protests. The Portland Police Bureau has said it wouldn’t comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Photojournalist John Rudoff captured this image while documenting protests in Portland on Aug. 5, 2020. He told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was one of several journalists shoved by police officers that night.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, Journalist pushed by police officers while covering protests in Portland,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-pushed-by-police-officers-while-covering-protests-in-portland/,2021-10-08 15:02:17.008867+00:00,2021-10-08 15:02:17.008867+00:00,2021-10-08 15:02:16.970032+00:00,,Assault,,,,Emily Molli (Freelance),,2020-08-05,False,Portland,Oregon (OR),45.52345,-122.67621,"Freelance journalist Emily Molli was pushed by law enforcement while covering protests against racial injustice and police brutality in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 5, 2020, according to first-hand accounts and social media posts.
That night and into the following morning of Aug. 6, demonstrations were held in North Portland outside the headquarters of the Portland Police Association, the union representing the Portland Police Bureau. Shortly before midnight, law enforcement declared the gathering an unlawful assembly after an unidentified individual tried to break into the building, according to statements by the police to local news media.
In a video of the events that night shared on Twitter by freelance journalist Justin Yau, a police officer is seen telling a group of journalists trying to film an arrest that, “press needs to stop interfering,” and then pushing a female journalist wearing a white press helmet. Yau identified the journalist as freelance videographer and photographer Emily Molli.
Molli shared Yau’s tweet and previously told the Tracker about getting pushed by police and getting hit with a crowd-control round during Portland protests, but hasn’t responded to text messages seeking comment on this incident.
Members of the press filming the injured arrestee were pushed away and accused if interfering. Several journalists including members of foreign news media were shoved away. #PortlandProtest #PDXProtest #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/goFiwQBfe0
— Justin Yau (@PDocumentarians) August 5, 2020
Since July 2020, law enforcement officers from the PPB and federal agencies have been barred by court rulings from arresting, harming or impeding journalists or legal observers of the protests. The Portland Police Bureau has said it wouldn’t comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
A federal judge ruled that a Chicago-based CBS affiliate must comply with a subpoena for unedited audio and video recordings of its interviews with a woman who is suing a group of police officers who she says illegally raided her home.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Gilbert of the Northern District of Illinois on Aug. 3, 2020, denied TV station CBS2 Chicago’s bid to block the officers’ request for unedited audio and video footage from an interview with the woman and her family.
In 2018, CBS ran a series of stories highlighting allegations by several families that the Chicago Police Department conducted illegal searches of their homes. For one segment, the station interviewed South Side resident Ebony Tate.
Tate alleges in her civil rights lawsuit against the City of Chicago and a group of police officers that at about 6 p.m. on Aug. 9, 2018, armed cops broke through the front screen door to her apartment without first announcing themselves or presenting a search warrant.
Tate’s mother, Cynthia Eason, 55, and Tate’s four children -- who ranged in age from 4 years old to 13 -- were home at the time, the suit charges.
About 10 officers wearing SWAT-team fatigues, helmets and carrying assault rifles swarmed into Tate’s apartment and began barking orders and pointing their weapons at startled members of her family, Tate alleges in her lawsuit.
Tate alleges that police had a warrant for a 20-year-old man who sold drugs to an undercover officer but that they had the wrong address and that she did know the suspect described in the warrant.
The officers left without making any arrests or apologizing to Tate or her family, her lawsuit charges. The family went back inside and found that officers had trashed the apartment.
Officers who entered Tate’s home were caught on body cam footage openly questioning if they had the right place, the Chicago Tribune reported.
After Tate filed her lawsuit, lawyers for the officers who allegedly burst through her door filed a subpoena for any and all notes or documents related to interviews with Tate and five other subjects of interviews about alleged illegal police searches.
The officers also demanded “outtake” footage from the interviews, or any CBS recordings with their subjects that were ultimately not released to the public.
In Gilbert’s ruling, the judge disagreed with CBS that the subpoena placed an “undue burden” on the station with regard to producing the requested materials and found that the unedited footage and other statements by Tate are “at the very heart of this litigation” and “clearly relevant” to the claims in Tate’s civil rights lawsuit.
Additionally, the recordings were made with the expectation that they might be shown to the public, Gilbert said — thus, there was no expectation that the recordings were made under the condition of anonymity.
“Plaintiffs' statements, captured verbatim in audio and video form currently in CBS's exclusive possession, are not only substantively relevant to the claims and defenses in this case, but highly relevant to possible damage calculations and credibility determinations at trial,” the judge wrote.
But Gilbert’s ruling thrusts the station into a role as a “gatekeeper” for information sought by parties in a lawsuit, according to one legal observer.
“This type of subpoena really needs to be a last resort,” Jack Greiner, an attorney for the Cincinnati Enquirer, wrote in an Aug. 24 column analyzing Gilbert’s ruling.
CBS declined to comment on the ruling and refused to state whether or not the station will file an appeal.
Lawyers for the officers named in Tate’s lawsuit and from the Chicago Law Department did not respond to requests for comment.
Al Hofield Jr., who represents Tate in her federal civil rights suit, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that federal law tends to have fewer protections for journalists’ sources than state shield laws, such as Illinois’ Reporter’s Privilege Statute.
“I think Judge Gilbert followed the law and was fair to both parties, including, indirectly, plaintiffs and their counsel, whose off-camera communications with CBS were also sought by the subpoena; Judge Gilbert quashed that part of the subpoena,” Hofeld said in an email.
Independent journalist Jake Johnson was shoved into a bush by a police officer clearing protestors from a street in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 1, 2020, despite being clearly marked as press. A second Portland Police Bureau officer then slammed him onto a car hood and maced him at close range.
The Portland-based journalist was covering one of the many protests that broke out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
After more than two months of nightly protests in Portland, tensions had begun to ease in the wake of the federal government’s agreement in late July to end its crackdown on protests, leaving enforcement to local police. The PPB, meanwhile, had recently agreed not to arrest or harm any journalists or legal observers in response to a class-action lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. Johnson, a recent graduate of Portland State University who had worked for the school’s magazine and newspaper, is involved in the ACLU suit.
Around 11 p.m. on Aug. 1, Johnson was using his phone to film police clearing a residential street after a protest that began at the Penumbra Kelly Building on East Burnside Street dispersed southward. Johnson told the Tracker that there were about 100 protesters left at this point. In a video Johnson later tweeted, the officers can be heard warning protestors that it was an unlawful assembly and they should disperse.
About 40 seconds into the video, a line of officers can be seen advancing down the residential street, yelling, “Move!” and “Get out of the street!” An officer can be heard saying, “On the sidewalk, get on the sidewalk,” as the camera angle swings upward. That’s when an officer pushed Johnson into a bush, he told the Tracker. Johnson said he had moved between parked cars when the officer used a baton to shove him, and that he injured his pinky toe when he tried to catch his fall.
Johnson was still filming as he attempted to follow the officer, asking for his badge number. Reading the number on the back of the officer’s helmet, he can be heard yelling that it was “officer No. 6” that shoved him.
Then the camera goes askew again, as another officer shoves him into a car, Johnson told the Tracker. His knees hyperextended when he hit the bumper, he said. Johnson said that when he looked up, he was immediately maced. In the video, a police officer driving by in a riot van can be heard saying, “Smart move.”
Johnson said that his phone flew out of his hand when he got hit, but that it continued to record. In the audio, someone can be heard giving Johnson back his helmet, which is labelled “press” on five sides (front, left, right, back and top).
“Did they mace you too?” a person can be heard asking. “Yeah,” Johnson replied. People continue to assist him, including helping him rinse his eyes.
The recording then gets cut off, but at 11:22 p.m. Johnson tweeted the rest of the audio. About 35 seconds into the recording, a person says, “That was pretty distinctly them shoving and macing press. I mean, you’ve got the fucking helmet and everything.” Johnson and the bystander can then be heard finding his phone, which was still recording, on the ground.
Johnson told the Tracker the pain in his right leg from hitting the bumper made it difficult to cover subsequent protests. “It’s very uncomfortable to go to sleep at night,” he said.
Garrison Davis, who was with fellow Portland-based journalist Robert Evans at the time, captured Johnson getting shoved on camera from another angle. At 11:16 p.m., Davis tweeted about the incident, referencing Johnson’s Twitter handle: “It’s pretty dark, but if you look closely you can see the police assault and thrown journalist @FancyJenkins (white helmet) onto the hood of the car. He got badly maced.” In the video, Johnson can be seen following the officer that pushed him while another officer runs up from behind and slams him into the car.
Members of the Portland Press Corps who go by @45thabsurdist on Twitter were also present at the incident. “Lost the march helping someone who was maced and shoved between two cars,” they tweeted at 10:34 p.m.
At 11 p.m., @45thabsurdist tweeted at Multnomah County district attorney Mike Schmidt: “For the record, @FancyJenkins is the reporter who just got maced while clearly marked, standing aside, filming.”
A PPB statement about the Aug. 1 protests said that “people with ‘press’ written on their outer garments repeatedly threw objects at officers.”
Sergeant Kevin Allen of the PPB told the Tracker that he didn’t have information about the incident involving Johnson, but said the PPB “requires that members use only the objectively reasonable force necessary to perform their duties and overcome the threat or resistance of the subject under the totality of the circumstances.”
Allen didn’t respond to a request to share records on people identifying as members of the press throwing objects.
Davis and Evans said they didn’t see any evidence of people marked “press” throwing things. “I saw no press throwing bottles,” Evans, a reporter for investigative news site Bellingcat and host of a podcast for iHeartMedia, told the Tracker.
George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020, ignited a sweeping assembly of protesters across the United States — and the globe — a staggering, monthslong outcry for police reform and racial justice. In many moments peaceful, in many others bracingly violent, journalists of all stripes took to documenting these demonstrations. At times, to do the job meant to expose oneself to the effects of riot-control agents, to face harassment from individuals or law enforcement officials, to fear for your safety or have your reporting interrupted. Below is a geographically organized roundup of such examples from around the U.S. during August 2020. Protests in Portland, Oregon, were particularly acute in the summer of 2020. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented incidents that occurred there in a separate roundup.
A full accounting of incidents in which members of the press were assaulted, arrested or had their equipment damaged while covering these protests can be found here. To learn more about how the Tracker documents and categorizes violations of press freedom, visit pressfreedomtracker.us.
Aug. 1, 2020
In Los Angeles, California
Aug. 14, 2020
In Washington, D.C.
ME: “I’m press”
— ChuckModi (@ChuckModi1) August 14, 2020
COP: “I don’t care who you are.
It means nothing to me”
Wasn’t able to film protesters right after they were kettled/arrested cuz MPD walked me off cuz the 1st Ammendment is not respected in the nation’s Capitol. #DCProtests pic.twitter.com/uTc4kSN2vr
Aug. 19, 2020
In Seattle, Washington
Mob would not allow me to do my job today when trying to videotape KC Jail in Seattle. I tried to leave but they surrounded my car put items on windows & continued to terrorize me. One man threaten to break my vehicle windows & come to my home. We are just trying to do our jobs pic.twitter.com/Ek3JRkG12c
— KIRO 7 Jussero (@JJusseroKIRO7) August 20, 2020
Aug. 26, 2020
In Seattle, Washington
In Kenosha, Wisconsin
More video of the arrests on SW 4th. Officer holding a can of mace on a group of press, that may include a protester. pic.twitter.com/59KpW5C08y
— Suzette Smith (@suzettesmith) August 26, 2020
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documented four journalists struck with crowd-control munitions or projectiles while covering protests in Kenosha on the night of Aug. 25 that stretched into the early hours of the next day.
Aug. 29, 2020
In Washington, D.C.
BREAKING: DC Cops are going CRAZY at BLM plaza. They arrested someone and then started unleashed tear gas on the crowd, then unloaded pepper spray DIRECTLY at me for recording pic.twitter.com/Im60AVlI9z
— Wyatt Reed (@wyattreed13) August 30, 2020
Aug. 30, 2020
In Washington, D.C.
Aug. 31, 2020
In Kenosha, Wisconsin
Emerged from #Kenosha hotel to put parking pass in car, saw police restraining guy, went over with colleague and officers shouted get back in hotel or we’d be arrested. Reporters are not exempt from curfew, he said, no matter what the mayor says. #Journalismisnotacrime pic.twitter.com/ol0KHatn1y
— Molly Hennessy-Fiske (@mollyhf) September 1, 2020
Information in this roundup was gathered from published social media and news reports as well as interviews where noted. To read similar incidents from other days of national protests also in this category, go here.
Journalist films as demonstrators face police officers during a protest at Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 27, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,Media,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, chemical irritant, protest",,,,, DHS compiles intelligence reports on two journalists covering Black Lives Matter protests,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/dhs-compiles-intelligence-reports-two-journalists-covering-black-lives-matter-protests/,2020-08-14 14:38:22.823267+00:00,2021-10-06 16:23:35.814999+00:00,2021-10-06 16:23:35.750631+00:00,,Chilling Statement,,,,"Mike Baker (The New York Times), Benjamin Wittes (Lawfare)",,2020-07-30,False,Portland,Oregon (OR),45.52345,-122.67621,"The Department of Homeland Security has compiled intelligence reports about the reporting and tweets of two journalists covering protests in Portland, Oregon, according to a Washington Post article published on July 30, 2020.
The protests began at the end of May in response to footage of a Minneapolis police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, for more than eight minutes during an arrest. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a local hospital. The incident sparked protests across the country against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
The Post reported that over the last week of July, the department’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis disseminated three reports that included information on New York Times reporter Mike Baker and Editor-in-Chief of the blog Lawfare, Benjamin Wittes, alleging that the journalists had published leaked, unclassified documents about DHS operations in Portland.
The reports included summaries of tweets written by Baker and Wittes, screenshots of the posts and information about the amount of engagement the posts received on the social media platform.
Neither Baker nor Wittes responded to the Tracker’s emailed requests for comment.
Following the Post’s article about the reports, Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf ordered the office to cease all collection of information on journalists and announced an investigation into the reports. The acting undersecretary for intelligence and analysis, Brian Murphy, has also since been reassigned, the Post reported.
A department spokesperson told the Post, “In no way does the Acting Secretary condone this practice and he has immediately ordered an inquiry into the matter. The Acting Secretary is committed to ensuring that all DHS personnel uphold the principles of professionalism, impartiality and respect for civil rights and civil liberties, particularly as it relates to the exercise of First Amendment rights.”
The production of these reports is consistent with the department’s aggressive tactics in Portland, sources told The Post, but such investigations are not intended to detail information about American citizens who have no connection to terrorist activity. Steve Bunnell, a former general counsel for the department, described the reports as “bizarre.”
Wittes posted a series of tweets detailing that it was not the sharing of his tweets and the department’s concern about leaks that troubled him.
“What is troubling about this story is that I&A shared my tweets *as intelligence reporting,* that is, an intelligence arm of the government filed a report on a citizen for activity at the heart of journalism: revealing newsworthy information about government to the public,” he wrote.
“I am not sure how my reporting of unclassified material constitutes any kind of homeland security threat that justifies the dissemination of intelligence reporting on a US person, particularly not one exercising core First Amendment rights and nothing more. I intend to find out.”
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
Tear gas engulfs demonstrators in Portland, Oregon, on July 28, 2020. That same week, the activities of two journalists covering the protests and the federal response to them were the subject of reports by the Department of Homeland Security.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, Federal agents in Portland spray independent journalist with a chemical irritant,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/federal-agents-portland-spray-independent-journalist-chemical-irritant/,2021-01-04 17:46:12.566882+00:00,2022-03-10 21:55:09.935755+00:00,2022-03-10 21:55:09.871006+00:00,,Assault,,,,Brian Conley (Independent),,2020-07-30,False,Portland,Oregon (OR),45.52345,-122.67621,"Independent journalist Brian Conley was sprayed in the face with a chemical irritant by federal agents during a protest in Portland, Oregon, on the morning of July 30, 2020.
Conley was covering one of the many protests that had broken out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement after the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
The Portland protests, held nightly since late May, had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists was expanded to include federal agents on July 23. Conley is a plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit, which was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon.
On the night of July 29, protesters gathered downtown at the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse, which had emerged as a nightly flashpoint between protesters and federal agents. The protest continued past midnight and into the next day.
Early on the morning of July 30, Conley was filming a confrontation between federal agents and protesters behind the courthouse on Southwest Second Avenue when officers began using crowd-control munitions and chemical irritants.
In a video of the incident Conley posted on Twitter, the scene appeared relatively calm despite a standoff with federal agents, as one protester can be heard playing ditties on a trumpet. After a loud bang, agents can be seen firing crowd-control munitions, with one officer spraying an irritant directly at Conley despite his shouts of “press!”
Here's another angle on #FPS and #DHS using #lesslethal weapons on #pdxprotest and myself, despite clear PRESS markings. #blacklivesmatter
— Brian Conley (@BaghdadBrian) July 30, 2020
if you appreciate my work, help me with the cost of gear: venmo baghdadbrian, cashapp $baghdadbrian pic.twitter.com/85het21LWH
Conley said he believed he was targeted. “He knew I was press, he knew the person next to me was press, there were no protesters nearby. So yeah, he had no reason to do that,” he told the Tracker.
About 20 seconds after he was sprayed, Conley’s video shows multiple agents spraying a protester who is on their knees in the street with their hands up.
Another video, uploaded by journalist Cory Elia at 12:33 a.m., also captured Conley getting sprayed. He is visible on the other side of the street, holding a camera with a bright light mounted on it.
They decided to clear the street and made an arrest. I found myself surrounded for a minute. pic.twitter.com/s1aIcxj8IW
— Cory Elia (@TheRealCoryElia) July 30, 2020
Conley, in a statement for the ACLU suit, said there were “maybe four or five protesters a few feet behind me” when he was hit.
“At point blank range, the federal agent nearest to me unleashed a deluge of pepper spray directly at me, dousing me in pepper spray,” he said in the statement. “The pepper spray covered my face, hands, clothing, camera, and gear.”
Conley’s body armor and helmet were both marked “press” at the time he was hit. He was also wearing a gas mask, which delayed the effects of the irritant. But once he started feeling the irritant, he was “severely uncomfortable, like burning on fire, for easily 12 hours after that, probably longer,” he told the Tracker.
“I’ve been pepper sprayed before and I’ve never had such a bad experience,” he added.
The Department of Homeland Security, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Roman Mendoza, a reporter for the Davis Vanguard, a California nonprofit news organization, was struck with shrapnel from a flash-bang grenade and pushed by a police officer while covering protests in Portland, Oregon, on July 30, 2020.
The protest was held in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the killing of George Floyd, a Black man, in Minneapolis on May 25. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
The Portland protests, held nightly since late May, had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists was expanded to include federal agents on July 23.
On the night of July 30, protesters gathered downtown at the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse, which had emerged as a nightly flashpoint between protesters and federal agents. The protest continued past midnight and into the next day.
Mendoza told the Tracker he was standing near the line of fences that federal officers had erected around the courthouse when officers began to disperse the crowd.
“The officers threw a flash-bang near me and it kind of nicked my leg,” Mendoza said. “That one I probably should have gotten stitches for.”
Mendoza received some basic first aid from a volunteer medic at the protest, who cleaned out the wound and wrapped it in gauze. He said the shrapnel cut a relatively deep, 2-to-2.5 inch gash in his leg.
“It took two or three weeks for my leg to fully heal and get back to where it was before,” Mendoza said.
Mendoza said he continued reporting that night after receiving medical attention. As he walked, he came upon a group of Portland Police Bureau officers who were sitting in a vacant parking lot alongside several police vehicles and riot vans on the edge of the protest.
“As I approached them, once I got to a certain point they told me that was far enough and to not continue moving forward,” Mendoza said. “They had just issued the TRO, so I told them, ‘I’m not here to do anything. I’m press so I’m not going to disperse right now.’”
One officer quickly approached him and told him that he didn’t have to disperse, Mendoza said, but that he did have to comply with officers’ orders to move back the two paces he had taken into the parking lot and return to the sidewalk.
“The officer then pushed me so I was back on the sidewalk,” Mendoza said. “That was unnecessary, but yeah. I just stayed there to document what these police officers were doing, and they just started heckling me.”
Mendoza said they said things along the lines of, “You’re a loser,” “Why don’t you get a real job?” and “You must not have a life if you’re out here.” Mendoza said the officers also told him that he “wasn’t a real man” alongside other sexist comments. After about 20 minutes, the officers left the parking lot to what Mendoza believes was the protest area.
In February 2021, Mendoza told the Tracker that he had filed a complaint with PPB about the officers’ behavior and had received notice the bureau was investigating it, but no other updates.
The PPB declined to comment when emailed about this incident. The Department of Homeland Security, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Independent photojournalist Maranie Staab was hit in the knee with a rubber bullet fired by a federal officer while she was reporting on a protest in Portland, Oregon, early in the morning of July 30, 2020.
Racial justice protests in Portland had been held on a nightly basis since the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. The protests had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists was expanded to include federal agents on July 23.
Thousands of people rallied around the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse and the nearby Multnomah County Justice Center earlier in the evening of July 29, according to the Oregonian. Confrontations between federal law enforcement officers and protesters continued late into the night, and federal officers declared an unlawful assembly at around 11:30 p.m.
Staab, whose work has been published by outlets including The Washington Post, The New York Times and VICE, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker the protests continued past midnight. Toward the end of the night, she said federal officers were going into a garage at the back of the justice building when some protesters followed them. Staab said she was near the garage door, standing to the side of it.
As the garage door was going down, Staab said, officers started shooting rubber bullets out at the protesters and press who remained.
One rubber bullet struck her on the inside of her right knee, she said, causing her to collapse.
“I was just basically taken out,” she said. “My knee completely gave out and I just hit the ground.”
Staab said several journalists who were near her pulled her away from the area and helped her up. Within 30 minutes, her knee had swollen so much that the welt was visible through her jeans, she said.
A photograph Staab posted on Twitter later that day showed her knee very swollen and bruised.
My knee is fcked.
— Maranie R. Staab (@MaranieRae) July 30, 2020
How did this happen?
I was shot by Federal officers while working as a journalist in #Portland, Oregon. @ACLU @pressfreedom #PortlandProtest #PortlandProtests pic.twitter.com/ozkN85jAyI
Staab told the Tracker that she cared for the injury by elevating it, icing it and taking ibuprofen.
The next day, photojournalist Mathieu Lewis-Rolland posted on Twitter a photograph of Staab’s swollen knee, with white tape marked “PRESS” above and below it.
@MaranieRae was out last night and was hit while operating her camera. Her knee... 💔 @AthulKAcharya @ACLU_OR pic.twitter.com/b30vQPolTO
— Mathieu Lewis-Rolland (@MathieuLRolland) July 31, 2020
Staab said she continued to cover protests in the following days, wearing shorts because her knee was so swollen. The injury hobbled her for weeks, she said.
On the night she was hit, Staab said, she had used white masking tape with the word “PRESS” written in black marker to label herself on the front and back of her t-shirt and on her helmet. She said she was also carrying professional cameras.
Staab said that she does not have any way to know whether she was targeted. She noted that she was not standing near demonstrators, and said that federal officers did not “attempt to delineate between protesters and press.”
The Department of Homeland Security, whose officers were on duty that night, did not respond to a request for comment about the incident.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
On July 30, 2020, photojournalist Maranie Staab was hit with a rubber bullet fired by law enforcement in Portland, Oregon. The next day, another photojournalist documented her taped-up knee while she was reporting again.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest, shot / shot at",,,,, Oregon journalist kicked by an individual while covering a Black Lives Matter demonstration,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/oregon-journalist-kicked-by-an-individual-while-covering-a-black-lives-matter-demonstration/,2021-02-25 20:09:22.028860+00:00,2021-02-25 20:13:23.204055+00:00,2021-02-25 20:13:23.165427+00:00,,Assault,,,,Janusz Malo (Double Sided Media),,2020-07-29,False,Thurston,Oregon (OR),None,None,"Independent journalist Janusz Malo was kicked and verbally attacked by an individual attending a counterprotest to a Black Lives Matter demonstration in Thurston, a suburb of Springfield, Oregon, on July 29, 2020.
Black Lives Matter protesters took to the streets in Thurston after a noose was hung in a front yard close to the house of a Black resident. According to local media, the protest began peacefully, but as the marchers progressed, they were confronted by counterprotesters, bystanders and eventually police, who ended the demonstration by forcing the demonstrators off the streets and arresting five.
Malo, who was in Thurston reporting for Double Sided Media, an Oregon-based media collective, reported being attacked while walking down a residential street behind a group of protesters.
Malo told the US Press Freedom Tracker that a few counterprotesters were on the sidewalk, but “At that point I didn’t have any negative interaction.” One of the individuals kicked the journalist from behind and yelled “Get the fuck out of here,” Malo said. “I turned around, held out my press pass and I yelled ‘I’m press,’” Malo said. However, according to Malo, the assailant was not looking at the journalist, “so he couldn’t have seen that I had my press pass” and may have mistaken Malo for a protester.
Malo did not suffer from long-term injuries and did not report the incident to the authorities. After the attack Malo went back to work, reporting on the protest.
Independent journalist Teebs Auberdine said she was hit with crowd-control munitions by federal officers while covering protests in downtown Portland on July 29, 2020.
The protests were among many demonstrations that broke out in response to police violence and in support of Black Lives Matter following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
The Portland protests, which had been held nightly since late May, had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists was expanded to include federal agents until July 23.
According to news reports, demonstrators initially gathered for a vigil outside Portland City Hall. A KGW article said they moved toward Mark O. Hatfield federal courthouse, where they met federal officers firing crowd-control munitions, including tear gas and flash bang grenades.
Auberdine told the Tracker she was live streaming at the intersection of Southwest Third Avenue and Southwest Salmon Street and clearly wore a vest labelled with press markings. "[Officers] would follow me with these lights as I moved," she said. "By the end of that night, it had gone from flashlights and strobes to also being shot with pepper balls while illuminated."
She said federal officers targeted members of the press "extensively" and that she was hit in the face by a pepper ball as well.
The Department of Homeland Security, which coordinated the federal presence in Portland, hasn’t responded to a request for comment.
Village Portland managing editor and multimedia journalist Cory Elia said he was hit with crowd-control munitions by federal officers while covering protests in downtown Portland on July 29, 2020.
The protests were among many demonstrations that broke out in response to police violence and in support of Black Lives Matter following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
The Portland protests, which had been held nightly since late May, had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists was expanded to include federal agents until July 23.
According to news reports, demonstrators initially gathered for a vigil outside Portland City Hall. A KGW article said they moved toward Mark O. Hatfield federal courthouse, where they met federal officers firing crowd-control munitions, including tear gas and flash bang grenades.
That night, Elia tweeted photographs of his jacket marked with CS powder and a paint-like substance, writing: “For those wondering those were marking rounds that hit me in the crotch and collarbone during my livestream. These guys actually aimed for the open spaces on my armor.”
For those wondering those were marking rounds that hit me in the crotch and collarbone during my livestream. These guys actually aimed for the open spaces on my armor. That's some impressive aim. pic.twitter.com/wakhCNlgIw
— Cory Elia (@TheRealCoryElia) July 30, 2020
In a different tweet at 1:17 a.m. on July 30, he specified that his “only significant injury” from the night before was to his right collarbone, which appears to be bruised. “The ‘rubber bullet’ still hit with enough force to bruise through my leather where it struck,” he wrote. “I was also shot in the press badge which was lower on my chest.”
His press badge casing appears to have scratches and a part chipped off, but it is unclear if those marks were directly caused by the munitions. Elia has declined to comment and his lawyer didn’t respond to requests for comment.
“After assessing everything it appears I was hit four times total,” he wrote in another tweet accompanied by a photograph of an impact round.
The Department of Homeland Security, which coordinated the federal presence in Portland, hasn’t responded to a request for comment.
Independent journalist Brian Conley said he was hit with crowd-control munitions fired by federal agents while covering protests in Portland, Oregon, in the early hours of July 28, 2020.
Conley was covering one of the many protests that had broken out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement after the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
The Portland protests, held nightly since late May, had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists was expanded to include federal agents on July 23. Conley is a plaintiff in the class-action lawsuit, which was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon.
On the evening of July 27, protesters gathered at the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse downtown, a nightly flashpoint for confrontations between protesters and federal agents, and demonstrated into the early hours of the morning of the next day.
Just before 1 a.m. on July 28, Conley was filming federal agents at the intersection of Southwest Third Avenue and Southwest Salmon Street as they attempted to clear protesters from the area around the courthouse.
In a video he later posted on Twitter, Conley can be heard yelling that he is press before an officer fires a tear gas canister in his direction. Another officer soon rolls a smoking canister toward Conley before puffs of pepper ball impacts can be seen in the street directly in front of him.
It was just before 1am, not even an hour into my 40s, the #FPS and possibly others decided to fire concussion grenades, tear gas, possibly stingers, and definitely rubber bullets and many pepperballs directly at me. AFTER I identifed as Press. #portlandprotest #PDXprotest protest pic.twitter.com/oVqejB9TJ8
— Brian Conley (@BaghdadBrian) July 28, 2020
“Do it again — I’m press!” Conley shouts after the pepperballs are fired at him and a flash-bang grenade appears to fly toward him.
A number of projectiles hit him, Conley told the Tracker. When he was shot, he was standing in the street but in front of and away from protesters. Conley said he believes the federal agents could tell he was press, given his shouts, his camera gear, and the fact that his body armor and helmet identified him as press.
“I don’t think you can say that’s not egregious or targeted,” he said, adding that he was doing his best to stay away from protesters. “Either they didn’t care or it was intentional.”
One of the projectiles hit Conley in the foot, he said, causing what he described as a “pretty serious contusion” and the worst injury he has sustained while covering protests. He believes his foot was hit by a baton round, a crowd-control munition frequently used by law enforcement agencies across the country. Other projectiles hit him in the chest as well, but he said his body armor prevented injury.
In a declaration for the ACLU suit, Conley said that while he wanted to continue covering protests, he could “barely walk” after the incident. He was increasingly concerned about the risks of reporting when federal agents were present, he said.
Soon after, as federal agents retreated back towards the courthouse, one of them threw a flash-bang grenade at Conley, he said in the declaration. “There was nobody behind me or anybody else they could have been aiming at,” he said.
Neither the Department of Homeland Security nor the U.S. Marshals Service, which both have had federal agents in Portland, responded to requests for comment.
Roman Mendoza, a reporter for the California-based nonprofit news organization the Davis Vanguard, was shot in the thigh and ankle with crowd control munitions while covering protests in downtown Portland, Oregon, on July 28, 2020.
The protest was held in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the killing of George Floyd, a Black man, in Minneapolis on May 25. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
The Portland protests, held nightly since late May, had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists was expanded to include federal agents on July 23.
On the night of July 28, protesters gathered downtown at the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse, which had emerged as a nightly flashpoint between protesters and federal agents. The protest continued past midnight and into the next day.
Mendoza told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he had been recording protests that night in front of the courthouse and in the park across the street. As he exited the park, Mendoza said officers were spraying people with crowd control munitions, and he was struck in the ankle and thigh. Mendoza said he believes a rubber bullet struck his thigh, but he couldn’t identify what had struck his ankle.
“I didn’t feel it very much in the moment because of the adrenaline,” Mendoza said. “I didn’t even recognize what had happened.”
In Mendoza’s footage of the incident, he appears to be walking through a cloud of tear gas near the edge of the park as more than a dozen protesters walk and run through the frame. The camera appears to suddenly shake and Mendoza can be heard exclaiming in pain. Immediately after, Mendoza continues filming as he walks towards a line of unidentified law enforcement officers.
Mendoza said both the helmet and backpack he was wearing that night were labeled “PRESS.”
The PPB declined to comment when emailed about this incident. The Department of Homeland Security, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, also didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Independent journalist Jasper Florence said they were hit with crowd-control munitions fired by federal agents while covering protests in Portland, Oregon, in the early hours of July 28, 2020.
Florence was covering one of the many protests that had broken out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement after the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
The Portland protests, held nightly since late May, had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists was expanded to include federal agents on July 23. Conley is a plaintiff in the class-action lawsuit, which was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon.
On the evening of July 27, protesters gathered at the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse downtown, a nightly flashpoint for confrontations between protesters and federal agents, and demonstrated into the early hours of the morning of the next day.
Florence was struck in the early morning of July 28 while covering the demonstration in front of the federal courthouse. With protesters gathered at least 40 feet behind them, Florence was hit with a less-lethal munition while standing on the sidewalk in front of federal agents, they told the Tracker. Florence was hit near the hip, below their protective paintball vest, by what they believe was a baton round.
At 1:17 a.m., Florence tweeted, “I have just been shot.” About 10 minutes later, they tweeeted, “Feds got me in the side pretty bad dunno how bad but it fucking hurts yalls.”
I have just been shot
— Jasper Florence (They/Them) (@JFlorencePDX) July 28, 2020
Florence had trouble getting around “for days” after getting hit and that the pain made them stop covering protests that night, they said, but didn’t have the injury examined by a medical professional due to financial circumstances.
Florence was wearing a three-by-eight-inch “press” badge on their paintball vest as well as a helmet marked “press” in bright white letters, they said, adding that a press ID card was also visible.
“It was absolutely targeted both personally and as press,” Florence said. “I was very clearly marked with large lettering, so I feel like it’s kind of hard to miss.”
Florence was also struck with pepper balls, which caused irritation, but the vest provided some protection from the impact.
Neither the Department of Homeland Security nor the U.S. Marshals Service, which both have had federal agents in Portland, responded to requests for comment.
Independent multimedia journalist Grace Morgan was hit with pepper spray, thrown to the ground and detained for hours by federal agents while covering protests on July 27, 2020.
Morgan was documenting the nightly protests in downtown Portland in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the killing of George Floyd, a Black man, in Minneapolis on May 25.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
In the early morning hours of July 27, Morgan was covering a protest in front of the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse. Demonstrators had gathered outside of the fence surrounding the building. In a video Morgan tweeted at 1:14 a.m., federal agents can be seen walking outside of the fenced area, after firing tear gas, pepper balls and flash bang grenades at protestors from inside.
“I was filming a pretty violent arrest of a protester, Noelle Mandolfo,” Morgan told the Tracker. “There were at least 20 other members of the press all surrounding her.”
Morgan said she and other journalists followed closely as Mandolfo and another protester were walked back to the courthouse.
“I remember thinking I was physically pretty close to the agents, but that wasn’t unusual for how the protests have been going,” Morgan explained.
As they walked, federal agents began firing more tear gas into the crowd and one canister landed next to Morgan’s feet, which she said she immediately kicked to her right.
“The next thing I know, I was being tackled to the ground, initially by one agent and then another,” she said. Elijah Schaffer, a reporter at Blaze Media, was walking behind Morgan at the time and recorded the incident, posted at 1:28 a.m. A federal agent can be seen spraying mace into Morgan’s eyes right before another slams her to the ground.
She said she told them that she was a member of the press. She also had two laminated press passes displayed as well as labels on her helmet and backpack. The agents gave no response as to why she was being detained, and walked her along with several protesters to a concealed parking lot at the back of the federal courthouse. When they arrived, agents cut Morgan’s backpack off of her, ruining the straps, and took her gas mask.
“We never got read our rights. The only way I found out why I was being detained was because they put masking tape on our backs and had written on it,” Morgan told the Tracker. “After we were put in our holding cells, we read each other’s backs to each other and that’s how I found out I was being detained for assault on an officer.”
Several times throughout the morning, Morgan said federal agents would tell them all to face the wall and an agent would forcefully push their heads into the wall.
“It wasn’t a full on slam, but it was enough that it was painful and super unnecessary,” she said. That happened at least three times.”
Morgan also asked for medical attention to address the mace in her eyes, which burned, but received no response. Eventually, she tried to wash off the residue with the toilet water in the cell, the only water available, which made her eyes burn even worse.
When she was released around 5 a.m., Morgan said she received her gas mask back, but the straps were cut off, even though agents had already removed the mask from her face.
She told the Tracker that on her release, she was told, “the evidence in your case has been reviewed, and the attorney general has decided to drop all charges.”
A preliminary injunction a judge put in place in July that bars federal agents from harming or impeding journalists was upheld by an appeals court in October. Morgan isn’t sure which federal agency detained her, but the Department of Homeland Security, which coordinated the federal presence, didn’t respond to requests for comment.
In a tweet sent at 10:45 a.m., Morgan wrote, “I went to urgent care this morning after release – just a light concussion, fractured knee cap and mild chemical burns on my arms from the mace. Which means! I can probably go back out again tonight if I rest up today!”’
Emily Molli, a reporter for SCNR, an independent video-based outlet previously known as Subverse News, said she was hit in the right arm with crowd-control munitions fired by federal officers while she was covering protests in downtown Portland, Oregon, during the early hours of July 27, 2020.
Molli was among dozens of reporters covering one of the many demonstrations that have broken out in response to police violence and in support of Black Lives Matter following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
The Portland protests, held nightly since late May, had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists was expanded to include federal agents on July 23.
On the night of July 26, demonstrators gathered in the area around the Multnomah County Justice Center and the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse, where clashes with the Portland police and federal officers escalated into the next morning, according to local news outlet KGW8. Federal officers declared an “unlawful assembly” at 12:16 a.m., according to a statement from the Department of Homeland Security.
Molli was hit with a marker round in the right arm, which she said caused bleeding and left a scar. “It hit my forearm muscle so hard that...I couldn’t grip with my right hand,” she told the Tracker. “It caused pretty nasty lacerations that took several weeks to finally heal.”
She had a press ID visibly displayed, she said, as well as press markings on her helmet.
DHS, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, said in a statement about the night’s enforcement actions that officers used crowd control tactics to respond to “attacks” against the courthouse and law enforcement officers by demonstrators. The agency didn’t respond to a request for comment on the incidents.
Justin Yau, a freelance journalist whose work has appeared in the Daily Mail and The New York Times, said he was hit in the right leg with a marker round fired by federal officers while he was covering protests in downtown Portland, Oregon, during the early hours of July 27, 2020.
Yau was covering one of the many demonstrations that have broken out in response to police violence and in support of Black Lives Matter following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
The Portland protests, held nightly since late May, had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists was expanded to include federal agents on July 23.
On the night of July 26, demonstrators gathered in the area around the Multnomah County Justice Center and the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse, where clashes with the Portland police and federal officers escalated into the next morning, according to local news outlet KGW8. Federal officers declared an “unlawful assembly” at 12:16 a.m., according to a statement from the Department of Homeland Security.
Sometime after midnight, Yau was documenting the protests around the northwestern corner of Lownsdale Square, which is near the courthouse, when federal officers fired impact munitions through the smoke, he told the Tracker. A FN303 marker round bruised him in the right leg, he said, adding that it “bent some of my keys in my pocket at the time.”
Officers also fired a tear gas canister at a light fixture near him, said Yau, adding that it “shattered glass on top of us.” In a video posted to Youtube, the canister can be seen hitting at about 50 seconds in, causing Yau to duck. He was wearing a bright yellow vest with “press” labeled across the front and a black helmet with similar markings, he said.
DHS, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, said in a statement about the night’s enforcement actions that officers used crowd control tactics to respond to “attacks” against the courthouse and law enforcement officers by demonstrators. The agency didn’t respond to a request for comment on the incidents.
Independent reporter Madeleine “Molly” Conger was arrested when she arrived at Monroe Park to cover a protest against police brutality in Richmond, Virginia, on July 26, 2020.
Conger — whose work has appeared in local Charlottesville outlet C-Ville Weekly and The Guardian — told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that when she arrived shortly after 10 p.m. no more than 15 people were present.
“There was no active protest at that point,” Conger said. Instead, those assembled were discussing where to go or what to do that evening, she said. “Then, all of a sudden, 30 cops appeared out of the night, didn’t say anything, didn’t make any announcements, and just descended upon us.”
Conger said she was tackled to the ground by two police officers and placed under arrest. She added that though she was not wearing any “PRESS” identifiers or a press pass, officers referred to her by name and were aware that she was a journalist.
In a press conference the following morning, Richmond Police Chief Gerald Smith said that the department had acted to break up the small gathering because police did not want violence akin to that seen during a protest the night before, when several hundred protestors had gathered in the same area.
"We have to take action when we know that violence is coming," said Smith. "What we did last night, we took a proactive stance, and when the group gathered in Monroe Park and congregated there after 10 p.m., RPD moved in and began to affect arrest."
"In intense situations like this, we also have to look at the bigger picture. We have to look at individuals who claim to be members of the press and we have to look at them very carefully," Smith added.
Conger told the Tracker that the police chief’s press conference the next morning specifically focused on how they were targeting people they felt were not “real” members of the press. “It felt very personal,” Conger said.
Conger said she and more than a dozen others were arrested for allegedly trespassing in the park after nightfall. Conger denied that the group was violating a dusk curfew for the park, noting that they were standing on the steps of the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart across the street from the park when they were arrested. She also noted that officers tightened her zip-tie cuffs to the point that she lost all feeling in her left hand.
The group was held for an hour in a police transport van at the protest site, according to Conger, and then held another hour in the parking garage of the city jail before being booked at approximately 12:30 a.m.
Conger said that after she was processed officers took her before a magistrate for an initial hearing on whether police had probable cause to bring charges.
The magistrate determined that there was sufficient evidence, Conger said, and informed her that she would be released on her own recognisance.
As officers led her away, Conger said she thought the door she was walking through was to the outside.
“Imagine my surprise when it closed behind me and it was a cell. Nobody explained to me why this was happening or how long it would be happening for,” she said.
Conger said she was held for eight hours without explanation, either during her detention or after her release. When she was released at approximately 9 a.m., Conger said she was able to retrieve her belongings from the police department’s property department.
When asked about the detentions of several journalists over the weekend, Chief Smith said during the press conference that he will work on the department’s partnership with the media, but that members of the press must abide by the same laws as everyone else.
The Tracker is documenting all arrests here.
Conger said when she appeared for her initial trial date in September, the prosecutor and her attorney reached an agreement that if she performed 24 hours of community service within the following eight weeks, the charges would be dropped.
“Initially they wanted me to sign an admission of guilt in exchange for this agreement, and I said I’d rather take it to trial than admit I did anything wrong. Because I didn’t,” Conger said. “I moderately pushed back on signing it and they didn’t press the issue.”
Conger said she appeared in court on Dec. 3, having completed the community service, and the charges were dropped.
The Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Andrew Ringle, the executive editor of the Commonwealth Times, the independent student newspaper of Virginia Commonwealth University, was detained by police while covering a protest against police violence in Richmond, Virginia, on July 26, 2020.
Ringle told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in a phone interview that he and his news editor, Eduardo Acevedo, had heard about the protest in Richmond’s Monroe Park after seeing a flyer online. Richmond Police Chief Gerald Smith would later describe the flyer as using the “same tone, same intimidation, same wanting to produce fear into the city of Richmond, and calling for a repeat of Saturday night,” which had be notably violent.
Ringle said that, while several hundred showed up on July 25, very few people were in attendance the following night, and as such, he and Acevedo decided to leave the area, anticipating that the protest would peter out within half an hour. But just past 10 p.m., as they were walking out of the park, which had technically been closed as of sundown, the police showed up. The Daily Progress, a paper based in Charlottesville, reported the police presence at the park was 100 officers, responding to a protest of 50 people.
Ringle told the Tracker that the officers organized into a line and proceeded to arrest every individual in the park related to the protests. Another reporter at the park that night, NBC12 reporter Olivia Ugino, tweeted that she had been told by the police to move or get arrested.
Ringle said that he and Acevedo had made it to the sidewalk circling the park when they heard, “Get ’em!” According to Ringle, police then rushed toward the two journalists. Acevedo sprinted across the street, while Ringle was put into handcuffs.
Acevedo started to livestream the detainment, in which he can be heard screaming at officers that Ringle was a member of the press.
Ringle explained to the Tracker that the first words out of his mouth once he was in handcuffs were “I’m not resisting,” but the officers responded by shouting, “Stop resisting!” Ringle said he understood this as an attempt to escalate the situation. The arresting officer, Ringle said, made Ringle say his name back to him because he suggested Ringle “was getting too excited or acting crazy.”
Ringle tweeted afterward that officers first checked his Capital News Service-issued press badge, but did not initially accept it as enough proof that he was not a protester. Officers then searched his wallet for a driver’s license, which he did not have.
Officers checked my state press ID, then searched my wallet for a drivers license (which I did not have) and finally demanded I say my SSN (twice). I told them I was there to work, not to protest, and that I was trying to leave. They said city parks are closed after dark.
— Andrew Ringle (@aeringle) July 27, 2020
“They asked for a lot of personal information that I was not comfortable giving, but then they mentioned that there were paddy wagons on the way and that they were going to start taking people to the jail,” Ringle told the Tracker.
Ringle said he then gave the arresting officer his Social Security number, which was relayed over the radio to confirm his identity. Ringle believes that the officers also checked his press badge on an online database to confirm his identity. After 25 minutes, Ringle said, he was released and admonished for not knowing of the park’s closure.
Police Chief Smith referenced Ringle’s detainment in the next day’s press conference, stating, “In tense situations like this ... we have to look at individuals who claim to be members of the press, and we have to look at them very carefully … For those who claim to be the media, you must abide by the laws just as well. If you are in a location that you are not supposed to be in, you can be held accountable for that as well.” Smith also stated that he thought that the protesters knew they were trespassing, because they started moving out of the park when the police came.
According to the Daily Progress, six people were charged that night with trespassing. The Richmond Bail Fund counted 10 arrests in the park. The Richmond Police Department did not respond to the Tracker’s requests for comment on Ringle’s detainment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or having their equipment damaged while covering Black Lives Matter protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Capital Public Radio state government reporter Scott Rodd was consistently blocked while covering protests against police violence in Sacramento, California, on July 25, 2020. In the early hours of the next morning, he tweeted that an individual in the crowd had cut his charging cable. Rodd eventually removed himself from the scene to report from afar.
Rodd was documenting a solidarity march in downtown Sacramento in support of the protesters in Portland and the Black Lives Matter movement following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
On the afternoon of July 25, protesters had gathered at Cesar Chavez Plaza to march toward the Capitol, according to news reports at the time. A press release from the Sacramento Police Department stated that a second group of people in black clothing and protective gear arrived later in the evening and escalated tensions among what had been a peaceful demonstration.
“Different vibe than previous protests. Guy in helmet tried to grab my phone when I took this photo,” Rodd tweeted at 11:25 p.m. “I’m now surrounded by 3 people with umbrellas intended to block my view.” Rodd declined to comment further on the incident.
Throughout the night, Rodd tweeted several more photos and updates about his limited access and the frustration protesters were directing toward him.
“Sensing lots of hostility I removed myself from the crowd to report from the edge of the park,” he tweeted a little after midnight. He also mentioned that someone had cut his charging cable while he’d been surrounded in the park.
About 100-150 are marching through midtown.
— Scott Rodd (@SRodd_CPR) July 26, 2020
Different vibe than previous protests. Guy in helmet tried to grab my phone when I took this photo. I’m now surrounded by 3 people with umbrellas intended to block my view. pic.twitter.com/9IR52soyMG
“Multiple demonstrators expressed concern over a recent court ruling in Seattle, which is requiring several media outlets to give police photos and videos captured during a recent protest in order to help them solve alleged arson of law enforcement vehicles and theft of firearms,” Rodd wrote in a story for CapRadio the next day. “The ruling applies to images and videos taken with professional camera equipment, but not cell phones.”
In a tweet at 2 a.m. on July 26, Rodd linked an article that described the Seattle ruling, noting, “Among the more constructive conversations I had with protesters was a about this court ruling out of Seattle,” and then adding, “In the article, one media law expert said the ruling ‘creates a “troubling precedent” that could make news media unwelcome at future protests.’”
Freelance journalist Laura Jedeed said she was hit by pepper balls fired by federal law enforcement while they were covering protests in Portland, Oregon, in the early morning hours of July 26, 2020.
Jedeed was one of many covering protests that broke out in Portland in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
The Portland protests, held nightly since late May, had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists was expanded to include federal agents on July 23.
One of the main demonstrations taking place the night of July 25 — and stretching into the next morning — was held outside the Mark O. Hetfield federal courthouse, where federal law enforcement officers were stationed.
Jedeed, who contributes to Willamette Weekly and Portland Monthly, was also covering protesters outside the federal courthouse. Wearing a neon yellow vest with the words “press” on it, she was filming protesters at the front line, who tried to form a “shield wall” with umbrellas to block federal law enforcement officers from firing on the rest of the crowd.
A little after 1:10 a.m., Jedeed was hit by crowd control munitions in the leg and the wrist, she said. Jedeed had been holding her phone in that hand, and she later tweeted a photo of the swollen wrist.
It isn't broken but it isn't pretty pic.twitter.com/r8Tn7neRmU
— Laura Jedeed, Space Professional (@LauraJedeed) July 26, 2020
“I believe they targeted me,” Jedeed told the Tracker. “They hit me in the face with pepper balls. The pepper got through [my] goggles, and I was effectively blind. I stumbled back into the park [near the courthouse], and somebody had to help me. I was completely incapacitated.”
Jedeed then yelled for a medic, who flushed her eyes out with milk to mitigate the effects of the pepper balls.
“I looked at my wrist and realized something was very wrong [because it swelled up],” she said. “I tried to power through for another half hour, but the adrenaline wore off and I had to leave.”
The Department of Homeland Security, which coordinated the federal presence in Portland, didn’t respond to a request for comment. The PPB has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation in the ACLU case.
Lesley McLam, co-host of a KBOO podcast and contributor to Village Portland, said she was struck by a crowd-control munition fired by federal officers and covered in a “toxic white powder” while covering protests in downtown Portland, Oregon, on July 26, 2020.
McLam was documenting one of the many protests that broke out in Portland in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
The Portland protests, held nightly since late May, had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists was expanded to include federal agents on July 23.
One of the main demonstrations taking place the night of July 25 — and stretching into the next morning — was held outside the Mark O. Hatfield federal courthouse, where federal law enforcement officers were stationed. Several other journalists were targeted with crowd control munitions after midnight as well.
McLam said she was traversing the area between the courthouse and the parks across the street when she realized the protesters around her were crouched behind shields. “That crowd behind the shields is all hunched down, and that’s when I hear that `pop pop pop pop pop,’ and I felt it on both of my arms,” she told Tracker. “I just hunched down — I hadn’t even made it to the other side yet — hunched down and was like, `Wow, I just got fired at.’”
When she left the area, McLam noticed the white powder, which she believes was from an exploded pepper ball. In addition to getting hit in the bicep, a pepper ball that grazed her right arm left a small slice in her backpack strap, as well. Her phone was also hit by a pepper ball, she said
Later that morning, McLam tweeted: “While covering the protests at the federal courthouse, a toxic white powder got all over me and my equipment.” The accompanying pictures show powder on her backpack, which is labelled “media,” on her camera, on the leg of her pants, and around press passes issued by KBOO and Village Portland.
In a follow-up tweet, she posted two photos of her left bicep, where she was hit by what she believes was a pepper ball. “This is one of the places I was hit by a round shot by #FederalPolice. It broke the skin, through cloth, and a bruise is forming,” McLam wrote.
The injury caused bruising all the way down to the elbow and on the back side of her arm, McLam told the Tracker.
Neither her camera nor her phone were permanently damaged by the powder.
McLam couldn’t say with certainty whether she was targeted for being press, or whether she was hit because she was standing up while others were crouching. In addition to the identification on her backpack andher press passes, she was wearing a black baseball cap with “press” in white letters.
The Department of Homeland Security, which coordinated the federal presence in Portland, didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Journalist Janusz Malo said he was tear-gassed by police in the early hours of July 26, 2020, while covering a protest in Eugene, Oregon.
Malo, a writer for Double Sided Media, an independent media collective, was covering one of the protests that broke out in Eugene in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
The demonstration, organized in “solidarity” with the Portland protests that have been held almost nightly, began at the federal courthouse around 8 p.m. on the night of July 25 and stretched past midnight. Several hundred protesters were met by about a hundred counterprotesters who were openly carrying large firearms, according to the local paper, The Register-Guard.
Late into the evening, after some properties had been vandalized, police declared a riot and told the press to gather on the south side of protesters to avoid being struck by munitions, Malo told the Tracker. About 30 minutes after police warned over a Long Range Acoustic Device that they would use tear gas, he said, they deployed the canisters toward the group of press.
Malo tweeted a video at 12:11 a.m. describing how he “stopped breathing” after getting tear-gassed
— Janusz M. (@Lopaka_Shaka) July 26, 2020
“I started coughing, my lungs closed up, I fell to the ground, and I started crawling out of the cloud,” Malo told the Tracker.
“It was my first time being tear gassed,” Malo said. “I didn’t have goggles on, I didn’t have a gas mask on, all I had was just a face mask.”
Malo, who was wearing press identification around his neck at the time of the incident, said it was clear he was part of the group of media covering the protest. “I do believe they hit us on purpose,” he said.
The experience of covering protests and witnessing the turmoil stemming from police brutality has inspired Malo to run for city council in the Oregon town he spent his adulthood in, he said. “It’s made me want to do more for my community.”
The Eugene Police Department didn’t provide a specific comment on the incident. Instead, they referred the Tracker to Mayor Lucy Vinis’ comments about the event: “We must work harder and faster to address systemic racism and police reform,” she said in a statement, but did not address the use of tear gas.
Journalist Tuan St. Patrick’s camera lens was broken after he was repeatedly shoved to the ground by Portland, Oregon police in the early morning hours of July 26, 2020, just hours after he and other journalists covering demonstrations say they were hit with crowd-control munitions.
St. Patrick is a national correspondent for Berlin, Germany-based video news service Ruptly, whose sole shareholder is funded by the Russian government. St. Patrick was covering one of the many protests that broke out in Portland in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Protests have been held nightly in Portland since late May and grew more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement in the city increased. Since July, police and federal agents in the Rose City have been under court orders not to harm or impede journalists.
St. Patrick was covering demonstrations that began the night of July 25 around the Mark O. Hatfield federal courthouse and continued on into the next morning.
St. Patrick and three other journalists told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that they were struck with crowd-control munitions just after midnight on July 26. Their account of that incident is here.
St. Patrick told the Tracker he was sprayed with a chemical irritant in that incident but continued covering the police response to the demonstrations.
He said that at about 5 a.m. on July 26, he was livestreaming while he was among protesters at the intersection of SW 4th Ave and SW Yamhill Street. Police announced an unlawful assembly for the area and dispatched officers to clear the intersection with crowd control munitions and physical force, he said.
“They start running towards us,” St. Patrick told the Tracker. “I turn around and I’m like ‘this is not so safe.’”
St. Patrick told the Tracker that he was pushed to the ground twice and shoved into a tree as officers rushed through the area. He got to his feet and found pepper-ball powder on his vest and his clothing. He was carrying a Sony A7 Mark III digital photo camera and, upon closer inspection of his gear, found that his lens had been broken.
“It was just a messy scene,” St. Patrick said.
Since July, law enforcement officers from the Portland Police Bureau and federal agencies have been barred by court rulings from arresting, harming or impeding journalists or legal observers of the protests. The orders were issued as part of a lawsuit that the American Civil LIberties Union filed on behalf of journalists who allege that law enforcement officials targeted them with arrests and physical violence.
The Portland Police Bureau has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation in the ACLU case.
Independent photojournalist Trip Jennings was struck in his eye with a pepper ball that pierced one of the plastic lenses on his gas mask on July 26, 2020 in Portland, Oregon, while he covered civil unrest in the city.
Jennings was covering one of the many protests that broke out in Portland in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Protests have been held nightly in Portland since late May, which grew more intense in July as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in the city. Since July, both police and federal agents in the city have been under court orders not to harm journalists or otherwise impede their work.
In a Twitter thread, Jennings said he was taking photos of the police response to demonstrations at the intersection of SW 4th Avenue and SW Salmon Street near the Multnomah County Justice Center, standing among demonstrators, when authorities gave an order to disperse.
As the crowd began to disperse, federal agents fired crowd-control munitions that included pepper balls, rubber bullets and tear gas, he wrote.
Jennings wrote that he was ducking for cover behind a tree when what he believes to be a pepper ball hit him in the face, broke through one of the plastic lenses on his gas mask and cut his eye and cheek.
The journalist found medics near the scene. “‘Oh my God, that’s bad!’” one of the street medics tending to his injuries remarked, according to Jennings.
Jennings told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that three medics escorted him to a vehicle to drive him to the emergency room at Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Center in northwest Portland. As the group drove away from the scene, federal agents fired impact munitions at the vehicle, he said.
“On the way to the hospital, we drove through clouds of teargas so windows stayed shut and the pepper spray on my clothing and bag choked us all,” Jennings tweeted.
The pepper spray still clung to Jennings after he arrived at Good Samaritan, causing the doctor who treated his injury to cough repeatedly behind a surgical mask, according to Jennings. The doctor put on a respirator mask prior to sewing eight stitches into Jennings’ eyelid and face, he told the Tracker.
The Portland Police Bureau has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation.
Independent journalist Teebs Auberdine said she was hit with impact munitions fired by federal officers while covering protests in downtown Portland, Oregon, on July 26, 2020.
The protests were among many demonstrations that broke out in response to police violence and in support of Black Lives Matter following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
The Portland protests, held nightly since late May, had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists was expanded to include federal agents on July 23.
On the night of July 26, demonstrators gathered in the area around at the Multnomah County Justice Center and the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse, where clashes with the Portland police and federal officers escalated later in the night, according to local news outlet KGW8.
Auberdine was livestreaming near the Justice Center, wearing a vest clearly labeled with press markings, when she was hit.
“Had to end stream early tonight after getting hit in the head with a pepperball. Still clearly marked Press,” she tweeted. “I'm well geared for this and was not injured, but it was fairly spicy and got all in under my helmet and around my neck.”
Had to end stream early tonight after getting hit in the head with a pepperball. Still clearly marked Press.
— Teebs (@TeebsGaming) July 27, 2020
I'm well geared for this and was not injured, but it was fairly spicy and got all in under my helmet and around my neck.
I'll be back tomorrow~
She didn’t sustain any acute injuries aside from the powder and gas exposure, she told the Tracker.
The Department of Homeland Security, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, said in a statement about the night’s enforcement actions that officers used crowd control tactics to respond to “attacks” against the courthouse and law enforcement officers by demonstrators. The agency didn’t respond to a request for comment on the incident.
Dave Killen, a staff photographer for The Oregonian, said he was struck with a rubber bullet fired by federal law enforcement officers while he was covering protests in Portland, Oregon, in the early morning hours of July 26, 2020.
Killen was one of the many covering protests that broke out in Portland in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
The Portland protests, held nightly since late May, had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists was expanded to include federal agents on July 23.
One of the main demonstrations taking place the night of July 25 — and stretching into the next morning — was held outside the Mark O. Hetfield federal courthouse, where federal law enforcement officers were stationed.
A little after 1 a.m. Portland police declared a riot after a section of the fence surrounding the federal courthouse was torn down.
Killen documented what he described to the Tracker as a “huge” response to the fence removal by federal agents, who began deploying “tons and tons” of tear gas. After retreating a block west for a few minutes, Killen returned to the area around the courthouse, where there appeared to be a “slight lull” since protesters had largely scattered.
When a fresh standoff soon appeared to be brewing, Killen started taking photos of federal agents as they moved down the street. That’s when he was struck on the side of the stomach by what he believes was a rubber bullet.
“I suddenly got hit by something big,” he said. “It just sort of dropped me. I realized right away what it must have been because I’m very familiar with all the munitions and I’ve been hit by pepper balls dozens and dozens of times over the years, so I knew it wasn’t a pepper ball.”
After the fence came (sort of) down, things got pretty wild. Lots of gas & munitions fired in the FC area. Eventually ppl fell back, officers in camo pushing west on Main. At 4th & main I got a rubber bullet to the love handle, which is probably best case scenario, but hurt a lot pic.twitter.com/MO48DowRR8
— Dave Killen (@killendave) July 26, 2020
Killen believes he was targeted, since he was well in front of most protesters, and the agents were just just 20 or 30 feet away when he was hit. While some protesters may have been in the area, he said he didn’t have to worry about bumping into anybody as he walked around taking photos without looking where he was going.
“I feel like at that distance, with that weapon, I don’t think there’s any way he wasn’t aiming for me,” Killen said.
His gear also made it obvious that he was press, said Killen, noting that he had press credentials around his neck and was shooting photos with one camera and while another camera was hanging at his side.
Killen said he was knocked off his feet by the impact, but was able to continue working. After he informed his newsroom of the incident, he was pulled back for the night.
This is it from me tonight. These pix are a mix from earlier. Can’t help but think that if it weren’t for this damn pandemic and the extra 10 pounds I’ve put on that rubber bullet would’ve missed me entirely 😬 pic.twitter.com/gNAO7wn7ey
— Dave Killen (@killendave) July 26, 2020
Killen said the munition left a huge bruise in the immediate aftermath, and that he still had a scar more than four months later.
The Department of Homeland Security, which coordinated the federal presence in Portland, didn’t respond to a request for comment. The PPB has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation in the ACLU case.
Tuan St. Patrick, a national correspondent for Ruptly, said he was sprayed with a chemical irritant by federal agents while he was covering protests in Portland, Oregon, in the early morning hours of July 26, 2020.
St. Patrick was one of many covering the protests that broke out in Portland in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
The Portland protests, held nightly since late May, had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists was expanded to include federal agents on July 23.
One of the main demonstrations taking place the night of July 25 — and stretching into the next morning — was held outside the Mark O. Hetfield federal courthouse, where federal law enforcement officers were stationed.
St. Patrick was livestreaming near the courthouse as federal agents tried to disperse people after an unlawful assembly was declared just before 11:30 p.m. Sometime between midnight and 1 a.m., a federal agent pepper sprayed him in his eyes while he was crossing a street, St. Patrick told the Tracker.
At the time, St. Patrick had NYPD-issued press credentials around his neck and was wearing a bulletproof vest, mask and goggles. He also had his recording equipment strapped on, as seen in a photo he posted on Instagram.
Before he was sprayed with the irritant, St. Patrick saw officers targeting and pointing people out, he said. “I definitely felt targeted, there was no question that I was press when the officer came up to me point blank and sprayed me in the eyes,” he told the Tracker.
Despite wearing goggles, St. Patrick said he was completely blinded. A nearby ACLU legal observer helped get him clean. Soon after, he rejoined the group of media. “If we stop [reporting], that does more damage,” said St. Patrick
A little after 1 a.m. Portland police declared a riot after a section of the fence surrounding the federal courthouse was torn down.
The Department of Homeland Security, which coordinated the federal presence in Portland, didn’t respond to a request for comment. The PPB has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation in the ACLU case.
Independent journalist Garrison Davis said he was maced and shot with rubber bullets fired by federal agents, then later shoved by Portland police officers while he was covering protests in Portland, Oregon, in the early morning hours of July 26, 2020.
Davis was one of the many covering protests that broke out in Portland in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
The Portland protests, held nightly since late May, had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists was expanded to include federal agents on July 23.
One of the main demonstrations taking place the night of July 25 — and stretching into the next morning — was held outside the Mark O. Hetfield federal courthouse, where federal law enforcement officers were stationed.
Around 2 a.m., Davis was documenting a line of officers advancing down the street from the courthouse when he was hit with a chemical irritant, which he identified as mace, by a federal agent. Video published by Davis on Twitter shows officers walking down a street near the federal courthouse. Then one officer raises his hand and fires the irritant spray directly at Davis.
A federal officer sprays mace directly at me other press. #blacklivesmatter #Protests #pdx #portland #oregon #blm #acab #PortlandProtest #PDXprotest #PortlandStrong #WallOfVets #wallofmoms #MomsAreHere pic.twitter.com/GM3Y0UOwpV
— Garrison Davis (@hungrybowtie) July 26, 2020
A few minutes later, Davis was shot by a rubber bullet that he believes was fired by a federal agent. “I got shot with a rubber bullet, I’m standing in a crowd of just other press people,” he tweeted.
About a half an hour later, Davis was pushed to the ground by a PPB officer. Posting blurry footage of the incident on Twitter, he wrote, “Footage doesn’t look great cause my camera is still covered in mace at this point.”
“I’m on the sidewalk here. I’m not even on the street. And they still walk up and totally knock me over for no reason,” Davis told the Tracker. “Then when I try to get up, they continued to shove me.”
The Department of Homeland Security, which coordinated the federal presence in Portland, didn’t respond to a request for comment. The PPB has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation in the ACLU case.
Video journalist Jazari Kual was detained by police officers while covering protests in Omaha, Nebraska, on July 25, 2020, according to news reports and the journalist’s statements on social media. Kual said he was held for more than an hour by officers who doubted his professional status, but he eventually was released without charge.
On the night of July 25, protestors had been marching for several hours in downtown Omaha while police officers accompanied them and redirected traffic, Kual told the local television network KETV 7. The demonstrators were protesting against the killing of a Nebraska man, James Scurlock, who died during Black Lives Matter protests in May, as well as in solidarity with widespread protests in Portland, OR, against police brutality.
Once protestors reached the city’s Farnam Street bridge, police officers announced that the demonstration was an “unlawful assembly and you’re all subject to arrest,” Kual told KLKN- TV in an interview. Kual, who founded the independent media company Kualdom Creations and frequently livestreams protests in Nebraska, said the officers gave no prior warning or order to disperse before making arrests. The Omaha World-Herald later reported that of 120 people arrested at the protest, 30 were subsequently charged with criminal violations.
This took place on 07/25/20 on the bridge approaching the intersection of 29th & Farnam in Omaha, NE. Minors were in the crowd. #Omaha #Nebraska #Peaceful #Protest in solidarity with #Portland #Oregon pic.twitter.com/sOYUMQAjtL
— Jazari Kual 🇸🇸 (@JazariKual) July 26, 2020
When asked by KETV about the arrests, a spokesperson for the Omaha Police Department told the network that "The protesters started walking in the street against the direction of traffic, then there were announcements made advising the crowd that they were unlawfully assembling before arrests were made."
Kual said in the KLKN interview that he “had my media badge on, I had everything on me. I had my company shirt on.” But police officers “didn’t believe I was media,” he said, and detained him for more than an hour. In a video Kual posted to Twitter days later, he can be heard telling an officer that he owns a media company. The officer responds that media are supposed to report from “certain locations” and tells Kual that he’ll be going to jail along with the other protestors.
@OmahaPolice , please provide comment on if you train your officers to use this kind of “de-escalation”.
— Jazari Kual 🇸🇸 (@JazariKual) July 29, 2020
For those who say “not all cops are bad” ... the other officers that allowed this interaction to happen, passed up the opportunity to show that they are a “good cop”. pic.twitter.com/MK0Km5yQg5
In footage from the bridge later that evening that Kual livestreamed to Facebook, the journalist, constrained in zip ties, can be heard having an extended conversation with another police officer about his status as a member of the media. “We don’t usually arrest media, so I don’t know what’s going on,” the officer says. “Do you have any proof you’re part of a media team?” At about 16:48 into the livestream, Kual and the officer (who later identifies himself and gives his badge number) discuss Kual’s work and professional status.
As the officer scrolls through Google results for his name, Kual describes himself as a social media influencer, saying that “no one wanted to hire me as a reporter, so I started my own media company and got a million views.” The officer then releases Kual after telling him to get more “official” looking credentials, and to “try to delineate yourself better from the crowd.” Police then walk with Kual to his car and cut off the zip ties.
An Oct. 16 article in the Journal Star newspaper in Lincoln, Nebraska, where Kual lives, says “He’s covered dozens of marches since April [2020]. Maybe 100. He travels to Omaha to livestream marches there.”
Kual’s detainment was mentioned in a Twitter post by journalist Melanie Buer. Buer was also detained that evening, which the Tracker has documented here.
@Kualdom was another independent journalist who was detained on the bridge last night - they didn’t believe he was a journalist. Another journalist with Noise was actually arrested and hasn’t been released yet
— Mel Buer (@coldbrewedtool) July 27, 2020
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Journalist Melanie Buer was detained by police officers while covering protests in Omaha, Nebraska, on July 25, 2020.
Buer told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she was held for more than two hours by officers who doubted her professional status, but she eventually was released without charge.
On the night of July 25, protesters had been marching for several hours in downtown Omaha while police officers accompanied them and redirected traffic, according to local news reports. The demonstrators were protesting against the killing of a Black Nebraska man, James Scurlock, who was shot dead by a white bar owner during a Black Lives Matter protest in May. They also marched in solidarity with protests in Portland, Oregon, and many other cities against police violence following the May 25 police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Once protestors reached the city’s Farnam Street bridge, police officers announced that the demonstration was an “unlawful assembly and you’re all subject to arrest,” according to local news reports. Buer, who is a freelance journalist and an associate editor at Protean Magazine, which describes itself as a nonprofit leftist media collective, told the Tracker that when protesters reached the end of the bridge shortly before 10 p.m. they were corralled by police officers who began wide-scale arrests. The Omaha World-Herald later reported that of 120 people arrested at the protest, 30 were subsequently charged with criminal violations.
In a timeline of the events on July 25 later published by the Omaha Police Department, the department said the protestors were marching without a permit, were putting others in danger by walking against oncoming traffic and ignored repeated warnings that they were subject to arrest. Many protesters said they heard no prior warnings, according to news reports.
Buer and two colleagues from the magazine were on the sidewalk on the northwest side of the bridge when police officers began firing pepper balls at protestors in the street, she said. The protestors then began jumping back on to the sidewalk, so they were surrounded and had nowhere to move out of the way as officers began making arrests. The other journalists, Ashley Darrow and Kristofer Nivens, declined to comment on the incident.
Buer was filming the events on her cellphone when she was shoved by a police officer and fell to the pavement, she said. In a video she posted to Twitter the next day, police officers can be heard yelling “get on the ground!” and approaching the sidewalk area where Buer and others are gathered. The camera then shakes and the image is blurred and momentarily goes black, before resuming filming from a lower vantage point.
The first couple of minutes of the police escalation, featuring me getting shoved violently pic.twitter.com/yYxvQdMOXz
— Mel Buer (@coldbrewedtool) July 26, 2020
Buer can then be heard yelling that she is a member of the press, to which the officer says “I don’t see anything right now.” Buer yells, “Are you kidding me? I have a press pass!” The officer responds “I don’t know that that’s real, I have no idea that that’s valid. Right now you’re getting detained.”
The journalist’s wrists were then constrained in zip ties and she was made to sit on the bridge for more than two hours, she said.
Been detained pic.twitter.com/YSrdPhOmQh
— Mel Buer (@coldbrewedtool) July 26, 2020
Buer said she had a press badge clearly displayed around her neck and that she repeatedly told the police officers she was a journalist, but that they didn’t believe her.
“It would defy logic,” that they didn't realize she was press when they shoved and detained her, she said. In another video Buer posted to Twitter in the days after the incident, a police officer can be heard telling another officer that “she is saying she’s press, but I can’t verify that. We’ve got intel that they have fake press cards.”
“This is not a fake press card,” Buer responds.
Going back through footage from the bridge the other night - here’s more of the conversation where this cop didn’t believe I was press.
— Mel Buer (@coldbrewedtool) July 28, 2020
“We’ve got intel that they’ve got fake press cards.”
Fuck you buddy, that’s not for you to decide. pic.twitter.com/ZR0imZfydg
Shortly before midnight, Buer and her colleagues spoke with a lieutenant who asked them about the media outlet they worked for and told them they “needed to wear hi-vis safety vests in order to not be confused for protesters,” Buer said in an email.
The lieutenant told his officers to cut off the journalists’ zip ties and take down their personal information, as well as that of the outlet they worked for. But “there was no attempt to verify our assignments with our editor or anything of that nature (though we offered it),” Buer wrote.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
A projectile fired by law enforcement struck freelance journalist Sam Slovick in the ankle as he covered a July 25, 2020, protest in Los Angeles, the journalist told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
The city had witnessed a series of racial justice protests following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. The local TV channel CBSLA reported on July 25 that several hundred protesters had gathered in downtown Los Angeles.
Slovick, a freelance journalist and filmmaker whose work has appeared in Los Angeles Magazine, LA Weekly and elsewhere, was livestreaming the protest march that day from his phone as the crowd worked its way through downtown Los Angeles. Slovick’s stream showed that at about 7 p.m., protesters clashed with police outside of a federal courthouse at 350 West First Street, with some protesters throwing objects at officers who responded by firing crowd control munitions. Marchers retreated from the courthouse and calm appeared to return.
Slovick then followed the marchers through downtown Los Angeles while livestreaming from his phone, which was mounted on a stabilization rig, a device used by professionals and others to hold a camera steady while recording.
At 7:24 p.m., according to Slovick’s livestream, the journalist arrived at a federal building at 300 North Los Angeles Street, about half a mile away from the courthouse, where the protestors had reassembled. Slovick’s livestream shows the crowd listening to a protester delivering a speech about racial justice. Soon after, Slovick’s stream shows several protesters smashing some of the building’s windows with hammers.
When police arrived, Slovick’s livestream shows the protestors moving away from the federal building. Some remained in the street, others crossed it and remained on the opposite side of the street as protestors chanted at the officers. As police and protestors faced each other, Slovick stood at the front of the crowd, next to a protester with a megaphone who was chanting “fuck 12,” a phrase meaning “fuck police” that is heard at many anti-police brutality protests. At 7:35 p.m., the livestream shows the protester shouting: “And we’re going to shut this bitch down and burn this motherfucker to the ground…”
As the protester speaks, a single shot can be heard before Slovik’s camera shakes and he begins limping away. “I just got fucking shot,” Slovick says on the livestream. Slovick crossed the street and sat on steps at the Los Angeles Mall to take stock of his injury. In the livestream, he is heard complaining about severe pain and attributing the shot to the Los Angeles Police Department.
“There was nothing threatening going on, there was no reason for them to be shooting anybody,” Slovick told the Tracker.
Slovick said he was not wearing any press identification, but said he was clearly filming the incident with his phone mounted on a stabilization rig. Slovick said he believes the Los Angeles Police Department officers on protest duty would have recognized him because he has been recording such events for years. Despite that, Slovick said he did not believe they were targeting him with the projectile.
A photo he posted four days after the incident shows a bruised and swollen ankle where Slovick was hit. In an interview with the Tracker, Slovick said he was not sure what kind of munition struck him. According to the LAPD, the police force utilizes both beanbags fired from shotguns as well as foam baton rounds for crowd control.
In the October interview with the Tracker, more than two months after he was hit, Slovik said his ankle was still swollen, bruised, and painful. He said he has joined a Lawyers Guild federal class action lawsuit against the Los Angeles Police Department over law enforcement’s use of force during protests this year.
Contacted by the Tracker, the LAPD said they could not comment on pending investigations and referred the Tracker to public statements on the police department’s website. On June 10, days after the Lawyers Guild lawsuit was originally filed, LAPD said in a statement that the department had assigned 40 investigators to look into allegations of misconduct, violations and excessive force during unrest. The LAPD also provided contact information to the general public to report complaints related to protest response.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Eduardo Acevedo, news editor for The Commonwealth Times, an independent newspaper run by Virginia Commonwealth University students, said he was detained by police while covering a protest in Richmond, Virginia, the night of July 25, 2020.
Protests against racial inequality and police brutality were held in Richmond throughout the summer in response to the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and other Black people at the hands of police.
Acevedo told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he and two colleagues from the Commonwealth Times were covering a protest outside of the Richmond Police Headquarters, where police had formed a riot shield wall and declared the demonstration an “unlawful assembly.” According to Acevedo, someone in the crowd threw a flaming object into a Humvee that had been parked to block protesters. Acevedo said police responded by firing tear gas and flash-bang grenade canisters.
At that point, Acevedo said, he became separated from his Commonwealth Times colleagues. He said he was disoriented and “running blind” because of the tear gas. A journalist from another Virginia paper, Sabrina Moreno of the Richmond Times-Dispatch, helped him around the corner of a building and began pouring milk in his eyes to help him recover from the gas, he said.
Acevedo said a group of at least five police officers came around the corner of the building and suddenly moved in to restrain the two journalists. Video posted on Twitter by activist Jimmie Lee Jarvis shows officers swarm Acevedo and Moreno while they can be heard screaming, “We’re press.” Officers pushed Acevedo face down on the ground, despite his shouts identifying himself as a journalist. Moreno's detainment is documented here.
After he had shouted his identity at least a dozen times, the officers released Acevedo, the journalist said. When Acevedo stood up, he said he was feeling claustrophobic from the lingering effects of the tear gas and the officers in riot gear crowded around him, so he asked an officer to give him some more space. The officer responded “no” close to his face, he said.
Police let Acevedo go after he showed them his press badge identifying him with his photo as working with The Commonwealth Times, he said. Acevedo said he was released less than 10 minutes after police first restrained him.
Acevedo said he has not communicated with the Richmond Police Department about the incident. However, his experience was one of several incidents referenced in a Sept. 1, 2020 letter to Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney and the chief of the Richmond Police Department from the Student Press Law Center and other press freedom groups raising concerns about police treatment of journalists during protests.
In an email responding to the Tracker’s request for comment, a police spokesperson wrote: “The Richmond Police Department has a long history working with our media partners and will continue to do so, with the common goal of public safety in mind.” The spokesperson asked if Acevedo had filed a complaint; told that he had not, the spokesperson said a formal complaint would have given police more details about the incident, but that in general, members of the media are not exempt from a declaration of unlawful assembly.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering these protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
This article has been updated to include the identity of the second journalist detained.
A photographer said a Seattle law enforcement officer pepper-sprayed him while he was covering protests in Seattle, Washington, on July 25, 2020.
The independent photographer, who asked to remain anonymous, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker it was clear police were aiming for his head when he was hit with pepper spray. “The entire right side of my helmet was blue,” he said.
The Washington Post reported there were approximately 2,000 people demonstrating that afternoon, the largest gathering in more than a month, as part of a response to news that federal agents had been deployed to Seattle. That morning, Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best released a statement outlining that officers would carry pepper spray and blast balls, but not tear gas.
During the demonstration, the journalist said he was photographing a large gathering of protesters at the Seattle Central Community College and followed them as they began marching. He broke off from the group, he said, when another group of individuals began damaging property. He told the Tracker that he’d gotten ahead of the march when he heard a large explosion.
Seattle police later reported that a device had exploded, leaving an 8-inch hole in the side of the East Precinct at 12th Avenue and Pine Street. Not long after the explosion, a riot was declared and police began clearing people from the area.
The photographer said he was walking down Pine Street on the sidewalk after the demonstration was declared a riot with a group from Converge Media. He said they were walking away from protesters who were marching in the street when he was hit with pepper spray.
“It was pretty clear that a significant group of us were media,” the photographer said. “I had my NPPA [National Press Photographers Association] badge clearly displayed on the right side of my backpack, with press on my helmet, and a big camera.”
He told the Tracker he was most upset that he couldn’t take anymore pictures with his camera because it was covered in pepper spray.
The photographer said he knew what he was going into and that blast balls had already exploded near his feet, but that he didn’t expect to be sprayed in the face.
“I’m not sure what caused the pepper spray,” he said.
He was wearing a respirator, goggles and a helmet, so the side of his neck was the only part exposed to the chemical irritant. He said he experienced chemical burns, but did not seek medical attention. His camera, a Canon 5D Mark IV, had to be sent in for servicing, he said.
The Seattle Police Department did not respond to a request for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country that followed the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Journalist Jasper Florence was struck with pepper balls fired by law enforcement officers while covering protests in Portland, Oregon, on the night of July 25, 2020.
The protests were among many demonstrations that broke out in response to police violence and in support of Black Lives Matter following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Law enforcement officers in Portland had targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The case resulted in a temporary restraining order on July 2 barring the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists, which was expanded to include federal agents later that month.
The Department of Homeland Security hasn’t responded to requests for comment on any incidents involving its officers. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which operates under DHS, referred the Tracker to the DHS for comment.
Florence was hit with pepper balls while they were documenting confrontations at the courthouse. In photos shared on Twitter, residue from pepper balls could be seen on an equipment bag on Florence’s hip and staining their pants. Their press identification is also visible.
Theese are from last night as I was heading out, you can clearly see I was shot in the chest hip and waist area, I had taken my press badge off my vest at that point but this occured pretty early into th night
— Jasper Florence (They/Them) (@JFlorencePDX) July 26, 2020
They (feds/ppb)seriously don't care
1/ pic.twitter.com/QLfQMNQWwd
Florence told the Tracker that law enforcement officers confronting protesters at the courthouse were firing “fairly indiscriminately” into protesters that night. Florence was wearing press markings, but said they didn’t feel targeted.
“They were trying to fire at the protesters, but they didn’t really think about how they were firing,” Florence said. “It was a caught-in-the-crossfire kind of thing.”
(explitive warning) This clip sucks but I had my camera on a canister that rolled and stopped near me when I looked up they were already firing pepper balls,
— Jasper Florence (They/Them) (@JFlorencePDX) July 26, 2020
Also sorry every time I get hit my immediate reaction is just swearing so bear with me here on that 2/ pic.twitter.com/i84ShdwFyU
Florence wasn’t sure how many times they got hit and described the injuries as minor, leaving bruises for several days. They were wearing a paintball vest, which helped protect their chest from pepper-ball impacts. Florence continued to work after being struck.
Videographer Johnny Lynch said federal agents struck and shoved him, knocking off his helmet while he was covering protests in Portland, Oregon, in the early morning hours of July 25, 2020.
The protests were among many demonstrations that broke out in response to police violence and in support of Black Lives Matter following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Law enforcement officers in Portland had targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The case resulted in a temporary restraining order on July 2 barring the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists, which was expanded to include federal agents later that month.
The Department of Homeland Security hasn’t responded to requests for comment on any incidents involving its officers. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which operates under the DHS, referred the Tracker to the DHS for comment.
Lynch, who was reporting near the intersection of Southwest Third Avenue and Southwest Salmon Street, at the park in front of the Multnomah County Justice Center for Black Zebra Productions, a community-based storytelling production crew, said officers were known to “beat people up” in the park, so he tried to stay close by to document what was happening. “They would always push [press] back if we were up there,” Lynch told the Tracker. “[This] night, they were extra mad. They pulled my gas mask and knocked my helmet onto the ground.”
In a video shared by Lynch and reviewed by the Tracker, officers can be seen aggressively walking toward him. One reaches out to grab what Lynch said was his gas mask and helmet strap. Another grabs the camera, which tilts downward where Lynch’s helmet can be seen rolling on the ground. Lynch said he had been wearing press identifications issued by The Sacramento Bee and Black Zebra Productions.
Officers then pushed him into the line of agents who were firing crowd-control rounds into the crowd, according to Lynch. “I was backing away and then they threw a concussion grenade directly at me that went off a few feet in front of my face,” he said. “Didn’t break anything luckily, but that was a really direct experience.”
Officers also threw a tear gas canister, which Lynch said hit him in the neck and left a chemical burn for a few days, but he said that the canister could have been directed toward the crowd in general.
When reached for comment in the fall of 2020, the PPB told the Tracker it wouldn’t comment on specific incidents, citing continuing litigation in the ACLU case. Then in early 2021, PPB spokesman Derek Carmon said the department was committed to upholding civil rights for all citizens, including by requiring officers to report any use of force for review.
Independent journalist Janet Burns said she was shoved by a police officer while covering a protest in New York City on July 25, 2020.
Burns said she was covering a demonstration that night in Lower Manhattan, at the corner of Delancey and Ludlow streets, for NYC Protest Updates 2020, a Twitter account set up by a group of young journalists after the May killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis sparked nationwide protests. The Twitter account has over 40,000 followers and provides regular coverage of protests and police activity in New York City.
“I was sending in pictures and describing what was happening,” Burns told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, while an editor for the account sent out the actual tweets that night.
According to Burns, clashes between demonstrators and officers had erupted throughout the night, and officers were blocking streets to contain the crowd. Burns said she saw several people tackled and arrested. “I could see that the police had some people among them, at least one of them was still on the ground,” she told the Tracker. Burns said that when she tried to get a better view of protesters held behind the police line, officers blocked her path.
“They didn’t want me to walk in their direction which was the edge of a kettle” she explained, referring to the term describing a common police tactic to surround and arrest protesters during public demonstrations. One of the officers told her that she could not move forward, so she waited a few seconds and asked another officer, who agreed to let her go. “I began walking that way but the [first] officer saw and became angry,” she said.
Burns said the first officer blocked her way, pushing his chest against her to knock her over. “He didn’t use his hands, he used his chest,” she said. Burns said she was not hurt and none of her equipment was damaged. “The guy was just being angry,” she said, referring to the officer who had pushed her.
Burns said she was wearing a press badge from the Freelance Journalists Union and another ID “that says that I’m a professional journalist.”
The New York Police Department did not respond to a request for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Independent journalist Seth Dunlap was shot with pepper ball rounds by a federal agent while he was covering protests in Portland, Oregon, early on the morning of July 25, 2020.
Dunlap, a contributor to the social media news outlet FrontLine Access, was covering one of the protests that had been held in Portland on almost a nightly basis since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering Black Lives Matter protests across the country.
The Portland protests had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists was expanded to include federal agents on July 23.
Demonstrations that began on the night of July 24 outside the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse downtown, a frequent flashpoint of confrontations between protesters and law enforcement, stretched into the early morning. Federal agents declared an “unlawful assembly” around 12:50 a.m., according to a U.S. Department of Homeland Security statement, which estimated that the crowd size was still around 2,000.
Dunlap was filming outside of the courthouse at around 2 a.m. when he was hit, he told the Tracker. Video that Dunlap livestreamed on Facebook showed tear gas blanketing the street outside of the fence that had been erected around the federal building.
About 52 minutes into the video, two agents can be seen through metal fencing, and one appears to gesture at Dunlap. The other agent walks to the fence and positions a gun to point it through a gap in the barricade. “They’re aiming this directly at me I think,” Dunlap can be heard saying.
Continuing to film, Dunlap turns the camera toward himself, showing his neon yellow vest with the word “press” spelled in large black letters on the front.
Then the agent can be seen firing a number of rounds. “He’s shooting me. He’s shooting me,” Dunlap says in the video. “That was pepper balls on me. I want you guys to know that — that was marked press, identified press.”
Dunlap later posted a clip of the encounter on Twitter. “The agent then proceeds to step forward and unload multiple pepper ball rounds directly into my chest and a few others rounds to my left,” he wrote in another tweet.
The press have a legal, and constitutionally protected, right to document and cover these #Portland protests. That right was recently affirmed by U.S. District Judge Michael Simon specifically to these protests. Then, this happens: pic.twitter.com/brZtoeUy8v
— Seth Dunlap (@sethdunlap) July 25, 2020
He told the Tracker that he felt he was targeted for being a journalist. Not only was he marked as “press,” but there were no protesters around him when he was hit, he said.
Dunlap continued reporting after the incident, but he was shocked. “That was the first instance when I had ever had anything like that happen to me so I think I was a little incredulous,” he told the Tracker.
The DHS, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, didn’t respond to a request for comment about the incidents.
Independent social media journalist Joey Wieser said he was shoved by police and sprayed in the face and mouth with a chemical irritant while reporting on a protest in Seattle, Washington, on July 25, 2020.
Protests in Seattle had been held regularly since George Floyd, a Black man, was killed during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 25. In late July, the Seattle protests intensified when the Trump administration deployed U.S. Department of Homeland Security officers to the city, Crosscut reported.
Wieser, who told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he began covering protests in late May by livestreaming and posting videos on social media, said that on July 25 he was reporting from the front of a large protest on 11th Avenue in the Capitol Hill area of Seattle. Police began advancing on the crowd of protesters, shepherding them around a corner onto a narrower street, Wieser said. Because of the size of the crowd, Wieser said, he couldn’t move quickly.
A video he posted on Facebook shows Wieser repeating, “we are moving back, we are being peaceful.” Suddenly, an officer lunges toward him, sprays him and shoves him.
Wieser coughs and shouts out, “Oh my god I just got shoved and sprayed!” Seconds later the camera turns back toward the police, and an officer blasts an orange substance, which Wieser told the Tracker was pepper spray, directly toward Wieser, who begins screaming and repeats “I’m being attacked, I’m being attacked.” The camera becomes blurry from the spray.
Wieser told the Tracker he was “completely incapacitated.”
“I cannot breathe, and I cannot see, and I'm practically flailing about trying to get out of that situation,” Wieser said. “And then I am shoved incredibly hard — I mean the hardest I've ever been shoved in my entire life.”
Seconds later on the video, several bangs can be heard. The video, blurry from the spray on the camera lens, shows a bright orange flash, and Wieser shouts, “That exploded!” He told the Tracker that was when blast balls — explosive devices containing a chemical irritant — started erupting around his feet. He said it felt as though one had gone off directly near him, because he felt heat rushing up his legs.
Wieser said he was incapacitated for about half an hour after he was attacked. The video shows that he retreated to an alley where someone came to help him wash out his eyes. Wieser told the Tracker his Samsung phone, which he used to stream video, was so badly damaged from the spray that he needed to replace it.
In a July 27 declaration he gave for an American Civil Liberties Union motion for contempt, Wieser said he couldn’t open his eyes for at least 15 minutes, and his face, arms and neck were burning. “It was the most excruciating pain I have experienced in my adult life,” he wrote.
The ACLU motion argued that the city had violated an earlier injunction restricting Seattle police from using chemical agents and projectiles, and that the Seattle Police Department “repeatedly targeted journalists with brutal violence” on July 25. The motion led to a modified court order on Aug. 10 that barred police from targeting projectiles and chemical irritants at journalists, as long as they are displaying a press pass or wearing clothing that distinguishes them as members of the media. Wieser, identified as an independent journalist, is named in the ACLU motion.
Wieser said that at the July 25 protest, he was not wearing any press identification, but he stood near other members of the press who repeatedly shouted to police identifying themselves as media.
Weiser said he did not feel that he was targeted because he was a journalist. “I feel that the animosity towards just about anybody on the street was indiscriminate,” he told the Tracker.
Three other journalists — Omari Salisbury and John Mitchell of Converge Media and Renee Raketty of the Seattle Gay News — were also hit with crowd-control devices while covering the July 25 protest, according to statements included in the ACLU suit, interviews with the Tracker and social media footage. Find all incidents from that day here.
Julie Davidow, a spokesperson for the ACLU, said in a statement to the Tracker that the August court injunction had been effective in strengthening protections for journalists, as well as legal observers and medics.
“[W]e have not seen journalists subjected to the same kinds of indiscriminate and excessive police force they faced while covering the demonstrations that took place in Seattle last summer in response to the murder of George Floyd,” Davidow said.
Seattle Police Department spokesperson Randy Huserik told the Tracker in an email that the department investigates cases of use of force or crowd control devices. Huserik confirmed that the department used pepper spray and flash-bang devices on July 25.
“If journalists covering events choose to place themselves within a crowd where those devices may be deployed, they have the potential to be exposed to these devices,” he said.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering these protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Richmond Times-Dispatch reporter Sabrina Moreno was detained by police officers while covering protests in Richmond, Virginia, on July 25, 2020.
On the day and into the night of the 25th, Moreno had been covering protests against racial injustice and police brutality that had moved through the city of Richmond and ended up outside the headquarters of the Richmond Police Department. The protest was among the many demonstrations that broke out in response to police violence and in support of Black Lives Matter following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Shortly after 11 p.m. on the 25th, law enforcement declared the gathering an unlawful assembly, creating a “tense scene” in which protesters taunted police officers and shattered the windows of Humvees, Moreno wrote in a message on Twitter.
About 10 minutes later, a flash-bang grenade was thrown into the middle of a parking lot across from the police station where she and other members of the media were gathered to the side of the protesters, Moreno told the Tracker. She said she became disoriented trying to leave the area and dropped her press pass. Eduardo Acevedo, the news editor of Virginia Commonwealth University’s Commonwealth Times, ran to retrieve her press pass and was hit by tear gas. The two journalists ran to another parking lot, where Moreno poured milk into Acevedo’s eyes in an attempt to counteract the effect of the tear gas.
As Moreno leaned down to return the bottle of milk to her backpack, several police officers appeared around the corner of the wall where they were standing, she said. One officer threw Moreno up against the wall while the others grabbed Acevedo, pulled his hands behind his back, and pushed him to the ground, according to Moreno and a video of the incident shared to Twitter.
I captured footage of @RTDNEWS reporter @sabrinaamorenoo and @theCT news editor @edace2936 being violently manhandled police. You can hear them ID themselves as press multiple times. RPD has repeatedly targeted reporters covering protests over the past couple months. https://t.co/Q1QrBA4dXp pic.twitter.com/WfFiPaPwii
— Jimmie Lee Jarvis (@JLJLovesRVA) July 26, 2020
Moreno’s retrieved press pass fell from her hands as the officer pulled her hands behind her back, she said. She and Acevedo both repeatedly verbally identified themselves as journalists, she said, and they can be heard yelling in the video “I’m press.” The officers eventually released the journalists a few minutes later after inspecting their ID cards, but told them to leave the scene immediately, adding they would be arrested if seen again, Moreno said.
Everything moved quickly. Tear gas and flash bangs landed in the middle of the crowd. I ran with @edace2936 and when I was pouring milk into his eyes in a private parking lot, more than five cops surrounded us and threw us against the wall as we shouted “I’m press”
— Sabrina Moreno (@sabrinaamorenoo) July 26, 2020
Moreno and Acevedo went to a nearby convenience store parking lot to decompress. A few minutes later, some of the same officers appeared and “were making jokes about how they almost arrested members of the press and told us to go home,” Moreno wrote in a message shared on Twitter.
Moreno told the Tracker the officers didn’t believe her when she said members of the media were exempt from rules dictating an unlawful assembly.
According to an article by Moreno published in the Times-Dispatch the next day, Richmond Police Chief Gerald Smith said he would “make a thorough inquiry into the incident and that it will be under review.” Moreno filed a complaint with the police department several weeks later, she said. In March 2021, Moreno was told in a letter that the Internal Affairs investigation had concluded that her claims were unsubstantiated, but that in the course of the investigation other issues were discovered that weren’t in accordance with RPD policy. The letter provided no further details, citing the department’s confidentiality policy, she said.
The Richmond Police Department initially didn’t respond to requests for comment. On April 7 a spokesman said the department had “pulled the file for review,” but wouldn’t be able to comment immediately on the incident.
Acevedo told the Tracker he hadn’t communicated with the Richmond Police Department about the incident. His detainment is documented here.
This article has been updated to include comment from the Richmond Police Department.
Independent photojournalist Maranie Staab was shoved to the ground by a federal officer while she was reporting on protests in Portland, Oregon on July 25, 2020.
Racial justice protests in Portland had been held nightly since the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. The protests had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists was expanded to include federal agents on July 23.
Thousands of people rallied near the Mark O. Hatfield District Court and the Multnomah County Justice Center on July 25, and numerous confrontations erupted between protesters and federal law enforcement agents through the night, The Oregonian reported.
Staab told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she was walking in a park across the street from the Justice Center when a federal officer saw her and, without warning or explanation, shoved her, causing her to fall to the ground.
In a video Staab posted on Twitter, filmed by a social media journalist with Full Revolution Media, a tall person in a blue helmet can be seen pushing another person to the ground. Staab identified herself in her tweet as the person being shoved. “I was thrown to the ground by a #DHS officer while working as a photojournalist in #Portland.”
On Sun. I was thrown to the ground by a #DHS officer while working as a photojournalist in #Portland. (shown twice for clarification)
— Maranie R. Staab (@MaranieRae) July 29, 2020
A grwn man, outfittd for war, was compelld to put his hands on me, unprovoked, & push me to the cement.
I’m fine. But that’s not the point. pic.twitter.com/Pa0ZZJh65I
Staab told the Tracker she does not know why the officer shoved her. “I can't offer anything that makes sense.”
She said that she thought it might have been an effort to get people away from the Justice Center.
Staab said she was carrying her professional camera gear and had used white masking tape with the word “PRESS” written in black marker to label herself on the front and back of her T-shirt, and on her helmet. She said she wasn’t near any protesters at the time she was shoved.
She said she couldn’t be certain whether she was targeted because she was a journalist. None of her equipment was damaged and she wasn’t injured, but she said that the incident raises other concerns.
“To me the biggest issue is just, we're a democracy and our press has consistently been obstructed,” Staab said.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Converge Media producer John Mitchell was pepper-sprayed, hit with projectiles and shoved by law enforcement officers while covering a protest in Seattle, Washington, on July 25, 2020.
According to Crosscut, demonstrators that day had gathered in the Capitol Hill neighborhood both as part of the wave of protests in the wake of George Floyd’s death, on May 25, and in response to the Trump administration’s recent deployment of federal officers to the city. Tensions escalated throughout the afternoon, Crosscut reported, and at 4:25 p.m., police declared the gathering a riot. In the hours that followed, law enforcement repeatedly deployed chemical agents and crowd-control munitions.
The police response to the protest led the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington to file a motion for contempt, arguing that police violated a court order that had been issued in June restricting them from using chemical agents and projectiles.
Mitchell did not respond to the Tracker’s requests for comment, but in a declaration filed as part of the ACLU suit, he said he’d been “standing off to the side of the street with a group of members of the media,” his press badge clearly displayed, when “police began deliberately attacking our group by throwing blast balls right at us, even though our group only contained members of the media.”
Mitchell said that as police were throwing the devices toward the group, a blast ball exploded very near him, with shrapnel hitting him in the neck and arm. A photograph included in the declaration shows a red mark on his neck under his chin.
“Even though I was wearing a neck covering, I felt extreme pain and I had to be helped to the ground because I could barely stand,” he stated in the declaration, dated Aug. 3. “I still can’t hear correctly out of my right ear due to the explosion.”
A couple minutes after the blast ball, he said, as he and his colleagues were trying to leave the area ahead of a line of officers, holding his press badge over his shoulder so he could still be identified as a journalist, police advanced and started to spray blue dye OC spray, also known as pepper spray, at the group. The spray hit Mitchell’s face, arm and credentials. He also stated that he did not hear a warning before the spray was used. “After being sprayed in the face with blue dye OC spray,” he said, “a colleague attempted to administer saline solution and water to flush my eyes. The police forced us to keep moving and wouldn’t let us to stop so I could get medical aid.”
The ACLU motion argued that the Seattle Police Department “repeatedly targeted journalists with brutal violence” on July 25. On Aug. 10, the court issued an order clarifying the initial preliminary injunction and barring police from targeting projectiles and chemical irritants at journalists, as long as they are displaying a press pass or wearing clothing that distinguishes them as members of the media.
Julie Davidow, a spokesperson for the ACLU, said in a statement that the injunction the court approved in August strengthened protections for journalists, as well as legal observers and medics.
“Since the clarified preliminary injunction was approved by the court, we have not seen journalists subjected to the same kinds of indiscriminate and excessive police force they faced while covering the demonstrations that took place in Seattle last summer in response to the murder of George Floyd,” Davidow said.
Seattle Police Department spokesperson Randy Huserik told the Tracker in an email generally that the use of force and crowd-control devices were being investigated by the department and acknowledged that the SPD had used pepper spray and flash-bang grenades that day.
“If journalists covering events choose to place themselves within a crowd where those devices may be deployed, they have the potential to be exposed to these devices,” he said.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Independent journalist Griffin Malone said law enforcement officers targeted him with crowd-control munitions while covering protests in Portland, Oregon, in the early morning hours of July 25, 2020.
The protests were among many demonstrations that broke out in response to police violence and in support of Black Lives Matter following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Law enforcement officers in Portland had targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The case resulted in a temporary restraining order on July 2 barring the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists, which was expanded to include federal agents later that month.
The Department of Homeland Security hasn’t responded to requests for comment on any incidents involving its officers. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which operates under the DHS, referred the Tracker to the DHS for comment.
At 3:05 a.m. on July 25, Malone was shot in the leg with a projectile by a Portland Police Bureau officer. He said he was standing at the intersection of Main Street and Third Avenue at the time of the incident.
Malone tweeted a video of the incident, which shows a water bottle landing at the feet of the officer in the upper right frame. The office then turns and shoots directly at Malone at the eight-second mark.
Here is a water bottle get thrown from IN FRONT OF HIM and then he turns to me and other press and shoots me, clearly labeled press. pic.twitter.com/NcYjlKwCli
— Griffin - Live Protest News (@GriffinMalone6) July 25, 2020
Malone said he was advised in conversations with the ACLU that the incident happened so quickly it would be difficult to prove that it was targeted. However, Malone felt that it was personal. “I had run-ins with that officer earlier in the day and they already acknowledged me and the other press standing in the corner,” he told Tracker.
Malone believes the projectile was a pepper ball. It hit him on part of his leg where he had additional padding, and though it left a tiny bruise he told Tracker it didn’t hurt him badly.
When reached for comment in the fall of 2020, the PPB told the Tracker it wouldn’t comment on specific incidents, citing continuing litigation in the ACLU case. Then in early 2021, PPB spokesman Derek Carmon said the department was committed to upholding civil rights for all citizens, including by requiring officers to report any use of force for review.
Independent journalist Brian Conley said law enforcement officers targeted him with crowd-control munitions while he was covering protests in Portland, Oregon, in the early morning hours of July 25, 2020.
The protests were among many demonstrations that broke out in response to police violence and in support of Black Lives Matter following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Law enforcement officers in Portland had targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The case resulted in a temporary restraining order on July 2 barring the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists, which was expanded to include federal agents later that month.
The Department of Homeland Security hasn’t responded to requests for comment on any incidents involving its officers. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which operates under the DHS, referred the Tracker to the DHS for comment.
At about 2:25 a.m., Conley was filming as federal agents attempted to clear protesters from the intersection of Southwest Third Avenue and Southwest Salmon Street, in front of the courthouse. In a video later posted on Twitter by Conley, federal agents can be seen using tear gas to disperse the crowd and the sounds of other crowd-control munitions being fired can be heard. Conley stood close to federal agents as he filmed.
#pdxprotest but it looks like the gates of hell. I guess sleep deprivation made me forget just how scary the advance of #DHS officers felt after 2am Saturday morning. This video has not been edited, only trimmed for Twitter's length constraints. #portlandprotest pic.twitter.com/EQ3JzbKw6Z
— Brian Conley (@BaghdadBrian) July 26, 2020
At one point, a tear gas canister can be seen flying through the air directly at Conley from the left-hand side of his shot.
“That’s like the second tear gas I’ve been hit with,” he says in the video. “They threw that shit right at me.”
As a tear gas canister smoked on the ground in front of Conley and two other journalists who were wearing gas masks, federal agents can be heard firing more crowd-control rounds.
Conley told the Tracker he believed federal agents deployed the tear gas in his direction, even though he was standing next to federal agents. In the video, it isn’t clear whether the canister was deployed by federal agents. Conley said he was wearing a photographer’s vest and a helmet, both of which had press markings on them.
In a statement that is part of an American Civil Liberties Union suit Conley joined, he said agents began using tear gas for “no discernible reason” and that they gave no warnings or orders to disperse.
When reached for comment in the fall of 2020, the PPB told the Tracker it wouldn’t comment on specific incidents, citing continuing litigation in the ACLU case. Then in early 2021, PPB spokesman Derek Carmon said the department was committed to upholding civil rights for all citizens, including by requiring officers to report any use of force for review.
Independent journalist Seth Dunlap was shoved to the ground by an agent he believes was with ICE or another federal agency while filming protests in Portland, Oregon, on the night of July 25, 2020.
The protests were among many demonstrations that broke out in response to police violence and in support of Black Lives Matter following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Law enforcement officers in Portland had targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The case resulted in a temporary restraining order on July 2 barring the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists, which was expanded to include federal agents later that month.
The Department of Homeland Security hasn’t responded to requests for comment on any incidents involving its officers. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which operates under DHS, referred the Tracker to the DHS for comment.
Dunlap, a contributor to media company Frontline Access, said he was filming officers tearing up medic and water stations from approximately 30 feet away when an officer dressed in black quickly approached him and yelled, “Get the hell out of here.”
Dunlap repeated the language from the preliminary injunction ordering federal officers to not assault or arrest journalists, but the officer shoved him back.
“I calmly cited Judge Michael Simon’s reaffirming ruling to multiple federal officers that night and my interactions were generally fine,” Dunlap wrote to the Tracker. “Then one homeland security guard refused to let me stay and shoved me to the ground forcefully and threatened me with arrest. Only my loud pleas perhaps stopped that from happening, I’m not sure."
In a video Dunlap posted to Twitter that is no longer available, he can be heard saying that, as a member of the working press, he didn’t have to obey orders to disperse. “I’m going to respectfully allow you to do your jobs and you’re going to respectfully allow me to do [mine].”
After Dunlap took a knee, he said the officer turned around and walked away without saying anything else. He sustained several bruises, but didn’t know whether they all came from this incident.
“I felt completely violated not only as press but as a human,” Dunlap said.
Omari Salisbury, the founder of Converge Media, was pepper-sprayed, hit with projectiles and shoved by law enforcement officers while covering a protest in Seattle, Washington, on July 25, 2020.
According to Crosscut, demonstrators that day had gathered in the Capitol Hill neighborhood both as part of the wave of protests in the wake of George Floyd’s death, on May 25, and in response to the Trump administration’s recent deployment of federal officers to the city. Tensions escalated throughout the afternoon, Crosscut reported, and at 4:25 p.m., police declared the gathering a riot. In the hours that followed, law enforcement repeatedly deployed chemical agents and crowd-control munitions.
The police response to the protest led the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington to file a motion for contempt, arguing that police violated a court order that had been issued in June restricting them from using chemical agents and projectiles. Salisbury was named in the motion.
For more than four hours on July 25, Salisbury livestreamed from among the demonstrators on Facebook. About two hours into his coverage, as the journalist and the crowd neared the intersection of Pine Street and 11th Avenue, near the Seattle Police Department’s East Precinct, flash-bang grenades could be heard going off in the distance and a line of law enforcement could be seen forming up the street.
At one point, Salisbury can be seen moving backward suddenly and shouting, “He just threw it right at me,” as officers seemed to be deploying flash-bang grenades toward the crowd.
Throughout his coverage, Salisbury noted several times that he’d been standing with other journalists, often shouting at police and identifying the group as media. Other journalists near him can be seen in the video wearing press credentials and helmets and vests marked “PRESS.”
Shortly after the round of flash-bang grenades, police can be seen forming a line and advancing on the crowd. A row of officers holding batons moves toward the group of press. Salisbury can be heard in the video shouting, “Media, move back!”
In the video, an officer suddenly advances, spraying an orange mist that Salisbury had earlier identified as pepper spray, at multiple people and toward Salisbury’s camera. As Salisbury backs away, he says he couldn’t see or breathe.
About five minutes later, police can again be heard firing munitions toward the crowd and Salisbury shouts out in distress. He later says that a flash-bang grenade had exploded in between his legs. He also says that at some point he’d been hit with “some kind of projectile” or shrapnel, which had cut him under his arm and caused him to bleed.
“We’re taking the brunt of it right now, probably even more than some of the protesters,” he said of members of the press in the livestream.
About half an hour later, as police again began to fire crowd-control munitions on the crowd, a loud bang could be heard in the video. Salisbury backs to a nearby wall and says that a flash-bang grenade had exploded near his left ear and that one had hit Mitchell.
Half an hour later, when police again began to fire on protesters, Salisbury appears to have moved off to a side street. “They’re targeting, they’re targeting,” he says on the video. In a separate video posted to YouTube, filmed later during the protest, Salisbury remarked that while walking with the crowd in front of the police line he was pushed in the back with a police baton three times.
When reached for comment, Salisbury referred the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker to his published videos.
The ACLU motion argued that the Seattle Police Department “repeatedly targeted journalists with brutal violence” on July 25. On Aug. 10, the court issued an order clarifying the initial preliminary injunction and barring police from targeting projectiles and chemical irritants at journalists, as long as they are displaying a press pass or wearing clothing that distinguishes them as members of the media.
Julie Davidow, a spokesperson for the ACLU, said in a statement that the injunction the court approved in August strengthened protections for journalists, as well as legal observers and medics.
“Since the clarified preliminary injunction was approved by the court, we have not seen journalists subjected to the same kinds of indiscriminate and excessive police force they faced while covering the demonstrations that took place in Seattle last summer in response to the murder of George Floyd,” Davidow said.
Seattle Police Department spokesperson Randy Huserik told the Tracker in an email generally that the use of force and crowd-control devices were being investigated by the department and acknowledged that the SPD had used pepper spray and flash-bang grenades that day.
“If journalists covering events choose to place themselves within a crowd where those devices may be deployed, they have the potential to be exposed to these devices,” he said.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Seattle Gay News reporter Renee Raketty was targeted with a blast ball fired by law enforcement officers while covering a protest in Seattle, Washington, on July 25, 2020.
According to Crosscut, demonstrators that day had gathered in the Capitol Hill neighborhood both as part of the wave of protests in the wake of George Floyd’s death, on May 25, and in response to the Trump administration’s recent deployment of federal officers to the city. Tensions escalated throughout the afternoon, Crosscut reported, and at 4:25 p.m., police declared the gathering a riot. In the hours that followed, law enforcement repeatedly deployed chemical agents and crowd-control munitions.
The police response to the protest led the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington to file a motion for contempt, arguing that police violated a court order that had been issued in June restricting them from using chemical agents and projectiles. Raketty was named in the motion.
Raketty told the Tracker she had been photographing the front line as police and protesters were pushing one another back and forth along 11th Avenue. She said that she’d decided to perch herself on a nearby fire escape in order to take photos of the scene. To get there, she said, she’d had to walk behind an armored vehicle. She pointed to her press pass and was allowed to proceed.
While she was sitting on the fire escape, about 10 to 15 feet above a parking lot, an officer who had been at the front of the line parked his bike and wandered in her direction, she said.
In a video she posted on Facebook, the officer can be seen throwing an object, underhanded, in her direction. The video cuts off, she said, just before the object exploded.
“When I saw him throw it, immediately I tried to brace myself,” she said. “The video cuts. The blast goes off. There’s extreme ringing in my ears.”
Raketty told the South Seattle Emerald that she was disoriented from the blast and that she’d hurt her knee while twisting away from the explosion. She told the Tracker that months later she still has hearing damage in her right ear, which her doctor told her is permanent. She said that the blast ball also contained pepper spray, which made her cough.
Raketty said that her press pass, which she wore on a lanyard around her neck, was clearly visible. There were no protesters around her, and the only other people in the area were legal observers.
“I sincerely feel that I was targeted as a member of the press — as a credentialed member who was wearing a press pass — who had been taking photos throughout the day,” she said.
An investigation by the Seattle Office of Police Accountability into the use of the blast ball near Raketty found her allegations “not sustained,” but said the investigation was “inconclusive” because it is not clear whether the officer knew she was there. The report states that the officer had been instructed to dispose of a blast ball that had been activated in the parking lot, and said that the officer did not appear to notice Raketty was there.
The report says that police are taught to dispose of a blast ball if it is prepped and the pin has already been pulled. Raketty disagrees with the report’s conclusion, and noted that her video shows that the officer appeared to pull the pin right before throwing it in her direction.
Raketty also filed a declaration in the ACLU lawsuit.
The ACLU motion argued that the Seattle Police Department “repeatedly targeted journalists with brutal violence” on July 25. On Aug. 10, the court issued an order clarifying the initial preliminary injunction and barring police from targeting projectiles and chemical irritants at journalists, as long as they are displaying a press pass or wearing clothing that distinguishes them as members of the media.
Julie Davidow, a spokesperson for the ACLU, said in a statement that the injunction the court approved in August strengthened protections for journalists, as well as legal observers and medics.
“Since the clarified preliminary injunction was approved by the court, we have not seen journalists subjected to the same kinds of indiscriminate and excessive police force they faced while covering the demonstrations that took place in Seattle last summer in response to the murder of George Floyd,” Davidow said.
Seattle Police Department spokesperson Randy Huserik told the Tracker in an email generally that the use of force and crowd-control devices were being investigated by the department and acknowledged that the SPD had used pepper spray and flash-bang grenades that day.
“If journalists covering events choose to place themselves within a crowd where those devices may be deployed, they have the potential to be exposed to these devices,” he said.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Freelance photojournalist Lee Smith said he was hit with crowd-control munitions shot by federal agents while he covered protests against police violence in Portland, Oregon, on July 24, 2020.
Smith was documenting protests that continued for months in downtown Portland and across the U.S. in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests.
On the evening of July 23, demonstrators gathered outside the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse where law enforcement had constructed a fence around the perimeter. According to news reports, federal officers occasionally warned protesters when they shook or hit the fence. The officers later fired pepper balls at the protesters. At 12:30 a.m. on July 24, Portland Police declared an unlawful assembly after firework mortars and other objects had been launched over the fence, according to a report from the Department of Homeland Security.
Smith told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker federal agents had conducted numerous pushes throughout the night to disperse the protesters, but mostly stayed behind the fence, deploying tear gas, pepper balls and other crowd-control munitions. Officers also positioned themselves on top of the courthouse with long-range flashlights that would emit green lasers, which Smith said law enforcement was using to point out particular individuals.
“They kept singling me and a couple of people out, targeting specific press and activists,” he said. Smith said he had distinct “press” markings on his helmet and backpack and wore a press pass issued by Raindrop Works, a Portland-based site that has covered the protests there. “Eventually that person was either arrested or shot with munitions,” he said, of those picked out by the green lasers.
In a video Smith tweeted later that morning, there is a loud bang at 0:48 and the camera jerks. He can be heard saying, “They just hit me again.” Smith said his press pass had been hit by a canister that exploded and shattered the case.
Feds exploded a CS triple chaser on my chest. Shattering the case my press pass was in. #FedsOut #PortlandProtest pic.twitter.com/hysSDYqobp
— Lee “Threat level -7” Smith (@LeeSmithPDX) July 24, 2020
Smith said he was shot at least 12 times that night by a variety of crowd-control munitions, including pepper balls and foam rounds. He said the hits left bruises across his body, especially on his chest. He said he also suffered effects from tear gas and pepper spray, and he told the Tracker that at some point his iPhone 6S camera was broken.
Smith’s injuries came just hours after a judge’s July 23 preliminary injunction barred federal agents from harming or impeding journalists. The ruling was upheld by an appeals court in October.
The Department of Homeland Security didn’t respond to a request for comment on the incidents.
Oregon Public Broadcasting reporter Rebecca Ellis was one of at least eight journalists struck by crowd-control munitions fired by federal law enforcement officers during a protest in Portland, Oregon on July 24, 2020, despite a fresh court order barring federal agents in the city from harming members of the press covering protests.
Portland had been experiencing daily protests over the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
The presence of federal law enforcement in Portland in July intensified the city's regular protests and the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse in downtown Portland became a nightly flashpoint. A temporary restraining order from July 2 that barred Portland police from harming or impeding journalists was expanded to include federal agents on July 23. Despite the expansion of the temporary restraining order, the following day numerous journalists were hit with crowd control munitions in the vicinity of the federal courthouse as protesters again gathered there. Some said they believed they were targeted.
The Department of Homeland Security, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, didn’t respond to a request for comment. In its “Portland Riots Read-out” DHS said one federal officer was injured during the protest, which began the night of July 23 and went through the morning of July 24.
“No injuries to protestors or rioters have been reported” the statement added. It didn’t mention any injuries to journalists, despite reports some reporters were hurt.
Ellis was struck with a projectile fired by federal agents as she filmed them advancing at the intersection of Southwest Main Street and Southwest Third Avenue next to the federal courthouse.
A video posted to Twitter by Ellis at 1:27 a.m. shows federal agents firing several projectiles that appear to be tear-gas canisters as they advance down Southwest Main. The video shakes and Ellis can be heard exclaiming “ow!” as one of the projectiles strikes her in the hand.
“Feds approaching and just got shot in hand trying to film. Don’t think that TRO worked,” she wrote on Twitter alongside the video, referencing the temporary restraining order.
She told the Tracker she was wearing a lanyard with press credentials and was standing alongside other journalists in front of a huge crowd of protesters behind her. She believes police were attempting to fire at protesters.
She said the projectile left “a little mark for a few days, it wasn’t anything serious at all.”
Independent journalist Brian Conley was struck with crowd-control munitions fired by federal agents and said he also was targeted with a tear gas canister during a protest in Portland, Oregon, on July 24, 2020, despite a fresh court order barring federal agents in the city from harming members of the press covering protests.
Portland had been experiencing daily protests over the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
The presence of federal law enforcement in Portland in July intensified the city's regular protests and the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse in downtown Portland became a nightly flashpoint. A temporary restraining order from July 2 that barred Portland police from harming or impeding journalists was expanded to include federal agents on July 23. Despite the expansion of the temporary restraining order, the following day numerous journalists were hit with crowd-control munitions in the vicinity of the federal courthouse as protesters again gathered there. Some said they believed they were targeted.
The Department of Homeland Security, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, didn’t respond to a request for comment. In its “Portland Riots Read-out” DHS said one federal officer was injured during the protest, which began the night of July 23 and went through the morning of July 24.
“No injuries to protestors or rioters have been reported” the statement added. It didn’t mention any injuries to journalists, despite reports some reporters were hurt.
At about 4 a.m., Conley said he was filming a line of federal agents outside the federal courthouse at the corner of Southwest Third Avenue and Southwest Salmon Street. In a statement that is part of an ACLU suit Conley has joined, he wrote that the crowd was sparse and “mostly press.”
Video shot by Conley shows a protester approaching federal agents and dancing in front of them while holding flowers. After several minutes, federal agents can be seen grabbing the protester. As other protesters tried to intervene and wrest the detained protester from the agents, the officers began firing crowd-control munitions.
“Suddenly, without warning, the federal agent at the Courthouse shot me multiple times in my chest and my foot with incredibly painful impact munitions,” Conley wrote. “I was not in front of the few remaining protestors. There was nobody else nearby except press and a few medics. The pain was immense, but I continued to document what was happening.”
In the video, Conley can be heard yelling “Press! Press! Right here man, press!”
He said he was wearing a photographer’s vest and helmet with press markings and was filming with a large camera.
“I was very much there as a member of the press,” he told the Tracker. “I was doing my best to stay away from protesters.”
After several minutes, federal agents went inside the protective fence surrounding the courthouse.
In the video, Conley can be heard saying: “So let’s be clear, I was definitely just shot multiple times despite announcing that I was press, despite being a plaintiff in a federal complaint. I was not directly in front of the protesters, I was keeping my distance.”
Soon after, he said a tear gas canister was deployed directly at his head.
“There was no warning. It was shooting flames and exploded above me,” he wrote in a statement that is part of the ACLU suit.
Freelance journalist Sergio Olmos said he was struck by crowd-control munitions fired by federal law enforcement officers during a protest in Portland, Oregon,on July 24, 2020, despite a fresh court order barring federal agents in the city from harming members of the press covering protests.
Portland had been experiencing daily protests over the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
The presence of federal law enforcement in Portland in July intensified the city's regular protests and the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse in downtown Portland became a nightly flashpoint. A temporary restraining order from July 2 that barred Portland police from harming or impeding journalists was expanded to include federal agents on July 23. Despite the expansion of the temporary restraining order, the following day numerous journalists were hit with crowd-control munitions in the vicinity of the federal courthouse as protesters again gathered there. Some said they believed they were targeted.
The Department of Homeland Security, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, didn’t respond to a request for comment. In its “Portland Riots Read-out” DHS said one federal officer was injured during the protest, which began the night of July 23 and went through the morning of July 24.
“No injuries to protestors or rioters have been reported” the statement added. It didn’t mention any injuries to journalists, despite reports some reporters were hurt.
Olmos said he was struck in the leg with what he described as “some kind of flash bang” while filming the protest at the federal courthouse.
In a video Olmos uploaded to Twitter at 1:13 a.m., sparks can be seen flying above the journalist before a canister tumbles in front of him and a bang is heard.
Some kind of flash bang goes off on my legs, it hurt enough that I had to walk off for a bit, but didn’t burn through my sambas. I’m good pic.twitter.com/5A0po4jDhO
— Sergio Olmos (@MrOlmos) July 24, 2020
“Some kind of flash bang goes off on my legs, it hurt enough that I had to walk off for a bit, but didn’t burn through my Sambas. I’m good,” he wrote on Twitter.
Later, after he left downtown Portland, Olmos shared a picture of small blood spots on the back of his leg writing: “must have burned through my pants.”
Olmos didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Independent social media journalist Teebs Auberdine was hit with projectiles on the legs and ankle fired by federal agents while covering protests in downtown Portland, Oregon on July 24, 2020.
Protests had been held in Portland on almost a nightly basis since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering Black Lives Matter protests across the country.
The Portland protests had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists was expanded to include federal agents on July 23.
Early on July 24, Auberdine was standing on the sidewalk across Southwest Third Avenue from the courthouse when federal agents came out from behind the fencing to push protesters back, Auberdine told the Tracker.
Auberdine said federal agents were firing projectiles to drive protesters away, and a flash-bang grenade went off less than a foot away from her, slightly below their waist to the side. She said another projectile hit her in the ankle, causing bruising and swelling.
Auberdine later posted a photograph on Twitter of the black pants she was wearing that night, which were coated in residue and white powder she said was from the crowd control munitions federal agents used.
Got shot at & hit a lot tonight, I have a fresh bruise on my ankle.
— Teebs (@TeebsGaming) July 24, 2020
I was also hit in the back of the legs with (what I'm pretty confident was) an OC canister.
Are these pants salvageable, or am I gonna ruin my laundry machine? pic.twitter.com/IDVUEpLx4V
Auberdine said she was wearing a black bulletproof vest with the word “press” spelled in large white letters on the front and back. She also carried a microphone.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, didn’t respond to a request for comment about the incidents.
KATU ABC 2 photojournalist Ric Peavyhouse was struck by crowd-control munitions fired by federal law enforcement officers during a protest in Portland, Oregon, on July 24, 2020, despite a fresh court order barring federal agents in the city from harming members of the press covering protests.
Portland had been experiencing daily protests over the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
The presence of federal law enforcement in Portland in July intensified the city's regular protests and the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse in downtown Portland became a nightly flashpoint. A temporary restraining order from July 2 that barred Portland police from harming or impeding journalists was expanded to include federal agents on July 23. Despite the expansion of the temporary restraining order, the following day numerous journalists were hit with crowd-control munitions in the vicinity of the federal courthouse as protesters again gathered there. Some said they believed they were targeted.
The Department of Homeland Security, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, didn’t respond to a request for comment. In its “Portland Riots Read-out” DHS said one federal officer was injured during the protest, which began the night of July 23 and went through the morning of July 24.
“No injuries to protestors or rioters have been reported” the statement added. It didn’t mention any injuries to journalists, despite reports some reporters were hurt.
Peavyhouse was filming federal agents though a protective fence around the federal courthouse when he was “hit by something that felt like buckshot,” he wrote on Twitter at 1 a.m. alongside a video he uploaded of the incident.
Feds came out. Tear gas. I got hit by something that felt like buck shot 44 seconds in. #PDXprotest #PortlandProtest pic.twitter.com/efdS9p6u2V
— Ric Peavyhouse (@RPeavyhouse) July 24, 2020
In Peavyhouse’s video, protesters can be heard taunting federal agents on the other side of the fence before the camera jerks sharply and Peavyhouse retreats.
At 2:15 a.m., Peavyhouse tweeted a photograph of a hospital wristband and wrote “not how you want a protest to end.” He replied to a comment saying he had something “stuck in his eye.”
In a tweet that afternoon Peaveyhouse wrote: “My best guess for what hit me in the eye last night was pepperball shrapnel shot at head level. Going frame-by-frame, it looks like officers shooting from the steps hit the officer in front of me and then I went down. I felt similar debris/shrapnel the other night. #pdxprotest”
Neither Peavyhouse nor a news director at KATU ABC 2 responded to requests for comment.
Independent journalist and livestreamer Rosa Watts said she was struck by crowd-control munitions fired by federal law enforcement officers during a protest in Portland, Oregon, on July 24, 2020, despite a fresh court order barring federal agents in the city from harming members of the press covering protests.
Portland had been experiencing daily protests over the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25.
The presence of federal law enforcement in Portland in July intensified the city's regular protests and the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse in downtown Portland became a nightly flashpoint. A temporary restraining order from July 2 that barred Portland police from harming or impeding journalists was expanded to include federal agents on July 23. Despite the expansion of the temporary restraining order, the following day numerous journalists were hit with crowd-control munitions in the vicinity of the federal courthouse as protesters again gathered there. Some said they believed they were targeted.
The Department of Homeland Security, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, didn’t respond to a request for comment. In its “Portland Riots Read-out” DHS said one federal officer was injured during the protest, which began the night of July 23 and went through the morning of July 24.
“No injuries to protestors or rioters have been reported” the statement added. It didn’t mention any injuries to journalists, despite reports some reporters were hurt.
Watts said she was struck with a projectile fired by federal agents as she filmed through the federal courthouse’s protective fence in the early morning of July 24.
In a video captured by freelance journalist Matthieu Lewis-Rolland, Watts can be seen standing next to the fence wearing a helmet and jacket marked “press” in large letters. A projectile flies toward her from the left, appearing to hit her in the chest before she falls backward onto the ground.
Video of Feds shooting #press in the face in violation of #TRO @ACLU_OR @AthulKAcharya pic.twitter.com/fkGS2bHEcX
— Mathieu Lewis-Rolland (@MathieuLRolland) July 24, 2020
Watts replied to the video by saying it was her in the footage. She didn’t respond to requests for comment from the Tracker.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Jasper Florence was struck in the head with a projectile fired by federal agents while the independent journalist was documenting the protests in Portland, Oregon, on July 24, 2020, despite a fresh court order barring federal agents in the city from harming members of the press covering protests.
Portland had been experiencing daily protests over the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
The presence of federal law enforcement in Portland in July intensified the city's regular protests and the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse in downtown Portland became a nightly flashpoint. A temporary restraining order from July 2 that barred Portland police from harming or impeding journalists was expanded to include federal agents on July 23. Despite the expansion of the temporary restraining order, the following day numerous journalists were hit with crowd-control munitions in the vicinity of the federal courthouse as protesters again gathered there. Some said they believed they were targeted.
The Department of Homeland Security, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, didn’t respond to a request for comment. In its “Portland Riots Read-out” DHS said one federal officer was injured during the protest, which began the night of July 23 and went through the morning of July 24.
“No injuries to protestors or rioters have been reported” the statement added. It didn’t mention any injuries to journalists, despite reports some reporters were hurt.
“I have just been shot in the head,” Florence tweeted at 12:33 a.m.
Florence said they were on their phone writing a tweet when they were hit.
“It was just sort of like a blunt force impact and then just powder everywhere,” said Florence, who described the projectile as larger than a pepper ball, a munition frequently used by law enforcement across the country that Florence has been hit with before.
Florence was wearing a helmet, but said they believed they had suffered a concussion, experiencing brain fog, difficulty thinking and migraines in the following days. The helmet was marked as “press” as was a paintball vest they were wearing that night. Florence said they believed the press markings were visible to federal agents and that the incident was targeted.
Florence said later that night they were struck with what they believe was a tear gas canister in the knee, which destroyed a plastic motorcycle knee guard they were wearing. Florence said the knee remained sore for the following days but wasn’t seriously injured.
Los Angeles Times correspondent Melissa Etehad said she was targeted with crowd-control munitions fired by federal law enforcement officers during a protest in Portland, Oregon, on July 24, 2020, despite a fresh court order barring federal agents in the city from harming members of the press covering protests.
Portland had been experiencing daily protests over the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
The presence of federal law enforcement in Portland in July intensified the city's regular protests and the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse in downtown Portland became a nightly flashpoint. A temporary restraining order from July 2 that barred Portland police from harming or impeding journalists was expanded to include federal agents on July 23. Despite the expansion of the temporary restraining order, the following day numerous journalists were hit with crowd-control munitions in the vicinity of the federal courthouse as protesters again gathered there. Some said they believed they were targeted.
The Department of Homeland Security, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, didn’t respond to a request for comment. In its “Portland Riots Read-out” DHS said one federal officer was injured during the protest, which began the night of July 23 and went through the morning of July 24.
“No injuries to protestors or rioters have been reported” the statement added. It didn’t mention any injuries to journalists, despite reports some reporters were hurt.
Etehad told the Tracker she posted on Twitter that she was struck in the waist with a “rubber bullet” while covering the protest.
Also—I was hit by a rubber bullet on my waist even though I had clearly identified myself as a reporter and had just showed my credentials to agents just minutes before
— Melissa Etehad اتحاد (@melissaetehad) July 24, 2020
According to notes Etehad supplied the Tracker, federal agents outside the Multnomah County Justice Center deployed tear gas directly at her and a group of reporters at about 1:30 a.m. on July 24. She said the agents were about 10 feet away when they used the tear gas.
Following the deployment of tear gas, Etehad said she was holding up press identification to make it clear to federal agents that she was a journalist. She said she was staying away from protesters and was close enough to federal agents that they could see she was press.
According to her notes, at 1:45 a.m. she turned around to leave the area as federal agents began moving on protesters and again firing tear gas. “That’s when I got hit by the rubber bullet,” she told the Tracker.
She estimated she was at least 15 feet away from the nearest protester when she was hit in the waist while trying to retreat. Etehad was wearing a high-visibility vest, a gas mask and a helmet when she was hit. She also had press credentials hanging on a lanyard around her neck and was holding them up to show agents.
“I’m 99% sure I was targeted,” she said, noting again that she was close enough for agents to identify her and had remained in the same spot for a while before fleeing. “I was away from the protesters. It was aimed at me. They knew I was a journalist.”
Etehad said the projectile left a bruise that lasted several weeks and that it hurt to walk in the following days. “I got lucky,” she said.
Radio producer Wyatt Reed says he was targeted with crowd-control munitions fired by federal law enforcement officers during a protest in Portland, Oregon, on July 24, 2020, despite a fresh court order barring federal agents in the city from harming members of the press covering protests.
Portland had been experiencing daily protests over the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
The presence of federal law enforcement in Portland in July intensified the city's regular protests and the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse in downtown Portland became a nightly flashpoint. A temporary restraining order from July 2 that barred Portland police from harming or impeding journalists was expanded to include federal agents on July 23. Despite the expansion of the temporary restraining order, the following day numerous journalists were hit with crowd-control munitions in the vicinity of the federal courthouse as protesters again gathered there. Some said they believed they were targeted.
The Department of Homeland Security, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, didn’t respond to a request for comment. In its “Portland Riots Read-out” DHS said one federal officer was injured during the protest, which began the night of July 23 and went through the morning of July 24.
“No injuries to protestors or rioters have been reported” the statement added. It didn’t mention any injuries to journalists, despite reports some reporters were hurt.
Reed, an independent journalist and producer for radio show By Any Means Necessary on the Russian state-owned Radio Sputnik, was hit in the hand and knee by a tear gas canister fired by federal agents.
In a video Reed posted to Twitter at 3:05 a.m., he can be seen holding his bloodied right hand up and saying: “They shot me with some kind of canister, and fucked my hand up, I think my finger might have been broken.”
Feds just shot me directly with a tear gas cannister right before taking 4th & Main in Portland. I was sitting down on my phone and they hit me out of nowhere. At least one finger sprained & all my stuff covered in blood now pic.twitter.com/WQbkRWFAHk
— Wyatt Reed (@wyattreed13) July 24, 2020
Reed told the Tracker he was wearing a helmet that was labeled “press” and had duct tape that said “press” on his clothing. He said he believed he was targeted given that he had positioned himself away from protesters.
“I just personally wasn’t near anybody. I’m sure I was at least 20-some feet from everyone else,” he said.
Reed said his knee was “super inflamed” for a few days and that it was pretty hard to walk. Speaking to the Tracker in November, four months after the incident, he said he still felt pain in his knee he didn’t have before the incident.
“I can’t tell if I was lucky or unlucky, because I think it probably could have been a lot worse,” he said.
Reporter and photojournalist Shauna Sowersby said she was targeted with crowd-control munitions by federal agents while she was covering protests in downtown Portland, Oregon, early on July 23, 2020.
Protests had been held in Portland on almost a nightly basis since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering BLM protests across the country.
The Portland protests had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists wasn’t expanded to include federal agents until July 23. The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon filed a class-action lawsuit.
Sowersby, whose work has been published by the Daily Beast, KNKX Public Radio and the Pacific Northwest nonprofit news outlet Crosscut, was near the right side of the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse early that morning.
When federal agents approached the crowd and began shooting pepper balls, an officer aimed one directly at her, which hit her on her ribs, she posted on Twitter at 2:20 a.m.
Went off to the side to take photos (not on federal property) and got hit directly in the ribs by an officer shooting pepperballs. I’m clearly marked as “press.” The spot is welting and bruising already, holy shit it hurts. #PortlandProtest
— Shauna Sowersby (@Shauna_Sowersby) July 23, 2020
“At the moment, I kind of blacked out for a second because it's very painful,” she told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
Sowersby said she felt that police clearly aimed the pepper ball directly at her, and she was targeted as a member of the press. She said she was holding her camera and wearing a press badge, and was clearly marked as a member of the media.
After leaving the scene briefly, she said she went back to cover the protests, still affected by her injury.
“You're just kind of running on adrenaline at that point right so you get back in and I covered the rest of the night everything, but it was very painful,” she said.
A photograph she posted on Twitter later that morning showed a red welt on her torso where she was struck. A few days later, she went to the emergency room and was told by doctors she had sustained a small rib fracture and rib contusion, she said.
Sowersby said that she hasn’t pursued any action against the federal agencies to recover her medical costs, which totaled around a couple thousand dollars. She told the Tracker she thinks it is unlikely that filing a complaint or trying to recover the costs would have any effect.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, didn’t respond to a request for comment about the incidents.
Freelance photojournalist Nathan Howard was hit twice with pepper balls fired by federal agents while he was covering a protest in Portland, Oregon, in the early hours of July 23, 2020.
Protests had been held in Portland on almost a nightly basis since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering BLM protests across the country.
The Portland protests had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists wasn’t expanded to include federal agents until July 23. Howard testified about another incident to support the class action lawsuit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon, that led to the TRO.
Thousands were protesting in downtown Portland on the evening of July 22, when Mayor Ted Wheeler attended and was hit with tear gas alongside demonstrators, ABC News reported. Protesters continued to demonstrate outside the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse past midnight, with the Portland police declaring an “unlawful assembly” at around 12:30 a.m.
Howard was outside the courthouse sometime between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. when a protester who had breached a metal fence surrounding the federal building was injured, he told the Tracker. As two other protesters carried him out, Howard said, federal officers came out of the building to arrest a woman who was inside the fence.
Howard, who was on assignment for Getty Images, said he ran up to photograph the arrest. As he was taking pictures, he said, agents shot him with pepper balls through the fence. After briefly backing away from the fence, he approached again to continue taking photos and was hit with a second burst of pepper balls.
In a video posted on Twitter by photojournalist Justin Yau at 1:34 a.m., Howard, wearing jeans and a green shirt, can be seen approaching the fence and looking through his camera. About 12 seconds into the video, Howard steps back as a burst of white powder comes through the fence. When he approaches again, more powder bursts through.
Several have just been arrested. Federal agents rushed out of the building and grabbed several on the portico. This female protester can be heard screaming as she is dragged away. #PortlandProtest #PDXprotests #BLACKLIVESMATTER pic.twitter.com/upP2iYZQif
— Justin Yau (@PDocumentarians) July 23, 2020
The impact of the pepper balls left him with welts and cuts on his forearms, which were exposed, and also caused him to cough.
“The way that it works when they’ve got the fence up is they fire through it and it shreds the pepper balls as it goes through, so they kind of like shrapnel into you,” he told the Tracker, adding that his equipment wasn’t damaged.
While Howard was wearing press identification at the time, he said he doesn’t think he was targeted as press.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, didn’t respond to a request for comment about the incidents.
Photojournalist Mathieu Lewis-Rolland said he was hit in the chest with a tear gas canister deployed by federal agents while he was covering protests in downtown Portland, Oregon, early on July 23, 2020.
Protests had been held in Portland on almost a nightly basis since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering BLM protests across the country.
The Portland protests had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists wasn’t expanded to include federal agents until July 23. Lewis-Rolland is a plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon.
Lewis-Rolland, whose work has been published by the Portland Mercury, The New York Times and Reuters, said he was struck in the chest with a tear gas canister fired by federal agents early the morning of July 23.
Video shared by Lewis-Rolland with the Tracker shows canisters of tear gas being shot down the middle of an empty street, when sparks suddenly fly close to the frame. Lewis-Rolland abruptly jerks his camera, and as he moves away, a tear gas canister is visible on the sidewalk.
In an Aug. 10 document filed in the ACLU lawsuit, Lewis-Rolland said that the canister struck him.
According to the court papers, when he was covering protests in Portland at that time in July he had started wearing a fluorescent vest with a transparent pocket, where he displayed a press badge issued by the Portland Mercury. He also wore a helmet and backpack with the word “PRESS” written in several places.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, didn’t respond to a request for comment about the incidents.
Federal officers struck Black Zebra videographer Johnny Lynch multiple times and dragged him to the ground as Lynch covered protests against police violence in Portland, Oregon, on July 22, 2020.
Black Zebra Productions, based in Sacramento, California, is a video production company that has drawn thousands of views for its livestreams at Black Lives Matter protests across Sacramento. Company videographer Lynch was in Portland covering one of the many protests that continued for months in that city following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25.
On the night of July 21, protesters gathered outside of the Multnomah County Justice Center in downtown Portland. A report issued by the Department of Homeland Security said that about 2,000 people had gathered by 10:30 p.m., when “rioters started to launch mortar-style fireworks over the fence at the federal courthouse and officers.” The DHS report also said protesters attacked a fence put up around the courthouse. In response, federal officers deployed tear gas, flash bang grenades and other crowd control munitions for several hours to break up the crowd, according to news reports.
In an interview with the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, Lynch said federal officers rushed protesters numerous times to disperse the group and deployed crowd control munitions, including tear gas and pepper balls.
"There was tear gas everywhere," Lynch told the Tracker. “I got my gas mask back on and went out to the Justice Center and that's when the rush happened."
In a live stream shared on Facebook by Black Zebra Productions, federal officers can be seen running towards a crowd of people at 1:24:03 into the video. Lynch said the rush began shortly after midnight July 22. Lynch, who is wearing an orange helmet, is caught in the commotion and pushed to the ground. A few seconds later he can be seen running away from the officers and smoke that is enveloping the crowd. Another video posted by Black Zebra shows, in split screen, the attack as seen from the livestream alongside footage from Lynch’s camera. In Lynch's perspective, which is in the top frame of the video, a federal officer's baton can be seen slamming down towards the camera.
"They said move, I turned around, and then they hit me," Lynch told the Tracker. "They hit me a couple of times [and] dragged me into a cloud of tear gas that had just started to go off." He said another officer hit him while he was being dragged on the ground.
"This was very obviously a group of camera people," Lynch said. "That officer was standing there next to me for at least long enough to have seen my camera.”
Lynch said he had been wearing press passes issued by The Sacramento Bee and Black Zebra Productions. He said he lost his lens hood, sustained several bruises across his body and suffered nausea from the tear gas. After he left the scene, he said he regrouped with his team and they continued documenting till 2 a.m. on July 22.
DHS didn’t respond to a request for comment on the incidents.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country. The Tracker documented a previous incident involving Black Zebra here.
Rach Wilde, an independent photojournalist working for Black Zebra Productions, says she was shoved to the ground by a federal officer while covering protests against police violence in Portland, Oregon, on July 22, 2020.
Team members from Black Zebra Productions, a community-based storytelling production crew, were documenting protests that have been ongoing for months in downtown Portland and across the U.S. in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. In mid-July, federal agents were dispatched to the city, increasing tensions and drawing backlash.
On the night of July 21, protesters had gathered outside the Multnomah County Justice Center. By 10:30 p.m., the situation had escalated, according to a report from the Department of Homeland Security, the agency coordinating the federal presence in Portland. Around 12:30 a.m., Wilde told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she was looking toward the side of the building, where officers were shooting impact munitions from a window.
“Out of nowhere, I heard a slight commotion. They [federal agents] just popped up and were right next to me,” she said. “Right as I turned around, one of the federal officers was beelining straight toward me.”
Wilde said the officer shoved her “as hard as he could” and kept running past her. In a livestream shared on Facebook by Black Zebra, federal officers can be seen running toward a crowd of people at 1:24:03.
Wilde, who was dressed in all black with a helmet and gas mask on, said she was pushed straight into a tree. “I hit my knee and my shoulder really bad,” she told the Tracker. She said her shoulder still hurts if she does certain movements and her knee will occasionally act up. The body of her camera was also damaged, as it hit the ground first, according to Wilde.
“It was clearly a pocket of press,” she said. “All of us had cameras. Majority had press presses.”
Wilde said she was wearing a press pass issued by Black Zebra Productions around her neck. After she left the scene, she regrouped with her team and they continued documenting until 2 a.m.
DHS did not respond to a request for comment on the incident.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Photojournalist John Rudoff was struck in the leg with a projectile fired by federal agents in Portland, Oregon, early on the morning of July 22, 2020, causing injuries that forced him to temporarily stop reporting on the demonstrations.
Protests had been held in Portland on almost a nightly basis since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering BLM protests across the country.
The Portland protests had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists wasn’t expanded to include federal agents until July 23. Rudoff is a plaintiff in the class-action lawsuit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon, that led to the ban.
On the night of July 21, the “Wall of Moms” and thousands of other demonstrators converged on the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse downtown, where frequent confrontations between protesters and federal agents continued into the early hours of the next morning, according to the local KPTV news station.
Around 12:40 a.m. on the 22nd, Rudoff was documenting a protest at the intersection of Southwest Fourth Avenue and Southwest Salmon Street, a block from the courthouse, according to a declaration he provided in the ACLU case. While Rudoff was photographing a line of federal officers, he felt “a tremendous strike and extreme pain” on his leg, according to the document.
Rudoff, whose work has been published by Rolling Stone, the Nation and The New York Times, told the Tracker he was shot with a universal projectile ammunition, which is used in a riot gun.
He “hobbled” across the street, where friends assisted him with first aid, according to the declaration. Rudoff wasn’t able to continue his assignment, he wrote, since he was “in too much pain,” and the pain continued throughout the night after he went home. Photographs of the injury provided in the declaration, taken hours after the incident, show a raw, red abrasion.
Rudoff told the Tracker that he wasn’t near any protesters at the time he was struck, and believes that he was targeted. He was wearing a helmet and vest emblazoned with the word “press” in large letters, as well as a laminated press credential issued by the National Press Photographers Association, he wrote in the declaration.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, didn’t respond to a request for comment about the incidents.
Photojournalist Mathieu Lewis-Rolland was hit with crowd-control munitions and tear gas fired by federal agents while covering protests in Portland, Oregon, on July 22, 2020, causing damage to his camera.
Lewis-Rolland, an independent photographer whose work has been published by the Portland Mercury, The New York Times and Reuters, was covering one of the protests that had been held in Portland almost nightly since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering Black Lives Matter protests across the country.
The Portland protests had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists wasn’t expanded to include federal agents until July 23. Lewis-Rolland is a plaintiff in the class-action lawsuit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon, that led to the ban.
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler, who had been criticized for his handling of law enforcement during the protests, attended the demonstrations the night of July 22. Protesters confronted the mayor for tactics the city police used to crack down on demonstrators, according to local news outlet KATU, while the mayor spoke out against the presence of federal law enforcement agencies in Portland.
Lewis-Rolland was standing about six feet from the mayor outside the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse, a focal point of the protests, when he was hit with munitions, according to a statement he provided for the ACLU case.
In a video Lewis-Rolland posted on Twitter, a crowd is seen up against the metal fence that had been set up around the courthouse. A round of shots can be heard, followed by Lewis-Rolland exclaiming, “I just got shot! I just got shot!” As he moves away from the fence, a white cloud of tear gas envelopes the crowd, including the mayor, who can be seen facing the fence and wearing a blue shirt and goggles.
“So if life could't get any stranger for me, last night I was shot with less lethal's by feds and then tear gassed all while standing next to @tedwheeler, the mayor of Portland, Oregon,” Lewis-Rolland wrote in the post.
So if life could't get any stranger for me, last night I was shot with less lethal's by feds and then tear gassed all while standing next to @tedwheeler, the mayor of Portland, Oregon. 2020 won't quit. pic.twitter.com/bclUiUBEFT
— Mathieu Lewis-Rolland (@MathieuLRolland) July 23, 2020
Wheeler was likely hit with tear gas at around 11:15 pm., according to KATU.
In the court statement, Lewis-Rolland said the munitions first hit the metal fencing, and the shrapnel damaged his camera and backpack. He didn’t respond to a request for comment about the damage to his equipment.
In the statement, Lewis-Rolland said that beginning on July 22, he started wearing a reflective yellow vest with a transparent pocket, where he displayed a press pass issued by the Portland Mercury. He also had “press” marked on his white bicycle helmet and on his backpack.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, didn’t respond to a request for comment about the incidents.
Independent journalist Laura Jedeed said she was covering protests in downtown Portland, Oregon, when federal agents threw tear gas canisters toward her at least twice in the early hours of July 22, 2020.
Protests had been held in Portland on almost a nightly basis since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. The Portland protests had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists wasn’t expanded to include federal agents until July 23. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering BLM protests across the country.
On the night of July 21, the “Wall of Moms” and thousands of other demonstrators converged on the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. courthouse downton for a number of confrontations with the federal agents that continued past midnight, according to the local KPTV news station.
Jedeed, a contributor to Portland Monthly and Willamette Weekly, live-tweeted protest scenes from outside the courthouse, where federal law enforcement officers were stationed. Using the Twitter handle @defendpdx, Jedeed reported throughout the night that federal agents repeatedly fired tear gas canisters at protesters, while demonstrators started fires and threw fireworks and tear gas canisters back toward the courthouse.
In a tweet that is no longer available online, Jedeed said “At least twice, the feds launched a tear gas cannister directly at me. I was not hurt, but others aren't so lucky.”
Jedeed confirmed the events to the Tracker.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, didn’t respond to a request for comment about the incidents.
A member of a press collective known as the 45th Absurdist Brigade was shoved by a federal officer covering protests in downtown Portland, Oregon, on July 22, 2020.
Protests had been held in Portland on almost a nightly basis since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. The Portland protests had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists wasn’t expanded to include federal agents until July 23. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering BLM protests across the country.
On the night of July 21, the “Wall of Moms” and thousands of other demonstrators converged on the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. courthouse downtown for a number of confrontations with the federal agents that continued past midnight, according to the local KPTV news station.
The journalist, who asked not to be named, was filming on the sidewalk across from the courthouse. A video the journalist posted to the collective’s Twitter at 1:57 a.m. shows officers advancing on a line of protesters with pepper balls and batons.
They come out of the courthouse hitting people with sticks pic.twitter.com/ikueMx3gy9
— 45th parallel absurdist brigade (@45thabsurdist) July 22, 2020
The journalist told the Tracker that while filming the scene with a phone, they witnessed a few people get shoved by police officers. The journalist attempted to stand back from the crowd by staying on the sidewalk, not huddled with other protesters or members of the press. An officer ran by and physically pushed several people back, including the journalist, who added that they may have been shoved with a baton.
“I was standing there filming and I got shoved,” the journalist said. “They just came out and shoved like four people in a row. And I was one of them.”
The journalist said they were clearly marked as “press” by large letters on their helmet, a sticker on their back and front, and press identification. However, they weren’t sure if they were targeted as press because officers were pushing a lot of people back.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, didn’t respond to a request for comment about the incidents.
Rosie Riddle said she was targeted with projectiles by federal agents in Portland, Oregon, on July 22, 2020, causing injuries that forced her to temporarily stop reporting on the demonstrations.
Protests had been held in Portland on almost a nightly basis since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering BLM protests across the country.
The Portland protests had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists wasn’t expanded to include federal agents until July 23. Rudoff is a plaintiff in the class-action lawsuit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon, that led to the ban.
On the night of July 21, the “Wall of Moms” and thousands of other demonstrators converged on the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse downtown, where frequent confrontations between protesters and federal agents continued into the early hours of the next morning, according to the local KPTV news station.
A little after 2 a.m on the 22nd, Riddle was outside the courthouse, at the intersection of Southwest Third Avenue and Southwest Salmon Street, when she was hit with crowd-control munitions fired by federal agents, she said.
Riddle was struck after a protester threw a tear gas canister back at federal agents and ran behind her, she told the Tracker. The officers fired pepper balls, hitting Riddle twice in the stomach.
“I don’t know if the cop was trying to shoot through me or misfired or whatever,” she said.
After briefly retreating a few blocks to assess her injury, Riddle returned and continued taking pictures, she said. The situation was calm when she returned, she added, with protesters staying far behind her and away from the federal agents.
But soon after she returned, Riddle was hit again by crowd-control munitions in the leg, she said, adding that she believes the same agent hit her both times.
“I was pretty much alone up there,” she said, noting that no protesters were close to her. “It was just me up there trying to take pictures of the line while nothing was happening.”
Riddle, who was wearing a helmet marked “press” in large white letters and was displaying two red press passes, believes she was targeted the second time she was hit.
The projectile hit the left side of her right calf, causing her to bleed and making it difficult to walk, she told the Tracker, so she stopped reporting to find a medic. The wound was swollen and seeped for a week, she said, adding that she had trouble walking for several weeks and took a week off of reporting due to the injury. The injury left Riddle with a scar that she says still “throbs” when she walks uphill.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, didn’t respond to a request for comment about the incidents.
Documentary photographer Rian Dundon was on assignment for the Economic Hardship Reporting Project on July 22, 2020, when he was repeatedly thrown to the ground and pinned down by a federal officer while covering protests in downtown Portland, Oregon, according to a lawsuit filed by the photographer in 2022.
Protests had been held in Portland on almost a nightly basis since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May. The Portland protests had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists wasn’t expanded to include federal agents until July 23. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documented assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering BLM protests across the country.
Dundon filed a lawsuit against the regional director of the Department of Homeland Security, which coordinated the federal presence in Portland, and more than 100 federal officers in April 2022. Dundon declined to comment on advice from counsel.
According to the suit, Dundon was photographing a fire started outside the Mark O. Hatfield Federal Courthouse in downtown Portland alongside other journalists in a group away from protesters, and was wearing a press badge.
“Federal officers dressed in military fatigues and wearing gas masks approached Plaintiff [Dundon] and the other journalists from behind,” the lawsuit states. “Plaintiff turned to run, but federal officers grabbed him and threw him to the ground.”
Dundon landed on a live, unexploded gas canister which then exploded.
“Plaintiff stood and again tried to flee, but federal officers again threw him to the ground. Federal officers then pinned Plaintiff on the ground,” the lawsuit says. In footage of the incident, Dundon can be seen pinned under an officer as a cloud of gas engulfs them.
Federal officers stormed towards the crowd from the North entrance arresting many along the way. There was a brief exchange of tear gas cannisters flying in different directions. #PortlandProtest #Portland #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/ggIS9vhLv9
— Justin Yau (@PDocumentarians) July 22, 2020
“One of the Marshals rips the press ID from around my neck,” Dundon wrote in a description of the incident for The Washington Post. “Another pinned me under the gas with his nightstick for 10 excruciating seconds before allowing me to leave the area.
“I walked home with third-degree burns that night, bedraggled but buzzing on residual adrenaline,” Dundon wrote.
The lawsuit alleges that the officers violated Dundon’s First and Fourth Amendment rights and restricted his ability to cover the protests. Neither Dundon’s attorneys nor DHS responded to requests for additional information.
“Targeting journalists was not a quirk of the federal enforcement efforts, it was one of its objectives,” the suit alleges. “DOJ and DHS agents could have completed the objectives of their response without causing harm to Plaintiff.”
The Tracker documented seven other journalists assaulted while covering the Portland protests that day.
Dundon is seeking noneconomic, economic and punitive damages in the lawsuit.
This screenshot, cited in Rian Dundon’s lawsuit, shows the photographer after he was thrown to the ground amid protests in Portland, Oregon, in July 2020. The 2022 suit alleges that federal officers deliberately targeted him.
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Jardula said he had arrived in Portland two days earlier with his colleague Fiorella Isabel Mayorca to cover the Portland protests that had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased.
Demonstrations against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the U.S. since late May. They were sparked by a video showing the death of George Floyd, a Black man, while in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25.
Jardula told the U.S Press Freedom Tracker he arrived at a demonstration at approximately 9:30 p.m. on July 20 outside the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse downtown, where federal law enforcement officers were stationed.
Jardula streamed live on YouTube for several hours, documenting the demonstration and interviewing protesters. He said he returned to a van parked nearby that they had been using as a media station and spot to rest and regroup a little after midnight. Dubbed the “Bernie Van,” it was owned by progressive activist David Crow and had been used as he independently campaigned for U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders during the recent Democratic primary. It was adorned with progressive slogans, including “Defund the Police.”
While inside the van at approximately 12:30 a.m., Jardula saw what he believed were federal law enforcement officers in riot gear come out of the courthouse and start to throw tear gas canisters on the ground to push protesters back, he said.
“We started choking from the smoke that came in,” Jardula said. “We were pouring water on our faces. We were almost panicking.”
The Tracker has documented Mayorca’s assault here.
Jardula continued to film the scene. An officer saw Jardula and Mayorca and alerted other agents to the van. Video posted on Twitter shows an officer pointing a gun at the van before a group of officers approach, shining flashlights on them and hitting the windows until they shatter.
Watch how the @theconvocouch team @yopasta & myself were inside the Berrnie Van, as feds descended upon us and began tear-gassing protestors. We couldn’t get out bc of the gas but we also couldn’t breathe. Feds then smashed the windows & pointed guns at us as the vid goes black. pic.twitter.com/jw0dOAeW22
— Fiorella Isabel🪓 ☭ ⚒🔥🕊 (@Fiorella_im) July 21, 2020
Jardula said that it appeared that the federal officers “wanted everybody out of that area, no matter who you are. They were setting a perimeter to push everyone back.”
While a number of federal agencies reportedly had officers in Portland in July, it wasn’t clear to Mayorca and Jardula which agency the officers they encountered were from. The Department of Homeland Security, which coordinated the federal presence in Portland, did not respond to requests for comment.
After the van’s windows were smashed, Jardula said he left the vehicle and shouted to the officers that he was a member of the press.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Independent journalist Mason Lake said an individual assaulted him while he was covering a demonstration in Portland, Oregon, on July 21, 2020.
The Portland-based videographer was covering one of the many protests that broke out in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
The Portland protests, held nightly since late May, had grown more intense by late July as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in recent weeks.
Sometime before midnight the evening of July 21, Lake was filming around the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse in downtown Portland, where protesters had been engaging in confrontations with federal law enforcement officers.
Then an individual at the demonstration came up to Lake and started accusing him of being a snitch and of filming protesters’ faces, Lake told the Tracker, adding that he responded by questioning why he was being singled out when there were many other cameras that were filming protesters’ faces.
“It escalated from there,” he said. In a video captured by Sergio Olmos, a journalist for Oregon Public Broadcasting — which Lake later retweeted — someone in a black hoodie can be seen punching Lake, who was wearing a gas mask and helmet, in the face several times.
“He took the first swing,” said Lake. “Once he hit me it got my mask out of the way, so I couldn’t see. The crowd rushed in and pulled him off me.”
Lake, who didn’t suffer serious injuries from the attack, told the Tracker he wasn’t sure who punched him. He said he wasn’t informing on protesters or filming their faces, and that his camera was aimed down at the time of the confrontation. Portland protesters have worried that footage of them at demonstrations could lead to arrests.
The assault on Lake came over a week after some Instagram and Twitter accounts accused Lake of being a “snitch,” or police informant, Lake said. The claims were posted after Lake had published videos of federal law enforcement arrests of protesters on his Twitter account.
The social media posts targeting Lake included screenshots of text messages purporting to be from Lake in which he admits to sending footage of protesters to the police. Lake, however, told the Tracker that he never sent those messages and that they were photoshopped.
“On Facebook, people started bombarding me and banning me in protest groups that I shared my photos in,” said Lake, adding that he started receiving death threats on social media and in texts. “I was in fear of leaving my house of people jumping me.”
The night after the initial assault, Lake was attacked again by protesters in an incident that sent him to the hospital. He wasn’t filming at the time.
Lake has also been repeatedly shot at with crowd-control munitions by federal and local law enforcement officers while documenting protests in Portland. After getting shot by a projectile that injured his arm on May 31, Lake filed a lawsuit against the city of Portland over the alleged battery by the police.
Mike Baker, Seattle bureau chief for The New York Times, was struck in the head by a federal officer while covering protests in Portland, Oregon, in the early hours of July 21, 2020.
Baker was covering one of the many protests that broke out in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
The Portland protests, held nightly since late May, had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists wasn’t expanded to include federal agents until July 23.
Demonstrations that began the night of July 20 stretched into the early hours of the next day, according to the Oregonian, as the “Wall of Moms” and other protesters confronted federal officers stationed at the Mark O. Hatfield federal courthouse downtown.
Not long after midnight, Baker was observing protesters try to pry protective plywood off of the federal courthouse when federal agents emerged from the building to confront the crowd. One agent came up from behind Baker and hit him in the back of the head, knocking him over.
At 12:31 a.m., Baker tweeted: “The feds came rushing out aggressively. Throwing people to the ground, tear gas, firing less-lethals. One ran at me and punched me in the head, knocked me to the ground. I’m ok.”
Baker also tweeted a video captured by livestreamer Eric Greatwood that shows a federal agent approaching Baker from behind before hitting him. Baker was wearing a gas mask and helmet and appeared to be standing away from the protesters when he was assaulted.
Things happened so fast last night, I wasn't quite sure the details of the federal officer hitting me. It looks like someone captured a bit at the end of this clip.
— Mike Baker (@ByMikeBaker) July 22, 2020
Out of personal curiosity, I'd welcome more footage if people have some.
To reiterate: I'm fine. Be back tonight. pic.twitter.com/0wE7YchZJr
Baker said he didn’t believe he was targeted as press. “I think they were just going towards the protest crowd and just kind of hit me along the way,” he told the Tracker.
Despite being struck in the head and knocked to the ground, Baker said he wasn’t injured.
The Department of Homeland Security, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, said in a statement that officers used pepper balls and tear gas to respond to an “assault” against the courthouse and law enforcement officers by rioters. DHS didn’t respond to a request for comment on the incident involving Baker.
Channel One Russia cameraman Viacheslav Arkhipov was assaulted by federal agents while covering protests against police violence with colleague Yuliya Olkhovskaya in Portland, Oregon, on July 21, 2020.
Protests continued for months in downtown Portland in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. On the evening of July 21, demonstrators gathered outside the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. courthouse, where protesters held signs and sang songs, according to Olkhovskaya, the Washington, D.C. bureau chief for the outlet.
The gathering remained peaceful, she told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, until some new arrivals began to agitate the crowd. A Department of Homeland Security report about the evening describes several hours of violence, including attempts to set fire to the courthouse and break into its entrance.
Arkhipov and Olkhovskaya, had State Department-issued press badges visibly displayed and had a camera on a tripod nearby, Olkhovskaya said.
Olkhovskaya said that they were watching the courthouse scene at about 9 p.m. when officers came from the back door and kicked her. The Tracker documented her assault here.
Arkhipov said a federal agent hit his right wrist with a baton and a second federal agent grabbed his backpack from behind and pushed him to the ground.
"Two agents snatched the camera out of my hands and threw it on the ground,” he said. “Then one of the agents kicked the camera with his boot."
After the officers left the area, Arkhipov returned to the courthouse area, only to find the camera had been destroyed.
The camera’s memory card wasn’t damaged so the crew managed to file a story about the protest and the encounter with what the story described as “extremely aggressive” security forces.
According to an Izvestia news report, the Russian Federation sent official complaints to the United States about the Portland attack and another assault on Channel One journalists in Philadelphia in October. The Dec. 15, 2020, story said there had been no response from the U.S.
The Department of Homeland Security didn’t respond to a Tracker request for comment on the two Channel One incidents.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Mike Bivins was sprayed with a chemical irritant by federal law enforcement officers while covering protests in Portland, Oregon, in the early hours of July 21, 2020. Multiple other journalists also reported being targeted with crowd-control munitions that day.
The journalists were covering one of the many protests that broke out in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
The Portland protests, held nightly since late May, had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists wasn’t expanded to include federal agents until July 23.
Demonstrations that began the night of July 20 stretched into the early hours of the next day, according to the Oregonian, as the “Wall of Moms” and other protesters confronted federal officers stationed at the Mark O. Hatfield federal courthouse and the Multnomah County Justice Center downtown.
Around 12:30 a.m., as protesters tried to pry protective plywood off the courthouse, federal agents emerged from the building to confront the crowd. Around that time, Bivins was documenting federal agents yelling at protesters to disperse and pushing people back when he got pepper sprayed in the eyes, he told the Tracker.
In a video Bivins shared with the Tracker, a federal agent is seen rushing up to him and yelling, “Get out, now!” Then the video goes askew as the agent sprays Bivins.
“I could feel it all on the side of my head,” Bivins told the Tracker. “I thought my skin was going to fall off.” While Bivins was wearing protective glasses, he said that within a minute after getting sprayed, he could no longer see out of his left eye. Several protesters led him away and provided him with assistance.
Independent journalist Mike Bivins shared an image with the Tracker where rashes from the pepper spray are visible on his chest and neck. The chemicals also ruined his clothes, Bivins said.
Bivins had a press identification from the local news outlet Village Portland hanging around his neck and visible to the officers, he said.
Bivins said he plans to sue the Department of Homeland Security for $1 million over the incident. His attorney, Michael Fuller, sent the agency a notice of intent to sue on his behalf in November.
DHS, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, said in a statement that officers used pepper balls and tear gas to respond to an “assault” against the courthouse and law enforcement officers by rioters. The agency didn’t respond to a request for comment on the incidents.
The Portland police said in a statement that its officers weren’t present and didn’t engage with protesters that evening.
Sarah Jeong, an opinion writer for The New York Times and columnist for The Verge, said she was thrown down courthouse steps while reporting in Portland, Oregon, on July 21, 2021.
Jeong was covering one of the many protests that broke out in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
The Portland protests, held nightly since late May, had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists wasn’t expanded to include federal agents until July 23.
On the night of July 21, the “Wall of Moms” and thousands of other demonstrators converged on the Mark O. Hatfield federal courthouse downton for another night of confrontations with the federal agents, according to the local KPTV news station. When some individuals began pulling off the plywood blocking access to the courthouse shortly after 11 p.m., federal agents emerged from the building to clear the area.
Jeong was standing in front of the courthouse in an area that is elevated several steps above the sidewalk, she told the Tracker. Federal agents exited the courthouse and swept right to left, clearing the crowd of protesters in front of the building, she said.
Jeong, who was standing in the center of the crowd, began to slowly back up while holding up her press identification, she said. Her helmet was also clearly marked “press.” A federal agent then pushed her down the steps, she said, adding that she believes the agent shoved her while trying to arrest someone near her.
Jeong went fully airborne and landed on her back. Her backpack protected her from further injury, she said, but she had a bad bruise and suffered whiplash for a few days after the event.
Soon after she was pushed, at 11:19 p.m., Jeong tweeted, “Curious if anyone got video of feds throwing me down the steps of the courthouse?”
While Jeong doesn’t have direct footage of the push, she did find a video posted by another Twitter user showing the events leading up to the incident. About 19 seconds into the video, Jeong can be seen wearing a white helmet clearly marked “press.” She appears again briefly around 27 seconds into the video, on the elevated part of the courthouse, as an aggressive arrest is being made.
“It’s really hard for me to imagine that they didn’t know that they were pushing a journalist,” Jeong told the Tracker, but added that she isn’t sure if she was targeted as a member of the press.
“I was not that close to other people, I was clearly not a threat, I was holding up my badge, I was being very purposefully non-threatening,” said Jeong, who gave a declaration to the ACLU about the incident in support of a restraining order against federal agents. Since the restraining order was granted on July 23, her declaration wasn’t included in the suit.
The Department of Homeland Security, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, said in a statement that officers were “forced” to leave the courthouse to repel a “mob” of protesters. DHS didn’t respond to a request for comment on this incident.
Freelance journalist Griffin Malone said he was hit with crowd control munitions fired by federal agents while he was covering a protest in Portland, Oregon, in the early hours of July 21, 2020.
Malone was covering one of the many protests that broke out in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
The Portland protests, held nightly since late May, had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists wasn’t expanded to include federal agents until July 23.
Demonstrations that began the night of July 20 stretched into the early hours of the next day, according to the Oregonian, as the “Wall of Moms” and other protesters confronted federal officers stationed at the Mark O. Hatfield federal courthouse and the Multnomah County Justice Center downtown.
After dispersing protesters shortly after midnight and then retreating, federal agents emerged again around 2:30 a.m. to use crowd control munitions to disperse the smaller crowd that remained at the courthouse, according to the Oregonian.
Malone was hit by a ricocheting munition or piece of shrapnel while documenting federal agents clear the area outside of the Justice Center from across the street.
In a video Malone posted at 3:10 a.m., the camera goes askew about 16 seconds into the footage as he gets hit. “Feds pushed. One arrested, then I was shot in the foot. You can see the camera jump,” he tweeted.
Malone doesn’t believe that he was targeted for being press, he said, because he was moving at the time he was hit. “I don’t think I was targeted, I was just running,” Malone, who wears press identification, a yellow vest and a helmet marked “press” to identify himself while reporting, told the Tracker.
The Department of Homeland Security, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, said in a statement that officers used pepper balls and tear gas to respond to an “assault” against the courthouse and law enforcement officers by rioters. DHS didn’t respond to a request for comment on this incident.
The Portland police said in a statement that its officers weren’t present and didn’t engage with protesters that evening.
Freelance journalist Michael Elliott said he was struck with a foam-tipped crowd-control munition while he covered a protest outside the Mark O. Hatfield federal courthouse in Portland, Oregon, on July 21, 2020.
Elliott was covering one of the many protests that broke out in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
The Portland protests, held nightly since late May, had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists wasn’t expanded to include federal agents until July 23.
On the night of July 21, the “Wall of Moms” and thousands of other demonstrators converged on the courthouse downton for another night of confrontations with the federal agents. according to the local KPTV news station. When some protesters began pulling off the plywood blocking access to the courthouse shortly after 11 p.m., federal agents emerged from the building to clear the area.
Elliott, who says his work has been published by VICE, Oregon Public Broadcasting and Willamette Week among others, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was reporting from a sidewalk near independent journalist Eric Greatwood, who was livestreaming the protests with a camera attached to the top of a 20-foot pole.
The two journalists were standing on the corner of Third Avenue and Salmon Street, a block north of the federal courthouse.
“The federal agents were at the northwest corner of the Mark O. Hatfield federal courthouse and they were firing at anything and everything by Lownsdale Park,” Elliott said. “I’m not entirely sure what it was that required them to have such a heavy response. At that point, most of the dispersal that they were gunning for had happened.
“Nothing Eric or I were doing solicited the firing of the weapon other than just being there.”
Elliott told the Tracker he was struck in the right shin with a foam-tipped round; Greatwood was struck multiple times as well. Both of the journalists were wearing press badges around their necks and helmets marked “PRESS,” Elliot said.
The Department of Homeland Security, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, said in a statement that officers were “forced” to leave the courthouse to repel a “mob” of protesters. DHS didn’t respond to a request for comment on this incident.
The Portland Police Bureau said in a statement that its officers weren’t present and didn’t engage with protesters that evening.
Journalist Michael Elliott was struck with a foam-tipped projectile while covering a July 2020, protest in Portland. He said federal agents responding to the demonstration were "firing at anything and everything."
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest, shot / shot at",,,,, Journalist livestreaming Portland protest hit with multiple projectiles,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-livestreaming-portland-protest-hit-with-multiple-projectiles/,2021-10-04 17:24:14.372748+00:00,2022-03-10 16:52:51.349153+00:00,2022-03-10 16:52:51.281953+00:00,,Assault,,,,Eric Greatwood (Independent),,2020-07-21,False,Portland,Oregon (OR),45.52345,-122.67621,"Independent journalist Eric Greatwood was among multiple journalists who said federal law enforcement officers targeted them with crowd-control weapons on July 21, 2020, while he was covering protests in Portland, Oregon.
The journalists were covering one of the many protests that broke out in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
The Portland protests, held nightly since late May, had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists wasn’t expanded to include federal agents until July 23.
Demonstrations that began the night of July 20 stretched into the early hours of the next day, according to the Oregonian, as the “Wall of Moms” and other protesters confronted federal officers stationed at the Mark O. Hatfield federal courthouse and the Multnomah County Justice Center downtown.
Greatwood had been livestreaming the protests with a camera attached on top of a 20-foot pole when federal agents in camouflage advanced down Southwest Main Street, shooting munitions. He was hit twice with less-lethal munitions as he walked away from a line of federal agents.
Greatwood’s livestream shows munitions flying through the air, capturing the moment that he was hit the first time, around the 4:57:30 mark. “That one hurt,” he can be heard saying.
About 20 seconds later, the footage captures the moment Greatwood was struck again, this time in the buttocks. The pain was much worse this time, Greatwood told the Tracker, and can be heard moaning in the video. He left the protest shortly after due to the pain.
DHS, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, said in a statement that officers used pepper balls and tear gas to respond to an “assault” against the courthouse and law enforcement officers by rioters. The agency didn’t respond to a request for comment on the incidents.
The Portland police said in a statement that its officers weren’t present and didn’t engage with protesters that evening.
Jonathan House, a photo editor and photographer for Pamplin Media Group and the Portland Tribune, said he was shot with an impact munition while covering protests in Portland, Oregon on July 21, 2020. Multiple other journalists also reported being targeted with crowd-control munitions that day.
House was covering one of the many protests that broke out in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
The Portland protests, held nightly since late May, had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists wasn’t expanded to include federal agents until July 23.
Demonstrations that began the night of July 20 stretched into the early hours of the next day, according to the Oregonian, as the “Wall of Moms” and other protesters confronted federal officers stationed at the Mark O. Hatfield federal courthouse and the Multnomah County Justice Center downtown.
House was filming from across the street from the courthouse and Justice Center when he was shot in the arm. A video that House posted on Twitter at 12:34 a.m. shows a fire in the plaza on Southwest Main Street where an elk statue used to stand. About 29 seconds into the video, the frame wobbles as House is hit. “Federal agents moved in to clear the crowd. My arm got shot with an impact munition as I was taking this video (near the end),” House tweeted.
Federal agents moved in to clear the crowd. My arm got shot with an impact munition as I was taking this video (near the end). pic.twitter.com/fgCrYhymPO
— Jonathan House (@jonhouse_) July 21, 2020
House said he believes he was targeted. "This felt like the first time that I was specifically targeted," he told the Portland Tribune. "That rubber bullet was six inches from putting me into the hospital."
House told the Tracker that he was wearing a bright blue climbing helmet marked “press,” as well as identification on his backpack and a large press pass.
“I understand that you shoot tear gas out and it just takes up whole city blocks, especially if it’s windy,” he said. “But it seems particularly egregious if I’m kind of just standing there and I’ve got both my hands up while I’m filming something, and then one shot is literally coming right at me and hitting me.”
DHS, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, said in a statement that officers used pepper balls and tear gas to respond to an “assault” against the courthouse and law enforcement officers by rioters. The agency didn’t respond to a request for comment on the incidents.
The Portland police said in a statement that its officers weren’t present and didn’t engage with protesters that evening.
Mathieu Lewis-Rolland said he was shot with pepper balls and targeted with a tear gas grenade on the morning of July 21, 2020 in Oregon, Portland. Multiple other journalists also reported being targeted with crowd-control munitions that day.
The journalists were covering one of the many protests that broke out in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
The Portland protests, held nightly since late May, had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists wasn’t expanded to include federal agents until July 23.
Demonstrations that began the night of July 20 stretched into the early hours of the next day, according to the Oregonian, as the “Wall of Moms” and other protesters confronted federal officers stationed at the Mark O. Hatfield federal courthouse and the Multnomah County Justice Center downtown.
After retreating, federal agents emerged again after 2 a.m. to use crowd control munitions to disperse the smaller group of protesters that remained at the courthouse, according to the Oregonian. Around that time, agents shot pepper balls at Lewis-Rolland and threw a tear gas grenade in his direction, he said.
In footage of the incident that Lewis-Rolland provided the Tracker, he can be heard saying, “This is what makes me nervous, when there’s all this smoke and they don’t know who is who.”
Seconds later, federal officers begin to fire in his direction and he moves behind a tree.
“I have my hands in the air, I’m marked as press, I’m being fired upon,” Lewis-Rolland can be heard saying as he backs away. Then one officer advances towards him and tosses a tear gas grenade in his direction.
Lewis-Rolland’s helmet, T-shirt and backpack were all marked “press,” according to an interview he did with Buzzfeed. He also said he wrapped his Nikon camera in fluorescent tape so that officers don’t mistake it for a weapon.
Lewis-Rolland told Buzzfeed that officers were pointing their weapons at protesters and press alike that night. "I saw them pointing them at everybody and anyone, including me," he said, adding, “Last night was the most horrifying thing I have ever experienced in my life.”
Lewis-Rolland, a defendant in the ACLU class action suit, provided testimony about an incident earlier in July in which he was injured by munitions fired by federal agents.
DHS, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, said in a statement that officers used pepper balls and tear gas to respond to an “assault” against the courthouse and law enforcement officers by rioters. The agency didn’t respond to a request for comment on the incidents.
The Portland police said in a statement that its officers weren’t present and didn’t engage with protesters that evening.
Rach Wilde was one of multiple journalists who said federal law enforcement officers targeted them with crowd-control weapons while they were covering protests in Portland, Oregon, in the early hours of July 21, 2020.
The journalists were covering one of the many protests that broke out in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
The Portland protests, held nightly since late May, had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists wasn’t expanded to include federal agents until July 23.
Demonstrations that began the night of July 20 stretched into the early hours of the next day, according to the Oregonian, as the “Wall of Moms” and other protesters confronted federal officers stationed at the Mark O. Hatfield federal courthouse and the Multnomah County Justice Center downtown.
Around 12:30 a.m., as protesters tried to pry protective plywood off the courthouse, federal agents emerged from the building to confront the crowd.
Around the same time, Wilde was covering events across the street from the Justice Center when federal officers rushed the crowd and targeted her with baton rounds and pepper balls, she told the Tracker.
“We were filming this rush, and they were shooting whoever and whenever they wanted,” she said. Wilde had been filming officers who were “aggressively either detaining or arresting” a protester when “one of them looked straight at me, pointed his weapon at my body and hit my ankle with a baton round.” She wore press identification issued by Black Zebra Production, an independent media organization, around her neck.
“They continued to shoot at me [with pepper balls] as I was literally hopping away,” Wilde told the Tracker. “I had little marks on my backpack from when they shot at me.”
Wilde, who had previous experience as a street medic, said she regrouped behind a car and continued to document throughout the night.
Afterwards, Wilde went to the hospital for an X-ray and learned that she had a “very deep bone bruise and possible hairline fracture.” She said she is unable to walk for prolonged periods of time and feels like she is “spraining it all over again” if her ankle is hit a certain way. She said she plans to return to the hospital for another X-ray soon.
DHS, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, said in a statement that officers used pepper balls and tear gas to respond to an “assault” against the courthouse and law enforcement officers by rioters. The agency didn’t respond to a request for comment on the incidents.
The Portland police said in a statement that its officers weren’t present and didn’t engage with protesters that evening.
Independent journalist Garrison Davis was hit by a crowd-control munition fired by federal law enforcement officials while covering a protest outside the Mark O. Hatfield federal courthouse in Portland, Oregon, on July 21, 2020.
Davis was covering one of the many protests that broke out in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
The Portland protests, held nightly since late May, had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists wasn’t expanded to include federal agents until July 23.
On the night of July 21, the “Wall of Moms” and thousands of other demonstrators converged on the courthouse downton for another night of confrontations with the federal agents, according to the local KPTV news station. When some individuals began pulling off the plywood blocking access to the courthouse shortly after 11 p.m., federal agents emerged from the building to clear the area.
Shortly before midnight, Davis was hit in the thigh by a projectile as federal agents were moving back into the courthouse.
“As the Feds retreat into the courthouse they shoot tons of impact additions, like rubber bullets, towards anyone they see. I was hit pretty hard in the thigh,” he tweeted.
As the Feds retreat into the courthouse they shoot tons of impact additions, like rubber bullets, towards anyone they see. I was hit pretty hard in the thigh. #PortlandMoms #blacklivesmatter #protest #pdx #portland #oregon #blm #acab #PortlandProtest #PDXprotest #Feds #MOMTIFA pic.twitter.com/DsWHmdHV1z
— Garrison Davis (@hungrybowtie) July 22, 2020
The accompanying video, taken while Davis was standing behind a concrete pillar, shows the retreating federal agents shooting through tear gas.
Davis posted photos of his injury, which he said was sustained through “heavy duty” pants, in a follow-up tweet.
“I had to limp for a few days, it wasn’t pleasant,” Davis told the Tracker.
He does not believe that he was targeted. “I think I put myself in a position to get a good shot, and they were firing rubber bullets wildly in that direction and I got hit,” he said.
The Department of Homeland Security, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, said in a statement that officers were “forced” to leave the courthouse to repel a “mob” of protesters. DHS didn’t respond to a request for comment on this incident.
Journalist Fiorella Isabel Mayorca said she was caught in a cloud of tear gas and had guns pointed at her by law enforcement officers as she covered protests with her colleague in Portland, Oregon, on July 21, 2020. She also said officers smashed the windows of a van they were using.
Mayorca, the co-owner of The Convo Couch, a Los Angeles-based video news outlet, said she arrived in Portland two days earlier to cover protests that had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased.
Demonstrations against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the U.S. since late May. They were sparked by a video showing the death of George Floyd, a Black man, while in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25.
Mayorca told the U.S Press Freedom Tracker she arrived at a demonstration at around 9:30 p.m. on July 20 outside the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse downtown, where federal law enforcement officers were stationed.
Mayorca and Craig Jardula, another co-owner of The Convo Couch, streamed live on YouTube for several hours, documenting the demonstration and interviewing protesters. They said that a little after midnight, they returned to a van parked nearby that they had been using as a media station and spot to rest and regroup. Dubbed the “Bernie Van,” it was owned by progressive activist David Crow and had been used as he independently campaigned for U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders during the recent Democratic primary. It was adorned with progressive slogans, including “Defund the Police.”
While inside the van at approximately 12:30 a.m., they saw what they believed were federal law enforcement officers in riot gear come out of the courthouse and start to throw tear gas canisters on the ground to push protesters back, Mayorca said.
Mayorca continued to film the scene when she said an officer saw them and alerted other agents to the van. Video shows an officer pointing a gun at the van before a group of officers approach, shine flashlights on them and hit the windows until they shatter.
Watch how the @theconvocouch team @yopasta & myself were inside the Berrnie Van, as feds descended upon us and began tear-gassing protestors. We couldn’t get out bc of the gas but we also couldn’t breathe. Feds then smashed the windows & pointed guns at us as the vid goes black. pic.twitter.com/jw0dOAeW22
— Fiorella Isabel🪓 ☭ ⚒🔥🕊 (@Fiorella_im) July 21, 2020
Mayorca said the officers told them to “Get the fuck out."
“They pointed guns at us,” she said. “It made me feel like they were the enemy, when they’re supposed to be putting in order, so to speak.”
The Tracker documented Jardula’s assault here.
While a number of federal agencies reportedly had officers in Portland in July, it wasn’t clear to Mayorca which agency the officers they encountered were from. The Department of Homeland Security, which coordinated the federal presence in Portland, did not respond to requests for comment.
After the van’s windows were smashed, Mayorca said they left the vehicle and shouted to the officers that they were members of the press.
“They did let us walk out, and we were able to get safely out of there,” Mayorca said.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Yuliya Olkhovskaya, the Washington, D.C., bureau chief for Russia’s Channel One, said that she and cameraman Viacheslav Arkhipov were assaulted by federal agents while covering protests against police violence in Portland, Oregon, on July 21, 2020.
Protests continued for months in downtown Portland in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. On the evening of July 21, demonstrators gathered outside the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. courthouse, where protesters held signs and sang songs, according to Olkhovskaya.
The gathering remained peaceful, she told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, until some new arrivals began to agitate the crowd. A Department of Homeland Security report about the evening describes several hours of violence, including attempts to set fire to the courthouse and break into its entrance.
Olkhovskaya said that as she observed the courthouse scene about 9 p.m., she felt a kick from behind. "It was completely unexpected because there had been no officers around. They came from the back doors," she told the Tracker. "One of them pushed me to the ground and I dropped my phone.”
Olkhovskaya said she and Arkhipov both had State Department-issued press badges visibly displayed and had a camera on a tripod nearby. “It was obvious we were a professional crew,” she said.
Arkhipov, who was hit with a baton and pushed to the ground, said federal agents snatched the camera from his hands and threw it to the ground. The Tracker documented his assault here.
Olkhovskaya said that she repeatedly yelled that she was press, but the officers never acknowledged that. She said one officer grabbed her helmet, threw it to the ground and pushed her away. After the officers left the area, she returned to the courthouse area, only to find a few remnants of the camera and no helmet.
"They destroyed it completely and intentionally," Olkhovskaya said. "I still don't understand why they broke our camera."
Olkhovskaya said she got scratches on her hands but they were able to file a story about the protest and their encounter with what the story described as “extremely aggressive” security forces.
According to an Izvestia news report, the Russian Federation sent official complaints to the United States about the Portland attack and another assault on Channel One journalists in Philadelphia in October. The Dec. 15, 2020, story said there had been no response from the U.S.
The Department of Homeland Security didn’t respond to a Tracker request for comment on the two Channel One incidents.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
The cable connecting a KSTP 5 News crew’s camera to its live truck was cut during a live shot outside a bar in Anoka, Minnesota, on July 20, 2020.
Reporter Kirsten Swanson told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that her crew was working on a general assignment piece about bars and restaurants warned by the state’s Alcohol and Gambling Enforcement Division after failing to comply with coronavirus safety guidelines.
While the news crew, based in Saint Paul, was in an Anoka bar speaking with the owner, Swanson said they noticed a patron who went in and out several times, but specified that the man hadn’t acted aggressively toward them.
“Right before six o’clock, when my photographer went to set the camera up, the patron asked him, ‘Is that camera live? What are you guys doing?’” Swanson said. Her photographer explained they were preparing for a live shot and that they were reporting on the bar. The man scowled at the photographer, she said, before going back inside.
Swanson went on-air shortly after 6 p.m., and she introduced their piece before the recorded package began playing. Within seconds, however, she said they received word from their producer and the technician in the KSTP truck parked up the block that their live shot had dropped.
“Being in this business for a long as we have, you know technology sometimes doesn’t work so we didn’t really think anything of it,” she said. When they went to see what had gone wrong, the technician began rolling in the cable that connects the camera and the truck but only half of it came back.
“The tech stopped and looked down and said, ‘Oh my god, someone cut the cable,’” Swanson said.
Boy, this is a new low. Someone saw us going live on Main Street in Anoka and CUT the cable that runs from the truck to our camera. Shot dropped. Thanks @JackieCainTV for finishing the story up. pic.twitter.com/F25OvCaC6L
— Kirsten Swanson (@KirstenKSTP) July 20, 2020
Swanson said they filed a police report for the damages, and that security cameras captured footage of what happened.
The Anoka Police Department did not respond to an email requesting comment.
An unidentified man cut the cable connecting a KSTP 5 News crew's camera and live truck, interupting their broadcast on July 20, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,KSTP-TV,,,,,, Journalists hit with crowd-control munitions while covering protests in Portland,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/three-journalists-hit-crowd-control-munitions-while-covering-protests-portland/,2020-09-17 16:17:50.264546+00:00,2022-03-10 16:54:30.095243+00:00,2022-03-10 16:54:30.030010+00:00,,Assault,,,,Cory Elia (KBOO Community Radio),,2020-07-20,False,Portland,Oregon (OR),45.52345,-122.67621,"Cory Elia said he was hit with crowd-control munitions by federal law enforcement officers while covering protests in Portland, Oregon, during the early morning hours of July 20, 2020.
Cory Elia, co-host of a KBOO podcast and managing editor of the news site Village Portland, said federal agents threw tear gas canisters toward him despite being clearly identifiable as a member of the press.
The Portland-based journalist was covering one of the many protests that broke out in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd, a Black man, while in police custody.
The Portland protests, held nightly since late May, had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July.
At around 4:40 a.m., Elia was filming protesters near Southwest Salmon Street and Southwest Third Avenue downtown when he and his co-host, Lesley McLam, were hit by tear gas. Elia told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that several canisters landed near them.
Federal agents also fired munitions that “flew past our heads,” Elia said. “We were stuck on the corner and munitions were flying all around us, preventing our exiting the area.”
Elia, who wore press badges and clothing marked with the word “press,” said he was targeted despite yelling out at the officers that he was a journalist. The Tracker has documented McLam's assault here.
While a number of federal agencies had officers in Portland in July, it wasn’t clear which agency the officers were from. The Department of Homeland Security, which coordinated the federal presence in Portland, didn’t respond to requests for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Photojournalist Nathan Howard was hit by projectiles fired by federal law enforcement officials in the early hours of July 20, 2020, while he was covering protests in Portland, Oregon.
Howard was hit by pepper balls while covering one of the many protests that had broken out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement after the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
The Portland protests, held nightly since late May, had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists wasn’t expanded to include federal agents until July 23. Howard gave declarations in support of the class action lawsuit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon, that led to the TRO.
In the early morning of July 20, Howard was covering federal officers clear protesters from the area outside the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse, according to the ACLU declaration. One group of officers exited the courthouse and pushed protesters across Chapman Square to Southwest Fourth Avenue. Howard remained in the square to document a second group of federal agents, which then emerged from another federal building two blocks away. At the time, the only other people in Howard’s proximity were journalists, as the protesters had already dispersed.
When the second line of agents advanced north through the park, some of them turned their attention to Howard, he said in the filing. He held up his National Press Photographers Association press pass and shouted, “I’m press!” Then the agents told him to stay where he was.
After the two groups of officers merged, some agents once again noticed Howard, according to the filing. When he held up his press pass again and repeated that he was press, one of the agents told him to stay where he was. However, another agent fired at least two pepper balls at Howard at close range, he said. Howard then hid behind a tree until he felt safe to continue working.
Howard tweeted about the incident at 12:12 a.m., though he said in the declaration that it may have occurred just before midnight.
Myself and a few other photogs yelled press. Feds said "Okay just stay there," then shot me with pepper balls. Gee thanks guys.
— Nathan Howard (@SmileItsNathan) July 20, 2020
He told the Tracker that he had been wearing a puffy jacket, so the initial effect of the pepper ball was a mild sting. But he also experienced the full chemical effects of the projectiles.
Howard, who had been on assignment for ZUMA Press that day, said that he has no doubt that he was targeted. “During the 2020 Portland protests, I have been hit by pepper balls three times. The first two times, they were not obviously targeted at me, so I gave the police the benefit of the doubt. This time was radically different,” he wrote in his declaration.
The Department of Homeland Security, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Portland-based journalist Lesley McLam said she was hit with crowd-control munitions by federal law enforcement officers while covering protests in Portland, Oregon, during the early morning hours of July 20, 2020.
Lesley McLam, co-host of a KBOO podcast who also works with news site Village Portland, said federal agents threw tear gas canisters toward her and her co-host, Cory Elia. McLam said she was clearly identifiable as a member of the press.
The Portland-based journalists were filming one of the many protests that broke out in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd, a Black man. A viral video showed a white police officer kneeling on Floyd’s neck during an arrest in Minneapolis. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a local hospital.
The Portland protests, held nightly since late May, had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July.
At around 4:40 a.m., Elia and McLam were filming protesters near Southwest Salmon Street and Southwest Third Avenue downtown when several canisters landed near them, McLam told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. A livestream McLam posted on Twitter shows a standoff between protesters and federal agents.
McLam can be heard yelling out in the livestream that she is a member of the press who is exercising her constitutional rights in documenting the protest.
McLam, who wore press badges and marked herself as “press” on her clothing, said she was targeted despite yelling out at the officers that she was a journalist. Elia’s assault is documented by the Tracker here.
While a number of federal agencies had officers in Portland in July, McLam said she believes Border Patrol agents were present at the demonstration she covered because of the uniform patches she photographed. The Department of Homeland Security, which coordinated the federal presence in Portland, didn’t respond to requests for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Independent videographer Mason Lake said he was hit with crowd-control munitions by federal law enforcement officers while covering protests in Portland, Oregon, during the early morning hours of July 20, 2020.
Lake said federal officers hit him nine times with pepper balls, including three times in the head. He said he was clearly identifiable as a member of the press.
The Portland-based journalist was filming one of the many protests that broke out in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd, a Black man, while in police custody.
The Portland protests, held nightly since late May, had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July.
Around 2 a.m. or 3 a.m. on July 20, Lake was filming from the front lines of a protest near Southwest Salmon Street and Southwest Third Avenue downtown, where the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse is located, he told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
Video posted by Lake on Twitter shows federal agents stationed in front of the courthouse advancing on the protestors and shooting munitions. As flash-bang grenades and tear gas canisters go off, a smoking canister can be seen flying back toward the officers.
Lake said that federal officers hit him nine times with pepper balls, which are projectiles roughly the size of paintballs that discharge an irritant when they hit a person. He was wearing a gas mask to protect himself from the pepper and tear gas, with the word “press” clearly displayed on his helmet and vest, he said.
“I felt three at my legs, and then three in my chest, and three in my face and visor,” Lake told the Tracker. “They targeted right for my face.”
Lake said the pepper balls interfered with his ability to document the protest. “That pepper stuff fades in and becomes a chemical burn, so I ended up leaving,” he said. “They’re paintballs filled with pepper. When they hit you, it’s like cutting onions times 10.”
While a number of federal agencies had officers in Portland in July, it wasn’t clear to Lake which agency the officers were from. The Department of Homeland Security, which coordinated the federal presence in Portland, didn’t respond to requests for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
A freelance photojournalist was hit by projectiles fired by federal law enforcement officials in the early hours of July 20, 2020, while he was covering protests in Portland, Oregon.
Jungho Kim was hit by a pink paint projectile while covering one of the many protests that had broken out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement after the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
The Portland protests, held nightly since late May, had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists wasn’t expanded to include federal agents until July 23. Kim declared his support of the class action lawsuit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon, that led to the TRO.
At 12:05 a.m., Kim was standing between Chapman and Lownsdale squares after federal agents had cleared the area and formed a police line, he told the Tracker. He estimates that there were about 50 federal officers in the area, with the closest ones about 20 feet away from him.
“All of a sudden I felt this impact on my chest,” said Kim. “I looked down, and I was covered in pink paint.” He didn’t suffer any bodily harm from the impact, which he attributes his ballistic vest. The last photograph Kim took before he was hit shows a line of dozens of officers ahead of him, too far away to make out any identification.
At 12:20 a.m., Kim tweeted, “Portland Police are targeting journalists, including me (I'm okay, I'm wearing a ballistic vest). Do I look easy to mistake for anything other than press?” He clarified in a later tweet that he thought it was actually federal agents that shot him.
Portland Police are targeting journalists, including me (I'm okay, I'm wearing a ballistic vest). Do I look easy to mistake for anything other than press? @NPPA pic.twitter.com/vSk6e1YdRV
— Jungho Kim / 김정호 (@jkimphoto) July 20, 2020
The accompanying photo shows pink paint splattered on the reflective part of Kim’s neon yellow vest, where the word “press” is written in large letters. A press pass is hanging from a lanyard around his neck.
Kim isn’t sure who fired the rounds, but he believes he was targeted for being press. “The fact that I was shot in the chest, basically where it says press, I think that that’s pretty blatant,” he told the Tracker, noting that he was in a well-lit area with no protesters around.
The Department of Homeland Security, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Independent journalist Donovan Farley wrote that he was hit with projectiles fired by federal law enforcement officers while he was covering protests in Portland, Oregon, on July 19, 2020.
Farley was covering one of the many protests that had broken out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement after the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
The Portland protests, held nightly since late May, had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists wasn’t expanded to include federal agents until July 23. Farley is involved in the class action lawsuit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon, which led to the TRO.
Farley wrote on Twitter that he took a projectile in the ribs.
“No one there was aggressive and I was just filming and holding up my press pass, fed essentially shot my pass,” he tweeted at 11:58 p.m.
My press pass was on my right hand this is where the munition hit me on the right side. He obviously shot directly at my press pass. pic.twitter.com/ppyS04w3Iy
— Donovan Farley (@DonovanFarley) July 20, 2020
“My press pass was on my right hand this is where the munition hit me on the right side. He obviously shot directly at my press pass,” Farley wrote in a followup tweet with a picture of the wound on his rib.
He had to cut his reporting short because he was having trouble breathing, according to a later tweet. Farley didn’t respond to a request for further comment.
The Department of Homeland Security, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, also didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Eddy Binford-Ross, a 17-year-old student journalist, said federal agents threw a stun grenade and tear gas canister at her on July 19, 2020, while she was covering protests in Portland, Oregon.
Binford-Ross, editor in chief at her high school student newspaper in Salem, Oregon, was covering one of the many protests that had broken out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement after the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
July 19 marked the 53rd day of protests in Portland, Binford-Ross reported in her school paper, The Clypian. The protests had grown more intense with the arrival of federal law enforcement in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists wasn’t expanded to include federal agents until July 23. Binford-Ross is a plaintiff in the class action suit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon.
The mood at the demonstrations had felt positive at the start of the night, Binford-Ross told the Tracker. She was covering the second night of protests by the “Wall of Moms” outside the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse downtown, a nightly flashpoint for confrontations between protesters and federal agents.
Just before 10 p.m., law enforcement issued a warning to protesters who had been attempting to dismantle the fence around the courthouse, which the federal government considered crucial to its presence, according to a document obtained by Oregon Public Broadcasting. When the moms formed a barrier between protesters and the fence to de-escalate tensions, federal officers rushed out of the courthouse and pointed guns at protesters from the other side of the fence.
It was just before midnight when the stun grenade was thrown towards Binford-Ross, she said. After some protesters had taken down parts of the fence, agents deployed stun grenades and tear gas to push protesters back into the street. Binford-Ross had already begun to retreat into Chapman Square and was away from most protesters when the multi-port stun grenade landed near her. When she tried to move away, an agent threw a tear gas canister in her path.
“It was really inhumane,” Binford-Ross said. “It would be one thing if I was running towards officers, but I was running away from them, I was trying to get away from that situation.”
Her mother, Warren Binford, accompanied her and tweeted a video of the moment the stun grenade exploded. “The US #BorderPatrol threw this stun grenade at me & my minor daughter, both US citizens, while she was covering this local story,” her mother wrote.
The US #BorderPatrol threw this stun grenade at me & my minor daughter, both US citizens, while she was covering this local story again last night about the #Feds in #Portland for her high school newspaper @Clypian. This was the 2nd time in 3 days the Feds have thrown.... pic.twitter.com/IBh0n73tzJ
— Warren Binford (@childrightsprof) July 20, 2020
Another tweet shows the stun grenade marked “BORTAC,” which is an acronym for the U.S. Border Patrol Tactical Unit.
In addition to having press identification, Binford-Ross had added additional press markings since being targeted with crowd-control munitions the day before, including a helmet marked “press” on all four sides and pants with “press” written with reflective tape spelling down the leg
While she’d felt more prepared to cover that night’s demonstrations since beginning her protest coverage in Portland two nights before, she still has moments when the odors of tear gas come to her at random times. “It definitely takes a mental and emotional toll,” said Binford-Ross, who covered more than 30 BLM protests in Portland and Salem for the school paper over the summer. Her tweets about the protests were used by ABC, Reuters, Yahoo News and other outlets.
The Department of Homeland Security, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Independent photojournalist John Rudoff said he was hit with crowd-control munitions fired by federal law enforcement officers while he was covering a protest in Portland, Oregon, on July 19, 2020.
Rudoff was covering one of the many protests that had broken out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement after the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
The Portland protests, held nightly since late May, had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists wasn’t expanded to include federal agents until July 23. Rudoff gave declarations in support of the class action lawsuit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon, that led to the TRO.
Rudoff was hit in the shoulder with a projectile while documenting federal agents emerging from the courthouse and shooting tear gas and munitions, he said in his declaration for the ACLU.
“Suddenly, and for no reason, a federal agent shot me in my right shoulder, inches from my head,” Rudoff wrote, adding that he believes he was hit with a 40mm rubber bullet. “The pain was so bad that I had to retreat into the park and stop documenting for around 15 minutes while I recovered.”
Rudoff said he felt targeted as press. “I have body armor that has ‘press’ on it in several-inch-high letters front and back, and a helmet that has ‘press’ on it in inch-high letters front and back,” he told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. “I intentionally stand away from crowds as best I can, and intentionally I’m dressed in light-colored clothing as much as possible.”
In the declaration, he also noted that he had two large professional cameras with him and was wearing a National Press Photographers Association press pass.
The Department of Homeland Security, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Photojournalist Alex Milan Tracy said he was hit with crowd-control munitions fired by federal law enforcement officers during a protest in Portland, Oregon, on July 19, 2020.
Tracy was covering one of the many protests that had broken out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement after the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
The Portland protests, held nightly since late May, had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists wasn’t expanded to include federal agents until July 23. Tracy gave declarations in support of the class action lawsuit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon, that led to the TRO.
Shortly before midnight on July 19, Tracy was documenting federal officers as they launched a “barrage of tear gas” at protesters outside the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse, according to his ACLU declaration.
“As I was taking video and photographing the chaos, a federal agent shot me in my left ankle joint with an impact munition round,” wrote Tracy, adding that he had been standing away from the protesters. “At the same time, I was consumed with tear gas and hit with pepper-balls on my right elbow.”
Tracy posted a video on Twitter capturing the moment he was hit. “I take a hit on my left ankle joint. Thanks to @SmileItsNathan and street medics for helping me out,” he tweeted, referencing fellow freelance photojournalist Nathan Howard.
I take a hit on my left ankle joint. Thanks to @SmileItsNathan and street medics for helping me out. pic.twitter.com/pTeW3rZNK3
— Alex Milan Tracy (@AlexMilanTracy) July 20, 2020
Howard, who was also shot by pepper balls after midnight, posted a video of Tracy being treated by medics. “Journalist @AlexMilanTracy is hurt. Less lethal to leg. Medics with him now. He says he's ok,” he tweeted. Howard’s assault was documented by the Tracker here.
The Department of Homeland Security, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Independent journalist Jake Johnson was hit with projectiles fired by federal law enforcement officers while they were covering protests in Portland, Oregon, on July 19, 2020.
Johnson was covering one of the many protests that had broken out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement after the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
The Portland protests, held nightly since late May, had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists wasn’t expanded to include federal agents until July 23. Johnson is involved in the class action lawsuit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon, which led to the TRO.
On the night of July 19, Johnson was hit in the stomach by a projectile fired by a federal officer. He was standing in Chapman Square, near the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse, when he was hit by an agent retreating toward the courthouse. At that point, most of the protesters were on Southwest Main Street or in Lownsdale Square, a park area next to Chapman Square and across from the courthouse.
Toward the end of a video taken by journalist Robert Evans and retweeted by Johnson at 10:38 p.m., Johnson can be seen standing on a diagonal path that runs through Chapman Square.
You can watch me get shot here in addition to two hours and 38 minutes or so of other high quality content and commentary from @IwriteOK. You can see me get shot if you start watching at 2:33:00 I get shot around halfway through that minute. 1/2 https://t.co/KmdFV935jl
— Jake “wear a mask” Johnson (@FancyJenkins) July 20, 2020
“I’m walking down the diagonal path very slowly because I’m not trying to startle any officers by rushing at them. I’m giving them plenty of time to see I’m approaching slowly, they can see that I’m press, the park is lit up,” Johnson told the Tracker, noting that his helmet says “press” on five sides.
Around 2:33:30 into Evans’s video, Johnson can be heard groaning as he gets hit in the stomach. He then kneels down to try and retrieve the projectile. “Based on the injury and the bruising pattern, my best guess is that it was a rubber bullet,” he said.
The Department of Homeland Security, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, also didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Freelance journalist Laura Jedeed said she was hit in the leg by a projectile fired by federal law enforcement while she covered a protest in downtown Portland, Oregon, on July 18, 2020.
Jedeed, a contributor to Portland Monthly and Willamette Weekly, was covering one of many protests that had broken out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
The Portland protests, held nightly since late May, had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July.
In the early morning hours of July 18, Jedeed was covering a demonstration near the Mark O. Hetfield federal courthouse, where federal officers were stationed. Throughout the night, she told the Tracker, demonstrators “would hang out in front of the courthouse. And then without warning, the feds emerge, [tear] gas the hell out of people and then go back in.”
In one instance around 12:30 a.m., federal officers fired tear gas and rubber bullets, driving protesters north of the courthouse. “They were firing everything and the kitchen sink at protesters retreating down the street,” Jedeed said.
While Jedeed was on Southwest Second Avenue, north of the courthouse, a projectile hit her in the leg. “This was while they were peppering the people who were fleeing with rubber bullets. [But] I don’t know what I was struck with,” she said. “I felt it hit me. And I kept running. After they were done chasing us, I looked down and saw I was bleeding quite a lot.”
A picture of the wound Jedeed posted on Twitter later that morning, shows her bloody leg with a small hole in it.
I want to clarify that although I'm not sure what I was shot with, it wasn't live ammo. Maybe a rubber bullet?
— Laura Jedeed (Misanthrophile) (@1misanthrophile) July 18, 2020
Whatever it was, I'm definitely gonna have a cool scar to remind me of how Trump's private army conducts itself https://t.co/IuZgdbbD0Y
Jedeed said she was clearly marked as press, wearing a press badge and a neon yellow vest with the words “press” on it. However, she said she didn’t think she was specifically targeted, calling the law enforcement response “indiscriminate.”
Jedeed wasn’t sure what federal agency fired the projectile that struck her. The Department of Homeland Security, which coordinated the federal presence in Portland, didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Blair Stenvick, a reporter for the Portland Mercury, said they were assaulted by police on July 18, 2020, while covering protests in the Oregon city against police brutality and racial inequality.
Stenvick suffered abrasions and an ankle injury after getting pushed by police during a bull-rush of a crowd of protesters, despite a recent court order that had specifically prohibited Portland police from harming or impeding journalists.
The night of July 18 marked a string of continuous demonstrations in Portland for at least the previous 50 days following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
As one group of protesters returned to the main focus of ongoing demonstrations, the Multnomah County Justice Center and the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse downtown, Stenvick went to cover another protest outside the Portland Police Association office in North Portland.
As soon as Stenvick arrived, the situation escalated. Individuals had set a fire inside the PPA office, prompting the Portland police to declare a riot just before 11 p.m.
In an interview with the Tracker, Stenvick describes seeing police use rubber bullets and smoke canisters. “I was always having to walk the line of trying to look out for my own safety but still being able to document things as well as I could,” Stenvick said.
At that point, Stenvick backed away and followed directions by police. While taking pictures from the outskirts of the gathering, Stenvick noticed that protesters had suddenly started running. Stenvick looked back and saw police in riot gear bull-rushing protesters.
“I could tell in that moment that I was already in danger, and so I started running also, following police orders,” Stenvick told the Tracker. “Also putting my hands up in the air just to show that I wanted to comply with orders and not be a threat to them.”
Stenvick said they yelled to the police, “I’m press! I’m press!” before being shoved to the ground.
“[It was] unnecessary [for them] to hit me because I was already running away, and wasn’t there as a protester,” said Stenvick, who had also been wearing a press pass. “Very clearly I wasn’t a threat to them, so [there] was a mix of ... anger, shock and disbelief.”
At around 11 p.m., Stenvick tweeted a picture of their abrasions on the knee and hand.
Police just cleared the crowd. I was running full speed easy and got pushed from behind by a PPB officer. Fortunately I just got scraped. pic.twitter.com/zoKmIEUIvS
— Blair Stenvick (@BlairStenvick) July 19, 2020
While Stenvick didn’t report this specific incident to police, they are involved in a class-action lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon in June. The Portland Mercury is one of several plaintiffs in the case, which led to the city agreeing to a preliminary injunction in July to not to arrest or harm any journalists or legal observers of the protests or impede their work. Stenvick provided testimony about a separate incident as part of the preliminary injunction.
Derek Carmon, a spokesman for the Portland Police Bureau, was unable to comment on this incident due to the ongoing litigation.
After the incident, Stenvick resolved to use the experience as a lesson about empathy. “Journalists ... use their own life experiences to relate to other people, so just seeing for myself — even just in that one instance — what it’s like to be unjustly treated by a police officer, I think that’s helpful for me to have some tiny little piece of understanding when covering these issues,” Stenvick told the Tracker.
Eddy Binford-Ross, a 17-year-old student journalist, said federal agents threw a flash-bang grenade toward her on July 18, 2020, while she was covering protests in Portland, Oregon.
Binford-Ross, editor in chief at her high school student newspaper in Salem, Oregon, said flash-bang grenades landed near her on two separate occasions that night — one before midnight on July 17 and one after — but only the second one seemed targeted at her. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, which documents assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country in support of the Black Lives Matter movement after the May 25 death of George Floyd, considers a targeted crowd-control incident an assault.
The Portland protests, held nightly since late May, had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists wasn’t expanded to include federal agents until July 23. Binford-Ross is a plaintiff in the class action suit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon.
July 17 was the first night Binford-Ross had covered the Portland protests since federal agents had been deployed to the city. The first flash-bang grenade incident occurred shortly after 10 p.m., she said.
Demonstrators had gathered around 7 p.m. at the Multnomah County Justice Center for a candlelight vigil. Binford-Ross was outside the Justice Center when federal agents started ordering people to move. “Anyone who stepped into the street [got] shot with their crowd-control munitions,” she told the Tracker.
Binford-Ross moved down a block, where she met two acquaintances from Salem who were livestreaming the events. They were half a block away from protesters when a federal agent threw the flash-bang grenade over the wall near her. “There wasn’t any warning or anything...it was like 10 feet away from us...it was a blinding shock,” Binford-Ross said, adding she was temporarily deafened.
The second flash-bang grenade was thrown sometime after 1:30 a.m., as federal agents were advancing on protestors in Chapman Square. Binford-Ross was standing off to the side away from the protesters, she said, wearing press identification around her neck and carrying a large camera.
As federal agents advanced on the crowd with guns drawn, one of them threw a flash-bang grenade towards her that exploded near her feet, stunning and deafening her again. “They shot right towards me...it came within 10 feet of me again,” Binford-Ross said.
She was recording at the time, and her mother, Warren Binford, posted the video on Twitter. “These are concussive devices & they targeted a child,” her mother wrote.
Our young daughter (a #studentjournalist) had this #flashbang shot at her by the #Feds & #portland police last night even though she was staying on the perimeter, wearing her press credentials & completely law abiding. These are concussive devices & they targeted a child. Shame! pic.twitter.com/DWUk2ef86H
— Warren Binford (@childrightsprof) July 18, 2020
The Department of Homeland Security, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, didn’t respond to a request for comment.
“It doesn't seem like something that would happen in the U.S.,” Binford-Ross said. “It felt like something you would experience in a war zone, especially when the people who are shooting the munitions towards you are unidentifiable federal agents, from undisclosed federal agencies and they’re in camo, like soldiers.”
Binford-Ross, who covered more than 30 BLM protests in Portland and Salem for her school paper, The Clypian, over the summer, said she never planned on a career in journalism until she saw the value of reporting during this time. “It was a real lesson in perseverance and dedication and also personal safety,” said Binford-Ross, who said her tweets about the protests were used by ABC, Reuters, Yahoo News and other outlets.
Freelance journalist Andrew Jankowski was arrested by police officers while covering protests in Portland, Oregon, on July 17, 2020, a day after a judge issued a preliminary injunction to block the Portland Police Bureau from arresting or targeting journalists.
Jankowski was covering the protests that broke out in Portland in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. For more than six weeks, nightly protests had taken hold in downtown Portland, escalating tensions and violence between protesters, Portland police and federal officers. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
In the early morning hours of July 17, Jankowski was covering a protest at Southeast 47th Avenue and East Burnside Street, outside of the Penumbra Kelly Building, which houses the PPB’s crime-prevention and neighborhood-involvement units as well as space for the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office. Jankowski told the Tracker he recalled two dispersal orders from Portland police officers ordering protesters to move west.
“I guess they [officers] decided that we weren’t moving fast enough and did what’s come to be known as a bull rush,” Jankowski. “Out of nowhere, they run at people and start shoving.”
As protesters and officers scattered in different directions, Jankowski felt someone push him. He believed it was an officer.
“I yelled ‘Media!’ while I ran, and even screamed the word as they twisted my wrist behind my back to take away my phone,” Jankowski wrote in an article for the Portland Mercury. “People from across the street saw I was wearing a press pass. I tried making it easier for the officer to zip tie me, and was told to stop resisting.”
He said he had thought ahead to wear a protective vest, which absorbed most of the impact, but he still sustained cuts and scrapes on his hands. Officers also grabbed his backpack, which was later destroyed.
A video documented and tweeted by Nicholas Lee, an independent photographer and videographer, shows Jankowski being held by officers at around 12:50 a.m. A few seconds into the video, officers can be seen shining a bright light into Lee’s lens, hampering him from capturing the footage.
As Lee continues to film, he shouts, “Are you press?” Jankowski responds with a “Yes” and his name. A bystander can be heard asking, “Have they told you why they are arresting you?” to which Jankowski replies “No.”
Jankowski said he believed the officers answered the question about his charges only because protesters were demanding it. But at that moment, he was still in shock and couldn’t fully understand what the officers were saying. The PPB announced later that morning that Jankowski was booked for disorderly conduct and interfering with a peace officer.
“I don’t know if I was targeted, but once they knew who I was, they still weren’t letting me go,” Jankowski said, noting that he had a large press pass taped to his chest. In a photograph Jankowski shared with the Portland Mercury, he can be seen with a sign taped on his chest that had “freelance journalist” written across the top along with logos of the Portland Mercury and other news outlets.
The officers brought Jankowski to the Penumbra Kelly building, where they removed the press pass from his chest, cutting through the line that read “Freelance journalist,” he said. He was finally processed at 3:44 a.m. at the Multnomah County Justice Center and released about six hours later, with the two charges pending.
“Through their questions, I came to realize that the officers questioning me didn’t understand, or didn’t want to understand, how freelance journalism works,” he wrote. “I felt they were trying to provoke, intimidate, and belittle me when they asked why an arts writer was reporting on protests.”
PPB spokesman Derek Carmon declined to comment on Jankowski’s arrest, citing continuing litigation.
When Jankowski went to court In September, he learned that the district attorney had declined to prosecute him, but that the case could still be reopened in the future. He also received a notice from the PPB regarding a complaint that he had allegedly filed. He said that while he hasn’t filed a dispute, he is currently working with a lawyer to potentially file a civil case.
Since the incident, Jankowski has gone to physical therapy for his wrist and wore a brace for several months, he said. In the Portland Mercury, he wrote about experiencing “bizarre trauma responses,” claustrophobia and paranoia.
Independent journalist Garrison Davis said federal law enforcement officers shot crowd-control munitions at him on two different occasions on July 17, 2020, while he was covering protests outside a federal building in downtown Portland, Oregon.
The Portland-based journalist was covering one of the many protests that had broken out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement after the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
The Portland protests, held nightly since late May, had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists wasn’t expanded to include federal agents until July 23.
In the early hours of July 17, Davis was filming federal agents returning to the building, which houses the local offices of the Internal Revenue Service and other federal departments. “They just started shooting at the press with mainly pepper bullets because we could see them breaking on the fence,” Davis told the Tracker, referring to the fence that was in place to prevent protesters from entering the closed city parks.
At 1:07 a.m., Davis tweeted a video showing officers shooting pepper balls towards him and other journalists from across the intersection of Southwest Madison Street and Southwest Third Avenue. “DHS shooting at press. There were no protesters behind me. I have press on my helmet and am holding out my press pass,” he wrote in the post. Davis told the Tracker that none of the pepper balls made direct contact with him, but landed around him.
DHS shooting at press. There were no protesters behind me. I have press on my helmet and am holding out my press pass. #Teargas #blacklivesmatter #protest #pdx #portland #oregon #blm #acab #PortlandProtest #justicecenter #riotribs pic.twitter.com/gVnp0NPsmv
— Garrison Davis (@hungrybowtie) July 17, 2020
Later, when Davis returned to the same area to cover that evening’s protests, federal agents staged at the federal building fired on the crowd. A pepper grenade hit his hand and the iPhone he was using as a camera, he told the Tracker. One of his fingers was bloodied, and he was coated in pepper dust, as Davis documented in a video he tweeted at 10:17 p.m.
I am alright, just covered in some type of dust and my hand is sore. #blacklivesmatter #protest #pdx #portland #oregon #blm #acab #PortlandProtest #PDXprotest #justicecenter #Feds pic.twitter.com/dMA5NjxD2w
— Garrison Davis (@hungrybowtie) July 18, 2020
Davis said his phone was covered in pepper dust, which became activated when his hands got sweaty. “So that was awful and I had to get medical care because it was really bad,” he said. “It took multiple days to wash off all the pepper dust.”
Given the size of the crowd, Davis doesn’t believe he was targeted as press in that instance. A member of the Portland Press Corps that uses the group’s Twitter handle @45thabsurdist was also affected by the grenade and posted footage of when it hit.
“It was an explosion that covered @hungrybowtie and me with a powder that is fine until it contacted sweat or water which is when it started burning. Stay away from those,” wrote @45thabsurdist in a follow-up tweet, referring to Davis’ Twitter handle.
The Department of Homeland Security, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Independent videojournalist Hiram Gilberto Garcia was arrested and his equipment seized while covering protests in Austin, Texas, on July 17, 2020.
Garcia, who posts his livestreams and interviews on Facebook and his website, was documenting protests against police brutality in front of the Austin Police Department Headquarters downtown when officers tackled him to the ground and punched him, KXAN News reported. Garcia’s livestream from that evening can be seen here.
According to an affidavit obtained by KXAN, Austin Police Department officers were arresting another man and had warned Garcia to get back when the videojournalist began reaching between the officers. An officer then pushed Garcia back, the affidavit alleges, and Garcia attempted to turn and run into the crowd. Officers then took Garcia to the ground in the APD parking garage and placed him under arrest, according to the affidavit.
In Garcia’s footage from that night, he appears to be filming the arrest of a protester when an officer repeatedly pushes him back from the individual under arrest. The officer then points at Garcia and can be heard saying, “Grab him!”
A video of Garcia’s arrest was posted on Facebook that night. In the video, multiple officers can be seen wrestling Garcia to the ground while individuals can be heard shouting “Get off of him” and “Give us Hiram back!” Approximately 1 minute and 30 seconds into the video, Garcia appears to free his right arm before officers immediately restrain him again. An officer can be seen punching Garcia twice in the stomach before other officers block the view.
The affidavit said officers “kept telling Hiram he was under arrest and to place his hands behind his back, but Hiram would not comply and kept tensing his arms in an attempt to not be placed in handcuffs.”
A post to Garcia’s Facebook page at approximately 11:30 p.m. alerted his followers to the arrest.
“Hiram was taken into police custody tonight during his stream. We are dealing with it, and appreciate all your help and concern,” the post reads.
Garcia was booked at the Travis County Jail at 12:16 a.m. and released at 11:45 p.m. on July 18, according to booking information shared with the Tracker. A post to Garcia’s Facebook page announced his release on bond at 1:20 a.m. on July 19.
KXAN reported Garica was arrested on charges of interfering with public duties and resisting arrest.
Garcia posted on July 21 that his equipment — which included a “GoPro, light, monopod, microphone, battery pack, adapters and other important accessories” — was not returned to him upon his release, and that he would not be able to retrieve it until the following day.
When the equipment was returned, Garcia posted that his microphone was broken and a cord was missing.
“Overall, my equipment was obviously not handled with care,” Garcia wrote.
In a statement to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker emailed from Garcia’s account, a representative for Garcia said, “We have no comment on the arrest as that is not our position or job. We are there to show what is happening as it happens. In this case we were targeted and arrested as you can see on the video by the very police we had been interviewing for months.”
The representative also stated that the charges against Garcia have since been dropped.
APD and the Travis County Jail did not respond to requests for comment.
Editor's Note: This article has been updated to reflect booking information shared with the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in compliance with a Texas Public Information Act request.
Colin Boyle, a photojournalist for Block Club Chicago said he was assaulted by police while covering demonstrations in Grant Park on July 17, 2020.
Boyle was documenting the scene surrounding the park’s Christopher Columbus statue, where reports estimated that at least 1,000 people had gathered, eventually attempting to topple the monument to the 15th-century explorer.
Removal of Columbus monuments around the country has been a focal point for many nationwide groups given the explorer’s history of colonization and violence toward Indigenous people.
During the demonstrations in Chicago, which included a rally in support of Black and Indigenous people, police and protesters clashed. Forty-nine officers, according to the Chicago Police Department, were injured, with 18 sent to the hospital, while demonstrators filed at least 20 complaints for excessive force and other grievances with the Civilian Office of Police Accountability.
Boyle told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he’d arrived at Grant Park around 8 p.m., making his way around the area, taking pictures and following police orders. He was wearing a helmet emblazoned with the word “press” and had his police-issued press badge around his neck. About 15 minutes later, he said, police cleared out Columbus Drive, which bisects the park, and things seemed to be winding down.
He said that as he began to exit the park he encountered Officer Kerry Pozulp. Boyle said he held up his press badge, and when the officer saw it, he swore at him, chiding him for presenting his press credentials.
“I said, ‘Is there a problem? Can you repeat?’” Boyle told the Tracker. Boyle said Pozulp then grabbed him from behind and started to shove him. Boyle said he then pulled out his phone to film. When he called out for help to nearby officers, Pozulp replied, “Yeah, you’re gonna need help.”
Boyle tweeted video of the assault shortly afterward:
I was just assaulted by an officer for crossing the road to my bicycle while holding up my press badge and he called me a "smart ass" for doing so, accused me of wanting to start a problem. I yelled help, he said "you're gonna need help" before throwing me. @Chicago_Police pic.twitter.com/XYuJe19IQm
— Colin Boyle (@colinbphoto) July 18, 2020
He said he walked away without injury and immediately reported the incident to police nearby. “I had the worst-case scenarios running through my mind,” he said.
After Boyle tweeted the video, the CPD responded on Twitter with a statement that read, in part, “We remain committed to ensuring members of the press are able to do their jobs safely. This incident occurred when Chicago Police officers were dispersing the crowd to protect public safety and all those involved.”
— Chicago Police Communications & News Affairs (@CPD_Media) July 18, 2020
Boyle filed a formal complaint with COPA. When asked for comment, Jennifer Rottner, the director of public affairs at COPA, said she had nothing additional to share, as the case is under investigation.
Boyle also filed a lawsuit against the City of Chicago and Officer Pozulp, alleging that Pozulp committed eight offenses, including use of excessive force, assault and battery. The case has since been settled and dismissed, according to Boyle’s lawyer, Matt Topic.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
The Christopher Columbus statue in Chicago’s Grant Park was officially removed on July 24, 2020.
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Parra was documenting the scene surrounding the park’s Christopher Columbus statue, where reports estimated that at least 1,000 people had gathered following a rally for Black and Indigenous people, eventually attempting to topple the monument to the 15th-century explorer.
Removal of Columbus monuments around the country has been a focal point for many nationwide groups given the explorer’s history of colonization and violence toward Indigenous people.
When Parra arrived at the park a little before 8 p.m., there was a group assembled around the statue. “People were trying to knock it down and climb on top of it all together at once,” Parra told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. She tweeted a video of individuals trying to pull down the statue:
Protesters are currently trying to pull down the Columbus statue in Grant Park @cbschicago pic.twitter.com/DAGcrsYzvD
— Marissa Parra (@MarParNews) July 18, 2020
“It’s a big moment for many reasons … but as I’m trying to [film] that, someone comes up to me, and people are trying to block my view, and I just hear, ‘Don’t record him, stop recording, put your phone down,’” she said.
She posted the moment when some of the protesters approached her, blocking her view:
And on the other side, here were a few protesters who first blocked my camera and then proceeded to try to take it out of my hands — this was not live
— Marissa Parra (@MarParNews) July 18, 2020
Afterwards, a few other protesters came to ask if I was okay and if I would refrain from filming protesters’ faces @cbschicago pic.twitter.com/wQy8rD6iwa
Parra said she refused to stop recording and, moments later, was attacked.
“It ended up with me and another girl, a white woman dressed all in black ... rolling on the ground together,” Parra told the Tracker. “My hands were clenched around the phone. She was trying to get the phone from my hand … her fingernails dug into my skin enough to draw blood.”
Parra said she tried to de-escalate the situation and eventually moved from the location she was filming, but protesters followed her.
“I’m trying to figure out how do I keep doing my job while not becoming part of the story,” she said.
She said other protesters had approached her later to ask if she was OK, but to refrain from filming protester faces.
At that same protest, a Chicao police officer also knocked her phone out of her hand with a police baton, Parra said, an incident the Tracker has documented here.
While she walked away with minor injuries, the incident, she said, warranted a larger discussion about what’s at stake when covering stories in this current socio-political climate.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Chicago-based journalist, reporter Marissa Parra of CBS Chicago said she was assaulted by police while covering demonstrations in Grant Park on July 17, 2020.
Parra was documenting the scene surrounding the park’s Christopher Columbus statue, where reports estimated that at least 1,000 people had gathered, eventually attempting to topple the monument to the 15th-century explorer.
Removal of Columbus monuments around the country has been a focal point for many nationwide groups given the explorer’s history of colonization and violence toward Indigenous people.
During the demonstrations in Chicago, which included a rally in support of Black and Indigenous people, police and protesters clashed. Forty-nine officers, according to the Chicago Police Department, were injured, with 18 sent to the hospital, while demonstrators filed at least 20 complaints for excessive force and other grievances with the Civilian Office of Police Accountability.
Marissa Parra told the Tracker in an interview that she showed up at the park just before 8 p.m. She said she saw individuals gathered around the statue, that it was covered and an individual was attempting to pull it down with a rope.
Not long afterward, clashes between police and individuals turned violent. A video she filmed shows police using batons to strike demonstrators.
She said she was filming live among the demonstrators when she was struck by a police baton. The blow knocked the phone out of her hand. Parra tweeted footage of the incident, writing: “You can see him kick it after it lands on the street. Heard a different officer say a few min later, ‘don’t touch her- she’s media.’”
Here’s a clip of a Chicago Police Officer using his baton to swat my phone out of my hand while I was doing a live hit
— Marissa Parra (@MarParNews) July 18, 2020
You can see him kick it after it lands on the street.
Heard a different officer say a few min later, “don’t touch her- she’s media”@cbschicago pic.twitter.com/GaYz4UeF65
“It feels like it was … very intentional … I had my press badge around my neck ... he didn’t try to tell me to move or push me out of the way of anything. He hit my phone ... and then the fact that he kicked it across the ground ... that to me says everything. That was a show of force,” she told the Tracker.
Parra filed a complaint with COPA as well and has yet to hear back. The office didn’t respond to a request for comment from the Tracker as of press time.
“Honestly, the only next step is to just keep doing what I was doing before, with more passion than before,” Parra said.
Later that evening, Parra was assaulted by an individual who attempted to take her phone to prevent her from filming, an incident the Tracker has documented here.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Documentary photographer Rian Dundon was on assignment for the Economic Hardship Reporting Project on July 17, 2020, when a federal officer targeted him with crowd-control munitions while he was covering protests in downtown Portland, Oregon, according to a lawsuit the photographer filed in 2022.
Protests had been held in Portland on almost a nightly basis since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May. The Portland protests had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists wasn’t expanded to include federal agents until July 23. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documented assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering BLM protests across the country.
Dundon filed a lawsuit against the regional director of the Department of Homeland Security, which coordinated the federal presence in Portland, and more than 100 federal officers in April 2022. Dundon declined to comment on advice from counsel.
According to the suit, Dundon was standing alone on the sidewalk of SW Madison Street between 3rd and 4th avenues, while the nearest group of protesters was half a block away outside the Edith Green-Wendell Wyatt Federal Building.
Dundon noticed several federal officers positioned among the shrubbery around a nearby plaza so he approached to take a picture through the chain-link fence separating the sidewalk from the park.
“When he raised his camera to photograph the scene, a DHS agent trained his weapon on Plaintiff and fired several rounds of pepper balls, striking the fence and sidewalk near his feet,” the lawsuit states. “The pepper balls exploded on contact and released a powder into the air. They came in direct contact with Plaintiff, causing him injury.”
The lawsuit alleges that the officers violated Dundon’s First and Fourth Amendment rights and restricted his ability to cover the protests. Neither Dundon’s attorneys nor DHS responded to requests for additional information.
“Targeting journalists was not a quirk of the federal enforcement efforts, it was one of its objectives,” the suit alleges. “DOJ and DHS agents could have completed the objectives of their response without causing harm to Plaintiff.”
Dundon is seeking noneconomic, economic and punitive damages in the lawsuit.
A portion of the lawsuit documentary photographer Rian Dundon filed against a regional director of the Department of Homeland Security, others alleging he was assaulted twice while covering protests in Portland in July 2020.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,3:22-cv-00594,['ONGOING'],Civil,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, Independent journalist assaulted by police while covering Portland protests in July,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalists-say-they-were-assaulted-by-police-as-they-covered-portland-protests-in-july/,2021-03-23 16:13:58.680903+00:00,2022-02-08 21:33:49.002523+00:00,2022-02-08 21:33:48.944357+00:00,,Assault,,,,Alissa Azar (Freelance),,2020-07-16,False,Portland,Oregon (OR),45.52345,-122.67621,"Independent journalist Alissa Azar said she was assaulted by Portland police while covering protests in downtown Portland, Oregon, on July 16, 2020.
The protests were among many demonstrations that broke out across the country in response to police violence following the May 25 death of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis.
Law enforcement officers in Portland had targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The case resulted in a temporary restraining order on July 2 barring the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists, which was expanded to apply the ban to federal agents later that month.
Journalist Griffin Malone — whose work has appeared on PBS, ABC and The Associated Press — told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was reporting outside the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Department Office with Azar and two National Lawyers Guild observers when the deputies rushed out of the sheriff’s office. Amid the rush, officers pushed Azar and kicked her ankle, according to Malone
Azar told the Tracker that she was also hit on the ankle by a flash-bang grenade, which drew blood. She also said she had bruises across her legs from being hit with crowd-control munitions.
Azar told the Tracker she was wearing a vest and helmet, both labeled with press markings, as well as a credential from Pacific Northwest Press Corps, which describes itself as an association of independent journalists covering ongoing protests in Portland and other parts of the Pacific Northwest.
When reached for comment in the fall of 2020, the Portland Police Bureau told the Tracker it wouldn’t comment on specific incidents, citing continuing litigation in the ACLU case. Then in early 2021, PPB spokesman Derek Carmon said the department was committed to upholding civil rights for all citizens, including by requiring officers to report any use of force for review. The PPB did not respond to a request for comment about these specific incidents as of press time.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Independent journalist Griffin Malone says he was assaulted by Portland police while covering protests in downtown Portland, Oregon, on July 16, 2020.
The protests were among many demonstrations that broke out across the country in response to police violence following the May 25 death of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis.
Law enforcement officers in Portland had targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The case resulted in a temporary restraining order on July 2 barring the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists, which was expanded to apply the ban to federal agents later that month.
Journalist Griffin Malone — whose work has appeared on PBS, ABC and The Associated Press — told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was reporting outside the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Department Office when deputies rushed out of the building to disperse the crowd.
Twenty minutes after the initial rush and a handful of arrests, Malone said he was standing with independent journalist Alissa Azar and two National Lawyers Guild observers when the deputies rushed out of the sheriff’s office again. Amid the rush, officers pushed Azar and kicked her ankle, according to Malone. Azar’s assault is documented here.
Malone told the Tracker he routinely wears press identification, a yellow vest and a helmet marked “PRESS” to identify himself while covering protests.
Malone said he attempted to help Azar walk as deputies continued pushing the crowd back, when an officer deliberately shoved him. Moments later, he felt a pain in his leg.
“I’m not sure what the pain was from,” Malone said. “Someone next to me said they saw it was [a deputy’s] baton, but in the videos that I’ve seen you can’t really see clearly what happened so I’m not sure.”
Malone said a deputy continued shoving Malone, Azar and the lawyers guild observers until he was replaced by a second officer, who Malone said was “a bit more respectful of the press.”
When reached for comment in the fall of 2020, the Portland Police Bureau told the Tracker it wouldn’t comment on specific incidents, citing continuing litigation in the ACLU case. Then in early 2021, PPB spokesman Derek Carmon said the department was committed to upholding civil rights for all citizens, including by requiring officers to report any use of force for review. The PPB did not respond to a request for comment about these specific incidents as of press time.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
A federal law enforcement officer fired a tear gas canister toward freelance journalist Justin Yau on July 15, 2020 in Portland, Oregon, striking him with two burning fragments.
Yau, a student at the University of Portland whose work has been featured by the Daily Mail and The New York Times, was covering one of the many protests that had broken out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement after the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
The Portland protests, held nightly since late May, had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists wasn’t expanded to include federal agents until July 23. Yau provided a declaration in support of the suit and deferred additional comment to that declaration.
In the early hours of July 15, Yau was covering a protest outside the Multnomah County Justice Center and the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse downtown, according to his declaration. He was taking photographs with a Nikon camera and filming on his cellphone and gimbal. He was also clearly marked as press, with a neon reflective vest and helmet reading “press” in block letters as well as a press pass around his neck.
A few minutes before 4 a.m., Yau was filming and photographing protesters at the intersection of Southwest Third Avenue and Southwest Main Street as they were pushed north by federal agents, according to the court filing. He was standing about 40 feet from the protesters as federal agents fired on the crowd with flash-bang grenades, pepper balls and tear gas. Although Yau was covering the protest from a distance, a federal agent fired a tear gas canister directly at him, he said, striking him with burning fragments.
Independent journalist Garrison Davis captured part of the shooting in a video he posted on Twitter around 5 a.m.
Shortly after, Yau replied to Davis’ tweet with his own post, saying, “It was 2 pieces of burning fragments from the Teargas grenades that landed briefly on my arm and jeans. The burning pieces can be seen briefly on the ground.”
“I have covered protests in Hong Kong, where a totalitarian regime is suppressing protesters with brutal violence,” Yau said in the court filing. “Even Hong Kong police, however, were generally conscientious about differentiating between press and protesters.”
The Department of Homeland Security, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Photographer Mel D. Cole was documenting police-protester clashes from the Brooklyn Bridge footpath in New York City when officers arrested him, confiscated his equipment and detained him for seven hours on July 15, 2020, according to a federal lawsuit.
Cole is one of five news photographers who filed a federal lawsuit on Aug. 5, 2021, “seeking to hold the New York Police Department [NYPD] accountable for its violation of their First Amendment rights.” The suit is being led by the National Press Photographers Association, of which four of the journalists are members, in partnership with Davis Wright Tremaine LLP.
Cole was covering the protests that broke out in New York in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement after the death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020.
According to the complaint, Cole was on the Brooklyn Bridge footpath, preparing to photograph a pro-police march that was scheduled to cross the bridge into Manhattan. At approximately 10:30 a.m., counterprotesters arrived and clashes erupted between demonstrators and police.
“Cole had not participated in the counter-protests, had been peacefully photographing from a position outside the conflict, and was wearing multiple professional cameras around his neck and shoulder, making his status as a photojournalist visibly apparent,” according to the complaint. However, NYPD Lieutenant Richard Mack approached Cole and directed another officer to arrest him despite his status as a journalist and documentarian, the complaint noted, because he did not have a press pass.
The complaint said officers seized his cameras, brought him to One Police Plaza in Manhattan where he was processed, transported him to the 5th Police Precinct and placed him in a holding cell. “Sergeant Quigley told Mr. Cole that the NYPD knew that Mr. Cole had not been involved in any criminal act and should not have been arrested,” according to the complaint. “Sergeant Quigley also told Cole that he was ‘lucky’ that he was ‘not going to be locked up all weekend’ and indicated Mr. Cole should ‘thank’ Sergeant Quigley and the NYPD for ‘putting their necks on the line’ for him.” While maskless, Sergeant Quigley also pulled down Cole's mask at one point during the interaction, the complaint stated.
After several more hours, Cole was released without charge and his equipment returned to him with no documentation provided upon his release, according to the complaint.
“The reason why he was being arrested and the other journalists weren’t is because they had press passes and he didn't. When you're out in a traditional public forum, you don't need press passes if it's a matter of public concern,” Mickey H. Osterreicher, general counsel to the NPPA, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. “Very often, having a press pass is a detriment and many will have them around their neck rather than displaying for that very reason.”
Cole and the New York Police Department did not respond to requests for comment. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
The New York City Police Department subpoenaed a journalist’s cellphone records as part of a leak investigation, according to the reporter, who asked that their name not be disclosed, citing fear of harming relationships with sources, and a report by the New York Daily News.
On July 14, 2020, the New York-based freelancer who works for the Daily Mail received a letter stating that their phone records had been subpoenaed and used to question a police officer about his alleged contact with the reporter, according to the letter, which was seen by the Committee to Protect Journalists.
The letter, which was sent to the reporter by the police officer’s lawyer, stated that the investigation related to leaked information about the arrest of actor Cuba Gooding Jr. in June 2019.
When the journalist’s lawyer, Ron Kuby, sought to obtain a copy of the subpoena from the journalist’s telecom provider, AT&T, the company refused, saying that they do not disclose subpoenas relating to criminal matters.
An NYPD official told the Daily News that the subpoena was issued before the department changed its regulations about acquiring journalists’ phone and social media records earlier this year.
When CPJ called the NYPD to ask about the department’s current policy on issuing subpoenas on journalists, the operator told CPJ to send an email requesting information. CPJ sent an email requesting additional information, but the NYPD did not respond.
In February, the NYPD withdrew a subpoena for data from the Twitter account of New York Post police bureau chief Tina Moore, that was issued under the Patriot Act as part of a leak investigation, as the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documented at the time.
NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea later issued an apology for subpoenaing that information, according to an article from the Daily News.
When CPJ called the NYPD for comment, a representative told CPJ to send questions via email. CPJ emailed the police department but did not receive any response.
Jim Greer, AT&T’s assistant vice president for corporate communications, told CPJ in an email that, “Like all companies, we are required by law [to] comply with subpoenas from government and law enforcement agencies.”
Editor’s Note: The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents subpoenas of journalistic work product or testimony by date the subpoena is issued. Until this subpoena is made available, however, we are logging it by date that the reporter became aware of its existence. That date, and how it affects our category count, may change in the future.
Photojournalist Mathieu Lewis-Rolland was hit with multiple rounds of non-lethal projectiles fired by federal agents while covering protests in Portland, Oregon, in the early morning hours of July 12, 2020.
Protests have broken out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
The Portland protests, held nightly since late May, had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists wasn’t expanded to include federal agents until July 23.
At 1:58 a.m. on July 12, Lewis-Rolland began filming live on Facebook, documenting as federal agents emerged from the U.S. Courthouse and started moving the crowd toward the west. About one minute into the video, a federal officer can be seen raising his gun at Lewis-Rolland, but not firing. When Lewis-Rolland reached the intersection of Southwest Fourth Avenue and Southwest Main Street, about a block from the Courthouse, he turned to take a photograph of a teargas canister rolling into the intersection when he was shot multiple times. The impact of the non-lethal plastic munitions ripped his T-shirt in at least two places.
In a declaration in support of the ACLU lawsuit that led to the TRO, Lewis-Rolland said that one or more federal agents shot him 10 times with impact munitions. He shared photographs of his injuries with the ACLU, including one large laceration and two smaller contusions on his right side, a laceration on his right elbow, two large lacerations on his back and four smaller contusions on his left side. Munitions recovered from the intersection are also pictured.
These are some of the #munitions I recovered from the intersection at sw 4th and Main in #PortlandOregon where I was targeted and shot 10 times. pic.twitter.com/OUkOAEXR35
— Mathieu Lewis-Rolland (@MathieuLRolland) July 16, 2020
“I was not posing any type of threat to Agent Doe or anyone else. I was not even facing him,” Lewis-Rolland said in the declaration.
While a number of federal agencies had officers in Portland in July, it wasn’t clear which agency the officers were from. The Department of Homeland Security, which coordinated the federal presence in Portland, didn’t respond to requests for comment.
A man hit a New York Post reporter with a piece of lumber during a demonstration to cut police funding at New York’s City Hall on July 12, 2020, the Post reported. The man was later arrested and charged with assault, police said.
The weeks-long “Occupy City Hall” protests in June drew hundreds of people who pressed elected leaders to slash $1 billion from the New York City Police Department’s annual operating budget of around $6 billion. Dozens of people camped outside City Hall during the lengthy demonstration, one of many nationwide sparked by the death of George Floyd, a Black man, in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25.
Post reporter Kevin Sheehan was using his smartphone to film the demonstration at about 11 a.m. on July 12 from a public street, standing on the opposite side of a metal barrier, when a man with a piece of wood in his hand approached the journalist, demanding he stop recording.
“Put the fucking camera down!” the man yelled while swinging the board, which Sheehan caught on video. The assailant knocked Sheehan’s phone out of his hand and struck him in the face, the Post reported.
The attack left Sheehan with a headache and a swollen lip. The reporter walked away from the barricade but his assailant began to follow him, according to the Post.
Sheehan, who was wearing NYPD-issued press credentials around his neck, walked over to a group of police officers assembled nearby to report the incident. An officer told him that the attack didn’t qualify as an assault because no physical marks were visible, the Post reported on July 12.
“It’s not assault, it’s harassment,” the officer reportedly told Sheehan. Police didn’t initially make any arrests related to the attack.
But a spokesperson for the NYPD told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that Daniel Mayo, 32, of Queens, was arrested on July 14 in connection with the incident and charged with second-degree assault.
The spokesperson confirmed that the man portrayed in Sheehan’s video attacking the reporter with a piece of lumber matches Mayo’s mugshot. Attempts to reach Mayo and his attorney weren’t successful.
Sheehan declined to comment and the Post didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The New York City Council approved a budget deal on June 30 to cut about $1 billion from the NYPD, but some protesters continued camping at City Hall for weeks after the vote. By mid-July, the number of protesters there had dwindled to about 50, the Post reported, and the camp was cleared on July 22, according to The New York Times.
Activists in New York, Minneapolis and many other cities have called on lawmakers to “defund” law enforcement agencies following the deaths of Floyd and other Black people at the hands of police, such as Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky, in March.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
A journalist with Full Revolution Media said he was hit with a crowd-control munition by federal officers while covering a protest in the early morning hours of July 12, 2020, in downtown Portland, Oregon.
The demonstration was among the many that broke out in response to police violence and in support of Black Lives Matter following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
The protest, which began on the night of July 11 and stretched past midnight, took place near the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse, a frequent focus of demonstrators, according to local news outlet KATU. Protesters faced off with federal officers, who deployed crowd control munitions and CS gas, an aerosol and type of tear gas.
John, the Full Revolution Media journalist, told the Tracker that at approximately 1:49 a.m., he was hit in the shoulder and armpit with an impact munition fired by federal officers. He was about a half block away from the corner of Southwest Third Avenue and Southwest Salmon Street, near the district courthouse.
"When coming out of [the] courthouse they would deploy gas and shoot pepper balls...often shooting through clouds of tear gas," said John, who asked that his last name not be used out of safety concerns.
John, whose helmet has large “press” markings on the front and back, said he felt targeted, since he was standing alone. “Nothing was really happening in my area by park bathrooms, and I was uphill from [the] federal courthouse," he said.
John sustained bruising and minor abrasions on his shoulder, he said.
The Department of Homeland Security, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Independent journalist Garrison Davis was struck by a tear gas canister fired by federal agents while covering protests in Portland, Oregon, in the early morning hours of July 12, 2020.
Protests have broken out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
The Portland protests, held nightly since late May, had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists wasn’t expanded to include federal agents until July 23.
Around 12:40 a.m., Davis was filming in Lownsdale Square across from the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse when he was shot in the back with a teargas canister, he told the Tracker. The canister fell into his messenger bag, soaking Davis and his bag with gas and nearly catching the bag on fire.
Davis, who described both of these incidents in a declaration for the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon in support of expanding the TRO to cover federal agents, said he believes that he was targeted by federal troops: “There wasn’t really anyone by me,” said Davis, whose helmet is marked “press.” In a video tweeted by Davis that captures the moment he was hit, he can be heard cursing and fumbling as bystanders help to remove the canister from his bag.
Protesters using Hong Kong tactics to put out a canister, then officers deploy a canister, hitting me with it and it falling into my bag. I have PRESS marked on my helmet. #teargas #blacklivesmatter #pdx #portlandoregon #oregon #blm #acab #portland #justicecenter #teargas pic.twitter.com/bMSrtQyNGr
— Garrison Davis (@hungrybowtie) July 12, 2020
About 15 minutes later, Davis tweeted another video showing a line of federal agents deploying munitions towards the park from across the street. “More teargas being deployed in the street and park. Officers trying to shoot me as I record. There were no protesters behind me as they shot in my direction,” Davis wrote in the post.
He felt targeted once again. “I had my camera up and I’m walking around with my camera up, both hands are on my camera the whole time,” Davis told the Tracker. “It’s very clear what I’m doing, but I was continuing to get shot at when no one was around me.”
While a number of federal agencies had officers in Portland in July, it wasn’t clear which agency the officers were from. The Department of Homeland Security, which coordinated the federal presence in Portland, didn’t respond to requests for comment.
A multimedia journalist for FreedomNews TV, was assaulted by individuals and had her camera smashed while covering a pro-law enforcement “Back the Blue” rally in the Brooklyn borough of New York on July 11, 2020. The rally was a response to continuing Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests sparked by the May 25 police killing of George Floyd, a Black man, by police in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The journalist, who publishes under the name Oliya Scootercaster, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in an interview that she had been walking in the neighborhood of Dyker Heights with two other photographers when a man from the rally approached and asked, “Why does the media show fake information?” Moments later, she said, another person shoved her into a tree causing abrasions to her left elbow. She tweeted a photo of the wound.
This was the worst of it physically. Now need a new camera though. pic.twitter.com/f9oSfcrRPq
— @SCOOTERCASTER (FNTV) (@ScooterCasterNY) July 11, 2020
Scootercaster also tweeted a video from someone she identified as “the neighbor Zena P.,” writing, “The video filmed by the neighbor starts after they shoved me. She saw that happen and started recording.”
I am very grateful to the neighbor Zena P. who filmed it. pic.twitter.com/szfE9z3tvk
— @SCOOTERCASTER (FNTV) (@ScooterCasterNY) July 11, 2020
In the footage, a man can be seen grabbing the journalist's camera and swinging it at her, before it drops to the ground.
Scootercaster said on Twitter that the camera had “shattered,” and she told the Tracker that it had to be replaced.
Scootercaster said that police officers on bicycles, who’d arrived on the scene during the attack, initially refused to file a report, saying, “We didn’t see anything.” Once the bystander’s video was brought up though, they agreed, according to the journalist.
Following the rally, Scootercaster said her case was assigned to a detective with the New York Police Department. According to Scootercaster, he had not returned her emails or calls since July. The Tracker’s request to the department for comment was not returned as of press time.
The New York Office of the Deputy Commissioner, Public Information also did not respond to a request for comment.
Scootercaster said an assistant attorney general reached out to interview her about the incident. They have not responded to the Tracker’s request for comment.
In the aftermath of the assault, Scootercaster said she hopes for some sense of justice. “I just want to see that there’s accountability for people no matter which side they’re on,” she said. “I mean, it was very disheartening. I’m not on either side, I’m a journalist. I’m literally just documenting ... it was just unpleasant from all sides.”
Independent journalist Ari Taylor told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she was assaulted and detained by federal officers while covering a protest in Portland, Oregon, on July 2, 2020.
Taylor, who was livestreaming for Halospace Community Media and filming for the Grassroots Activist International Association, was documenting one of the many protests that have been ongoing for months in Portland and across the U.S. in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. The Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
The Portland protests had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists wasn’t expanded to include federal agents until July 23. Taylor said she is participating in a separate class-action suit against federal officers and Chad Wolf, former acting secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, for using excessive force against protesters.
On the night of July 2, several hundred protesters gathered outside of the Multnomah County Justice Center, according to local news station KGW. After several demonstrators broke into the building, federal agents emerged to clear the area around 11:42, according to a Portland Police Bureau report. The Portland police declared a riot about 10 minutes later.
Taylor told the Tracker that right before the riot was declared, she was filming a glass door that had been shattered during an altercation between federal officers and a shirtless individual. According to Taylor, the officers were pushing down on the door and broke it, but the individual was arrested for the incident.
"They [officers] had shoved another member of the press with their shield, and I had gone to help him up," Taylor said. "Then they went after the shirtless individual, and I turned around to get his arrest. I had my back to the officers and was filming the crowd, and that's when they attacked me."
In a video taken by independent journalist Eric Greatwood and posted on YouTube, at about the one-minute mark, several officers can be seen pulling Taylor across the courthouse entrance and into the building amidst clouds of purple smoke and yelling from the crowd. At the 1:45 mark in another video, it is clear that Taylor is being dragged by her arm and leg. Another video shows Taylor's camera footage intercut with another individual's footage, and she can be seen being dragged up the stairs around the 0:50 mark.
Taylor said the officers pulled her across a pile of broken glass, damaging her DSLR camera and lens in the process.
Once inside the building, Taylor identified a mix of officers from the Portland police, DHS, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, based on their uniforms and badges, she told the Tracker. They brought her to a holding facility on the third floor, she said, but wouldn’t tell her what she was being charged with.
"A male officer patted me down and searched me," said Taylor. "Every hour, they'd come in and I'd ask to talk to a lawyer and they wouldn't let me."
Around 5:30 a.m., the officers released her without any paperwork or rationale as to why she was detained, said Taylor, adding that they only stated, "We may be talking later."
"They still have my gimbal," she said, referring to a mechanical stabilizer for her camera. She said the officers had confiscated all her belongings, including her backpack, gas mask and camera equipment when they searched her. "There's nothing to be held accountable. I have no paperwork to prove that I was ever in their facilities."
At the time, Taylor had press credentials stating the organizations she was affiliated with, she said. She tweeted photos of numerous bruises, cuts and scrapes sustained from the incident, and said she ended up going to the hospital for treatment of injuries to her hip, back and foot.
This just my view and one other persons view there are many other views of my federal kidnapping that you can watch. I was given no paper work and still don’t have all my stuff. I had many injuries but I will post pictures of a few. https://t.co/9hWBP4LCEe pic.twitter.com/oiAfVAkyec
— Pdx Peoples News (@PdxPeoples) July 17, 2020
The DHS, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, didn’t respond to a request for comment about the incident.
Andrew Buncombe, the chief U.S. correspondent for British newspaper The Independent, was arrested while covering demonstrations in Seattle, Washington, on July 1, 2020.
In an account for The Independent, published July 9, Buncombe wrote that he was on assignment in Seattle to document the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest in Cal Anderson Park and the surrounding streets. For more than a month, the area had been a focal point for sustained protests following the May 25 death of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
On the day of Buncombe’s arrest, Seattle police were attempting to clear the park, following an executive order from Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan. Police Chief Carmen Best said in a press briefing later that day that the action was prompted by ongoing violence and public safety issues.
Due to ongoing violence and public safety issues in the East Precinct/Cal Anderson Park area. Mayor Jenny Durkan has issued an executive order to vacate the area. Seattle police will be in the area this morning enforcing the Mayor’s order. https://t.co/SpVRYIB8eg pic.twitter.com/JAt2AvUTCr
— Seattle Police Dept. (@SeattlePD) July 1, 2020
Buncombe wrote that less than five minutes after he arrived he was arrested at the northern edge of the park. An officer on the other side of a police tape line told Buncombe — who said he had not crossed the tape — to leave the area or face arrest. Buncombe said he showed the officer his State Department-issued press badge and told him he wanted to photograph what was happening inside the park.
“The officer again told me to retreat and said he was going to arrest me if I did not. I again told him I was a member of the media and intended to stay and do my work,” Buncombe wrote. “He then grabbed me and marched me towards several of his colleagues, who pinned my hands behind my back.”
Officers seized Buncombe’s phone and told him he was under arrest, but would not tell him on what charge, according to the journalist. He was then handcuffed, shackled and loaded in a van to transport him to the Seattle Police Department’s West Precinct. Once there, Buncombe again informed officers that he was a journalist and asked to contact his lawyer, his editor and the British embassy.
Buncombe wrote that officers informed him he was being charged with failure to disperse, a charge that has a maximum penalty of 364 days in jail and a fine of $5,000. The Seattle municipal code explicitly states that “failure to disperse” does not apply to members of the press “unless he is physically obstructing lawful efforts by such officer to disperse the group.”
After an hour in a holding cell, Buncombe was loaded into a van alongside other detainees and transported to the King County Correctional Facility on Fifth Avenue, according to his account.
Once there, Buncombe said he was informed that an officer needed to re-enter his information before he would be permitted to use a phone.
“The officer could not hear me [spell my name], so I explained it may have been my accent (I am British),” Buncombe wrote. “For reasons that were unclear, the woman took offense. ‘Get back in the cell. You’ve lost your chance. You’re being condescending.’”
“I tried again to spell my name but they were having none of it. Out of nowhere, a male prison guard leapt at me from behind, yanked hard on the collar of my jacket, pulling it with sufficient force into my throat to make me gasp,” Buncombe wrote. “He then manhandled me into the cell.”
Buncombe wrote that while he had been detained twice before — once in Cuba in 2006 and then in Pakistan in 2011 — this was his first time being arrested. He was released at 6 p.m., approximately six hours after his arrest, once he signed a paper agreeing to appear in court.
“If I am charged, I will be pleading not guilty. Journalism is not a crime,” Buncombe wrote in his account for The Independent. “At the same time I will be trying to explain why, supported by the right afforded by the First Amendment of the Constitution, I stood my ground.”
The Independent reported on July 15 that the Seattle City Attorney’s Office declined to press charges against Buncombe. It also noted that British Ambassador to the U.S. Karen Pierce had filed an official complaint about Buncombe’s arrest, and that the White House had been informed.
Christian Broughton, the editor of The Independent, said in a statement to the outlet: “We are delighted and relieved that Andrew Buncombe no longer faces charges — of course, he should never have been arrested in the first place.”
A spokesperson for the Seattle Police Department told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that Buncombe had been arrested for refusing to leave the area, not because he was a journalist.
“Had he worked with the department to get in contact with a [public information officer] we could have gotten him into the park to do the investigative journalism that he wanted to do,” the spokesperson said. “Without that, he had to play by the same rules as everybody else at that time.”
The spokesperson also said that while steps have been taken to remind officers of the rights of journalists covering demonstrations, it is challenging for officers in the field to verify claims that someone is a member of the press.
The Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists who were assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Freelance journalist Justin Yau was arrested on July 1, 2020, while filming the arrest of a protester in northeast Portland, Oregon.
Yau, a student at the University of Portland whose work has been featured by the Daily Mail and The New York Times, was covering one of the many protests that had broken out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Law enforcement officers in Portland have targeted journalists since the start of nightly demonstrations in late May, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. Yau is a plaintiff in the suit, which led to a U.S. District Court judge issuing a temporary restraining order the day after his arrest that barred police from arresting or harming journalists. The city later agreed to a preliminary injunction in July to not arrest, harm or impede the work of journalists or legal observers of the protests.
In the early hours of July 1, Yau was following a group of protesters moving toward the North Precinct of the Portland Police Bureau. The police had earlier declared a riot and dispersed the protesters shortly after 10 p.m., and the group had reassembled.
Yau told the Tracker that the crowd he was following made visual contact with a police riot line at around 12:45 a.m. at the intersection of Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Northeast Killingsworth Street. Police pushed the crowd westward. “I was about like 30 feet away from the police line and I was walking away following instructions and I was on the sidewalk matching their pace,” said Yau.
As they moved down Killingsworth toward Northeast Mallory Avenue, Yau observed a protester walking slowly with their hands up. Then he heard police warn the protester to get out of the street faster, followed by an order to arrest them. He began to film the arrest on his cell phone. But when the police charged forward, Yau didn’t initially realize they were taking him into custody as well.
Yau was tackled from his right side and fell on his left side on top of his camera and the gimbal he used to stabilize it. His phone flew out of his hands and was permanently damaged, though still working. “I just went limp and didn’t say anything,” he told the Tracker.
Freelance photojournalist Alex Milan Tracy captured video of Yau’s arrest. The video shows Yau being cuffed on the ground. “The person that you are arresting clearly is identified as press from his helmet,” Tracy could be heard telling the officers, who didn’t respond. “Why are you arresting a member of the press?”
I question officers actions as police arrest an identifiable member of the press @PDocumentarians near NE Killingsworth and Mallory. pic.twitter.com/AqMQ5kvm3q
— Alex Milan Tracy (@AlexMilanTracy) July 1, 2020
In addition to wearing a helmet marked as “press,” Yau said he had a glow vest attached to a backpack labeled “press.” He was also wearing neutral colors to distinguish him from protesters, who are often in all black.
Tracy also captured footage of one of the arresting officers putting his backpack in a bag and escorting him into a police van. The restraining order required the police “to return any seized equipment or press passes immediately upon release of a person from custody,” but Yau’s equipment was not returned until July 6, according to the ACLU claim.
Yau appears to be limping in the second video from the impact of landing on his knee during the arrest. “My left knee was kind of in a lot of pain throughout booking, I couldn’t sleep,” he told the Tracker.
The reason given for Yau’s arrest was felony riot and interfering with a peace officer — this resulted in a no-complaint charge after the district attorney decided not to press charges.
Yau believes he was targeted for being press, a view shared by Tracy, who referenced Yau’s arrest in a declaration for the ACLU suit. “It seemed to me that the police were specifically targeting and retaliating against reporters for seeking to enforce out First Amendment protections,” said Tracy.
The PPB has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation in the ACLU case.
George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020, ignited a sweeping assembly of protesters across the United States — and the globe — a staggering, monthslong outcry for police reform and racial justice. In many moments peaceful, in many others bracingly violent, journalists of all stripes took to documenting these demonstrations. At times, to do the job meant to expose oneself to the effects of riot-control agents, to face harassment from individuals or law enforcement officials, to fear for your safety or have your reporting interrupted. Below is a geographically organized roundup of such examples from around the U.S. during July 2020.
A full accounting of incidents in which members of the press were assaulted, arrested or had their equipment damaged while covering these protests can be found here. To learn more about how the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents and categorizes violations of press freedom, visit pressfreedomtracker.us.
July 26, 2020
In Richmond, Virginia
Police just ambushed protesters at Monroe Park. Some protesters were tackled. It happened fast, just as I arrived on scene, I got as much as I could. I heard police saying “if they’re in the park, grab them. @RTDNEWS pic.twitter.com/ZM4DFODIWe
— Zach Joachim (@ZachJoachim) July 27, 2020
I was walking through the park to grab this video. You can hear officers say “park is closed.” I showed them my press badge, was told if I didn’t leave I would be arrested. Didn’t matter if I was press. @NBC12 pic.twitter.com/M10IED5Sf1
— Olivia Ugino (@OliviaNBC12) July 27, 2020
July 30, 2020
In Jefferson City, Missouri
Here’s a look at when the arrests began. #moleg pic.twitter.com/g7sGrkgBlr
— Kaitlyn Schallhorn (@K_Schallhorn) July 30, 2020
Information in this roundup was gathered from published social media and news reports as well as interviews where noted. To read similar incidents from other days of national protests also in this category, go here.
A New York Supreme Court judge granted temporary restraining orders on June 30, 2020, barring President Donald Trump’s niece and publisher Simon & Schuster, Inc. from moving forward with printing and distributing a tell-all book about the Trump family. Both orders were subsequently vacated.
The book — “Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man” and scheduled for release in July — details Mary L. Trump’s relationships with the president, family members and her father, Fred Trump Jr.
Judge Hal B. Greenwald granted the temporary restraining order at the request of President Trump’s younger brother Robert, who alleged that the book violates a non-disclosure agreement signed by members of the family as part of the settlement of Fred Trump Sr.’s estate following his death in 1999.
According to court filings, the agreement included a pledge not to indirectly or directly publish any memoir. Robert Trump asserted that her book may “contain material that could harm him” or members of the family “by divulging private or disparaging information about their relationship to the public.”
Attorneys for Mary Trump and Simon & Schuster filed appeals the same day, arguing that the order constituted a prior restraint on core political speech in violation of the First Amendment, Politico reported. The attorneys also noted the impropriety of granting an injunction without allowing the author and publisher to provide a legal briefing to the court.
Mary Trump’s attorney, Ted Boutrous Jr., said in a statement, “This book, which addresses matters of great public concern and importance about a sitting president in an election year, should not be suppressed even for one day.”
The Reporter’s Committee for Freedom of the Press, the Association of American Publishers and PEN America submitted an amicus brief highlighting the unprecedented nature of the order and the unenforceability of such a non-disclosure agreement.
“There can be no doubt that the Book’s subject matter is of immense public interest,” RCFP’s Legal Director Katie Townsend wrote. “Simply put, whatever embarrassment [Robert Trump] speculates he or the President may experience from the publication or dissemination of a Book ‘divulging private or disparaging information’ to the public cannot remotely approach the type of extraordinary harm that could justify a prior restraint against either Defendant.” RCFP is a partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
Judge Alan D. Scheinkman of the New York Supreme Court’s appellate division lifted the restraining order against Simon & Schuster the following day, July 1, leaving the one against Mary Trump in place. The Washington Post reported that the decision allows the publisher to proceed with the distribution of the book ahead of the planned release.
Scheinkman wrote, “Whatever legitimate public interest there may have been in the family disputes of a real estate developer and his relatives may be considerably heightened by that real estate developer now being President of the United States and a current candidate for reelection.”
Simon & Schuster said in a statement to the Associated Press that the ruling was a victory.
The book, it said, was of “great interest and importance to the national discourse that fully deserves to be published for the benefit of the American public.”
Robert Trump’s lawyer, Charles Harder, argued in a reply filed on July 7 that the book consists solely of Mary Trump’s “personal observations, not political commentary,” and is therefore not entitled to the same protections and scrutiny as other materials, like the Pentagon Papers.
Harder, who did not respond to an emailed request for comment, called for the judge to uphold restraining orders against both Mary Trump and Simon & Schuster, adding that at its core, the case is not about the First Amendment.
“The ‘prior restraint’ doctrine Defendants invoke applies to a completely different type of injunction against speech and has no application where a party has contracted away her right to speak in exchange for valid consideration,” he wrote.
Boutrous said in a statement to the Tracker that “Robert Trump’s brief defies the First Amendment, ignores basic contract law and fails completely to justify a prior restraint muzzling Mary Trump.”
Attorneys for Simon & Schuster did not respond to emailed requests for comment.
In a decision on July 13 — one day before the book was set to be published — Greenwald vacated the temporary restraining order against Mary Trump. In that order, he also denied Robert Trump’s requests for injunctions against both Mary Trump and Simon & Schuster.
“In the matter before this Court, Plaintiff [Robert Trump] has failed to meet his burden of demonstrating imminent, irreparable harm, to him,” Greenwald wrote. “There is no doubt that the Book is out in the public eye in significant quantities and has reached millions of people by the tremendous attention it has gained by the media.”
“In the vernacular of First year law students, ‘Con[stitutional] law trumps Contracts.’”
A portion of the initial order granting a temporary restraining orders against Mary L. Trump and Simon & Schuster on June 30, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,struck down,"Simon & Schuster, Inc.",,,,,, Photojournalist says Portland police seized GoPro as ‘evidence’ during protest,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-says-portland-police-seized-gopro-as-evidence-during-protest/,2020-10-22 14:50:40.713979+00:00,2021-12-09 15:10:44.889568+00:00,2021-12-09 15:10:44.788731+00:00,,Equipment Search or Seizure,,camera: count of 1,,Alex Milan Tracy (Freelance),,2020-06-30,False,Portland,Oregon (OR),45.52345,-122.67621,"Portland photojournalist Alex Milan Tracy said the Portland Police Bureau seized his GoPro camera “as evidence” when he was covering a protest outside the police union office in the Oregon city’s North Portland neighborhood on June 30, 2020.
The protest was one of the many that broke out across the U.S. 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 U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Tracy was documenting a protest near the Portland Police Association on North Lombard Street “when the police declared an unlawful assembly and charged at the crowd,” he said in a declaration on behalf of a class action suit the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon filed against the PBB in June. Tracy is a plaintiff in the suit, which resulted in a temporary restraining order and an agreement by the city in July not to arrest, harm or impede any journalists or legal observers.
While Tracy was running, his GoPro Hero 8 fell out of a pouch on his waist, he said in the claim. “One officer told me that it would be seized ‘as evidence’ because it was behind the police line at this point,” he said, adding that the police prevented him from looking for the camera. Tracy wasn’t available to comment.
In a video Tracy tweeted after the incident, he says to the camera: “Moments ago, during a police charge, a GoPro camera that I use for newsgathering purposes, fell out of my pocket attached to my waist and has been taken by the police as evidence. I do not condone this act, and I would appreciate if I could get my camera back without having to go through the evidence office downtown.”
He got his camera back from the PPB Property Warehouse on July 2.
Independent journalist Tuck Woodstock said they were pushed several times and hit by crowd-control munitions while covering protests in Portland, Oregon on June 30, 2020.
The Portland-based journalist was covering one of the many protests that have broken out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
In Portland, nightly protests over Floyd’s death began on May 29, prompting Mayor Ted Wheeler to declare a curfew that lasted three days. Even after the nightly curfew was lifted, journalists continued to be targeted by police, according to a class-action lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. Woodstock is a plaintiff in the suit, which resulted in a temporary restraining order and an agreement by the city in July not to arrest, harm or impede any journalists or legal observers.
The June 30 demonstration took place the day before a planned vote to extend the city’s contract with the police union. Protesters marched over a mile from Peninsula Park to the Portland Police Association headquarters in North Portland.
Soon after protestors arrived at PPA offices around 9 p.m., the police declared an “unlawful assembly” and ordered them to disperse. When Woodstock arrived just after 9:30 p.m., the scene involved police pushing protesters and the press and shooting impact munitions at the crowd, they said.
“I got to the PPA just in time to watch PPB shoving protesters, NLG, and press while insisting that they walk faster,” Woodstock tweeted at 9:26 p.m. In the accompanying video, the camera goes askew as police push people around Woodstock.
About a half hour later, Woodstock was pushed several times when police bull-rushed a crowd of protestors. While trying to film the arrest of some protestors, Woodstock “felt a baton pressed into their back as an officer yelled ‘move, move, move, move,’ directly in their ear,” according to court documents in the ACLU case. Despite informing an officer that they were press, Woodstock was pushed at least four times, the filing said.
Then, a little after 10 p.m., Woodstock was hit by shrapnel from a canister police threw that appeared to explode on the curb in front of them. Woodstock tweeted a video of the incident, writing, “Yup just got hit in the leg with shrapnel. Seems very superficial.”
Yup just got hit in the leg with shrapnel. Seems very superficial. pic.twitter.com/2KqSIgwRDI
— Tuck Woodstock (@tuckwoodstock) July 1, 2020
Woodstock declined to comment further about the incidents.
The PPB has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation in the ACLU case.
Independent journalist Eric Greatwood was hit in the groin by a crowd-control projectile while covering a protest in Portland, Oregon, on June 30, 2020.
The Portland-based journalist was documenting one of the many protests that have broken out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
In Portland, nightly protests over Floyd’s death began on May 29, prompting Mayor Ted Wheeler to declare a curfew that lasted three days. Even after the nightly curfew was lifted, journalists continued to be targeted by police, according to a class-action lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The suit resulted in a temporary restraining order and an agreement by the city in July not to arrest, harm or impede any journalists or legal observers.
The June 30 demonstration took place the day before a planned vote to extend the city’s contract with the police union. Protesters marched over a mile from Peninsula Park to the Portland Police Association (PPA) headquarters in North Portland.
Soon after protestors arrived at PPA offices around 9 p.m., the police declared an “unlawful assembly” and ordered them to disperse. Police used batons and less-lethal munitions to move protesters east, according to testimony by Greatwood and other plaintiffs in a motion filed by Don’t Shoot Portland, a police accountability group, to hold the city in contempt over a federal court ruling a few days earlier that restricted law enforcement’s use of less-lethal weapons in the Portland protests.
Greatwood, a U.S. Air Force veteran, had been filming protests in Portland almost daily since June 5 with a video camera mounted on a 20-foot pole. That night, a police officer called Greatwood by name, a detail he described as hair-raising.
Around 10:15 p.m., Greatwood was hit with a munition from an FN303 launcher while he was bending down to examine an unexploded smoke canister, according to court documents. The launchers are considered less-lethal, but have proven to be fatal in the past.
Portland Police Bureau Officer Brent Taylor, who fired the round, testified that he was concerned Greatwood would throw the canister back at the police line, but that he didn’t mean to aim at Gretwood’s groin.
But Greatwood, who had been wearing a helmet marked “press,” testified that he felt targeted, saying, “I believe that the police personally targeted me and intentionally aimed to shoot me in the groin.”
While U.S. District Judge Marco Hernandez ruled on Nov. 27 that several of the shooting incidents by police on June 30 violated the temporary restraining order restricting the use of less-lethal munitions, the judge found that the use of force against Greatwood was appropriate because he posed a threat when he examined the grenade.
The ruling came as a surprise to Greatwood, “I just want justice to be served,” he told the Tracker. “It’s hard for me to feel like any of it is fair, I feel like I was the most neutral, most labeled person there.”
Greatwood, who was livestreaming when he was hit, tried to hide his groaning from people who were tuned into his feed. “It was easily the most excruciating injury I’ve had happen to me,” he told the Tracker. Greatwood ended up going to the emergency room, where he was given basic first aid. The injury took more than a month to heal, he said.
Freelance journalist Lesley McLam was arrested on June 30, 2020, while covering a protest in Portland, Oregon. McLam — together with Cory Elia, a colleague at Village Portland and KBOO radio station who was arrested with her — has since filed a lawsuit against the city of Portland, the state, and law enforcement for their arrest and treatment afterwards.
McLam was covering one of the many protests that have broken out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
In Portland, nightly protests over Floyd’s death began on May 29, prompting Mayor Ted Wheeler to declare a curfew that lasted three days. Even after the nightly curfew was lifted, journalists continued to be targeted by police, according to a class-action lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. McLam is part of that suit, as well, which resulted in a temporary restraining order and an agreement by the city in July not to arrest, harm, or impede any journalists or legal observers.
The June 30 demonstration took place the day before a planned vote to extend the city’s contract with the police union. Protesters marched over a mile from Peninsula Park to the Portland Police Association headquarters in the neighborhood of North Portland. Soon after protestors arrived at PPA offices around 9 p.m., the police declared an “unlawful assembly” and ordered them to disperse.
McLam was livestreaming when the police declared a riot around 11 p.m. and followed as they moved protestors east on North Lombard Street, further away from the PPA offices. About 22 minutes into the footage, she captures Elia’s arrest. She can be heard demanding that they release Elia and turn over his phone and other personal items to her. The tracker has documented Elia's arrest here.
About 11 minutes later, the video shuts off at the moment McLam gets arrested. After an officer tells her to “Get off the street,” she can be heard responding, “I’m a member of the press. I’m on the crosswalk.” Then an officer can be seen approaching her, and the camera goes askew and filming ends.
On July 8, Elia and McLam filed a civil lawsuit against the city, the state, and multiple law enforcement officers for allegedly violating their constitutional rights and for battery, assault, negligence and false arrest. They are also seeking compensation for their injuries and punitive damages.
According to the complaint, as McLam attempted to film the officers present at Elia’s arrest, she was rushed by approximately six officers. “McLam’s glasses flew off as she was tackled,” it said, adding that officers “hit and/or punched McLam in the legs and knees, causing contusions and muscle pain and spraining her ankle.” She also had swelling, bruising and tenderness from her handcuffs, according to the complaint.
In addition, due to the stress of her arrest, McLam experienced vomiting and urinary incontinence, according to the complaint. In a video posted on Twitter by a bystander, a handcuffed McLam can be seen vomiting as officers empty her pockets.
McLam was taken to Multnomah County Detention Center, where she was placed in an isolation cell “covered in what appeared to be dried, sticky vomit and smeared feces,” according to the complaint. When she started to feel cramping, McLam worried that the stress had started her menstrual cycle early. She called out for a menstrual pad which wasn’t brought to her until more than 30 minutes later, the complaint said.
While the police referred criminal charges to the Multnomah County district attorney’s office, attorneys in that office declined to file charges, resulting in a “no-complaint,” according to McLam’s defense attorney. But the police continued to hold her for several more hours before releasing her around 6:30 p.m. on July 1, the complaint said.
KBOO, where McLam and Elia voluntarily co-host a podcast, released a statement strongly condemning their arrest. “The nationwide trend of suppressing the freedom of speech or freedom of press by attack or arrest by police is disturbing and must be addressed,” the station said.
Asked by the Tracker about the civil suit in March 2021, McLam said there were no publicly available updates.
“I think it’s really important that people have a better understanding of the dynamics that are actually happening on the ground,” she said.
When reached by email about the incident, the Portland Police Bureau declined to comment, citing pending litigation.
Freelance journalist Cory Elia was arrested on June 30, 2020, while covering a protest in Portland, Oregon. Elia — together with Lesley McLam, a colleague at Village Portland and KBOO radio station who was arrested with him — has since filed a lawsuit against the city of Portland, the state, and law enforcement for their arrest and treatment afterwards.
Elia was covering one of the many protests that have broken out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
In Portland, nightly protests over Floyd’s death began on May 29, prompting Mayor Ted Wheeler to declare a curfew that lasted three days. Even after the nightly curfew was lifted, journalists continued to be targeted by police, according to a class-action lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. Elia is part of that suit, as well, which resulted in a temporary restraining order and an agreement by the city in July not to arrest, harm or impede any journalists or legal observers.
The June 30 demonstration took place the day before a planned vote to extend the city’s contract with the police union. Protesters marched over a mile from Peninsula Park to the Portland Police Association headquarters in the neighborhood of North Portland. Soon after demonstrators arrived at PPA offices around 9 p.m., the police declared an “unlawful assembly” and ordered them to disperse.
Elia was livestreaming when the police declared a riot around 11 p.m. and followed as they moved protestors east on North Lombard Street, further away from the PPA offices. A little more than 17 minutes into the footage, Elia can be heard telling an officer that he recognizes him. Then the camera goes askew as the officer knocks it out of his hand.
Another livestream tweeted by Elia shortly after shows the police line pushing him back. “One of your officers just tried to break my phone,” he can be heard saying.
After the police stop at an intersection, Elia walks to the other side of a car to create more distance from the police. He can be heard getting into a verbal back and forth with an officer about whether the press is exempt from police orders, and the officer responds that the protest was a riot. Elia then returns to the police line and asks an officer for his name and badge number. “Are you Bartlett? I think I recognize you from the other night,” he says. A little after six minutes into the video, Elia is placed under arrest.
He was charged with two counts of assaulting a police officer, two counts of interfering with a peace officer, one count of resisting arrest, and one count of disorderly conduct. Elia’s phone was seized as part of the arrest, he tweeted after his release the next day. Elia tweeted on July 9 that most of his gear had been returned to him.
On July 8, Elia and McLam filed a civil lawsuit against the city, the state, and multiple law enforcement officers for allegedly violating their constitutional rights and for battery, assault, negligence and false arrest. They are also seeking compensation for their injuries and punitive damages.
The suit alleges that after Elia recognized PPB Officer John Bartlett, who is named as a defendant, the officer “turned to his fellow officer and said something.” Then Bartlett, along with other PPB officers and an Oregon State Police trooper, grabbed Elia and forced him to the ground, “dog-piling” him, according to the complaint. The suit also alleges that in the course of the arrest, an officer kicked him in the groin.
After Elia was taken to the Multnomah County Detention Center, his protective mask was taken from him, which the complaint alleges was a concern since “no officers were wearing masks,” despite the state’s COVID-19 mask mandate, according to the complaint.
Elia was placed in isolation twice, the suit alleges. The second time he “began suffering a panic attack, experiencing severe claustrophobia, heart racing, vomiting and mental anguish,” the complaint said. He was released after 10 hours in jail.
KBOO, where Elia and McLam voluntarily co-host a podcast, released a statement on July 1 strongly condemning their arrest. “The nationwide trend of suppressing the freedom of speech or freedom of press by attack or arrest by police is disturbing and must be addressed,” the station said.
While the police referred criminal charges to the Multnomah County district attorney’s office, attorneys in that office declined to file charges, resulting in a “no-complaint,” according to Elia’s defense attorney.
Because of Elia’s ongoing civil suit stemming from this incident, he declined to comment further to the Tracker. As of press time, McLam said there were no publicly available updates about the lawsuit.
When reached by email about the incident, the Portland Police Bureau declined to comment, citing pending litigation.
The plaintiff in a defamation suit subpoenaed notes, drafts and confidential source communications used by Zachary Petrizzo, a college student and freelance journalist, in a story Petrizzo reported for the Daily Dot about Republican operative Jack Burkman and his alleged relationship with the plaintiff.
Petrizzo was subpoenaed on June 30, 2020, as part of a defamation case brought by Margaret Howell — a former reporter for RT, a Kremlin-funded news outlet, and Right Side Broadcasting Network, a conservative broadcaster. Howell’s suit alleges that the defendants, Burkman’s stepson and estranged wife, were sources for Petrizzo’s 2019 Daily Dot article: “Jack Burkman, Who Accuses 2020 Candidates of Having Lovers, Has a Few Himself.”
The subpoena, which was reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, ordered Petrizzo to turn over any documents, communications, drafts and notes pertaining to the two defendants and appear in court on July 20, 2020.
A law firm is demanding my confidential source materials. This 21-year-old reporter, service worker, and full-time student has nothing more than a few hundred bucks to pay next month's rent. Please share this tweet and help me fight back.
— Zachary Petrizzo (@ZTPetrizzo) July 5, 2020
Attorneys from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, a Tracker partner, represented Petrizzo and filed a motion to quash the subpoena on July 28, arguing that the plaintiff had asked for “a staggeringly broad array of documents, records, and information” and that the request violates the reporter’s privilege that Virginia courts recognize based on the First Amendment.
The motion also claimed that the subpoena was a transparent attempt to force disclosure of Petrizzo’s confidential sources for the article. Furthermore, the motion said, Howell did not attempt to obtain records of the communications from either defendant.
Virginia Judicial Circuit Judge Judith Wheat granted the motion to quash on Nov. 2, stipulating that a renewed subpoena could be considered if Howell is able to establish that she has exhausted other means of obtaining the information and that the reason for disclosure is sufficiently compelling to overcome the reporter’s privilege.
“The subpoena was extremely burdensome,” Petrizzo told the Tracker. “Without the legal aid of [RCFP], I most certainly would’ve struggled even more to deal with the legal process on my own.”
A portion of a subpoena issued to freelance journalist Zachary Petrizzo seeking "documents, communications, drafts and notes" for a 2019 article he wrote for the Daily Dot.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,journalist communications or work product,['QUASHED'],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, Reporter repeatedly shoved by police officers while covering protests in Portland,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-repeatedly-shoved-by-police-officers-while-covering-protests-in-portland/,2021-12-13 18:32:42.091832+00:00,2022-02-09 17:39:46.108925+00:00,2022-02-09 17:39:46.056125+00:00,,Assault,,,,Robert Evans (iHeart Radio & Bellingcat),,2020-06-30,False,Portland,Oregon (OR),45.52345,-122.67621,"Robert Evans, a journalist and iHeartRadio podcast host, was repeatedly shoved by police officers in Portland, Oregon, while reporting on protests on June 30, 2020, according to a lawsuit filed against the city.
Protests broke out in Portland and across the United States in response to police violence and the May 25 death of George Floyd, a Black man, by a white officer in Minneapolis.
On Aug. 27, Evans, with colleague Bea Lake, who was arrested while documenting protests on June 7, and another plaintiff filed a civil lawsuit against the city of Portland. The complaint said that on June 30, Evans was covering a group of protesters as they marched to the Portland Police Association building where officers in riot gear were already stationed. About a half hour later, the demonstration was declared an unlawful assembly. Police officers ordered the crowd to disperse and started removing individuals from the street and sidewalk before firing riot control agents.
Evans, who did not respond to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker’s request for comment, was wearing a helmet labeled “PRESS” and press credentials and was repeatedly shoved by police officers as he tried to follow their orders. He stated in the complaint that he was “unable to fully document clashes and police conduct because he was forced off to the side and unable to find a reliably safe place for him to film.”
On June 28, the Americans Civil Liberties Union of Oregon filed a class-action lawsuit against the city of Portland and its law enforcement. The city later agreed to a preliminary injunction to not arrest, harm, or impede working journalists or legal observers at protests.
The Portland Police Bureau has said it wouldn’t comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protest, citing ongoing litigation.
Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Samantha Melamed was briefly detained by police while covering a protest inside the Philadelphia Municipal Services Building on June 23, 2020.
Protesters had gathered inside the building to demand a meeting with Philadelphia’s mayor and managing director to lobby for defunding and demilitarizing the local police department. The protest was part of a national movement against police brutality that began at the end of May following the death of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis.
Melamed captured the moments leading up to her detention in a video she later posted to Twitter.
In the footage, a group of officers places a demonstrator under arrest while a crowd can be heard chanting “Defund the PPD,” referring to the Philadelphia Police Department. A different officer then approaches Melamed to ask who she is, and Melamed can be heard responding repeatedly that she is a journalist.
Seconds later, an officer finishes zip-tying the demonstrator’s hands, turns to Melamed, grabs her notebook out of her hands and appears to pull her arms behind her back while informing her that she is under arrest.
So I just told a police officer wielding a baton that im a reporter. He told me to “put this on Twitter”. Then he tightly handcuffed me with zip ties and he and another one mocked me while dragging me backward down two flights of stairs along with few dozen others arrested in MSB
— Samantha Melamed (@samanthamelamed) June 23, 2020
Max Marin, a reporter for local NPR affiliate WHYY, tweeted at 4 p.m. that Melamed had just been arrested. He added that he asked PPD Deputy Commissioner Dennis Wilson, who was with police at the protest, why Melamed had been detained. Wilson responded that he didn’t know but that he would “correct that.”
Marin reported that after further questions about Melamed’s arrest, Wilson left to check on her status.
Melamed tweeted at 4:15 p.m. that she had been released. She said she believed it was because of Marin’s post. “I can only assume that, because [Marin] tweeted it, a captain came by and said ‘are you Samantha?’ and cut my ties off,” Melamed wrote.
Melamed was one of several journalists detained by police during Philadelphia protests in May and June. WHYY reporter Avi Wolfman-Arent was arrested while covering a protest in downtown Philadelphia on May 31. The following day three more journalists were arrested covering other Philadelphia demonstrations: Delaware Online reporters Jeff Neiburg and Jenna Margaretta Miller and Inquirer reporter Kristen Graham. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documented those cases here.
A few hours after Melamed was released, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney tweeted that he was disturbed by the video of Melamed’s arrest and concerned that the police officers’ actions were against the law and police policy.
“It will be fully investigated and addressed,” Kenney added.
I am extremely disturbed by the video of a reporter being detained while doing her job and covering one of today’s protests—and also very concerned that it may violate the law and @PhillyPolice policy. It will be fully investigated and addressed.
— Jim #PhillyVotes Kenney (@PhillyMayor) June 23, 2020
The Philadelphia Police Department did not respond to emailed requests for comment.
The Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
A reporter for the Daily Caller was attacked by several people who accused her of being an undercover police officer as she covered protests against police violence in Washington, D.C., on June 22, 2020.
Shelby Talcott told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she had been using her smartphone to film protests that night. At around midnight, she said, she was standing behind a line of protesters near Lafayette Square who were facing off with a line of police officers holding riot shields. Several individuals taking part in the demonstrations then approached her and accused her of working undercover for the police.
Talcott said that while covering protests she had taken to dressing “low key” and without clear identification as a journalist to avoid being targeted by people who “don’t want certain things getting out.”
Talcott said she showed the individuals her Twitter bio and feed, and displayed a business card, to prove that she was a working member of the press.
At that point, she said, one or two of the people appeared convinced that she was telling the truth about being a reporter and told others to back away. Some, though, began to shove her around, she said.
Then, she told the Tracker, a woman unsuccessfully tried to punch her, and a nearby police officer intervened and grabbed the assailant.
“That’s when they really doubled down and called me a cop,” Talcott said.
After the missed punch, Talcott said, a different woman tried to grab her smartphone from her hands. She said a colleague from the Daily Caller who was also at the scene pried the woman’s fingers off Talcott’s phone.
Talcott said she was eventually shoved into the police line, and officers pulled her through to the other side. The altercation lasted five or 10 minutes, she said.
Once across the police line, an officer placed her in handcuffs, walked her to an area about two blocks away where there were no protesters, and released her within five minutes, Talcott said. The Tracker documented the details of that detainment here.
Talcott said she and her colleagues have covered protests in several U.S. cities. People threatened them while they attempted to cover acts of violence and property damage, and demanded they stop filming.
Talcott also said that individuals have Tweeted warnings to protesters to not speak with her, citing her employer, the Daily Caller, which is a right-leaning outlet co-founded by Fox News host Tucker Carlson.
“When they find out where you work is deemed a conservative publication, that amplifies that,” she said.
Protests against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Movement have been held across the country after a viral video showed a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Shelby Talcott, a staff reporter for the Daily Caller, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she was briefly detained by police while covering protests against police violence in Washington, D.C., on June 22, 2020.
Talcott said she had been filming protests in the nation’s capital for much of the evening. At one point, she said, individuals in the crowd accused her of being an undercover cop, shoving her and trying to take her phone, an incident the Tracker has documented here.
Talcott said she was eventually shoved into a police line, and officers pulled her through to the other side. Once there, an officer from the Metropolitan Police Department placed her in handcuffs, walked her to an area about two blocks away where there were no protesters, and released her within five minutes, Talcott said.
While reporting on protests in D.C. the next day, Talcott said, she asked an officer to explain why she had been detained. She said the officer, who wasn’t present for the altercation the day before, told her that it was standard practice to handcuff anyone who breaches a police line “because they’re not sure who you are.”
A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police Department for the District of Columbia said in a statement to the Tracker that officers consider “several factors and the information available to determine if an individual should be placed in handcuffs.”
“This applies to any situation involving MPD, including crossing a police line,” the spokesperson said.
Talcott told the Tracker that she had taken to dressing “low key” while covering protests and without clear identification as a journalist to avoid being targeted by individuals who “don’t want certain things getting out.” She said she told protesters at the scene multiple times that she was a member of the press and she was sure officers heard it.
“I’m not sure the officers handled it in the best way, but the protesters didn’t either,” Talcott told the Tracker.
Protests against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Movement have been held across the country after a viral video showed a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Voice of America journalist Jason Patinkin said he was hit with a baton while reporting on a protest in Washington, D.C.’s Lafayette Square on June 22, 2020.
Patinkin told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker the man who hit him appeared to be working with law enforcement but was not wearing a uniform and would not answer questions about his identity.
The protest was one of many against racial injustice in the capital and around the country in response to the police killing of George Floyd on May 25 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
At the June 22 demonstration in Lafayette Square, a park adjacent to the White House, a group of protesters attempted to pull down a statue of President Andrew Jackson, prompting the U.S. Park Police to use pepper spray and batons to push them back, the Washington Post reported.
Late in the afternoon, Patinkin said he was filming a line of police attempting to move protesters when a man used a baton to hit the journalist and a nearby protester. Patinkin said the man was not wearing a uniform but appeared to be working with the police to control the protest.
Images in a VOA video news story about the protest show a man wearing a dark green shirt, green protective vest and a helmet with a face shield who is holding a baton on both ends in front of his chest. He lunges toward the camera, which shakes, then can be seen lunging toward the right of the screen, apparently hitting a protester.
Patinkin said the man hit him horizontally across the chest.
“It's an unmarked guy hitting, hitting a journalist and hitting a protester,” Patinkin said. “If that's not assault, I don't know what is.”
Patinkin said the blow was not enough to knock him over. He told the Tracker that he repeatedly asked the man who he was, and the man backed away from the police line. He did not identify himself or answer questions about his affiliation, Patinkin said.
Patinkin said he asked a uniformed police officer who the unidentified man was, but the officer said he didn’t know.
“That means that he was operating in a line of police violently, and they didn't know who he was, and they didn't do anything about it,” Patinkin said.
Later in the day, Patinkin filmed the same man working alongside police officers, including helping with an arrest.
Patinkin said he was wearing a press badge issued to him at VOA by the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which oversees VOA. He said he had repeatedly identified himself as a journalist to other police officers who were in the line at the time he was hit. He also was carrying a camera with a large microphone attached.
“I don't know if I was specifically targeted because I was a journalist, but I was definitely hit despite clearly being a journalist,” he said.
The U.S. Park Police did not respond to requests for comment.
The Tracker is documenting arrests, assaults and other obstructions to journalists covering protests across the country.
Voice of America journalist Ayen Bior was shot in the finger with a pepper ball while filming a protest in Washington, D.C., on June 22, 2020.
The protest was one of many against racial injustice in the capital and around the country in response to the police killing of George Floyd on May 25 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
At the June 22 demonstration in Lafayette Square, a park adjacent to the White House, a group of protesters attempted to pull down a statue of President Andrew Jackson, prompting the U.S. Park Police to use pepper spray and batons to push protesters back, the Washington Post reported.
Bior told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that police were pushing the protesters away from the statue and toward St. John’s Episcopal Church. She said she decided to stand on the base of a lamp post in order to try to film the clash between police and protesters from a heightened angle.
“By doing that I obviously made myself a target because I stood out,” Bior said. “But I remember thinking, ‘I think that they will know that I am a member of the press.’”
Bior said she positioned herself so that most of her body and her face were protected behind the lamp post while she held out her phone to film. The phone was held out in one hand, and her left pinky finger was exposed, when she suddenly felt a burning sensation on that finger, Bior said.
Bior said she had been hit by a pepper ball, a police crowd-control device, and the pain was so intense she fell to the ground and was nearly in tears. Bior said she initially thought her finger was broken because it was difficult to move, but she treated it by wrapping and icing it and eventually concluded it was not broken.
Bior told the Tracker that she did not know whether she was targeted because she was a journalist, but she said she believed she was shot because she was filming. At other protests she has covered, she said, police typically fire pepper balls toward the ground.
“I knew that they were sending a message to me to stop recording,” she said. “I knew that that was the intent of shooting me and I felt like they risked my vision and risked me losing my eyesight for them to get that message across.”
Bior said she was not sure which law enforcement agency fired the pepper ball that hit her. The Post reported that D.C. Metro Police were at the protest in addition to U.S. Park Police.
Bior was wearing a ballistic helmet and a bulletproof vest at the time she was hit, which she thought would make her stand out from protesters. She said she was also displaying an ID card issued by VOA that clearly says “PRESS.”
The U.S. Park Police did not respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for the D.C. Metro Police Department said the department does not use pepper balls.
The Tracker is documenting arrests, assaults and other obstructions to journalists covering protests across the country.
Journalist Andrew Ringle was pepper sprayed by a Richmond, Virginia, police officer and then thrown to the ground by another law enforcement official while he was covering protests on June 21, 2020, in favor of removing Confederate monuments, Ringle told the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Ringle serves as the executive editor of the student newspaper, The Commonwealth Times. In a phone interview with CPJ, a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, he said that a Richmond police officer sprayed him in the face twice around 9 p.m. As he fumbled around, vision obfuscated from the pepper spray, Ringle bumped into an officer who picked him up and threw him to the ground, the journalist told CPJ. A protester helped Ringle, who left the demonstration and went to his friend’s apartment, he said.
Ringle’s left knee and left elbow were bruised during the incident. Ringle posted to his Twitter account pictures of his injuries the evening they occured. Two days later, his hands were still tender from the pepper spray, he told CPJ on June 23.
The journalist told CPJ that he was wearing a state-issued press badge granted as part of a college class when he encountered police.
Richmond Police did not respond to CPJ’s email or voicemail requests for comment. Virginia State Police referred CPJ to its Public Relations Director, Corinne Geller, who did not respond to CPJ’s email requesting comment.
Photojournalist Ringo Chiu, a member of the National Press Photographers Association, said he was struck with multiple crowd control-munitions while covering a protest in Compton, California, on June 21, 2020.
In an account first posted to Facebook and then shared with the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, Chiu said that he was documenting arrests during a protest in response to the shooting death of 18-year-old Andrés Guardado by Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies three days earlier.
The Los Angeles Times reported that approximately 600 demonstrators had marched that day from nearby Gardena down West Redondo Beach Boulevard, where Guardado was shot, to the Sheriff’s Department’s station in Compton.
After a peaceful protest, Chiu told the Tracker, a small group of demonstrators faced off against a line of sheriff’s deputies in riot gear in an alley on the north side of Compton City Hall.
“I was standing on one of the sides alongside other photographers taking photos when the officers began firing rubber bullets and pepper balls at the demonstrators,” Chiu said, adding that as his eyes became irritated by the chemical powder in the pepper balls, he then looked for a way to leave the area.
“In my attempt to leave the scene, I was hit by a rubber bullet near my elbow,” Chiu said.
Chiu didn’t leave the protest entirely, and shortly after being struck, he said that he’d tried to get closer to document as deputies arrested demonstrators standing between the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and Compton City Hall.
“An officer used his gun to point at me and told me to leave the area. I raised my media pass and shouted that I was with the media, but they didn’t seem to care and began to fire rubber bullets at me,” Chiu said. “I was shot once again on my right inner thigh, and afterwards I left the scene to file my photos.”
In images posted to Fackebook, impact wounds can be seen on his right inner thigh and his right elbow. Chiu noted in his post that no protesters were standing near him when the officer opened fire and that he was wearing his press credentials and carrying multiple cameras.
The Tracker has also documented the cases of multiple other journalists affected by chemical irritants while covering the protests that day.
KTLA reported that the Sheriff’s Department confirmed that its deputies had used flash-bang grenades, pepper balls and smoke grenades on demonstrators that day, but did not provide details about what triggered their use.
The Sheriff’s Department did not respond to the Tracker’s requests for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented hundreds of incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country in 2020. Find these incidents here.
Kandist Mallett, a freelance journalist and columnist for Teen Vogue, was struck with pepper bullets fired by Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies while covering a protest in Compton, California, on June 21, 2020.
The protest was organized in response to the shooting death of 18-year-old Andrés Guardado by a deputy three days earlier. The Los Angeles Times reported that approximately 600 demonstrators marched from nearby Gardena down West Redondo Beach Boulevard, where Guardado was shot, to the Sheriff’s Department’s station in Compton.
Mallett told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that while most of the demonstrators had left by around 6 p.m., a small group faced off against a line of sheriff’s deputies in riot gear. In Mallett’s footage of the scene posted to Twitter, at least seven deputies appear to be standing behind metal barricades blocking an alley on the north side of Compton City Hall, across the street from the Sheriff’s Department.
In the video, some of the deputies can be seen pointing their crowd-control weapons at the crowd as protesters shout at them. Mallett wrote that moments after she took the footage, the deputies began to use tear gas and the pepper ball guns on those present, including reporters.
They just started shooting at us I got hit with something pic.twitter.com/ECvpCDWnEL
— Kandist (@kandistmallett) June 22, 2020
“They shot tear gas, pepper bullets, pepper spray and rubber bullets at us,” Mallett said. “I was struck with the pepper bullets on my arm and my leg and caught in the tear gas.”
Mallett said that the deputies did not declare the gathering an unlawful assembly before opening fire on the demonstrators and members of the press.
“I showed the line of deputies my press pass just to be like, ‘Don’t shoot me,’” Mallett said. “[The deputies] just started doing everything, and I tried to get out of the way, but because we were in that long hallway, there was no way to escape without being in their aim.”
Mallett said that while she was coughing a lot and her eyes were irritated, she did not seek medical attention at the scene.
When asked whether she felt she had been targeted, Mallett said that many of those in the area were clearly identified as members of the press when the deputies opened fire.
“I did feel like the deputies just didn’t care that there were members of the press, and that their response was unnecessary and unprovoked,” Mallett said.
Freelance photojournalist Ringo Chiu was also struck with crowd-control munitions while covering the protests that day. The Tracker has documented his case here.
KTLA reported that the Sheriff’s Department confirmed that its deputies had used flash-bang grenades, pepper balls and smoke grenades on demonstrators that day, but did not provide details about what triggered their use.
The Sheriff’s Department did not respond to the Tracker’s requests for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented hundreds of incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country in 2020. Find these incidents here.
Texas photojournalist Alan Pogue was arrested while documenting police arresting others outside of President Donald Trump’s campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on June 20, 2020.
The Texas Observer confirmed to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that Pogue was covering the rally for the outlet. Pogue is also the owner of the Texas Center for Documentary Photography and was a combat medic in the Vietnam War.
Pogue told the Tracker that had already passed through security into the BOK Center when he heard somebody yell that something was happening with the police outside.
“So I grabbed my camera bag and ran out front, but by the time I got there the three people had already been arrested and were being led across some grass to a police van,” Pogue said. “I followed the police and the three people and took some photographs.”
After the individuals were in the van, however, Pogue said the officers from the Tulsa Police turned to him “almost in unison” and asked who he was.
Pogue’s arrest report, which was released to the Tracker, states that Pogue followed police into a restricted area of the Trump rally and refused to leave, stating that he was media. The report also states that Pogue was allegedly “unable to provide proof of being with the media.”
Pogue told the Tracker that the police narrative is completely inaccurate.
“One police officer told me to stand back just a little bit more,” Pogue said. “So, I took a couple of giant steps backward and he was satisfied, so I just kept taking pictures. No one else said anything to me. There was nothing to indicate that I shouldn’t be there and nobody told me I couldn’t be.”
Pogue said that when the officers turned to him and asked who he was, he identified himself as a photojournalist, showed them the wristband he received after passing through the rally’s security screening and handed them his business card.
“It was really generational: One of the younger police officers said, ‘Well, you’ve got your wristband, you’re obviously a photojournalist. I guess you can go now,’” Pogue said. “Then an older officer said, ‘No, no, no, you can’t go now.’”
Officers searched through his camera bag, which contained not only his equipment but a medical kit and a bulletproof vest that he had worn through security. Pogue told the Tracker that, during the search, one of the officers said, “It looks like he’s some kind of social justice advocate.”
When Pogue located his digital copy of a letter from the Observer verifying that he was on assignment for the news organization, he showed it to the older officer.
“[The officer] then grabs my iPhone and is flipping through my emails, and I said, ‘Officer, you do not have my permission to look through my iPhone,” Pogue said. “But, he saw that I’m also a member of the Veterans for Peace, and that pretty much nailed me.”
Pogue said that he was placed under arrest, but that the officers were not rough with him and didn’t zip-tie his hands too tightly.
A spokesperson from the Tulsa County jail told the Tracker that Pogue was arrested at approximately 5:40 p.m., and booked in the jail at 7:17 p.m. He was released on a $500 bond paid by the Tulsa Bail Project at around 11:20 p.m.
The Tulsa Police Department, the arresting agency, did not respond to requests for comment.
Pogue was charged with obstructing or interfering with an officer, the spokesperson said, which is a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail, a $500 fine or both.
Pogue’s belongings — including his wallet, ID, phone and equipment — were not returned to him upon his release. He was told he would have to come back to the county jail at 8 a.m. on June 22; when he arrived that Monday officers informed him that his two cameras, three lenses, cellphone, memory cards, camera bag and bulletproof vest were all being held as evidence.
“Obviously all they would really need is my compact flash card, nothing else really matters,” Pogue said. “It’s just harassment. There’s no intel to be gathered from my lenses.”
“I am deprived of the tools of my trade for no good reason,” he added.
Tristan Ahtone, editor-in-chief for the Observer, told the Tracker, “We condemn the arrest of reporters by security forces and demand that Tulsa police release [Pogue’s] equipment immediately.”
Pogue said that his arraignment is set for July 10, but that he is hopeful the charges will be dismissed and his equipment returned before that date.
The exterior of Tulsa’s BOK Center, where President Donald Trump held his first re-election campaign rally in many months on June 20, 2020.
",arrested and released,charges dropped,Tulsa Police Department,None,None,False,None,[],None,returned in full,False,law enforcement,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,obstruction: obstructing or interfering with an officer,,, "Atlanta journalist threatened with pistol, beaten during Rayshard Brooks protests",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/atlanta-journalist-threatened-pistol-beaten-during-rayshard-brooks-protests/,2020-11-04 19:45:48.776373+00:00,2020-11-04 19:45:48.776373+00:00,2020-11-04 19:45:48.717658+00:00,,Assault,,,,George Chidi (Freelance),,2020-06-20,False,Atlanta,Georgia (GA),33.749,-84.38798,"Freelance writer George Chidi was beaten by several unknown assailants and threatened by an armed man while covering protests that erupted in Atlanta’s Peoplestown neighborhood over the fatal June 12 police shooting of Rayshard Brooks.
Chidi is a former reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution whose work has appeared more recently in The Intercept and the Atlanta hyperlocal news site Decaturish. While reporting at the scene of a June 20, 2020 protest at the Wendy’s restaurant where Brooks was shot dead, Chidi said he was confronted by an armed man who threatened to shoot him after Chidi refused to turn over his phone. When Chidi tried to walk away from the man, he said, he was surrounded by other assailants who punched him repeatedly on his face and head.
Brooks was killed three weeks after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody had touched off unrest in cities across the United States. The day after his death, protestors gathered at the Wendy’s restaurant, which was closed. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that the restaurant caught fire when protestors broke windows and threw fireworks into the building. Over the next week, protestors, some of them armed, continued to gather in the Wendy’s parking lot and on nearby University Avenue.
Chidi was reporting at the protest site on the night of June 20 when he heard multiple gunshots off in the distance at about 10 p.m, he said. Chidi told the Tracker he could not see the source of the initial shots, but he saw armed individuals in the parking lot assuming defensive firing positions. He said he heard someone else in the parking lot closer to him fire additional shots. At that point, the crowd of about 500 began to clear out, he said.
The crowd dwindled to about 50, Chidi said, and most of those who remained were carrying firearms -- including AR-15 semiautomatic rifles.
Chidi stayed at the scene and approached a group of armed men near the Wendy’s who were “gingerly disarming someone they didn’t know.” What had begun a week earlier, as a vigil for 27-year-old Rayshard Brooks, “had transformed into something more militant,” he wrote in an article for The Intercept.
As he came close to them, a woman with the group accused Chidi of working with the unknown shooter who had fired into the protestors, according to Chidi. Chidi said he had spoken with the woman earlier in the evening and identified himself as a journalist. When she later confronted him, he said, she and others in the group accused him of using his smartphone to take pictures of them.
“I hadn’t captured their images and I wasn’t going to hand over my cell phone,” Chidi told the Tracker. “[Even] if they were the cops I would have said no.”
Chidi said that after he refused to hand over his phone, one of the men in the group put his hand on a shoulder holster holding a pistol. The armed man said he would kill Chidi and began counting down from 10, according to the journalist. When the countdown reached five, Chidi started to walk away, telling the group, “I’m out, good luck, guys,” the journalist told the Tracker. Before he could get away, he said, some of the men formed a semi-circle around him and began punching him in the head. Eventually, Chidi said, he was able to escape, and he later sought medical attention for lacerations and bruising on his face. A cut above his right eye was deep enough that it needed to be glued shut, Chidi said.
Chidi told the Tracker that he has continued covering protests in Atlanta since the June 20 attack, but that he was considering seeking mental health treatment. “I’m a fairly cool guy under duress,” he said. “But I’ve had trouble sleeping.”
Chidi said he did not report the attack to the Atlanta Police Department, out of concern that it might compromise relationships with his reporting sources. “It conveys the appearance that I am working with police against street protesters,” he said. He did, however, send his Intercept article to the police department public relations staff “to make sure they would see the story.”
The Atlanta Police Department did not respond to a request for comment on Chidi’s report.
Chidi said he felt that the assailants targeted him because he is a journalist. He identified himself as an opinion writer who has regularly spoken out on criminal justice issues and other civic affairs in on-air segments for Fox 5 Atlanta and in his George on Georgia column
for Decaturish. Although he writes opinion pieces, Chidi said he has worked to keep his objective, and he has not joined in with protestors at demonstrations.
“I was not a direct participant, at least not in anything I was writing about,” Chidi said. “But I make no secret about my biases.”
Journalist George Chidi was threatened by an armed man and beaten by individuals in Atlanta on June 20, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, Portland photojournalist struck with pepper balls while covering Portland protest,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/portland-photojournalist-struck-pepper-balls-while-covering-portland-protest/,2021-01-22 19:47:05.110245+00:00,2022-03-10 20:48:09.017069+00:00,2022-03-10 20:48:08.956859+00:00,,Assault,,,,John Rudoff (Independent),,2020-06-19,False,Portland,Oregon (OR),45.52345,-122.67621,"Independent photojournalist John Rudoff said he was hit with pepper balls by police on June 19, 2020, while documenting a protest in downtown Portland, Oregon.
Portland-based Rudoff, whose work has appeared in The New York Times, CBS and ABC, was covering one of the many protests that have broken out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
In Portland, nightly protests over Floyd’s death began on May 29, prompting Mayor Ted Wheeler to declare a curfew that lasted three days. Even after the nightly curfew was lifted, journalists continued to be targeted by the Portland Police Bureau, according to a class-action lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon in June. Rudoff is a plaintiff in the suit, which resulted in a temporary restraining order and an agreement by the city of Portland in July not to arrest, harm or impede any journalists or legal observers.
On the night of June 19, as Rudoff was documenting a protest near the Multnomah County Justice Center, police began to disperse protesters and press from the area. When Rudoff showed the police his press identification and camera equipment, and one officer responded, “Move, move, move, we don’t care if you’re media,” Rudoff wrote in his declaration for the ACLU suit.
Later that night, Rudoff was taking photographs at the Justice Center when someone from the crowd of protesters went onto the steps of the building. “Shortly afterward, the police stormed out and began firing without warning, and I was hit” by pepper balls, he said in the filing.
Rudoff, who was wearing a helmet marked “press” when he got hit, told the Tracker he believed he was targeted by PPB because he was clearly marked as press and wasn’t near the protesters.
“I intentionally stand away from crowds as best I can, and intentionally I’m dressed in light colored clothing as much as possible,” he said.
PPB has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing the continuing ACLU litigation.
The Seattle Police Department issued a subpoena to the five largest media organizations in the metro area on June 18, 2020, requesting that each outlet turn over raw photos and video captured during one day of demonstrations.
Protests against police violence have taken place in more than 70 cities across the country, sparked by a video showing a Minneapolis police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
In the days following Floyd’s death, Seattle saw both peaceful and violent protests, with Saturday, May 30, being especially turbulent: The Seattle Times reported that 27 people were arrested that day, multiple police vehicles were damaged and burned, stores were looted and police deployed tear gas and other projectiles on protesters.
The legal filing ordered the five outlets — KIRO 7 News, KING 5 News, KOMO 4 News, KCPQ News and the Times — to appear for a hearing on June 29 with all video footage and photographs taken on May 30 from 3:30-5 p.m. within a four block radius.
Representatives from the outlets did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment.
According to the subpoena, the police are seeking the images to aid in an ongoing investigation to identify multiple individuals who allegedly stole firearms from police vehicles and one who allegedly committed multiple arsons within that area.
In an affidavit filed with the subpoena, Detective Michael Magan said that four rifles and a semi-automatic pistol were stolen from unmarked vehicles on 6th Avenue, and that six SPD vehicles were “heavily damaged by vandals” and set on fire.
Three of the rifles were recovered that day, two of them with the help of an armed security guard for Fox affiliate KCPQ, Magan said in the affidavit. He added that the other two weapons remained unaccounted for.
On June 29, the outlets filed a joint brief objecting to the subpoena and requesting that it be quashed. In the brief, they argue that the subpoena not only violates the First Amendment and the Washington state shield law, but is also overly broad and places an undue burden on the outlets.
“SPD, acting through outside counsel, has targeted Seattle’s five largest news outlets with an expansive demand for vast amounts of unaired news footage and unpublished news photographs,” Eric Stahl, lawyer for the outlets, wrote in the brief. “The Subpoena is a procedurally irregular, overbroad and impermissible assault on the independence of the press.”
In an amicus brief filed the same day, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press highlighted the dangers of degrading the public’s perception of the media as independent from the government, especially law enforcement.
“Enforcement of the Subpoena could mislead the public into perceiving reporters at protests as a mere arm of law enforcement,” RCFP’s brief states, “thus eroding public trust in the news media and increasing the already-significant risk of physical harm that journalists face when covering protests.”
RCFP, a partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, highlighted the recent case of Arizona journalist Eric Rosenwald, who was repeatedly pushed, punched and kicked by individuals at a demonstration in Tucson who accused him of being “with the police.”
Similarly, the Times reported that one of the outlet’s photographers was punched in the face by an individual at a recent protest, and that newspaper staff members have had to repeatedly explain that they are independent.
As of press time, the judge had not responded to the outlets’ request to quash the subpoena.
Brain Esler, an outside attorney representing the police department, told the Times that no actions will be taken to enforce the subpoena until a July 16 Superior Court hearing and subsequent ruling. Esler did not respond to the Tracker’s emailed request for comment.
A portion of the subpoena demanding raw photos and videos captured by five Seattle-area media outlets during a protest on May 30, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,journalist communications or work product,['DROPPED'],None,None,None,None,None,None,"KCPQ 13 News, KING 5 News, KIRO 7 News, KOMO 4 News, The Seattle Times","Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, "Law enforcement officer shoves, threatens local reporter with arrest during Charlotte protest",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/law-enforcement-officer-shoves-threatens-local-reporter-arrest-during-charlotte-protest/,2020-11-18 15:02:20.135018+00:00,2020-11-18 15:02:20.135018+00:00,2020-11-18 15:02:20.074621+00:00,,Assault,,,,Justin LaFrancois (Queen City Nerve),,2020-06-18,False,Charlotte,North Carolina (NC),35.22709,-80.84313,"On June 18, 2020, journalist Justin LaFrancois was shoved and threatened by a Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s officer as he livestreamed the arrests of activists in front of the Mecklenburg County Detention Center in Charlotte, NC.
LaFrancois, who is a co-founder and reporter at alternative newspaper Queen City Nerve, has covered the protests and demonstrations in Charlotte against police brutality since they started in the wake of the May 25 death of George Floyd, a Black man killed in Minneapolis by a white police officer.
LaFrancois told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he went to the detention center on June 18 after hearing that the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office had asked activists to abandon a jail support station set up outside the detention center. The station had been active since last May, when organizers from the local group Charlotte Uprising set up several canopy tents, from which they provided food, water and other supplies to people as they were released from the jail.
In LaFrancois’ video, which is still available on Facebook, he says that authorities had asked the activists to leave, but they vowed to resist, via a sit-in protest. The video shows dozens of deputies arriving on the site, first forming a line opposite the demonstrators and then surrounding them from the side and the back, while protesters can be heard chanting and shouting their refusal to leave the area.
About half an hour into LaFrancois’ livestream, officers move in to start arresting the protestors. Some are pushed to the ground, others are dragged away, and the officers keep LaFrancois and other journalists across the street from the arrest scene.
LaFrancois and others recording the action with cameras stood in the middle of the street when a sheriff’s officer approached LaFrancois and asked him to back up. “I’m the media, I got this,” LaFrancois can be heard saying in the video as he backed up slightly. “I’m just trying to document what’s happening, please don’t touch me,” said LaFrancois. Although it is not clearly visible in the video, according to LaFrancois the officer pushed him back slightly and then echoed the reporter’s words: “don’t touch me.” In the video LaFrancois can be heard saying that he did not touch the officer. He states that he is a journalist and says “Don’t infringe on my First Amendment right.”
“I wasn’t anywhere near obstructing anybody’s investigation, or coming anywhere near somebody arresting somebody,” LaFrancois told the Tracker. “I had my press credentials on.”
After the officer is seen in the video walking away, LaFrancois continues livestreaming the activists’ arrests with his phone. A few minutes later the same officer approaches him again. “I’m gonna ask you, step back again,” the officer says, and as LaFrancois again asserts that he is a journalist, the officer yells “Move, move!” Officer and journalist talk over each other, until LaFrancois’ phone drops. According to the journalist, the officer smacked his phone out of his hand. The officer takes a few steps away, then turns and says to LaFrancois: “Assault me again and see what happens.” LaFrancois denies ever assaulting the officer.
LaFrancois told the Tracker that he did not file a complaint. The Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office did not respond to request for comment.
Louisville Courier-Journal reporter Billy Kobin was struck with a pepper ball fired by police while covering a protest on the morning of June 17, 2020.
Demonstrators had been marching daily since late May in response to the killing of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman who was shot dead by police on March 13. The May 28 release of the 911 call Taylor’s boyfriend made after the shooting, as well as the May 25 police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis that sparked nationwide anger, stoked protests in Louisville, Kentucky.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting arrests, assaults and other obstructions to journalists covering these protests across the country against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
On that Wednesday, June 17, protesters had started blocking downtown Louisville roads at about 7 a.m. according to the Courier-Journal, prompting police intervention.
Kobin told the Tracker that the situation was “more tense than normal,” as a small group of protesters repeatedly got into confrontations with police, who occasionally fired pepper balls at the ground in an attempt to disperse the crowd.
Kobin said he was watching a confrontation between protesters and police on Liberty Street between Sixth and Seventh Streets when police began firing pepper balls. He turned to head back to Jefferson Square Park, the main protest square around the corner. As he tried to leave the area, he said he was struck in the rear with a pepper ball.
“More pepper bullets came out. One hit me in the butt. #ouch,” he wrote on Twitter.
This is on Liberty Street now between 6th and 7th. One woman was arrested and police started firing more pepper bullets.
— Not Ben Tobin (@Billy_Kobin) June 17, 2020
Looks like another person was arrested right after this video. More pepper bullets came out. One hit me in the butt. #ouch pic.twitter.com/YK2EIixbc1
Kobin said he was wearing a high-visibility vest with “PRESS” markings on it and also had his press credentials displayed. However, he said he didn’t believe he was targeted.
“I think it was just sort of a stray pepper bullet,” he said, adding the pepper ball stung when it hit him but didn’t leave an injury.
Louisville Metro Police Department didn’t respond to a request for comment.
A CNN news crew was harassed and its camera damaged while filming unrest in Atlanta, Georgia, on June 13, 2020.
Correspondent Natasha Chen and her crew were filming that evening outside a Wendy’s in South Atlanta, the site where 27-year-old Rayshard Brooks had been fatally shot by Atlanta police the night before and the impetus for reignited protests in the city against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
When Chen, a producer, two photojournalists and a security guard arrived at the Wendy’s, she told CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer in an on-air segment later that night, several people were throwing objects at the restaurant’s windows, while another attempted to set fire to an umbrella on the restaurant’s patio area. With the windows smashed, Chen reported, some people were also entering the restaurant.
“We were trying to get video of what was happening and there were protesters very angry that we were recording this and tried to block our cameras,” she told Blitzer.
When contacted for comment, CNN referred the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker to Chen’s on-air statements made in the incident’s aftermath.
In a video Chen posted on Twitter of the scene, people can be heard shouting, “Block the camera,” while one waves their hand in front of the lens to try to obstruct filming. In her tweet, Chen wrote that the people trying to block the photojournalists ended up “taking a skateboard to that camera.”
More from the moments right after that, when people had broken in. pic.twitter.com/H3N5yLz5MT
— Natasha Chen (@NatashaChenCNN) June 14, 2020
Speaking to Blitzer, Chen described the camera as “broken” following the assault. Footage broadcast by CNN during Chen’s call with Blitzer showed hands holding a skateboard trying to block a camera before the camera began to shake wildly.
“I was trying to record cellphone video while the photojournalist was recording video on his camera. The next thing I know, I’m turning around, I see these two protesters really going after the camera and that’s when I was told that we should get out of there,” she said.
Following the incident, Chen and her crew left the Wendy’s. That night, the restaurant was set on fire. In July, it was torn down.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
A Wendy’s fast food restaurant burns in Atlanta on June 13, 2020, following a rally against racial inequality and the police shooting death of Rayshard Brooks.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,CNN,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, Six former eBay employees arrested for alleged harassment campaign against journalists,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/six-former-ebay-employees-arrested-alleged-harassment-campaign-against-journalists/,2020-07-10 18:15:24.475623+00:00,2022-06-14 19:34:22.879518+00:00,2022-06-14 19:34:22.730400+00:00,"(2021-07-27 08:04:00+00:00) EBay manager imprisoned for role in harassment campaign against journalists, (2022-05-12 13:40:00+00:00) EBay executive pleads guilty for role in harassment campaign against journalists",Other Incident,,,,"Ina Steiner (ECommerceBytes), David Steiner (ECommerceBytes)",,2020-06-15,False,Natick,Massachusetts (MA),42.28343,-71.3495,"The FBI announced charges against six former eBay employees on June 15, 2020, for their alleged participation in a campaign of harassment and intimidation against the editor and publisher of an online e-commerce news site.
David and Ina Steiner, who are married, have run the blog and newsletter ECommerceBytes for more than two decades out of their home in Natick, Massachusetts, the Wall Street Journal reported, focusing their coverage on online retailers, including Amazon, Craigslist and eBay.
The Steiners did not respond to emailed requests for comment.
According to a Department of Justice press release, an August 2019 article in the newsletter about litigation involving eBay allegedly spurred a conversation between two company executives “suggesting that it was time to ‘take down’ the newsletter’s editor.”
The FBI alleges that one of those executives and five other eBay employees then executed a harassment campaign against the Steiners.
“Among other things, several of the defendants ordered anonymous and disturbing deliveries to the victims’ home, including a preserved fetal pig, a bloody pig Halloween mask, a funeral wreath, a book on surviving the loss of a spouse, and pornography — the last of these addressed to the newsletter’s publisher but sent to his neighbors’ homes,” the press release stated.
The employees also allegedly sent the pair threatening public and private messages on Twitter, stalked the victims and attempted to install a GPS tracking device on their car. The plan was then for the eBay security team to reach out to the couple about the harassment and offer support in what an FBI affidavit referred to as a “White Knight Strategy.”
Joseph Bonavolonta, the FBI special agent in charge of the case, told NBC News, "All the while, they were hiding behind the internet, using burner phones and laptops, overseas email accounts, and prepaid debit cards purchased with cash, to try and cover up their alleged crimes and evade and obstruct the Natick Police Department.”
The six employees are each charged with conspiracy to commit cyberstalking and conspiracy to tamper with witnesses:
U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling told CBS Boston, “It was a determined, systematic effort of senior employees of a major company to destroy the lives of a couple in Natick, all because they published content company executives didn’t like.”
In a press release, eBay Inc. said that the company was unaware of the harassment campaign until notified by law enforcement in August 2019, and immediately launched an internal investigation. As a result of that investigation, it said, all involved employees were fired that September.
The statement said the company’s board formed an independent special committee to oversee the investigation. A statement from that committee said the company does not tolerate that type of behavior: “eBay apologizes to the affected individuals and is sorry that they were subjected to this.”
The Journal reported that the U.S. attorney’s office is still investigating whether the company targeted any other critics with similar harassment campaigns.
A young, unidentified male hurled a concrete block into the windshield of a television news crew’s car after a June 15, 2020, protest in downtown Louisville, Kentucky, video of the incident shows.
The protest was held in response to the killing of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman who was shot dead by police on March 13, as well as the May 25 police killing of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis. Protests against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the U.S. since late May.
Shaquille Lord, a reporter for CBS affiliate WLKY, posted a video to his Twitter page showing a group of people heckling the crew as they walk to their car. A young male holding a large concrete block walks into the street and yells, “You better hop in that car before I break the shit.” The video shows him throwing the block into the vehicle’s windshield and the news crew fleeing the scene.
“Our crew just got attacked as we were trying to leave,” Lord said on Twitter. “We’re okay and I recorded the entire thing. I can tell you things are definitely not peaceful in the downtown area today.”
Our crew just got attacked as we were trying to leave. We’re okay and I recorded the entire thing. I can tell you things are definitely not peaceful in the downtown area today @WLKY #Louisvilleprotests #DavidMcAtee #BreonnaTaylor pic.twitter.com/nnlv0lX34k
— Shaquille Lord (@ShaqWLKY) June 15, 2020
Neither Lord nor WLKY News Director Andrea Stahlman responded to requests for comment from the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. Newsweek also reported on the incident. It isn’t clear whether the crew was targeted for being members of the media. WLKY’s vehicles are clearly marked with the station’s logo.
A teenager was later arrested in Louisville and was charged with wanton endangerment, burglary, and criminal mischief in relation to the incident, police spokesman Sgt. Lamont Washington said.
Because he is a minor, the youth isn’t being identified and the Tracker was only able to obtain a redacted copy of the police report. Washington said he couldn’t provide any further information about the case.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
New York Times reporter Simon Romero was taunted and threatened by a man armed with a military-style rifle while covering protests in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on June 15, 2020.
The protest was organized to demand the removal of a statue of Juan de Oñate, a 16th- and 17th-century conquistador and colonial governor in New Mexico at the center of long-standing tension between Pueblo Native Americans and Hispanic people in the state. It was one in a surge of demonstrations across the country this summer calling for a reckoning with the country’s history of racial injustice, sparked by the death of George Floyd, a Black man, while in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25.
Romero told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that no Albuquerque Police Department officers were present when he arrived at the Albuquerque Museum in Old Town at around 5 p.m.
Armed members of a right-wing group called the New Mexico Civil Guard had stationed themselves around the statue. When he approached them the men told him explicitly that they were there to protect the statue and to keep it from coming down.
“The guys who were managing the protest were the militia,” Romero said.
Romero said he attempted to interview some of the men, and spoke briefly with one who gave Romero his name.
By around 6 p.m., about 300 people had gathered at Tiguex Park across the street for a prayer and speeches from indigenous activists and small-business owners, the Albuquerque Journal reported. They then crossed the street to the statue being guarded by the militia members.
Tensions escalated when some demonstrators climbed onto the statue, covered Oñate’s head with a cloth and someone brought out a pickaxe to aid in bringing the statue down.
“I was in the thick of the protest as it turned to mayhem and started to get very violent, and there were still no police while this was happening,” Romero said.
Romero told the Tracker that a militia member carrying a military-style rifle approached him and began taunting him.
“He said, ‘So you work for the Times, huh? Do you guys print anything that’s not lies?’ He started on this whole ‘fake news’ thing,” Romero said. “That in itself, facing that type of taunting from an armed, extremist, right-wing militia figure at a protest without any police presence is in my view extremely threatening.”
When the man let up, Romero said he approached the militia member who had spoken with him before and told him, “Listen, you better take care of your boy because this is unacceptable.” Romero said the man only responded with a smirk.
Shortly after, a member of the militia group got into a fight with the people attempting to pull down the statue. The group pushed the militia member into the street and followed after, the Journal reported. The man then pepper sprayed the group, pulled out a gun and fired around five shots, wounding one person.
The police arrived at the scene a few minutes after, using tear gas and flash bangs to disperse the protesters and detain individuals involved in the shooting. The man who had taunted Romero was among those militia members detained that night, Romero said.
Romero told the Tracker that the scene was too chaotic that night, so he didn’t give a statement to the police. The Albuquerque Police Department didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The Journal reported that the crowd dispersed at around 9:30 p.m.
Romero said that despite years of covering paramilitary groups, ideological militias and violent street protests across Latin America, he had never felt more threatened than he did in Albuquerque that day.
“I’ve never seen anything like this in more than two decades of journalism up and down the Americas,” Romero said. “I take something like this extremely seriously and I think every journalist should, especially now that they’re being attacked and singled out at protests around the country.”
To read similar incidents from other days of national protests in this category, go here. A full accounting of incidents in which members of the press were assaulted, arrested or had their equipment damaged while covering these protests can be found here. To learn more about how the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents and categorizes violations of press freedom, visit pressfreedomtracker.us.
Independent journalist Tuck Woodstock said police shoved them while covering a protest in Portland, Oregon, on June 15, 2020.
Woodstock was covering one of the many protests that have broken out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
In Portland, nightly protests over Floyd’s death began on May 29, prompting Mayor Ted Wheeler to declare a curfew that lasted three days. Even after the nightly curfew was lifted, journalists continued to be targeted by police, according to a class-action lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon in June. Woodstock is a plaintiff in the suit, which resulted in a temporary restraining order and an agreement by the city of Portland in July not to arrest, harm or impede any journalists or legal observers.
Around 8:30 p.m. on June 15, Woodstock started covering a rally, organized by Rose City Justice, demanding funding cuts for the Portland Police Bureau ahead of an upcoming Portland City Council budget vote, according to The Oregonian newspaper.
The protestors marched from southeast Portland to Pioneer Courthouse Square downtown. After the rally concluded, Woodstock followed protesters to the Multnomah County Justice Center, a regular meeting point for protesters.
Just after 11 p.m., police declared a civil disturbance and warned the crowd to leave the area or be subjected to force or arrest. Around the same time, Woodstock tweeted that shots rang out as police used crowd-control munitions to disperse the protestors. About 20 minutes later, Woodstock tweeted that a protester had been shot in the head by some type of munitions in an area outside the dispersal zone.
Soon after, Woodstock tweeted about getting shoved. A video Woodstock posted later on Twitter appears to show the incident. “Police were aiming guns at a protester next to me, and I got caught in the protester’s umbrella and then slammed into by police and then dropped my phone and then picked it up to see the protester get jumped on by many police,” Woodstock says in the tweet.
And this, my friends, is when police were aiming guns at a protester next to me, and I got caught in the protester’s umbrella and then slammed into by police and then dropped my phone and then picked it up to see the protester get jumped on by many police. So. Content warning. pic.twitter.com/Phx5UnqXGg
— Tuck Woodstock (@tuckwoodstock) June 16, 2020
Woodstock declined to comment further about the incident. Derek Carmon, a spokesman for the PPB, said he was unable to comment on this incident due to the ongoing ACLU litigation.
A reporter for nonprofit media outlet Unicorn Riot was hit repeatedly while he filmed protesters who said they were defending a statue of Christopher Columbus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on June 14, 2020.
The night before, on June 13, a group of vigilantes had gathered at South Philadelphia’s Marconi Plaza to defend its Columbus statue. Monuments of the Italian explorer and other figures across the country had been toppled or vandalized during continuing protests sparked by the May 25 police killing of George Floyd, a Black man, by police in Minneapolis, Minnesota. That evening, Schiano had filmed a group of men carrying bats and guns at the statue before he was assaulted and had his bike tires slashed.
On June 14, a much larger crowd of demonstrators claiming to defend the statue converged on Marconi Plaza, drawing counter-protesters. Schiano said when he arrived in the late afternoon, police were trying to separate the two sides but failed to keep them apart, resulting in several heated confrontations.
In one video Unicorn Riot shared on Twitter that night, Schiano asks a man if he can tell him what was going on.
“How about I beat you the fuck up? Get the fuck out of here,” says the man before walking away.
Another man sitting next to Schiano then says: “Listen, you’re not supposed to be here, like, videoing everyone, you know what I’m saying?”
It then appears Schiano is repeatedly hit by different members of the group surrounding him over the course of 30 seconds. Schiano said his camcorder was smashed into a tree by one of the people in the group, damaging the equipment.
Footage from a reporter for Philadelphia’s 6abc Action News station captured part of the incident, showing a crowd converging on Schiano and attacking him as he filmed. “Kill him!” a voice can be heard shouting. “That’s the one from yesterday!” another voice yells as Schiano is punched and shoved.
In video footage from the aftermath of the incident, members of the crowd can be heard taunting Schiano and threatening bodily harm as police officers intervene to keep them away from the reporter.
Like the previous evening, the assaults on Schiano appeared to come from members of the group that said they were there to protect the Columbus statue.
Schiano told the Tracker that at another point, he was standing near a police officer when a man came and tackled him to the ground. He added that at several points, people in the crowd tried to take his phone from him.
“I was standing within inches of a cop when this happened, too, who didn’t do anything,” he said.
He added that he also saw assaults on counter-protesters by members of the group purporting to defend the statue that didn’t attract police intervention.
The Philadelphia Police Department declined to comment on the incident.
Schiano said he tried to leave the plaza several times that evening, only to realize he was being followed, at which point he decided to stay, he said.
Schiano said he has covered dangerous and traumatic events previously, like the far-right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in the summer of 2017, where he was also attacked.
“This felt like that,” he said. “It was like the stress and adrenaline of things I’ve experienced before, but dialed up to 1,000.”
He told the Tracker that he had slight swelling on his lip where he got punched and “serious bruising” under his right arm from the blows he received.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Beth Nakamura, a photojournalist for the Oregonian, said she was pushed by officers then struck with a baton while covering demonstrations in Portland, Oregon, on June 13, 2020.
Protests in the city that day were in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
In Portland, nightly protests over the death of Floyd began on May 29, prompting Mayor Ted Wheeler to declare an 8 p.m. curfew that lasted three days. But even after the curfew was lifted, Portland law enforcement continued to target journalists, according to a class-action lawsuit filed on June 28 by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The ACLU lawsuit resulted in a temporary restraining order against the Portland Police Bureau, and eventually led to a preliminary injunction in July barring the police from harming or impeding journalists and legal observers.
In the early morning hours of June 13, Nakamura was covering protests in downtown Portland around the Multnomah County Justice Center, which houses a jail, courtrooms and a police precinct. Most protesters were congregating in Chapman Square, across the street from the Justice Center.
At around 12:30 a.m., Portland police declared the demonstration an “unlawful assembly.” Officers fired tear gas and flash-bang grenades, then rushed into the park to clear the area of demonstrators.
“It’s a chaotic scene that unfolds quickly,” Nakamura told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. “I was photographing and held up — which I always do — my I.D. and my camera. I was at the time saying, ‘Press, press.’”
When the police instructed her to move north, Nakamura obeyed.
“I turned around and I was walking, and I got pushed by a police officer,” she said. “Then I got batoned, slammed on the back as I’m walking.” When she tried to explain that she was with The Oregonian, the officer said, ‘I don’t give a fuck who you are,’” according to Nakamura.
“Physical assault is not normal,” said Nakamura. “It’s not something anyone should tolerate well. It’s not right.”
After Nakamura tweeted about the incident a couple of days later, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler, who also holds the title of police commissioner, responded in a tweet: “This is extremely concerning. Journalists need to be able to cover the protests safely. I know @portlandpolice works hard to protect the rights of our press, but there are alarming incidents that need to be addressed.”
While covering protests I was slammed by a baton from behind by police. Just before that I was shoved hard. I'd made it clear I was press (both hands up, ID in left hand, camera in right). This happened sometime between 12-1 Friday night.
— Beth Nakamura (@bethnakamura) June 15, 2020
The Oregonian, Nakamura’s employer, and the Portland Tribune, Sparling’s employer, have both filed complaints about the incidents with the Portland Independent Police Review, an independent agency that investigates allegations of police misconduct.
“Both of those investigations are underway,” Ross Caldwell, the director of the Independent Police Review, told the Tracker. “We have a huge volume of cases, as you can imagine, so everything is taking longer than it normally does.”
In response to questions about the incidents involving Nakamura and Sparling, marched Carmon, a spokesman for the Portland Police Bureau, told the Tracker, “We will not be commenting in regard to these two incidents at this time” because “there is a TRO in place and because the preliminary injunction is still an open litigation case.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Police disperse protesters in Portland, Oregon on June 13, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, "Unicorn Riot reporter assaulted, his bike damaged in Philadelphia",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/unicorn-riot-reporter-assaulted-his-bike-damaged-philadelphia/,2020-10-22 19:32:10.000453+00:00,2021-09-16 15:23:49.358902+00:00,2021-09-16 15:23:49.308031+00:00,,"Assault, Equipment Damage",,,bicycle: count of 1,Christopher Schiano (Unicorn Riot),,2020-06-13,False,Philadelphia,Pennsylvania (PA),39.95233,-75.16379,"On June 13, 2020, Unicorn Riot reporter Chris Schiano was physically assaulted and saw his bike’s tires slashed while filming protesters who claimed to be protecting a statue of Christopher Columbus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
After statues — including some depicting Christopher Columbus — were toppled or vandalized in cities across the country during protests over the police killing of George Floyd, a group of individuals stationed themselves at South Philadelphia’s Marconi Plaza on June 13 saying they were protecting the Columbus statue there.
Schiano told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he headed to Marconi Plaza after he saw a brief news article online that featured a photo of an armed man by the statue. Upon arriving on his bicycle, Schiano was quickly confronted by men asking who he was and what he was doing. He said he attempted to calm the situation and explained he was there as a journalist. However, he was assaulted within minutes of his arrival after he took out his camcorder and began filming.
In one video Unicorn Riot tweeted that evening, Schiano appeared to be in a confrontation with several men who had come to the statue.
“Sir, I’m just here taking a video of you with your bat,” says Schiano. “You’re here at the Columbus statue with a bat. That seems newsworthy to me. That’s all. Any of you guys want to tell me why you’re out here today?”
One man tells him that they are there “protecting history.” Then, the man with a bat Schiano was originally addressing begins taunting him, saying “look at you, you’re fucking shaking. How scared are you?” As he says that somebody else appears to hit Schiano.
In a second video, a man in a red-shirt walks up to Schiano holding a baseball bat and appears to slap him. About 14 seconds later, Schiano says “this guy just hit me in the head” and the camera pans to a man in the group surrounding Schiano hauling away his bicycle. Schiano can be heard asking for his bicycle to be returned before the camera shakes violently and there are sounds of a struggle. The clip ends with a man slashing the bike’s tires with a knife.
After those assaults, Schiano said police came and formed a line in front of him. He said some protesters continued to try to come at him and a video he posted on Twitter showed one being shoved away by police while yelling “I don’t want him fucking filming.”
Later, a police officer approached Schiano and ordered him to leave the area, saying that it was a “volatile situation” and Schiano’s presence was “aggravating the situation.”
Schiano told the officer he was there as a journalist to document what was going on.
“And you’re inciting a riot,” said the officer.
Fearing arrest if he did not comply, Schiano left the area.
“I walked away with my slashed tires bike under threat of arrest to these cheering sounds of basically everybody who was there,” he told the Tracker. “It was like they’d just won a baseball game because the cops told me to leave.”
Contacted by the Tracker, the Philadelphia Police Department declined to comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Zane Sparling, a journalist for the Portland Tribune, said he was shoved by an officer and then hit in the foot with a crowd-control munition while covering demonstrations in Portland, Oregon, on June 13, 2020.
Protests in the city that day were in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
In Portland, nightly protests over the death of Floyd began on May 29, prompting Mayor Ted Wheeler to declare an 8 p.m. curfew that lasted three days. But even after the curfew was lifted, Portland law enforcement continued to target journalists, according to a class-action lawsuit filed on June 28 by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The ACLU lawsuit resulted in a temporary restraining order against the Portland Police Bureau, and eventually led to a preliminary injunction in July barring the police from harming or impeding journalists and legal observers.
On the evening of June 13, Sparling told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was covering demonstrators who were yet again gathering in Chapman Square downtown. A little after 10:30 p.m., the Portland police declared the protest an “unlawful assembly” and began to fire crowd-control munitions and tear gas to clear the square. Sparling followed a group of about 50 protesters who fled the area and then formed a line on Southwest Main Street, next to the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.
As the police were warning protesters that the downtown area was closed and they needed to leave, Sparling — who was filming the scene with his cell phone and had a camera strapped around his neck — moved to the sidewalk so he could document the scene away from the crowd.
“As a journalist, I was staying out because that’s when people want observers on the ground: when munitions are going and orders are being enforced with force,” he told the Tracker.
When the police started to charge toward the demonstrators, Sparling turned the corner onto Southwest Park Avenue. “But the officer appeared around the corner as well,” he said.
Footage that Starling posted on Twitter at around 11:50 p.m. shows an officer running around the corner and — right after Sparling calls out that he was “media” — shoving him into a wall. The officer could be heard saying, “I don’t give a shit.” and ordering him to leave the area.
Portland Police charge protesters tonight.
— Zane Sparling (@PDXzane) June 14, 2020
Officer: Move!
Me: MEDIA!
Officer: I don’t give a shit! Go!
I was shoved into the wall, then hit in the heel by some sort of crowd control munition. I’m fine pic.twitter.com/daPElkEb6J
“I didn’t break any bones. But it was a scary moment,” Sparling told the Tracker. “I was on the sidewalk not doing anything other than my job, other than being there and trying to observe.”
Sparling wasn’t unsure if the police targeted him because he was a journalist, noting that although his camera was hanging from around his neck, his press badge may have been hard to see.
After getting shoved, Sparling walked down the rest of the block to leave the area. As he was walking away, a crowd-control munition hit his foot, leaving a red welt, he said.
The Portland Tribune, Sparling’s employer, and The Oregonian, Nakamura’s employer, have both filed complaints about the incidents with the Portland Independent Police Review, an independent agency that investigates allegations of police misconduct.
“Both of those investigations are underway,” Ross Caldwell, the director of the Independent Police Review, told the Tracker. “We have a huge volume of cases, as you can imagine, so everything is taking longer than it normally does.”
In response to questions about the incidents involving Nakamura and Sparling, marched Carmon, a spokesman for the Portland Police Bureau, told the Tracker, “We will not be commenting in regard to these two incidents at this time” because “there is a TRO in place and because the preliminary injunction is still an open litigation case.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
A freelance photojournalist said police shot him in the back with a rubber bullet while he was covering a protest in Portland, Oregon, on June 12, 2020. The photojournalist asked to remain anonymous out of concerns for his safety and privacy.
Many protests broke out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
In Portland, nightly protests over Floyd’s death began on May 29, prompting Mayor Ted Wheeler to declare a curfew that lasted three days. Even after the nightly curfew was lifted, journalists continued to be targeted by police, according to a class-action lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The photojournalist provided a declaration in support of the suit, which resulted in a temporary restraining order and an agreement by the Portland Police Bureau in July not to arrest, harm or impede any journalists or legal observers.
On June 12, the journalist said he was taking photographs of the protests near the Multnomah County Justice Center — which houses a jail, courtrooms and a Portland police precinct — when he was shot from behind.
“I was taking photos near the Justice Center when police shot me in the back with a rubber bullet,” he said in the court declaration, noting that he had a press pass and he is clearly identified as a journalist. “Fortunately, I was wearing a backpack, or I may have been seriously injured. Shortly after this, the police swarmed the crowd from behind, physically assaulting and beating people at random.”
The shooting made him fearful of covering the demonstrations after that. “After this incident, I stopped reporting on the protests because the actions and attitude of the police made me feel unsafe,” said the journalist, who declined to comment further for the Tracker.
In response to questions about the journalist’s account, Portland Police Bureau spokesman Derek Carmon told the Tracker, “We will not be commenting” because “there is a TRO in place and because the preliminary injunction is still an open litigation case.”
Portland City Attorney Tracy Reeve similarly said, “We are not able to comment on pending litigation.”
Andre Lamar, a photographer and reporter for the Dover Post, was detained as he covered protests against police violence in Delaware on June 9, 2020, according to his outlet.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the U.S. since the end of May.
The demonstrations continued in Dover on June 9, as protesters marched to nearby Camden along Route 13, according to news reports. Several dozen protesters blocked traffic near a Wawa convenience store.
In a Facebook Live video posted shortly after his release, Lamar explained the protesters had used the tactic of blocking traffic for several days as a way to engage the public with their message as the police stood by. There was tension between the protesters and police on June 9, Lamar said in his reporting on Facebook Live, but the protest remained non-violent.
The Dover Police claimed the protesters had become “more hostile” to motorists and pedestrians in recent days, leading to 911 calls and nearly missed traffic accidents. According to the Delaware State Police, the situation on June 9 escalated when a police vehicle was not allowed to pass and the officer exited the vehicle. Law enforcement warned the protesters to stop blocking traffic and get off the road, the state police statement said.
Lamar captured his detention on a Facebook Live video posted around 6:30 p.m. In the video, Lamar films as officers arrest protesters on the grass next to the road. The officers “slammed them down to the ground,” Lamar says in the video. “There are people laying down on the ground right now and we don’t know why.”
In the video, Lamar asks officers why they are arresting protesters. But he does not get an answer. He appears to place the camera down on the grass. Seconds later, Lamar begins to ask “Sir, why are people…” when a Dover Police officer grabs him suddenly.
“I’m with the press! I’m with the press!” Lamar yells as the camera shakes chaotically, capturing glimpses of several Dover Police officers placing him into custody.
Drone footage released by the Dover Police show officers completing the arrests of protesters on the side of the road. Lamar stands to the side and bends down to access his backpack. A Dover Police officer leaves one individual already in custody and begins to approach Lamar.
The Dover Police said the officer was concerned for public and officer safety, not knowing what Lamar was retrieving from his bag. Throughout the week some protesters had been armed, Dover Police said.
Suddenly the officer charges at Lamar and grabs him. Two other Dover Police officers nearby assist in restraining Lamar.
“I can’t breathe! I can’t breathe!” Lamar says to the officers in his Facebook Live video. Officers tell him to stop resisting. “I have a press badge on,” Lamar says.
“You may, but you gotta listen to us, OK? Just relax,” an officer responds.
An officer picks up Lamar’s phone, which is still filming his Facebook Live video. Lamar addresses his audience. “You’ve got no help here,” an officer says. “The best thing you can do is be quiet, alright?”
For at least nine times in two minutes, Lamar identifies as a journalist. The livestream ends as an officer places Lamar’s camera into his bag.
Lamar and 21 others were taken into custody and transported to Delaware State Police Troop 3, the state and Dover Police said. Lamar was released without charge after police confirmed he was working as a journalist.
One other individual was released without charge. Twenty were charged with a combination of misdemeanor charges including disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, and obstruction, state police said.
Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings said in a statement that "neither a prosecution of these protesters, nor an investigation into the police—both of which have been demanded, with equal volume—would serve a good purpose." Jennings added that her office asked Delaware State Police to release Lamar immediately upon learning he was in custody.
Delaware Governor John Carney condemned Lamar’s arrest on Twitter. “Reporters have a fundamental right to cover the demonstrations we’re seeing in Delaware and across our country,” he wrote. “They should not be arrested for doing their jobs. That’s not acceptable.”
After his release, Lamar continued to report on a livestream from outside the police station, where family members and supporters of the arrested protesters had gathered.
“Honestly, I’m pissed,” Lamar, who is Black, says in the live video. “I’m pissed because this should never have happened. And I’m more pissed because I’m privileged. I have a badge. That’s why I believe I’m still not inside Troop 3 right now.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering Black Lives Matter protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Drone footage published on the Dover Police YouTube account shows officers detaining journalist Andre Lamar, on the left side of the image, while he was covering protests against police violence on June 9, 2020.
",arrested and released,not charged,Dover Police Department,None,None,True,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, Photojournalist attacked at scene of statue vandalism in Richmond,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-attacked-at-scene-of-statue-vandalism-in-richmond/,2021-02-12 19:00:16.369056+00:00,2021-05-21 16:35:44.747556+00:00,2021-05-21 16:35:44.693205+00:00,,Assault,,,,Unidentified photojournalist 6 (WWBT NBC 12),,2020-06-09,False,Richmond,Virginia (VA),37.55376,-77.46026,"On June 9, 2020, a photojournalist with NBC 12 in Richmond, Virginia, was attacked by individuals tearing down a Christopher Columbus statue in Byrd Park.
Confederate and Columbus statues were torn down and vandalized in several cities in June, during protests against police violence and racial inequality.
In Richmond, the NBC 12 photojournalist was covering the scene with his colleague Brent Solomon, who tweeted, “Violent protesters rip off Christoper Columbus statue, throw it into the water, attack our photographer.”
#NBC12 BREAKING: Violent protesters rip off Christoper Columbus statue, throw it into the water, attack our photographer. #Richmond
— Brent Solomon (@solomonreports) June 10, 2020
Solomon did not name the photographer in his tweet, and Solomon said that they would “politely decline” to comment on the case to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
According to an article the TV channel published about the Columbus statue vandalism, the statue was torn down, spray painted, set on fire and dumped in a lake. The station’s report said that “at the height of the destruction,” some individuals surrounded the photographer, “demanding he leave the scene.” Without naming the photographer, the article said the individuals waved boards in his face, grabbed at him and attacked his camera. The article did not state if the camera was damaged, but noted that the photographer was “able to return to work after the incident.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering Black Lives Matter protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Independent multimedia journalist Jordan Pickett was hit and injured by a crowd-control projectile fired by law enforcement officers while he covered protests against police violence in Seattle on June 8, 2020.
The Seattle demonstrations were one of many that have swept across the country in response to the police killing of George Floyd, a Black man, in Minneapolis on May 25.
On the evening of Sunday, June 7, most protesters were gathered in one area near Capitol Hill along East Pine Street and 10th Avenue, Pickett told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. He had been covering the action in the front, but began to slowly retreat as police officers deployed tear gas to force protesters to disperse.
“At that point, a flash bang grenade went off almost directly on my foot and that was scary enough that I started to push back further,” Pickett remembered. “I was walking with both of my cameras held up to try to appear as not intimidating as possible.”
Pickett said he also had a press badge around his neck and large pieces of white duct tape with the word “PRESS” written in black Sharpie on his hat and backpack.
At 12:23 a.m. on June 8, officers hit Pickett with what he believes was a 40mm baton round in the back of his right thigh, he told the Tracker. In a tweet sent at 3:02 a.m., he wrote the projectile tore through thick jeans from more than 50 feet away, breaking the skin and making him collapse in pain.
According to his estimates, officers were still more than 50 feet away. Picket crawled behind a parked car to regain his composure while more tear gas was released around him. He said he was momentarily blinded and still disoriented when he got up and started walking towards Broadway, where a protester sprayed a baking-soda solution in his eyes.
“Either officers identified me as press and shot anyway, are shooting so quickly or indiscriminately that they can’t identify their targets first or weren’t aiming for me and shot inaccurately,” Pickett wrote in another tweet. “All three seem problematic.”
On Sept. 25, the law firm of Stritmatter Kessler Koehler Moore filed a lawsuit against the City of Seattle and State of Washington on the behalf of “peaceful protesters,” including Pickett, claiming the city enabled police officers’ “unreasonable and disproportionate conduct” and the “widescale use of excessive force,” violating rights protected under the First Amendment.
Seattle Police Department spokesman Randy Huserik declined to comment, citing a policy of not discussing pending litigation. He confirmed that SWAT officers were deployed but said they do not use baton rounds.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country.
Shortly after being hit with a crowd-control munition while covering a protest in Seattle on June 8, journalist Jordan Pickett posted these images on Twitter, saying he was clearly identifiable as working press.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,20-2-14351-1,['ONGOING'],Civil,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, chemical irritant, protest, shot / shot at, student journalism",,,,, "Q13 Fox News crew harassed, assaulted by crowd while reporting in Seattle",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/q13-fox-news-crew-harassed-assaulted-crowd-while-reporting-seattle/,2021-01-04 17:59:13.809417+00:00,2021-01-06 15:56:57.773984+00:00,2021-01-06 15:56:57.727252+00:00,,Assault,,,,Brandi Kruse (KCPQ Fox 13),,2020-06-08,False,Seattle,Washington (WA),47.60621,-122.33207,"Q13 Fox political correspondent Brandi Kruse and her television news crew were targeted, followed and harassed by a group of unidentified people while the journalists covered protests in Seattle, Washington, on June 8, 2020.
Kruse was documenting nightly demonstrations organized in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the killing of George Floyd, a Black man, in Minneapolis on May 25.
According to news reports, on June 8 the Seattle Police Department withdrew from its East Precinct on Capitol Hill and left the area to protesters, who continued to demonstrate and host speakers. Earlier that afternoon, Kruse retweeted a photo of Seattle police officers moving equipment out of the East Precinct station.
In the evening, Kruse and her crew with the Seattle-area Fox affiliate were targeted by protesters and harassed for approximately 15 minutes, according to an unedited video of the incident that she shared on Facebook. Kruse said she posted a considerable amount of material about the incident on Twitter and Facebook, but declined to comment further.
“Our crew was targeted, stalked, harassed, and assaulted,” Kruse wrote in her video post. “The level of vitriol from one member of the mob, who claimed she was a ‘social worker,’ was like nothing I've ever experienced.”
The video begins when Kruse is speaking to some of the protesters near her. One individual is filming the scene on his phone and says, “Y’all spread misinformation.”
Kruse responds: “You haven’t even heard our report yet.”
Kruse attempts to explain what she hopes to cover and asks those confronting her to not swear on camera. (They continue to do so.) As Kruse tries to lead her crew away, the same individual yells out to other protesters in the area, “This is Q13 Fox. Don’t let them get a second of news. They’re trying to make us look bad.”
Kruse asks the cameraperson to continue filming. Two minutes into the video, a small crowd around her begins to chant, “Fuck Fox News.” As Kruse and her crew begin to walk faster, the crowd pursues them and individuals can be heard yelling things like “fake news,” “get the fuck out of here” and “you should be ashamed of yourself.” Members of the crowd also can be seen taking photographs and filming as they go.
When one individual approaches Kruse while yelling in her face, calls of “don’t touch her” can be heard from the crowd.
For several minutes, Kruse and her crew walk down various streets, always followed closely by a group of protesters. Occasionally, she responds to protesters’ questions and remarks, explaining that Q13 is a local station, that she lives in the area and that she has already been reporting for four hours that evening. Protesters say they don’t want Fox News in the neighborhood. One says: “You are destroying the country.”
Q13 is owned by Fox Television Stations, a subsidiary of Fox Corp.
At 9:48 in the video, Kruse stops in front of several businesses and the crowd gathers close around her. Most of the individuals have masks on. At 10:35, one person appears to hit the side of Kruse’s face with an extended umbrella, so she asks her cameraperson to “get her on camera because she physically assaulted us.”
The yelling escalates and it is difficult for Kruse to communicate with the crowd. At one point, she says, “I don’t mind if you yell. I have no issue with you expressing your opinion.”
An individual near her asks why she works for Fox News. Kruse responds: “I work for Q13. We’re a local news station.”
One individual tells her that “nobody is going to hurt you,” but asks her to leave. As she continues to discuss with her crew whether to stay or go, the same individual says again, “You’re provoking us by filming. People don’t want to be on camera. We’re trying to get you out.”
Eventually, Kruse and her crew walk towards a nearby fire station and are let in. Once inside, the news crew is ushered toward the back of the building and the video ends.
In the comments below the Facebook post, Kruse explained that one reason she posted the full clip was so there would be no dispute about what happened.
“The mob that accosted us did not represent or reflect the entire group of protesters,” she later tweeted. “It’s not fair to blame that violence on everyone, just like it’s not realistic to say everyone has been peaceful.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Freelance photojournalist Alex Milan Tracy was hit with a green paint projectile fired by police while covering a protest in Portland, Oregon, on June 7, 2020.
The protest was one of many that broke out across the U.S. 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 U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
In Portland, nightly protests over the death of Floyd began on May 29, prompting Mayor Ted Wheeler to declare an 8 p.m. curfew that lasted three days. Even after the curfew was lifted, journalists continued to be targeted by police, according to a class action suit the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon filed against the Portland Police Bureau in June. Tracy is a plaintiff in the suit, which resulted in a temporary restraining order and an agreement by the city in July not to arrest, harm or impede any journalists or legal observers.
Tracy was covering one of three protests in the city on the night of June 7. The protest originated at the Multnomah County Justice Center with a speech by faith leaders. The protest remained peaceful until 11 p.m., when protesters began to shake the fence around the Justice Center and police countered with pepper balls. Around 11:45 p.m., an unlawful assembly was declared and the use of crowd control munitions escalated.
As officers cleared the area in front of the Justice Center, Tracy was hit in the lower leg by the police paint marker round, according to the ACLU declaration. Tracy wasn’t available for further comment.
In a video Tracy tweeted of when he got hit, green paint can be seen on the ground where he had been standing. He also tweeted a picture of his pants covered in green paint below the knee.
Just before midnight, Tracy fell while running from a police charge. “I fell backwards on a curb, got up and turned around and was seconds away from getting grabbed by riot police who were tackling people to the ground as they made arrests,” he said in the declaration. In a video Tracy tweeted, he appears to fall about 20 seconds in, and then a protester can be seen getting tackled as Tracy gets up to run.
— Alex Milan Tracy (@AlexMilanTracy) June 8, 2020
The PPB has said they wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation.
Bea Lake, who works as a staffer for podcasts hosted by journalist Robert Evans on iHeartMedia radio network, was arrested in Portland, Oregon, while covering protests on June 7, 2020. A video of the incident shows an officer telling Lake to leave, Lake asking for the officer’s name, then Lake being arrested. Police and other records show Lake was charged with “interfering with a Peace Officer” and released several hours later.
Protesters gathered outside the Multnomah County Justice Center in downtown Portland the night of June 7 as part of ongoing protests against police brutality and racial injustice. Shortly before midnight, law enforcement declared the gathering an unlawful assembly after protesters threw water bottles, cans and other objects over a fence and in the direction of police officers, according to the Portland Police Bureau and live streams from the scene. The officers ordered anyone in the area to leave and fired flash grenades to clear the area.
Lake was filming officers dispersing the crowd when an officer approached and said to leave. At 17:45 into a video recording of the incident posted to Twitter, the officer is heard saying “press passes don’t matter.”
Lake then asks the officer for his name, to which he replies by pointing to a number written on his shirt. He then says “keep moving.” After Lake asks again for his name, the officer says “You want to go to jail? You’re under arrest.” As the officer grabs and arrests Lake, she can be heard shouting repeatedly “I am press, I am not resisting.”
One of my crew members, clearly labeled as press, was just arrested for asking an officer their name. https://t.co/E1zPepX4Ev
— Robert Evans (The Only Robert Evans) (@IwriteOK) June 8, 2020
iHeart Radio’s Evans posted the video on Twitter June 8, followed by the message “She is free with a citation, which we will fight.” The arrest of Lake is described, without giving Lake’s name, on page 21 of a complaint filed by the ACLU against the city of Portland; Portland police records note the arrest of Bea Lake, 31, charged with “interfering with a Peace Officer.”
The Tracker was unable to reach Lake and Evans for comment, and it is unclear if the charge is still pending against Lake. The Portland Police Bureau did not respond to an email seeking comment on the incident.
In July 2020, Lake and Evans joined a class action lawsuit against the city of Portland. In the complaint, the journalists alleged that police officers used unnecessary force and interfered with their abilities to do their jobs as members of the press during the protests, according to news reports. No information on the status of the lawsuit was available from any of the involved parties as of March 2021.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Cory Elia, an editor at Village Portland and host of a KBOO podcast, was deliberately sprayed with tear gas while covering protests in Portland, Oregon, during the late hours of June 6, 2020, according to a class-action lawsuit filed by ACLU of Oregon.
Protests in the city that day were in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
In Portland, nightly protests over the death of Floyd began on May 29, prompting Mayor Ted Wheeler to declare an 8 p.m. curfew that lasted three days. Even after the curfew was lifted, journalists continued to be targeted by police, according to the ACLU suit. The suit led to an agreement by the Portland Police Bureau in July not to arrest or harm any journalists or legal observers of the protests. Wheeler later banned the police from using tear gas as a form of crowd control on Sept. 10.
Just before midnight on June 6, Elia was attacked while filming police clearing out protestors in Chapman Square downtown. In a live video that Elia posted on Twitter, an officer can be seen turning toward him and spraying him in the face and on the camera. “They just sprayed me!” Elia can be heard yelling. “I’m down, I can’t see,” he said, adding that he had been holding up his press pass.
“Police knew he was press when they attacked him,” the ACLU complaint says. Elia ended up going to the hospital to be treated.
The ACLU filed the complaint on June 28 on behalf of multiple journalists. On July 8, Elia and Lesley McLam, a colleague at Village Portland and KBOO radio station, filed a civil lawsuit against the city, the state, and multiple law enforcement officers for allegedly violating their constitutional rights and for battery, assault, negligence and false arrest. They are also seeking compensation for their injuries and punitive damages.
Asked in an interview about his decision to participate in the suit, Elia told the Tracker, “If these instances are not seen, not heard about, not reported, they can continue. It results in a very dangerous situation. Any reporter out there can be subjected to this treatment without any kind of consequence or accountability for those actions.”
The PPB has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation in the ACLU case.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Editor's Note: This article has been updated to reflect that Cory Elia is not a plaintiff in the ACLU of Oregon's lawsuit, but has filed an independent civil rights suit with journalist Lesley McLam.
Robert Evans, a reporter for investigative news site Bellingcat and host of a podcast for iHeartMedia, was hit by a crowd-control munition while covering protests in Portland, Oregon, during the early hours of June 6, 2020, according to a class-action lawsuit filed by ACLU of Oregon.
Protests in the city that day were in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
In Portland, nightly protests over the death of Floyd began on May 29, prompting Mayor Ted Wheeler to declare an 8 p.m. curfew that lasted three days. Even after the curfew was lifted, journalists continued to be targeted by police, according to the ACLU suit. The suit led to an agreement by the Portland Police Bureau in July not to arrest or harm any journalists or legal observers of the protests. Wheeler later banned the police from using tear gas as a form of crowd control on Sept. 10.
Evans, who was livestreaming the protest, was filming the police clearing Chapman Square when he was hit in the fingers by an impact munition. At about 48 minutes and 40 seconds into the video, Evans can be heard exclaiming after being hit.
“They got me real good in the fucking fingers,” Evans can be heard saying, speculating that the munition might be made of glass. “They were shooting at my chest though, because my hand was on my chest.”
“I think maybe even aiming at my press pass, because my hand was right next to it,” he added. The ACLU complaint notes that Evans was hit in the hand that was holding his press pass, and that his helmet also said “press.”
Evans told the Tracker that his fingers were bruised and hurt for a few days. “That one wasn’t serious,” he says, but it was memorable for how targeted he felt.
The ACLU filed the complaint on June 28 on behalf of multiple journalists. Evans and his colleague Bea Lake filed their own civil lawsuit against the City of Portland on July 14.
The PPB has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing the ongoing litigation.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Editor's Note: This piece has been updated to reflect that Robert Evans is not a plaintiff in the ACLU of Oregon suit, but has independently sued the City of Portland.
Independent journalist Donovan Farley was struck with a wooden truncheon and pepper sprayed while covering protests in Portland, Oregon, during the late hours of June 6, 2020, according to a class-action lawsuit filed by ACLU of Oregon.
The Portland-based journalist was covering one of the many protests that broke out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
In Portland, nightly protests over the death of Floyd began on May 29, prompting Mayor Ted Wheeler to declare an 8 p.m. curfew that lasted three days. Even after the curfew was lifted, journalists continued to be targeted by police, according to the ACLU suit. The suit led to an agreement by the Portland Police Bureau in July not to arrest or harm any journalists or legal observers of the protests. Wheeler later banned the police from using tear gas as a form of crowd control on Sept. 10.
Just before midnight on June 6, Farley began filming police officers arresting a man in Chapman Square downtown, as one officer put his knee on the man’s neck. Farley “had identified himself as press and was filming several police officers kneeling on a protester’s neck, George Floyd-style,” according to the ACLU filing.
Then, in an attack that was captured on a KATU newsfeed and posted on Twitter by Theo Van Alst, an associate professor at Portland State University, one of the officers pushes Farley back with his hand before hitting him with a truncheon. The officer can then be seen macing Farley as he turns to walk away, then hitting him and macing him again.
From the @KATUNews feed about 15 minutes ago. This guy gets maced and beaten for filming at the Justice Center #PortlandProtests #PortlandProtest #pdx #portland pic.twitter.com/hGSosEES0m
— TVAyyyy, Don’t Go in the Basement 👻 ✶ ✶ ✶ ✶ (@TVAyyyy) June 7, 2020
“I was chased and assaulted because I was a journalist who caught law enforcement behaving in the exact illegal fashion that started this nationwide uproar,” Farley said in a statement posted on Twitter. While acknowledging that he was vocal in telling the officers to remove their knee from the man’s neck, Farley said he was staying out of the way of the arrest.
The first hit with the truncheon injured his lower thigh, Farley said, and the officer also hit him between the shoulders as he was retreating. The shock of that blow is what caused him to turn around, he said, which is when the officer maced him again at close range.
“The burst was so intense that for the first second I thought he had taken out the big canister and punched me with it,” said Farley in the statement, adding that he was incapacitated for the remainder of the night.
Farley wasn’t available for further comment.
The ACLU filed the complaint on June 28 on behalf of multiple journalists.
The PPB has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation in the ACLU case.
Editor's note: This piece has been updated to reflect that Donovan Farley is not among the plaintiffs in the ACLU of Oregon's class-action lawsuit.
A skateboard thrown at a television news station’s car smashed the vehicle’s windshield and broke the driver’s door near protests against police violence in Colorado Springs, Colorado on June 6, 2020.
Reporter Colette Bordelon was driving the marked KOAA News5 car near Colorado Springs’ City Hall to cover the demonstration on June 6. When she made a left turn on a street heading away from City Hall, someone threw a skateboard at the car. Later that night, Bordelon tweeted a video showing damage to the car and said: “I can’t open the driver’s side door as a result. Friendly reminder that your local reporters are here to tell your stories.”
A video clip that accompanies the tweet shows a large smash on the left-hand side of the car’s windscreen.
It isn’t clear whether the vehicle was specifically targeted for belonging to a media outlet. “It was pretty close to the protests, but I have no way of knowing if it was a random person or actually a protester,” Boredelon told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
“There are too many unanswered questions in my specific incident to go ahead and attribute it to an attack on the press, or as related to the protests,” Bordelon said in an email.
Bordelon tweeted after the incident that she was uninjured, and livestreamed on Facebook Live from the scene of the protest that night.
“So everyone knows - I’m totally okay!” she tweeted. “Also, I realize this is an isolated incident, and it doesn’t represent all of the people I have met at these protests over the past week. The main message of the protests is still the story I will share - systemic racism in America.”
Bordelon filed a police report about the incident.
The Colorado Springs demonstration was one of many protests that broke out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement since the end of May. They were sparked by a viral video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a local hospital.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering these protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
A screenshot from a video taken by journalist Colette Bordelon and posted to Twitter shows damage to her news vehicle.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, Photojournalist slammed into wall by police during Miami protest,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-slammed-wall-police-during-miami-protest/,2020-11-01 13:11:09.252922+00:00,2021-10-14 19:59:52.587691+00:00,2021-10-14 19:59:52.525101+00:00,,Assault,,,,Sam Navarro (Freelance),,2020-06-06,False,Miami,Florida (FL),25.77427,-80.19366,"Freelance photojournalist Sam Navarro said in an interview that he was shoved into a wall by a police officer while covering a protest against police violence in Miami, Florida on June 6, 2020.
The protest was one of many across the country sparked by the May 25 police killing of George Floyd, a Black man, in Minneapolis. Navarro, who was photographing the June 6 demonstration for the Miami Herald, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the protest had been peaceful.
However, he said, at around 7:30 p.m., a large number of police officers confronted the protesters and declared an unlawful assembly. Navarro said most of the demonstrators left, but a few dozen remained.
Navarro was photographing the scene at the intersection of 107th Avenue and Eighth Street when one protester ran around behind him. He turned and saw police officers advancing rapidly toward him. An officer wearing a helmet and carrying a shield shoved him up against a concrete wall with a raised metal railing on the edge of the street.
Navarro said the officer let him go almost immediately after the impact, and he resumed photographing the scene.
Navarro said he later had a large bruise on his upper left arm from the impact. His two cameras banged up against the wall, but weren’t damaged, he said.
The incident was filmed in a video posted on Twitter by Herald reporter Joey Flechas.
About 25 officers hopped the barricade and slammed two people to the wall with their shields. One was running away. One was a photographer working for the Herald. Another woman sitting on the ground was arrested. This small number of people was declared an “unlawful assembly.” pic.twitter.com/jYpLEjqNrC
— Joey Flechas (@joeflech) June 7, 2020
Later, as police were finishing arresting demonstrators, another officer asked Navarro if he was alright, the photographer said. The officer said he tried to pull Navarro away so he wouldn’t have been caught up when police advanced, but that there wasn’t time.
Navarro said he was clearly identifiable as a journalist. He was wearing press credentials on a lanyard around his neck, and carried two cameras with him.
The Miami-Dade Police Department didn’t return a request for comment about the incident.
The Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering these protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Photographer Sam Navarro covering a rally in Miami in July 2020.
,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,no,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, Oregon Public Broadcasting reporter shoved by Portland police,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/oregon-public-broadcasting-reporter-shoved-portland-police/,2020-11-23 19:08:12.913344+00:00,2021-12-09 15:06:09.359280+00:00,2021-12-09 15:06:09.313142+00:00,,Assault,,,,Sergio Olmos (Oregon Public Broadcasting),,2020-06-06,False,Portland,Oregon (OR),45.52345,-122.67621,"Oregon Public Broadcasting reporter Sergio Olmos was shoved by a police officer while covering a protest in downtown Portland, Oregon, in the early morning hours of June 6, 2020.
Olmos was covering one of the many protests that broke out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
In Portland, nightly protests over the death of Floyd began on May 29, prompting Mayor Ted Wheeler to declare an 8 p.m. curfew that lasted three days. Even after the curfew was lifted, journalists continued to be targeted by police, according to a class action suit the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon filed against the Portland Police Bureau in June. The city agreed to a preliminary injunction in July to not to arrest or harm any journalists or legal observers of the protests or impede their work. Olmos is a plaintiff and provided a declaration in support of the suit.
Olmos was covering a protest at the Multnomah County Justice Center that began the evening of June 5 and stretched into the next morning. Shortly after 11 p.m., he tweeted that the PPB had declared an “unlawful assembly.”
Tear gas pushed the protesters further into the downtown, according to a tweet Olmos posted at 11:41 p.m. Ten minutes later, Olmos posted an image of an email from a police spokesperson urging the media to “leave the area please for your safety.” In the tweet accompanying the image, Olmos wrote, “This reporter is staying.”
After midnight, the crowd returned to the Justice Center and was soon dispersed by police yet again. Olmos gets shoved by an officer using a baton while leaving the area. “This reporter is shoved by police, I try to vocalize my moments and tell police officer I’m behind him and blocked,” he tweeted at 1:27 a.m,
The accompanying video shows Olmos filming two police vans from across the street. “I’m going this way,” Olmos can be heard saying to an officer. “Hey, I’m behind you.” Another officer approaches and shoves Olmos with his baton, then points a can of tear gas at him. The officer gestures for him to follow the path of the sidewalk, which appears to have been rerouted for construction. “I didn’t see that, I’m going,” Olmos can be heard saying.
At 4:15 a.m., Olmos posted footage of the incident from another angle. “I vocalize my movements, telling two police officers I’m behind them. I think the sidewalk is closed and I’m stuck. I call out to police to let them know. Police officer shoves as I explain,” he wrote in the post.
Olmos also tweeted a photo of himself marked as “press” and wearing a press pass around his neck.
“He had his press pass clearly visible,” the ACLU court filing said. “Nevertheless, the police attacked him with a baton.”
Olmos didn’t respond to a request for comment. The PPB has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing the continuing ACLU litigation.
A freelance journalist said a police officer grabbed her, threatened her with arrest and forced her away from the scene of a protest she was covering on June 6, 2020, in Seattle, Washington.
Shauna Sowersby, who was filing for KNKX public radio, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she was working out of the offices of a local newspaper, The Stranger, which is located at 11th Avenue and Pine Street in Capitol Hill. The Seattle neighborhood for several days had been the scene of intense protests against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, prompting standoffs between demonstrators and law enforcement.
From the newspaper office, Sowersby said she had a clear view of a protest happening below and rushed down to the street when she saw police attempting to clear the area.
Sowersby said a Seattle police officer approached her as soon as she reached the street, telling her she needed to leave. “I told him I was press and without going any further or without asking me any more questions he just grabbed my arm, and he's like ‘no, you need to leave.’”
In a video she posted to Twitter from that evening, Sowersby can be heard repeating “I’m press,” while the officer leads her down the street, which had been cleared of protesters and was guarded by police.
In the background, an unidentified man can be heard calling attention to “an accredited journalist” being harassed by a police officer. Sowersby said the officer was walking behind her and kept trying to put his arms around her, in a way she said felt threatening.
In the video, the officer is seen walking close by her as he says: “You can’t be here.” When Sowersby objects, saying she is a member of the press and has a right to be there, he tells her she will be arrested if she doesn’t leave. Sowersby repeatedly asks the officer not to touch her. At one point she asks the officer’s identity, to which the officer says “It’s written right on my chest.”
According to Sowersby, when they reached the end of the sectioned-off street she was pushed to an area where a line of officers were standing. She told one of these officers that her workplace was just down the street and she needed to get back to work. Sowersby said this officer told the first officer to let her go.
“And then the police officer who had me, actually grabbed the back of my jacket, and he twisted it really hard, like in the middle of my back, and just shoved me out of the line,” she told the Tracker.
She said police then kept her out on the street for nearly two hours, unable to get back to her office.
“I could only call the people that were in the office and there was nothing they could really do at that point,” she said. “So we had to wait until they cleared the area and then I was able to eventually go back into the office.”
Sowersby added that no police officer acknowledged that she was a member of the press, despite her shouting it repeatedly.
The Seattle Police Department didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country that began after the May 25 killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Find these incidents here.
Cole Miller, a journalist for local station KOMO TV, was injured by debris from a crowd control munition while reporting from a protest on June 6, 2020, in Seattle, Washington.
Protesters were gathered that day in Capitol Hill, a Seattle neighborhood which had already seen several days of protests, and which would later be the site of a weeks-long occupation protest known as the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone.
Miller told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was reporting that evening at the southeast corner of Cal Anderson Park, at 11th and Pine Street, when Seattle police officers began attempting to disperse the crowd. Miller said the police had assembled in front of their precinct office on Pine Street, across from the park, and the police line and protest line had confronted each other, with the police trying to push the protesters out of the area.
A video Miller posted to Twitter, shot while he was standing in the midst of a group of protesters, shows there were multiple loud bangs and flashes of light, accompanied by clouds of gas. Multiple news reports from that day confirm that police were using blast balls, a type of crowd-control grenade similar to a flash-bang grenade which sets off noise and bright light, and can disperse rubber shrapnel when detonated.
BREAKING: @SeattlePD using flash bangs to disperse crowd, people throwing things at officers. A piece of one of those bangs just hit my leg. This is quickly getting out of hand. Protesters hadn’t thrown or done anything it seems to provoke this #KOMONews pic.twitter.com/HXCuIAqNyb
— Cole Miller (@ColeMillerTV) June 7, 2020
Miller said that the situation became “quite chaotic” with protesters running into each other, and “pieces of shrapnel from the blast exploding in all directions.”
Miller said that debris from one of the crowd control munitions hit him in the leg “with quite a bit of force,” which later resulted in a large blister. He also said that he inhaled some of the gas used to break up the protest, which he was not able to identify. Miller told the Tracker that police continued to push the crowd back toward Broadway, using more gas. According to Miller and a news report from the Seattle Times, the protesters eventually pushed back on the line of police and ended up back near 11th and Pine.
Later that day, Miller posted photos of rubber debris from the blast balls, which he found on the scene.
Seattle Police Department did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
One day prior to these incidents, the Seattle Police Department had announced a minimum 30-day ban on the use of tear gas, and said that other policies on measures such as pepper spray would be subject to review.
The Seattle protests were in response to the killing of George Floyd, a Black man, during a May 25 arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which sparked demonstrations across the country. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or having their equipment damaged while covering these protests. Find these incidents here.
Ohio newspaper The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer and its digital site, cleveland.com, were served a subpoena by the county prosecutor’s office for videos, photos and audio captured by its reporters during recent protests in downtown Cleveland.
Protests have taken place in dozens of cities across the country since late May, sparked by a video showing a Minneapolis police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
The subpoena, filed on June 5, 2020 by Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O’Malley’s office, orders the outlet to turn over all recordings and photographs that depict any “potential criminal activity” during the May 30 riots, cleveland.com reported.
It also seeks copies of any recorded interviews with individuals who may have described illegal activities.
Editor Chris Quinn told cleveland.com in an emailed statement that the company is compiling responsive documents before speaking with its attorneys about possible options, but that it intends to turn over all materials already published, as the outlet has done previously.
“I’m always troubled when prosecutors seek to use the work of journalists as evidence in criminal cases because it sends a terrible message to criminals that journalists should be considered part of the criminal justice process,” Quinn said.
“We are not part of the criminal justice process. We are the watchdog of the criminal justice process. I just fear that this kind of thing puts a target on the backs of our reporters, photographers and videographers as they do their jobs.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented many assaults of journalists amid the ongoing protests related to Black Lives Matter and police brutality, and at least a dozen journalists who have been assaulted by private individuals. In many of these instances, journalists reported being harassed for capturing video or photos of demonstrators’ faces.
Cleveland.com reported that Cuyahoga County Prosecutor spokesman Tyler Sinclair declined to comment on the subpoena or whether similar subpoenas have been issued to other news outlets, citing the ongoing investigation. Sinclair did not immediately respond to the Tracker’s request for comment.
Ohio shield law protects journalists from disclosing their confidential sources, but this protection does not extend to journalistic work product gathered in the course of reporting, according to the Digital Media Law project.
A Cleveland, Ohio, police officer blocks a road to the city after a mandatory lockdown on June 1, 2020, after days of protests and riots followed the death of George Floyd, a black man, while in police custody in Minneapolis.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,journalist communications or work product,['PENDING'],None,None,None,None,None,None,"Cleveland.com, The Plain Dealer","Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, Journalist pushed by police while filming arrest in Brooklyn,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-pushed-police-while-filming-arrest-brooklyn/,2020-08-05 18:37:09.997601+00:00,2020-08-05 18:37:09.997601+00:00,2020-08-05 18:37:09.945119+00:00,,Assault,,,,Sydney Pereira (Gothamist),,2020-06-05,False,New York,New York (NY),None,None,"An officer with the New York Police Department pushed Gothamist reporter Sydney Pereira as she filmed an arrest during a protest in Brooklyn, New York, on June 5, 2020, according to Pereira and videos of the incident.
The protest was held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the U.S. since the end of May.
After reporting on a protest in Manhattan, Pereira began to follow another demonstration near Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn around 9:30 p.m., according to her Twitter feed. Police and protesters negotiated to allow protesters, who were out past an 8 p.m. curfew, to leave Grand Army Plaza peacefully, the Gothamist reported.
Pereira began to head home when she encountered a group of protesters being arrested near Nostrand Avenue and Crown Street around 10:30 p.m., she said.
As seen in a video filmed by City and State New York reporter Zach Williams, several police officers repeatedly shoved Michael Carter, who told the Tracker that he heard a commotion from his apartment and went outside to document arrests on his block. Carter said documenting police misconduct was part of his job as communications director for state Senator Julia Salazar.
Officers confronted him and ordered him to back up. After he was shoved into the metal security gate of a storefront, he tried to leave the area, he told the Tracker. Carter said he then heard an officer say, “Get him.”
Videos filmed by Pereira and Williams show Carter tried to run away as one officer swung his baton at him. Carter crossed the street before several officers in pursuit took him to the ground. As officers attempted to restrain Carter, several others ordered Pereira, who was standing several feet away, to back up.
“Press! Press! Press!” Pereira said to the officers as she held up her NYPD-issued press badge.
“I don’t care,” one officer responded as he pushed her back using his baton. He then turned away as two other officers continued to tell Pereira to back up. One officer yelled that she could keep recording if she backed up.
An officer in a white shirt, signifying a higher rank, intervened and told everyone to relax before walking over to Carter.
Pereira then stepped to the side to keep filming the arrest. A different officer told her, “If you come closer, you’re going to get yourself in trouble. Please stay where you are.”
“I’m press. Come on.” Pereira responded. “I gotta document what you all are doing. That’s my job here.”
Pereira told the Tracker she questioned why she was pushed. “I felt like I was allowed to be there to film, and I felt like I wasn’t too close,” Pereira said. “I didn’t have a tape measure, but I didn’t feel like I was obstructing the arrest from happening.”
The NYPD did not respond to requests for comment.
After the confrontation, the police did not hinder Pereira from reporting, she said. Officers escorted Carter to a line of other arrestees awaiting transport. With officers flanking him on all sides, he gave an account of his arrest to Pereira, who was filming. Senator Salazar later intervened to help get Carter released from police custody.
Carter, who is no longer with the senator’s office, told the Tracker that the journalists’ video documentation of his arrest had an impact because “people could see that I wasn’t being aggressive in any way or doing anything violent or even I would say illegal.”
Pereira noted the role journalists play in holding powerful institutions like the police accountable.
“Someone needs to be able to do that without fear of harassment or threats or physical violence.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering Black Lives Matter protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
NYPD officers order Gothamist journalist Sydney Pereira to back up as she films an arrest in Brooklyn on June 5, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, AP photojournalist assaulted by bystander during event in Philadelphia,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/ap-photojournalist-assaulted-bystander-during-event-philadelphia/,2020-06-24 19:20:49.589346+00:00,2020-06-24 19:20:49.589346+00:00,2020-06-24 19:20:49.504039+00:00,,Assault,,,,Matt Rourke (The Associated Press),,2020-06-04,False,Philadelphia,Pennsylvania (PA),39.95233,-75.16379,"Associated Press photojournalist Matt Rourke was assaulted while covering an event in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on June 4, 2020.
Rourke was part of a news crew photographing and interviewing Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw and Mayor Jim Kenney in North Philadelphia as the two toured the area following days of protests spurred by the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The AP reported that as Outlaw and Kenney crossed the street, a bystander approached Rourke and punched him in the face, causing him to lose consciousness and fall to the ground. The outlet wrote that it is unclear what prompted the attack.
Officers tackled the man — later identified as Derrick King — and took him into custody. King has been charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, endangering another person and resisting arrest, the Tribune reported.
The Philadelphia Police Department did not respond to requests for comment.
Rourke, who could not be reached for comment, was treated at a hospital for significant facial injuries and has since been released.
King is facing charges of aggravated assault, simple assault, endangering another person and resisting arrest, the AP reported.
National Guard and Police maintain barricades near City Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on June 1, following days of protests. Three days later, a bystander attacked an AP photojournalist as the mayor and police commissioner toured the area.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, Freelance journalist pushed to ground by NYC officers during protests,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/freelance-photojournalist-pushed-ground-nyc-officers-during-protests/,2020-06-28 22:56:56.594400+00:00,2020-06-30 01:55:32.387666+00:00,2020-06-30 01:55:32.307025+00:00,,Assault,,,,Nick Pinto (Freelance),,2020-06-04,False,New York,New York (NY),None,None,"Freelance journalist Nick Pinto was pushed to the ground by New York City police officers while covering protests in New York on the night of June 4, 2020, despite having visible NYPD-issued press credentials.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
Pinto told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he and other journalists were following a few hundred people as they marched through the Fort Greene neighborhood of Brooklyn late in the evening. Dozens of police officers trailing the group informed the protesters that they were violating the city’s 8 p.m. curfew. As protesters reached the corner of Washington Avenue and Fulton Street, Pinto said, “the police made a move to clear the intersection. It was sudden and forceful, a lot of laying on batons, a lot of people knocked to the ground.” The scene was captured on video by journalist Noah Hurowitz:
Why’re clearing the street https://t.co/DgGwF9mk8C
— Noah Hurowitz (@NoahHurowitz) June 5, 2020
This maneuver trapped protesters between two lines of police officers. In the commotion, an officer pushed Pinto, who fell into a pile of garbage bags. Pinto said he was helped to his feet by an officer, but then pushed from behind by another. The altercation was captured on video by journalist John Knefel, who can be heard repeatedly telling officers that Pinto is a journalist:
Tonight the NYPD hit a protester walking his bike and journalist @macfathom (also with a bike) with batons, knocking him over twice, completely unprovoked. The hoarse voice screaming “he’s press” is me pic.twitter.com/TVAjawRIO3
— johnknefel (@johnknefel) June 5, 2020
The group of protesters and press were contained by police until Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and City Council Member Brad Lander, who were in the crowd, negotiated with officers to allow people to leave the area 20 at a time.
Though Pinto’s credentials were visible, he didn’t feel as though he was singled out because he was a member of the media. “In this particular instance, I think it was just generalized violence,” he said.
NYPD did not respond to a request for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Protesters march through the New York borough of Brooklyn on June 4, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,no,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, "BuzzFeed News reporter says was grabbed, shoved by law enforcement while covering protests in NYC",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/buzzfeed-news-reporter-says-was-grabbed-shoved-law-enforcement-while-covering-protests-nyc/,2020-07-30 15:51:44.659698+00:00,2021-05-25 17:48:06.696063+00:00,2021-05-25 17:48:06.637831+00:00,,Assault,,,,Rosalind Adams (BuzzFeed News),,2020-06-04,False,New York,New York (NY),None,None,"Rosalind Adams, an investigative reporter for BuzzFeed News, said she was grabbed and shoved by law enforcement officers while covering protests in Manhattan on June 4, 2020.
Protests in New York and across the United States were in response to police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following a viral video that showed a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Adams had spent much of the afternoon of June 4 posting on her Twitter feed as she covered a memorial for Floyd in Cadman Plaza in the Brooklyn borough of the city. She followed attendees as they marched across the Brooklyn Bridge into the Manhattan borough of the city. Later that evening, about half an hour before the city’s 8 p.m. curfew, according to her feed, she’d joined up with a group of protesters walking west on 48th Street.
About an hour past curfew, Adams reported, the group was a couple hundred strong and had been very peaceful for much of the evening.
But at about 10:15 p.m., as the group reached the intersection of 5th Avenue and East 59th Street, Adams told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in an interview that she saw police moving in from the east and west, kettling the crowd. Kettling is a tactical maneuver used by law enforcement to hem in protesters.
“It happened so quickly, I didn’t even see where the cops came from,” she said.
Adams tweeted that officers “rushed the intersection” and began to make arrests.
Adams said she took out her phone to film an arrest, telling the Tracker that that’s when an officer grabbed her arm, shoving her back. “I’m press, I’m press!” Adams said she yelled as she continued to film.
I was filming this arrest w my phone and cops grabbed me on my arm and pushed me back w batons. You can see officer’s baton in the video coming at me over and over again “you don’t need to push me I’m press” I’m yelling #nycprotest pic.twitter.com/2jZscvnqPt
— Rosalind Adams (@RosalindZAdams) June 5, 2020
Adams said officers kept pushing her. One used his baton to block her arm and pushed her chest, she said. “He must have hit my arms, and pushed me around the shoulders,” she said.
She walked backward, keeping an eye out. She said that’s when another officer grabbed her phone and pushed her. Then, several more police grabbed her.
Adams said the police tried to push all the journalists to the sidewalk, with one telling her, “You’re in the arrest area!”
She said another officer yelled, “If you don’t have a press card, we will collar you!” Adams had her BuzzFeed ID, but no New York Police Department-issued credentials.
According to NY1, more than 200 people across the city were taken into custody that evening.
The New York Police Department did not return phone or email requests for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Demonstrators march in the Manhattan borough of New York City on June 4, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, Journalist arrested following Birmingham protest,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-arrested-following-birmingham-protest/,2020-08-31 11:49:05.313644+00:00,2021-11-19 16:50:35.539896+00:00,2021-11-19 16:50:35.474195+00:00,,Arrest/Criminal Charge,,,,Michael Harriot (The Root),,2020-06-04,False,Birmingham,Alabama (AL),33.52066,-86.80249,"Michael Harriot, a senior writer for the Root, was arrested while covering protests in Birmingham, Alabama, on June 4, 2020, according to published reports of the event.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a Minneapolis, Minnesota, police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, for more than eight minutes during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a local hospital. The incident sparked anti-police brutality and Black Lives Matter demonstrations across the country.
According to AL.com, approximately 100 people had assembled in Linn Park on the afternoon of June 4. At around 7 p.m., curfew in Birmingham at the time, police reportedly directed the crowd to disperse and told members of the media to have their press credentials clearly displayed. Many protestors had left the park by that point, according to AL.com, but the few who were willing to get arrested stayed, and they were.
According to the news site, officers then made their way to an area where members of the media had gathered, including Harriot, who was filming with his cellphone. Harriot did not respond to emailed requests for comment.
In a video shot by AL.com of Harriot's arrest, reporter Carol Robinson can be heard narrating the scene, saying, “They’re asking if he’s media. He says he is. But he says he does not have a credential.”
In an article for the Root, Harriot noted that multiple journalists had not been wearing credentials, citing a security advisory that warned that press badges had made some journalists targets.
“The cops asked if there was anyone they could call to verify that I was press,” Harriot wrote. “I pointed to the police officers and called them by their names but my arresting officers did not bother to verify the information.”
Harriot also said that he advised the officers to call the mayor’s office, as he had conducted an interview with Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin less than 24 hours earlier. The officers also would not allow Harriot access to his phone so he could show them his digital credential.
According to AL.com, the officers then zip-tied his hands and directed him into a police van.
Later that day, Harriot tweeted succinctly about his arrest and that he was still being held in the Birmingham City Jail. In a tweet posted a little over an hour later, he said that he had been released.
Arrested. Was covering protests. Still in Birmingham City Jail.@TheRoot @JoyAnnReid @rolandsmartin
— michaelharriot (@michaelharriot) June 5, 2020
In his account of the arrest and his time in custody, Harriot wrote that in the three years he has covered protests, activism and police brutality in Birmingham — in addition to other Black Lives Matters protests across the country — he had never before been arrested.
“Even after local reporters were attacked while covering the recent protests, I was not worried,” he wrote. He also noted that by the time he was arrested, the protest had entirely dispersed.
But despite standing entirely apart from the park and surrounded by other members of the press, Harriot was arrested.
“I informed them that I was with the media and I knew they were about to be in some deep shit when they rounded up those of us who didn’t have visible credentials,” he wrote. “Locking me up was one thing, but arresting journalists for doing their job was another thing.”
“They did not arrest ‘journalists.’ They arrested the only black journalist.”
While at a staging area a few blocks away, Harriot said, an officer leveraged his knee against Harriot’s thigh in order to secure the zip cuffs as tight as possible. Harriot wrote that despite his efforts to keep blood flowing, he eventually lost all feeling in his hands.
After arriving at the city jail, Harriot said, multiple officers attempted and failed to remove the cuffs, as his hands had swollen. Ultimately, he recounted, officers had to dig into Harriot’s skin in order to cut the zip ties.
Harriot said officers then directed him to put on a jail uniform, took his mug shot and fingerprinted him. He said he was then informed that someone was waiting to speak with him.
“‘Finally,’ I thought. ‘It’s probably the mayor or one of his highest level administration officials who is here to make sure I’m ok,’” Harriot wrote. “Nah. It was the FBI.”
The agents, Harriot said, read him his Miranda rights and said they “just wanted to talk.” Harriot says he declined.
Shortly thereafter, he was able to retrieve his cellphone and was released to a lobby where activists waited to bail out and welcome those who had been arrested.
On June 5, Mayor Woodfin commented on the Birmingham Police Department’s treatment of journalists. Two other reporters — Howard Koplowitz and Jonece Starr Dunigan — had been detained on June 3.
“Our curfew was not intended to stifle the voices of our people or our press,” Woodfin wrote on Twitter. “We need them more now than ever.”
BPD Public Information Officer Sergeant Rod Mauldin advised the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker to direct all questions about Harriot’s arrest to the mayor’s office, which did not respond to emails requesting comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Independent journalist Ashoka Jegroo was pushed and hit with a baton by a police officer while covering a racial justice protest in the Bronx borough of New York on June 4, 2020.
The protest, in the Mott Haven neighborhood in the Bronx, was one of many demonstrations organized across the city in response to the police killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others in 2020. Jegroo regularly reports and films video footage of protests, which he sells to media outlets.
In a phone interview, Jegroo told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was at the front of the demonstration, near some of the organizers, as they began marching through the neighborhood on the evening of June 4. A few minutes before a citywide 8 p.m. curfew went into effect, said Jegroo, city police officers moved to break up the protest using a crowd control tactic called kettling, in which police block demonstrators from leaving. As police advanced on the crowd, Jegroo and organizers at the front of the march were separated from the “kettle” and pushed across the street by police, the journalist said.
Jegroo said that police appeared to target an organizer near him who was using a megaphone to communicate to the larger group.
In a video Jegroo posted on Twitter, a line of NYPD officers is seen standing on the street. An NYPD officer in a yellow helmet approaches another officer and points into the crowd. “You want her locked up?” the second officer asks. “OK.”
The second officer then moves swiftly, striking at protestors and swiping toward Jegroo. “Get the fuck back, I’m not fucking with you, get the fuck back,” the officer says.
NYPD cops are making violent arrests & beating people with batons at the #FTP4 march in the Bronx. I just got hit with a baton & pusher by cops. pic.twitter.com/w6YOxXssvj
— Ash J (@AshAgony) June 5, 2020
Jegroo said that the police officer struck him with a baton on his abdomen between his belly button and his groin. Jegroo said he then ran away from the line of police, following two protest organizers as they sought to see what was happening to the larger group of demonstrators cordoned off by police. When they encountered more police, officers grabbed the organizers, Jegroo said, then threw him against a fence, where he slid down to the ground.
Jegroo said that as he attempted to get up, a police officer pulled him up, turned him around and pinned him against a gate, holding one of the journalist’s arms behind his back. A second officer questioned Jegroo, asking why he was there and where he lived, while another officer rifled through his backpack, Jegroo said. After searching through his bag, the police freed Jegroo. He said he collected his belongings, which the police had dropped on the ground. He reported that none of his reporting equipment was damaged.
Jegroo said he did not identify himself to police as a journalist at any point during the protest. He said that in past encounters with police, he had found that identifying himself as a reporter did not help. “I've tried to do that before, but … they don't give a damn,” he said.
NYPD did not respond to a request for comment about Jegroo’s experience.
The march was the fourth organized by a coalition of grassroots groups under the name FTP4, initials that various group members say can stand for “For the People,” “Feed the People,” or “Fuck the Police.” Police tactics during the Mott Haven march came under criticism in a report released in September by Human Rights Watch. The group said that police conduct during the FTP4 march was “intentional, planned, and unjustified,” and that NYPD’s response violated international human rights law.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering these protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Journalist Ashoka Jegroo was documenting a protest in the New York borough of the Bronx when he was shoved and hit with an NYPD officer's baton.
",detained and released without being processed,not charged,New York Police Department,2020-06-04,2020-06-04,False,None,[],None,returned in full,False,law enforcement,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, Russian freelance journalist arrested while covering protests in Brooklyn,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/russian-freelance-journalist-arrested-while-covering-protests-brooklyn/,2020-12-02 18:21:00.501744+00:00,2022-05-12 21:35:31.091281+00:00,2022-05-12 21:35:31.018596+00:00,(2020-12-08 14:31:00+00:00) Charges against Russian freelance journalist filed under incorrect name,Arrest/Criminal Charge,,,,Yana Mulder (REN.TV),,2020-06-04,False,New York,New York (NY),None,None,"Russian freelance journalist Yana Mulder was reporting on protests in the New York borough of Brooklyn on June 4, 2020, when she was arrested while trying to intervene in the violent arrest of her husband. Mulder said she told police that she was press and that her husband was assisting the TV production crew.
The protest came one day after New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio imposed an 8 p.m. curfew aimed at controlling escalating unrest in the city. Essential workers — who, in New York, include members of the media — were exempt.
In a phone interview with the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, Mulder said that she was reporting that night on a post-curfew protest in Brooklyn for the Russian television channel REN.TV. She said she followed the protest through the streets of Brooklyn until it abruptly stopped at the intersection of Wythe Avenue and Penn Street.
Mulder said the protesters halted when they were just 10 or 15 steps away from a line of New York Police Department officers. She said she, along with her cameraman, her photographer, and her husband, stood off to the right side of the protest with another group of journalists. Mulder said her husband was helping the broadcast crew by holding up a light for the camera.
According to Mulder, police officers took out packs of zip-ties, which she reported on camera, noting that they were going to start arresting people. At this point, some at the rear of the group began to disperse, leaving about three layers of protesters facing the police, Mulder told the Tracker.
Daniel Verde, a journalist who was also at the intersection when the police charged forward to arrest protesters, posted a video on Twitter at 9:21 p.m. showing police pursuing and grabbing protesters as they tried to flee.
In a video taken of the advance on her phone, Mulder can be heard warning her camera operator to be careful while moving toward an armored police car.
One policeman shouts, “Let’s go!” and Mulder directs her crew to capture the officers charging the protesters. As Mulder spins to look around her, she sees her husband, Nick Mulder, on the ground being hit with a baton by an officer while in the process of being arrested. Mulder can be heard yelling to the officer, “Please, please don’t!” The officer responds, “Stay out of here, go back!” At this point, Mulder turns her phone camera off.
According to Mulder, her husband had come to pick her up from the protest and was helping the production crew by holding a light for the broadcast.
“I tried to explain to the police that I’m a reporter; I told him that my husband was part of the group,” she said. Despite identifying herself as press, “four other cops grabbed me, put handcuffs on me as well, and we were both escorted to the [bus].”
Mulder’s phone video showed that, as she asked police to stop, the crowd surrounding the journalist and her husband yelled repeatedly that they were press. One person tweeted about the arrests:
I was arrested here — along with a young female journalist. She was speaking on camera when they grabbed her. They knocked down, beat, and arrested her husband, who was part of the production crew, holding a light. Their sound and camera guys got away.
— Sarah Rose Kearns (@Persuasion_JA) June 5, 2020
Mulder said that police zip-tied her husband’s hands and hers, and they were brought to the 90th precinct in a bus full of protesters.
At the station, Mulder said, she offered to show her press pass from the IWW Freelance Journalists Union, as well as an email from her employer about her assignment. “They didn’t look at anything,” she told the Tracker.
In an Instagram post Mulder wrote that her bag was taken and the police officer in charge of searching bags asked her “Do you have anything in your bag that can hurt me?” When she replied in the negative, the officer returned her bag without searching it, she said. After five hours, the couple was released with a summons for a court date a month later, according to Mulder.
According to the summons slip, which the Tracker reviewed, Mulder was charged with “violation of Mayor’s emergency order,” a Class B misdemeanor that carries a fine of up to $500 and a maximum of three months in prison in the New York Penal Code. Neither Mulder nor her husband appeared in court on the day listed on her summons, since the Kings & New York Criminal Court had been closed indefinitely since March. Mulder told the Tracker that no one from NYPD followed up on the summonses issued to her and her husband, perhaps because their last name was spelled incorrectly as M-O-U-L-D-E-R.
Mulder said that the American Civil Liberties Union contacted her husband Nick shortly after the incident. According to the journalist, the ACLU is working with her husband to file a civil suit against the NYPD.
The NYPD did not respond to a request for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering Black Lives Matter protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Editor's Note: This article was updated to reflect the correct spelling of Nick Mulder’s name.
Lesley McLam, host of a KBOO podcast, was violently grabbed and shoved by police while covering demonstrations in Portland, Oregon, on June 4, 2020, according to her ongoing lawsuit against the city and Mayor Ted Wheeler, and other law enforcement officers.
McLam, who did not respond to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker’s request for comment, was covering the protests that broke out in Portland and across the country in response to the May 25 death of George Floyd, a Black man, by a white police officer in Minneapolis.
McLam filed a civil lawsuit, along with her colleague Cory Elia, against the city and multiple law enforcement officers on July 8. The lawsuit cites multiple press freedom violations against both journalists.
According to the complaint, McLam was covering the protesters that had gathered in front of the Multnomah County Justice Center when she saw a group of individuals near a dumpster fire about a half block away. At the time, McLam was wearing a black baseball cap with white lettering that identified her as “PRESS.” Her backpack was also labeled “MEDIA” and she had prominently displayed press credentials.
McLam started filming the fire with her cellphone and narrating the events when police officers in riot gear arrived and announced the street was closed. According to the complaint, McLam continued filming but moved to the sidewalk, allowing space for people and officers to pass.
The complaint said McLam was filming when an officer approached her. She identified herself as a member of the press while displaying her credentials when the officer violently grabbed McLam by the throat. She was then shoved backward by that officer and two others.
On June 28, the Americans Civil Liberties Union of Oregon filed a class-action lawsuit against the city of Portland and its law enforcement. The city later agreed to a preliminary injunction to not arrest, harm, or impede working journalists or legal observers at protests.
The Portland Police Bureau has said it wouldn’t comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protest, citing ongoing litigation.
Tablet Magazine senior reporter Armin Rosen was beaten by police, who then confiscated his bicycle, while he was covering protests in New York, New York, on June 3, 2020.
Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Rosen told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was covering a protest march in downtown Brooklyn shortly after 9 p.m. New York Police Department officers had been gradually pushing the crowd toward Borough Hall but quickened their advance when a sudden downpour began.
Rosen — who had with him a reporting notebook, backpack, bicycle and helmet wrapped in white duct tape with “PRESS” emblazoned across it — walked his bike over to a nearby structure to take cover from the rain and put his notebook away so it wouldn’t be damaged.
Still got my helmet though! (Tape etc applied by @BenFeibleman last night) pic.twitter.com/M5zw2Bie26
— Armin Rosen (@ArminRosen) June 4, 2020
“Facing the structure, and thus with my back to the crowd, I felt a blunt object strike my right shoulder and very quickly realized I was on the grass and surrounded by police,” Rosen said.
He added that he is unsure how many times officers struck him with their batons in total.
Three officers held him down while another demanded, “What the fuck is in your bag?” The officer then quickly searched the backpack as Rosen explained that he was a journalist and had been concerned about his notebook getting wet. Rosen said the officers did not ask him to produce any identification.
Rosen said another officer said, “Take your shit and get the fuck out of here,” and threw the still-open bag toward him.
“Once back on my feet, I was aggressively pushed forwards by a nearby cop and nearly fell to the ground again,” Rosen said.
That’s when Rosen said he realized that his bike was gone. When Rosen asked if the officers could return his bike, an officer responded, “It’s not your bike anymore.”
Cops clubbed me and took my bike what the he’ll do I do
— Armin Rosen (@ArminRosen) June 4, 2020
Rosen told the Tracker that he asked if there was a number he could call in order to recover the bike, but both the officers who had surrounded him and a man who appeared to be a commanding officer dismissed or ignored his requests.
“I currently have a large welt on my right shoulder from the initial blow, along with a second area of pain in my left buttock,” Rosen said.
Rosen told the Tracker that a fellow journalist found his bike more or less abandoned near Borough Hall along with multiple others a few hours after it was taken, and was able to return it to Rosen.
When asked for comment, an NYPD spokesperson directed the Tracker to the “30-minute mark” of a press briefing held by New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and Police Commissioner Dermot Shea on June 3.
Around that point in the recording, Shea says: “Wherever appropriate, we issue summonses in lieu of arrests. We’ve obviously done a lot of both summonses and arrests. The only thing that I might add on the point of the press: We’re doing the best we can, the difficult situation. We 100 percent respect the rights of the press. Unfortunately, we’ve had some people purporting to be press that are actually lying, if you can believe that. So sometimes these things take a second—maybe too long—to sort out.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred total incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering Black Lives Matter protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
A man scuffles with law enforcement officers during a protest in the Brooklyn borough of New York City on June 3, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,returned in full,False,law enforcement,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, Mission Local journalist detained with protesters while covering Bay Area demonstration,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/mission-local-journalist-detained-protesters-while-covering-bay-area-demonstration/,2020-07-05 21:42:17.399587+00:00,2021-11-19 16:49:57.790859+00:00,2021-11-19 16:49:57.717939+00:00,,Arrest/Criminal Charge,,,,Julian Mark (Mission Local),,2020-06-03,False,San Francisco,California (CA),37.77493,-122.41942,"Mission Local reporter Julian Mark was briefly detained by San Francisco police while covering a Bay Area protest on June 3, 2020.
The protest was part of a wave of Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality demonstrations across the country. The demonstrations were sparked by the release of a video showing a white Minneapolis police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest. Floyd was later pronounced dead in a hospital.
Mark told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he had been covering the San Francisco protests all day as about 10,000 people marched through the city. He had returned to Mission Local’s office at 2489 Mission St. to file his story when he saw dozens of officers outside the office window. The officers were moving down Mission Street and closing in on dozens of protesters, including 23 who were later arrested.
Mark said he went back outside wearing his press badge, issued by the San Francisco Police Department, around his neck. When he began filming police, he said he held his press badge up so officers could see it. While recording, Mark got in front of the officers as they closed in on some of the protesters.
“I was putting myself in the middle of the circle and as I was doing this I was making it known that I was press and I was also filming,” Mark told the Tracker. One of the officers told Mark to move back. “I tried to get out of the circle and I tried to get onto the sidewalk,” Mark said, but other officers – at odds with the original instruction – kept him in the circle of protesters on Mission Street.
“I was definitely forcibly moved into the circle of protesters and told to lay on my stomach even though I had clearly displayed my press badge,” Mark said.
At 10:53 p.m. Mark tweeted, “Lying on the ground here with a dozen protesters. Completely surrounded on mission st.” In the video accompanying the tweet, dozens of officers are visible. Capt. Gaetano Caltagirone of SFPD can be heard saying, “This is Capt. Gaetano from the San Francisco Police Department. You are all under arrest for unlawful assembly.”
Mark continued to tweet updates from the ground. “Show them my press pass and they just pushed me into the circle and made [me] lie down on my stomach,” he tweeted five minutes later. The last tweet in Mark’s thread was sent at 11:47 p.m. “I was detained and then released. I’m okay. Thanks, all, for following. There are around 20 seemingly peaceful protesters on their way to the police station, including a 14-year-old [boy].”
The certificate of release provided by the San Francisco Police Department lists Mark’s time in custody from 11 p.m. to 11:41 p.m. The next day Mark reported on his detainment, writing that he was released after an editor at Mission Local reached out to Capt. Caltagirone.
On June 4, Mark also received an invitation from San Francisco Police Chief William “Bill” Scott to come to his office and review the body camera footage from the incident.
“He explicitly said that he was sorry that it had happened,” Mark told the Tracker. “He asked for feedback from me about how the police department would improve its processes with how they deal with journalists in situations where officers feel they are under pressure to enforce the law. I really think that the effort was genuine on his part.”
SFPD spokesman Sgt. Michael Andraychak gave the following statement to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: “The Department is aware of these incidents and we have either met with or spoken to the journalists involved in order to gain a better picture of what transpired and how we can work to prevent similar events from happening in the future.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd while in police custody. Find all of these cases here.
Howard Koplowitz, a journalist with AL.com, was arrested while filming protests in front of Birmingham City Hall, in Birmingham, Alabama, on June 3, 2020. After being taken to the city jail for processing, Koplowitz was released without charges.
Koplowitz was reporting that day with colleague Jonece Starr Dunigan, who was also arrested. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented her arrest here. Both journalists declined to comment.
The protest was held in response to a video showing a Minneapolis police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, for more than eight minutes during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital. The incident sparked anti-police brutality and Black Lives Matter demonstrations across the country.
Koplowitz had been tweeting during the evening, including just after the city’s 7 p.m. curfew. He told AL.com that he was recording video of Birmingham Police Department officers walking out of City Hall at around 7:30 p.m., when two officers approached him. An officer told Koplowitz he was under arrest, ignoring Koplowitz’s press pass and his verbal protestations that he was a journalist.
AL.com reported that Koplowitz was also carrying letters showing proof of employment for both himself and Dunigan, as required by the city in order for journalists to be exempt from the curfew order. However, the BPD officers who arrested him didn’t allow him to show them the letters.
Within seconds of approaching Koplowitz, officers also arrested Dunigan, who also was wearing media credentials and standing nearby.
Koplowitz told AL.com that he and Dunigan were zip-tied and put into a van, which transported them to the city jail. At the jail, he said they were photographed and chained to a bench for 10 minutes before BPD Public Information Officer Sergeant Rod Mauldin intervened and had them released. Neither Koplowitz nor Dunigan are facing criminal charges.
Koplowitz said he was later told by officers that they had been detained for their safety.
Mauldin advised the Tracker to direct all questions to the mayor’s office, which did not respond to emails requesting comment.
AL.com editors condemned the journalists’ arrests.
“Unacceptable,” tweeted Kelly Ann Scott, AL.com editor and vice president of content. “I’m so sorry that @HowardKoplowitz and @StarrDunigan had to endure this while just doing their jobs as journalists.”
“Watching video of a zip-tied reporter cry for someone to call me was agonizing,” tweeted Jeremy Gray, AL.com managing producer of breaking news. “I hired @StarrDunigan and have worked with @HowardKoplowitz ever since he joined our team. They were standing on a sidewalk when they were loaded into a van.”
On June 5, after another reporter was arrested by BPD officers, Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin apologized for the BPD’s treatment of journalists.
“Our curfew was not intended to stifle the voices of our people or our press,” he wrote on Twitter. “We need them more now than ever.”
On June 6, Alabama Media Group, the publisher of AL.com and the Birmingham News, asked for an apology and investigation into the arrests, AL.com reported.
“Clearly, the police overstepped their legal authority in arresting, assaulting and otherwise mistreating members of the press with no inclination to use any but the most extreme measures,” said James Pewitt, attorney for Alabama Media Group, in a letter sent to Woodfin and others. Pewitt added that the explanations provided by the police “are, in our view, wholly inadequate, plainly false and pretextual.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Jonece Starr Dunigan, a journalist with AL.com, was arrested while filming officers outside Birmingham City Hall, in Birmingham, Alabama, on June 3, 2020. After being taken to the city jail for processing, Dunigan was released without charges.
Dunigan was reporting that day with colleague Howard Koplowitz, who was also arrested. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented his case here. Both journalists declined to comment.
The protest was held in response to a video showing a Minneapolis police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, for more than eight minutes during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a local hospital. The incident sparked anti-police brutality and Black Lives Matter demonstrations across the country.
Koplowitz told AL.com that he was recording video of Birmingham Police Department officers walking out of City Hall at around 7:30 p.m., half an hour after the city’s 7 p.m. curfew, when two officers approached him. An officer told Koplowitz he was under arrest, ignoring Koplowitz’s press pass and his verbal protestations that he was a journalist. The officers then arrested Dunigan, who was standing near Koplowitz.
AL.com reported that Koplowitz was also carrying letters showing proof of employment for both himself and Dunigan, as required by the city in order for journalists to be exempt from the curfew order. However, the BPD officers who arrested him didn’t allow him to show them the letters.
Koplowitz told AL.com that he and Dunigan were zip-tied and put into a van, which transported them to the city jail. At the jail, he said they were chained to a bench for 10 minutes before BPD public information officer Sergeant Rod Mauldin intervened and had them released. Neither Koplowitz nor Dunigan are facing criminal charges.
Mauldin advised the Tracker to direct all questions to the mayor’s office, which did not respond to emails requesting comment.
“I never want to call my mom ever again to tell her I was arrested,” Dunigan tweeted after she was released. “It was a hard conversation to have. I’m still processing it all.”
I never want to call my mom ever again to tell her I was arrested. It was a hard conversation to have. I'm still processing it all.
— Jonece Starr Dunigan (@StarrDunigan) June 4, 2020
I appreciate all the kind texts and messages. I appreciate the protesters who were nothing but kind to me.https://t.co/3RCUUpZppr
AL.com editors condemned the journalists’ arrests.
“Unacceptable,” tweeted Kelly Ann Scott, AL.com editor and vice president of content. “I’m so sorry that @HowardKoplowitz and @StarrDunigan had to endure this while just doing their jobs as journalists.”
“Watching video of a zip-tied reporter cry for someone to call me was agonizing,” tweeted Jeremy Gray, AL.com managing producer of breaking news. “I hired @StarrDunigan and have worked with @HowardKoplowitz ever since he joined our team. They were standing on a sidewalk when they were loaded into a van.”
On June 5, after another reporter was arrested by BPD officers, Birmingham mayor Randall Woodfin apologized for the BPD’s treatment of journalists.
“Our curfew was not intended to stifle the voices of our people or our press,” he wrote on Twitter. “We need them more now than ever.”
On June 6, Alabama Media Group, the publisher of AL.com and the Birmingham News, asked for an apology and investigation into the arrests, AL.com reported.
“Clearly, the police overstepped their legal authority in arresting, assaulting and otherwise mistreating members of the press with no inclination to use any but the most extreme measures,” said James Pewitt, attorney for Alabama Media Group, in a letter sent to Woodfin and others. Pewitt added that the explanations provided by the police “are, in our view, wholly inadequate, plainly false and pretextual.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Hope Byrd, a New Orleans photographer, says she was assaulted by a police officer who threw her to the ground and into a barricade while she was covering a protest in the city on June 3, 2020.
Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Byrd, who was on assignment for Antigravity Magazine, was left with bruises and cuts. She temporarily lost some of the use of her left arm after she was physically assaulted by a New Orleans Police Department officer, she told the Committee to Protect Journalists in a phone interview.
The New Orleans protest began in Duncan Plaza, a small park in the city center, on the night of June 3. At 7 p.m., between 1,000 and 2,000 protesters began marching east to Crescent City Connection, a bridge that spans the Mississippi River. At that point, it was peaceful, Byrd told CPJ. The police were anticipating the group, and had followed the marchers from the plaza to the on-ramp to the bridge, Byrd said.
But at around 9:30 p.m. protesters were underneath the bridge and getting restless. A police barricade prevented them from crossing the bridge. The protest organizers selected two or three people to try and cross the police line and begin negotiations with police, Byrd said.
“They wanted to be escorted past the bridge, to the other side,” Byrd said. “It seems like a simple gesture, but the SWAT team was not having it.”
Shortly before 10 p.m., the confrontation began. Byrd said the police line was breached, and the police started pushing into the crowd. She doesn’t know how or why the line was breached, but protesters were able to get on the other side of the police line. In response, police started firing tear gas.
“I was pushed through [the line]; I don’t know and don’t really remember how I got through,” Byrd said. “I was quickly grabbed and thrown on the ground, which is when I produced my media pass and made it very clear that I was media to an officer. That didn’t seem to help.”
“Between the first and second grab of the officer I produced my already visible media badge. I held it in my hand and put it toward his face, but it didn’t matter,” Byrd said. “I didn’t expect it to, but I felt the need to produce that. That’s when he threw me on the ground, back into the barricade, and into the crowd and into the tear gas.”
Byrd says her press credentials were visible around her neck the whole time. She was also wearing a hat with the word “Antigravity” on it, the name of the magazine she was shooting for.
After examining photos and videos from the altercation, Byrd believes the police officer who assaulted her was the captain of a New Orleans Police Department squad. Byrd said she also witnessed the same officer put a male protester in a chokehold. She did not see the names or badge numbers of any police officers, including the one who assaulted her, she said.
“The police at the line, some were talking, some weren’t,” Byrd said. “The officers I addressed, I asked them where their body cam was. I asked them to produce their name and their badge number. To my knowledge and in the photos I have, there’s no identifying anything.”
After she ended up on the other side of the police line and back with the protesters, Byrd put her goggles on as her visibility was affected by tear gas. Other photographers were wearing gas masks, but Byrd did not have one. As she was shooting, she heard rubber balls being shot by police. Although they initially denied it, the New Orleans Police Department confirmed that they used rubber balls against protesters during the city’s protests.
At around 10:40 p.m., the protest organizers began their retreat and Byrd left the scene.
When asked if she thought she was targeted for being a member of the media, Byrd said both yes and no.
“The fact that [the police officer] responded with more violence after I said I was media, by making it clear I was media, by showing the credentials [suggests yes],” she said. “Most of the damage was from the second and third throw. At the same time, we see that he’s choke holding other protesters.”
Gary S. Scheets, a senior public information officer for the New Orleans Police Department, told CPJ it could not comment on Byrd’s allegations without a police report. Byrd did not file a police report, but she did contact the New Orleans Independent Police Monitor. Byrd said she tried to use the complaint form online, but the link to upload evidence is broken.
Photographer Hope Byrd supplied this image of injuries sustained while covering a protest against police violence in New Orleans on June 3, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, chemical irritant, protest",,,,, "Tampa Bay Times journalist knocked to the ground, detained while covering Florida protests",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/tampa-bay-times-journalist-knocked-ground-detained-while-covering-florida-protests/,2020-10-22 15:46:49.439206+00:00,2021-11-19 16:45:57.090497+00:00,2021-11-19 16:45:57.019193+00:00,,"Arrest/Criminal Charge, Assault",,,,Divya Kumar (Tampa Bay Times),,2020-06-03,False,Tampa,Florida (FL),27.94752,-82.45843,"Tampa Bay Times reporter Divya Kumar was detained in the early hours of June 3, 2020, while covering a protest in Tampa, Florida.
Protesters had gathered in Tampa and in cities across the U.S. to denounce police brutality following the death of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25.
The Times reported that Kumar was arrested downtown when Tampa Bay Police Department officers declared an unlawful assembly near Joe Chillura Courthouse Square.
The outlet reported that Kumar held up her media credentials to identify herself as a member of the press as a line of bicycle officers advanced. However, one of the bicycle officers knocked Kumar to the ground, handcuffed her and then placed her in plastic zip ties for 10 to 15 minutes.
Luis Santana, a Times photojournalist, posted photos of her detention on Twitter.
@TB_Times @divyadivyadivya places in cuffs and detained by @TampaPD while covering the protests in downtown Tampa even after identifying herself as a Times reporter. She was eventually released. pic.twitter.com/4E9095kmcM
— Luis Santana (@TBTphotog) June 3, 2020
“I don’t know what I could have done differently,” Kumar told the Times. “I identified myself as a journalist and tried to get out of there safely.”
In a news conference held later that day, Tampa Police Chief Brian Dugan defended the officers’ actions and emphasized that Kumar had been detained, not arrested.
“I think what happened was in their effort to cover the actions they ended up too close to it and ended up getting detained,” Dugan said, adding that Kumar was released after she was identified as a member of the media.
At the same press conference, Mayor Jane Castor suggested that many people attended the protest with fake media credentials, and declined to apologize for Kumar’s detention.
“We got bigger things out there than apologizing to a reporter that gets detained that didn’t leave when they were asked to leave three times,” Castor said.
The Times reported that later that day, Castor did call Kumar to apologize, as did Chief Assistant City Attorney Kirby Rainsberger.
Rainsberger said officers’ treatment of Kumar was “an overreaction,” and the city was reiterating the right of the press to the department during officer roll calls and via email.
In a statement published that day, Times Executive Editor Mark Katches objected to the detentions of Kumar and a second Times journalist, Jay Cridlin, in St. Petersburg the night before. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documented Cridlin’s arrest here.
“Journalists need to be able to do our jobs and report the news without being harassed, detained, intimidated or harmed by law enforcement,” Katches said.
The Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Reuters photojournalist Brendan McDermid was struck and shoved to the ground by a New York City police officer while he was covering protests against police violence in the borough of Brooklyn on June 3, 2020.
The protest was one of many held this year across the U.S. following the May 25 police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
McDermid was photographing the demonstration in downtown Brooklyn, where police had mustered near Cadman Plaza Park to try to block demonstrators from advancing. According to a letter Reuters General Counsel Gail Gove wrote to the New York City Police Department, provided to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, an officer first noticed McDermid around that time. Protesters and police clashed, and police began arresting demonstrators, sometimes using physical force, as the protest moved toward Borough Hall.
The officer who had observed McDermid continued to watch him, Gove wrote. After moving about four blocks, the officer approached McDermid, got very close to his face, and shouted at him to “get out of here!”
McDermid was clearly marked as a journalist, displaying his press pass and wearing a flak jacket with the word “PRESS” clearly visible, Gove wrote. An account of the encounter in a June 6 letter by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press noted that McDermid complied with police orders as he was covering the protest.
McDermid continued to photograph the scene after the officer left. A short time later, according to Gove, McDermid turned and saw the officer charging at him from about 10 feet away. The officer struck the photographer with his baton in his chest, and knocked him to the ground. While McDermid was on the ground, the officer hit him in the leg and on his helmet and laughed, Gove wrote.
McDermid consulted with a doctor after the assault, according to Gove. He wasn’t injured, which Gove said was because of the protective gear he was wearing.
The NYPD didn’t respond to requests for comment about the incident.
“Journalists must be allowed to cover the news in the public interest without fear of harassment or harm, wherever they are,” a spokesperson for Reuters said in an email to the Tracker.
RCFP referenced the assault on McDermid and several other incidents targeting journalists in its June 6 letter to New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea urging the city to discipline officers who arrested or assaulted journalists, along with taking other steps to protect journalists covering protests.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering these protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Reuters said photographer Brendan McDermid was knocked down and hit with a baton by a New York Police Department officer while he was on assignment capturing this image and others during a protest in Brooklyn on June 3, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, National Guard uses pepper spray against CNN reporter covering DC protests,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/national-guard-uses-pepper-spray-against-cnn-reporter-covering-dc-protests/,2020-12-22 19:13:18.776513+00:00,2022-03-10 20:49:40.787096+00:00,2022-03-10 20:49:40.723409+00:00,,Assault,,,,Alexander Marquardt (CNN),,2020-06-03,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"CNN journalists Alexander Marquardt and Josh Replogle were pepper sprayed by National Guard troops on June 3, 2020, while covering early-morning protests in Washington, D.C., near Lafayette Square.
Marquardt and Replogle were covering one of the many protests that erupted in Washington and other U.S cities following the May 25 death of George Floyd while he was in custody of Minneapolis police.
Marquardt, senior national security correspondent for CNN, tweeted on June 3 that a group of individuals attempted just after 12:30 a.m. to push down a fence erected around Lafayette Square. National Guard troops at the scene “responded with pepper spray and rounds,” Marquardt tweeted, without explaining what types of rounds the troops used.
“An otherwise peaceful day that ends with unrest,” Marquardt tweeted. “I really don’t know how that helped anything.”
Replogle was operating a camera for CNN’s reporting from the scene. Marquardt said in a tweet thread that troops fired pepper spray at his team despite the fact that the journalists weren’t standing near protesters.
Another angle that shows how separated from agitators we were and how obvious it was we were press. @Joshrepp and I were with @JayMcMichaelCNN and @cnnjamie. https://t.co/IhU2x5K2x7
— Alexander Marquardt (@MarquardtA) June 3, 2020
He also said that because he was holding a microphone, and Replogle was holding a large camera, it should have been clear that they were press, covering the protest.
“3 hours later my arm was still burning,” Marquardt tweeted. “Others got it far worse.”
Mark Irons, a correspondent for the Catholic-themed Eternal Word Television Network, tweeted that National Guard troops fired rubber bullets at the crowd gathered at Lafayette Square around the time that Marquardt and Replogle were hit with pepper spray.
Irons also posted a video depicting troops firing pepper spray at protesters who lowered themselves to their knees and raised their hands.
Marquardt and Replogle didn’t respond to requests by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker for comment and CNN didn’t comment on the incident further. The District of Columbia National Guard also didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Two days earlier, on June 1, President Trump had used St. John’s Episcopal Church at Lafayette Square as the backdrop for a controversial photo op. National Guard troops used tear gas and pepper balls to clear protesters from the area before Trump posed for cameras while holding up a Bible. Tall fences were erected in the park after protesters were expelled, but the protesters later returned to the park area.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
CNN journalists Josh Replogle and Alexander Marquardt were pepper sprayed by National Guard troops on June 3, 2020, while covering early-morning protests in Washington, D.C. near Lafayette Square.
Replogle and Marquardt were covering one of the many protests that erupted in Washington and other U.S cities following the May 25 death of George Floyd while he was in custody of Minneapolis police.
Marquardt, senior national security correspondent for CNN, tweeted on June 3 that a group of individuals attempted just after 12:30 a.m. to push down a fence erected around Lafayette Square. National Guard troops at the scene “responded with pepper spray and rounds,” Marquardt tweeted, without explaining what types of rounds the troops used.
Replogle was operating a camera for CNN’s reporting from the scene. Marquardt said in a tweet thread that troops fired pepper spray at his team despite the fact that the journalists weren’t standing near protesters.
He also said that because he was holding a microphone, and Replogle was holding a large camera, it should have been clear that they were press, covering the protest.
Mark Irons, a correspondent for the Catholic-themed Eternal Word Television Network, tweeted that National Guard troops fired rubber bullets at the crowd gathered at Lafayette Square around the time that Marquardt and Replogle were hit with pepper spray.
Irons also posted a video depicting troops firing pepper spray at protesters who lowered themselves to their knees and raised their hands.
Replogle and Marquardt didn’t respond to requests by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker for comment and CNN didn’t comment on the incident further. The District of Columbia National Guard also didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Two days earlier, on June 1, President Trump had used St. John’s Episcopal Church at Lafayette Square as the backdrop for a controversial photo op. National Guard troops used tear gas and pepper balls to clear protesters from the area before Trump posed for cameras while holding up a Bible. Tall fences were erected in the park after protesters were expelled, but the protesters later returned to the park area.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Independent photojournalist Aaron Guy Leroux was arrested while covering protests in Los Angeles, California, on June 2, 2020.
Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 have spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Leroux told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was walking west on Sunset Boulevard with a colleague approximately 40 minutes after the Los Angeles County’s 6 p.m. curfew — which explicitly exempted credentialed members of the media — went into effect. He said that two Los Angeles Police Department officers had already checked his press pass and allowed him to continue reporting.
As they rounded the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Vine Street, where LAPD officers were arresting demonstrators, an officer asked if they were press, and they said they were.
“As we were exiting the scene, one last LAPD officer asked again, ‘You press?’’’ Leroux said. “I said, ‘Yes sir.’ He took a look at my credentials then grabbed my elbow and said casually, ‘You’re gettin’ arrested.’”
“I spent the next three hours getting arrested, searched, transferred, processed and cited for ‘curfew violation,’” Leroux told the Tracker.
Leroux noted that his camera bag was thoroughly searched by the officers, but he does not believe any of his photos were deleted. His colleague — whose identity could not be verified as of press time — was also arrested.
At around 9:45 p.m Leroux was released from police custody with a citation for curfew violation, a photograph of which he shared with the Tracker.
The LAPD did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
On June 8, Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey announced that she will not prosecute citations for violating curfew or failing to disperse, while Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer said he would resolve cases involving peaceful protesters in a “restorative approach” outside of the court system.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred total incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd while in police custody. Find all of these cases here.
A previous version of this article misspelled Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer's name.
Two journalists for the Associated Press were assaulted by law enforcement officers and ordered to leave the scene of protests in New York, New York, on June 2, 2020.
Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 have spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
The AP reported that photojournalist Maye-E Wong and video journalist Robert Bumsted were documenting protests in lower Manhattan shortly after the 8 p.m. curfew took effect. Members of the media were exempted from the order as “essential workers.”
In a video captured by Bumsted, more than half a dozen officers can be seen confronting the journalists and ordering them to clear the street along with all the demonstrators in the area.
“Thank you. Have a good day. Go the fuck home,” one officer can be heard saying.
Bumsted, who declined to comment, can be heard responding that they are essential workers and are therefore exempt from the curfew. The AP reported that both were wearing press credentials and repeatedly identified themselves as media.
An officer responds, “I don’t give a shit.” Another can be heard repeatedly shouting, “Who are you essential to?”
The AP reported that officers repeatedly shoved both journalists toward Bumsted’s nearby car, separating them from each other. At one point, officers pinned Bumsted against his car.
In the video, an officer can be heard telling Bumsted, “You need to get in your car and get out of here.”
Bumsted responds that he needs the keys, which Wong was carrying, so the officers allow her to approach the vehicle.
As Bumsted appears to get into his car, he can be heard saying, “Don’t be like that. Respect the press.”
The New York Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Demonstrators gather after curfew in lower Manhattan on June 2, 2020. Although media is exempt from curfew orders, two journalists with The Associated Press were forced by law enforcement to stop documenting the protests and leave the area.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, Journalist released after waiting two nights in custody for arraignment,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-released-after-waiting-two-nights-custody-arraignment/,2020-06-16 16:13:18.140814+00:00,2022-05-12 21:39:49.389003+00:00,2022-05-12 21:39:49.311668+00:00,(2020-06-12 18:12:00+00:00) Case dismissed as part of District Attorney’s policy to not prosecute low-level protest charges,"Arrest/Criminal Charge, Assault",,,,Anna Slatz (Rebel News),,2020-06-02,False,New York,New York (NY),None,None,"Anna Slatz, a reporter for the Canadian news website Rebel News, was arrested while reporting protests in New York, New York, on June 2, 2020.
Slatz told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she’d traveled to the U.S. to cover the protests that had spread throughout the nation after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody on May 25. Rebel News featured her coverage on a special page, stopantifa.com.
Slatz first reported from protests outside the White House in Washington, D.C. She said in a June 2 report that she was nearly arrested by a charging police officer, but he passed her by after she yelled out that she was a journalist.
On June 2, she was following a couple thousand protesters march through Manhattan when she stopped to film a chaotic scene at a Zara clothing store around 9 p.m., she told the Tracker. The glass entrance was shattered. Some were stealing. Others were throwing clothes in the air. One protester body-slammed someone emerging from the store with stolen goods. And then the police swept in making mass arrests.
In video of her arrest published by Rebel News after her release, Slatz was soon confronted by several officers screaming for people to go home. The video shows Slatz amid a group of people, including green-hatted National Lawyers Guild legal observers, being forcefully ushered off the block.
An officer pushed Slatz hard against her chest with his baton, she told the Tracker. An officer then grabbed her by the throat and shoved her into the street, she said. The video is unclear, but a hand of an officer can be seen reaching out toward Slatz. She shrieks as the footage shakes violently, then stumbles into the crosswalk.
An officer approaches and waves at her to keep moving, the video shows. She crosses to the other side of the street, where another officer orders two officers to arrest her. They don’t immediately react to the order, so the officer repeats it more aggressively.
“No! No! Media is exempted! Media is exempted!” Slatz yells in the video. An officer pulls out handcuffs as Slatz pleads, “Stop, stop, stop!” Then the video cuts out.
The officers brought her to the ground, breaking her glasses, she reported after her release.
In the face of the unrest, New York had imposed an 8 p.m. curfew, which excluded essential workers, including news media. Slatz told the Tracker she repeatedly identified herself as a journalist. But as a new reporter for Rebel News, she had yet to receive a hard press credential from the outlet, though she had a printed copy of it, she said.
She also said that the NYPD had stopped issuing press credentials. On June 6, Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted that “being in a crisis is no excuse” for the NYPD to stop processing applications for press credentials. He said he directed the NYPD to expedite applications.
Slatz was taken to Brooklyn Central Booking for processing, she told the Tracker. She was placed in a small cell with some 20 other women, packed “back to chest like sardines” without masks. She was told she would be given a summons and released.
Instead, she was transferred to Manhattan Central Booking around 3 a.m. She would remain there without soap, running water, or a bed until her release on June 4, she said. Other women in her cell had been held even longer.
Slatz managed to call her employer on the first night of her arrest, who hired several lawyers, including Michael Weinstock, a New Yorker currently running for Congress.
Weinstock filed papers declaring himself Slatz’s lawyer, but due to a likely clerical error, the court appointed a public defender to represent Slatz during her arraignment on June 4, Weinstock and Slatz told the Tracker. The precautions necessary for the coronavirus and the sheer number of recent arrests severely strained the system, Weinstock said.
Slatz said she was released on a charge of obstructing traffic. Her next court date was scheduled for Sept. 3, she said.
The NYPD and Mayor de Blasio’s office did not respond to requests for comment. The Manhattan district attorney announced in a press release on June 5 that his office would not prosecute unlawful assembly or disorderly conduct arrests. But Slatz told the Tracker on June 10 that her charges had not been officially dropped.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred total incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd while in police custody. Find all of these cases here.
This article was amended to remove a misstatement about the duration of the penalty carried by an obstruction of traffic charge and to use clearer language about Slatz's scheduled court appearance.
Rebel News reporter Anna Slatz flashes a peace sign shortly after her June 4 release from Manhattan Central Booking.
",arrested and released,charges dropped,New York Police Department,2020-06-04,None,True,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest","obstruction: disorderly conduct, rioting: failure to disperse",,,, "NYPD officer assaults British photojournalist, breaks camera",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/nypd-officer-assaults-british-photojournalist-breaks-camera/,2020-06-23 03:13:42.190502+00:00,2021-12-09 00:05:14.259278+00:00,2021-12-09 00:05:14.196966+00:00,"(2021-08-05 16:42:00+00:00) British photojournalist sues NYPD for assaulting him, damaging his camera","Assault, Equipment Damage",,,"camera: count of 1, camera lens: count of 1",Jae Donnelly (Daily Mail),,2020-06-02,False,New York,New York (NY),None,None,"Photojournalist Jae Donnelly was assaulted by a police officer while documenting protests in New York City on June 2, 2020. His camera and lens were also damaged in the attack.
Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 have spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Donnelly, who works for the U.K.-based Daily Mail, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was documenting peaceful protests on the Upper West Side at approximately 9:30 p.m. An 8 p.m. curfew was in place that night, though members of the media were exempt as “essential workers.”
He told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was wearing his foreign press pass and had a helmet strapped to his backpack, though he hadn’t used it given how peaceful the protests had been for the previous three hours.
The protest was progressing down Ninth Avenue and had just passed near the Midtown North Police Precinct on 54th Street when everyone started running south, Donnelly wrote in an account for the Daily Mail.
“I looked back and behind the running crowd, the tail end of the protests, a bunch of NYPD officers were picking off anybody they could get their hands on and arresting them,” Donnelly said.
The final photograph Donnelly captured was of a highly decorated officer coming toward him with a wooden stick taken from a protester.
“I remember trying to get away as he came at me, while explaining, ‘I’m media,’” he said.
Footage captured by the Associated Press shows a second officer charging at Donnelly from his left and striking him over the arm and head with a baton. Donnelly then spins around and appears to hold out his press pass. Donnelly told the Tracker that he was identifying himself again as a photojournalist for the Daily Mail.
The officer is then seen charging and striking Donnelly again.
“He hit me with such force that I had no control over how I landed,” Donnelly wrote. The next thing he knew he was on the ground on the opposite side of the street, his cheekbone in pain and his DSLR camera and lens smashed.
Donnelly told the Tracker that he is sure that the officer deliberately chose to assault him.
“There was absolutely no way he could not have seen me holding up my press pass and shouting that I’m media,” Donnelly said. “He made a decision, and that was to harm me.”
Donnelly said that he tried to find a high-ranking NYPD officer to speak to about the incident. When he asked officers congregating around the precinct how to file a complaint, they told him to call 911 and speak to Internal Affairs.
“I’ve never felt in fear doing my job but what I was on the receiving end of Tuesday night is setting a really dangerous precedent,” he wrote in his account.
When asked for comment, an NYPD spokesperson directed the Tracker to the “30-minute mark” of a press briefing held by New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and Police Commissioner Dermot Shea on June 3.
Around that point in the recording, Shea says: “The only thing that I might add on the point of the press: We’re doing the best we can, the difficult situation. We 100 percent respect the rights of the press. Unfortunately we’ve had some people purporting to be press that are actually lying, if you can believe that. So sometimes these things take a second—maybe too long—to sort out.”
Donnelly told the Tracker that he has been unable to work since the incident due to the damage to his equipment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred total incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd while in police custody. Find all of these cases here.
NYPD officers detain protesters for violating curfew during demonstrations in Manhattan on June 2, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,1:21-cv-06610,['ONGOING'],Civil,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette journalist detained while covering Little Rock protests,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/arkansas-democrat-gazette-journalist-detained-while-covering-little-rock-protests/,2020-07-02 13:53:37.502620+00:00,2022-07-18 21:44:31.317815+00:00,2022-07-18 21:44:31.257903+00:00,,Arrest/Criminal Charge,,,,Josh Snyder (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette),,2020-06-02,False,Little Rock,Arkansas (AR),34.74648,-92.28959,"Arkansas Democrat-Gazette deputy online editor Josh Snyder was detained by police while covering protests in Little Rock on June 2, 2020.
Protests in Arkansas began four days earlier as demonstrations erupted across the country, sparked by the killing of George Floyd in Minnesota. Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, died when a white police officer kneeled on his neck for more than 8 minutes during an arrest.
Snyder was covering demonstrations in Little Rock on the evening of June 2 when he was caught up in a group of protesters detained by police on a pedestrian bridge, according to KATV. Police detained the group at around 10 p.m., two hours after a curfew went into effect.
Snyder was livestreaming the protests on the Democrat-Gazette’s Facebook page. In his video, a group of protesters can be seen being led by police to a pedestrian bridge, and Snyder identified himself as press to officers he passed. As they arrived, Snyder shouted out “press!” but no law-enforcement officers appeared to notice, and police ordered the group of protesters to the ground.
At one point in the video, Snyder takes a call from a colleague, telling them, “I think I’m being arrested.”
Several protesters are visible in the video around him, also on the ground. After more than 10 minutes, he can be heard identifying himself as a journalist to an officer.
“I just wanted to give a heads up, I’m press, I don’t know if anybody heard that during all the commotion,” he said.
The officer said that he would need to speak with a different officer. A short time later, after several other people can be seen being led away with their hands zip-tied behind his back, police appear in the video to let others in the group, including Snyder, disperse.
Snyder referred the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker to Democrat-Gazette Managing Editor Eliza Gaines for comment on the incident.
“I honestly think that the police did not hear him,” Gaines said, noting it was very loud.
Gaines said editors had verified with the city earlier in the day that reporters would be exempt from the curfew. Gaines said Snyder was carrying credentials and showed them to police after he had made his presence known.
In response to the incident, Gaines contacted the city the following day to establish a point of contact in case other reporters were detained. She said the city was “very responsive” and immediately gave a contact’s phone number for editors to call if it happened again.
Two other journalists, Paige Cushman and Kaitlin Barger of the local ABC affiliate KATV, also were detained on the bridge while they were streaming on Facebook Live.
Arkansas State Police spokesman Bill Sadler said in an emailed statement that the journalists were “embedded” with a group of protesters who police say were damaging public and private property, and didn’t notify police that they would be with the group. According to Sadler, police were told that at least one person among the protesters had a handgun.
Sadler said police became aware of the reporters after the group had been “cordoned off” and ordered to the ground.
“Only then were voices heard in the group...claiming to be news reporters,” he said. “Once the scene was secure, and guns were removed from two individuals, police did assist the reporters in being separated from the group as they requested.”
Gaines disputed Sadler’s characterization of Snyder as “embedded” with protesters. “He was covering the protests,” she said in an email.
In its report on the incident, KATV said the journalists “repeatedly identified themselves as reporters, showed their credentials and complied with officers' orders.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd and others while in police custody. Find all of these cases here.
Paige Cushman, a journalist with KATV, the ABC affiliate in Little Rock, Arkansas, was detained by law enforcement while covering protests in the city on June 2, 2020.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
At about 10 p.m., two hours past the curfew that Little Rock’s mayor had set earlier in the day, a couple hundred protesters had assembled near the Pulaski County Courthouse. According to Cushman, a small number of them started throwing water bottles at a police car and kicking the car.
Suddenly, she said, officers from multiple law enforcement agencies emerged, telling the protesters to disband and steering them away from the courthouse. Cushman said that officers were telling people to leave, but weren’t allowing them a pathway to do so.
Cushman and KATV colleague Kaitlin Barger were caught in a group being ushered toward the Arkansas River. According to Cushman, they informed multiple officers that they were journalists. Under the terms of the curfew, people, including members of the media, who were out in order to do their jobs were permitted to be on the streets.
Cushman livestreamed the march on Facebook. The video shows that at one point, after Cushman identified herself as a journalist and asked where she should go, a line of officers began to move forward, apparently herding the protesters in one direction.
“You’re out here illegally. Move,” one officer can be heard saying.
“No, we’re not. We’re authorized to be here because we’re working,” Cushman said.
Once the group of protesters was on a pedestrian bridge, police blocked both sides, Cushman explained in the livestream. Police can be seen in the video ordering everyone to get on the ground, and an officer can be heard telling them they were under arrest for violating curfew and “whatever else we can think of.” About 20 people were on the bridge, Barger told the Tracker.
After a few minutes, one officer asked if there were TV reporters present. Cushman and Barger identified themselves again and were released. Cushman said the police appeared to have received a phone call letting them know that reporters were on the bridge.
Another journalist, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette editor Josh Snyder, was also detained on the bridge but was not released at the same time as the KATV reporters, according to Cushman.
The video shows law enforcement officials in a variety of uniforms. Cushman said it was unclear what authority was responsible for detaining them. Arkansas State Police, the Little Rock Police Department and the National Guard were all present that evening, according to Cushman.
Cushman and Barger were carrying credentials that clearly identified them as KATV journalists. However, they were not wearing any of the station’s logoed gear, a decision Cushman made after protesters had been hostile toward journalists, including assaulting one KATV reporter, during previous days of demonstrations.
Cushman said she was grateful for Facebook Live, because the video she streamed of the night gave “such an unadulterated view” of what happened. While Cushman said she didn’t feel targeted by police during the arrest, she was surprised by how the law enforcement officers responded to the journalists with their badges.
“The lack of listening kind of surprised me,” she said.
Bill Sadler, a spokesperson for the Arkansas State Police, said in an email that the journalists were embedded in a group of protesters that police say were destroying public and private property. He said the reporters had not told police that they planned to be with the group. Sadler said police cordoned off the group and ordered them to the ground.
“Only then were voices heard in the group ... claiming to be news reporters,” Sadler told the Tracker. “Once the scene was secure, and guns were removed from two individuals, police did assist the reporters in being separated from the group as they requested.”
When Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson was asked during a press conference on June 3 about the detention of the journalists during the protests in the capital city, he said that police need to protect journalists and that journalists have an “important” job to do.
“They should not be arrested, but they have to be identified, and when they’re identified as a journalist, obviously, they should go about their business,” he said.
A spokesperson for the Little Rock Police Department said that the department did not detain any journalists.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
KATV journalist Paige Cushman was detained while covering protests in Little Rock on June 2, 2020.
",detained and released without being processed,not charged,Arkansas State Police,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, KATV reporter detained while covering Little Rock protests,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/katv-reporter-detained-while-covering-little-rock-protests/,2020-07-02 14:09:57.876319+00:00,2022-07-18 21:43:44.382294+00:00,2022-07-18 21:43:44.317497+00:00,,Arrest/Criminal Charge,,,,Kaitlin Barger (KATV Channel 7),,2020-06-02,False,Little Rock,Arkansas (AR),34.74648,-92.28959,"Kaitlin Barger, a digital reporter with KATV, the ABC affiliate in Little Rock, Arkansas, was detained by law enforcement while covering protests in the city on June 2, 2020.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
After several nights of demonstrations in Little Rock, protesters again marched through the city on June 2. Barger, partnered with Paige Cushman, another KATV journalist, followed the march, which passed by the Governor’s Mansion and ended at the Pulaski County Courthouse. In an interview with the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, Cushman described the march as peaceful.
At about 10 p.m., two hours past the curfew the city’s mayor had set earlier in the day, a couple hundred protesters had assembled near the courthouse when a small number of them started throwing water bottles at a police car and kicking the car, Cushman said.
Suddenly, she said, officers from multiple law enforcement agencies emerged, telling the protesters to disband and steering them away from the courthouse. Cushman said that officers were telling people to leave, but weren’t allowing them a pathway to do so.
Barger and Cushman were caught in a group being ushered toward the Arkansas River. According to Cushman, they informed multiple officers that they were journalists. Under the terms of the curfew, people, including members of the media, who were out in order to do their jobs were permitted to be on the streets.
Cushman livestreamed the march on Facebook. Once the group of protesters was on a pedestrian bridge, police blocked both sides, Cushman explained in the livestream. Police can be seen in the video ordering everyone to get on the ground, and an officer can be heard telling them they were under arrest for violating curfew and “whatever else we can think of.” About 20 people were on the bridge, Barger told the Tracker.
While sitting on the bridge, the two reporters spoke to an officer, identifying themselves as journalists. The officer can be heard on video responding, “I don’t know you.”
They told officers that under the rules of the curfew, they were allowed to be out because they were working. “We’re on the clock,” Barger told the officers.
After a few minutes, one officer asked if there were TV reporters present. Cushman and Barger identified themselves again and were released. Cushman said the police appeared to have received a phone call letting them know that reporters were on the bridge.
Another journalist, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette editor Josh Snyder, was also detained on the bridge but was not released at the same time as the KATV reporters, according to Cushman.
The livestream shows law enforcement agents in a variety of uniforms. Cushman said it was unclear what authority was responsible for detaining them. Arkansas State Police, the Little Rock Police Department and the National Guard were all present that evening, according to Cushman.
Cushman and Barger were carrying credentials that clearly identified them as KATV journalists. However, they were not wearing any of the station’s logoed gear, a decision Cushman made after protesters had been hostile toward journalists, including assaulting one KATV reporter, during previous days of demonstrations.
Bill Sadler, a spokesperson for the Arkansas State Police, said in an email that the journalists were embedded in a group of protesters that police say were destroying public and private property. He said the reporters had not told police that they planned to be with the group. Sadler said police cordoned off the group and ordered them to the ground.
“Only then were voices heard in the group ... claiming to be news reporters,” Sadler told the Tracker. “Once the scene was secure, and guns were removed from two individuals, police did assist the reporters in being separated from the group as they requested.”
When Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson was asked during a press conference on June 3 about the detention of the journalists during the protests in the capital city, he said that police need to protect journalists and that journalists have an “important” job to do.
“They should not be arrested, but they have to be identified, and when they’re identified as a journalist, obviously, they should go about their business,” he said.
A spokesperson for the Little Rock Police Department said that the department did not detain any journalists.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
KATV reporter Kaitlin Barger and a colleague were detained while covering protests in Little Rock on June 2, 2020.
",detained and released without being processed,not charged,Arkansas State Police,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, "Journalists detained, one arrested covering protest against San Francisco curfew",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalists-detained-one-arrested-covering-protest-against-san-francisco-curfew/,2020-07-05 21:52:00.921787+00:00,2022-05-12 21:40:41.269198+00:00,2022-05-12 21:40:41.206078+00:00,,Arrest/Criminal Charge,,,,Sakura Sato (Freelance),,2020-06-02,False,San Francisco,California (CA),37.77493,-122.41942,"Police arrested freelance journalist Sakura Sato as she covered a protest against a citywide curfew in San Francisco, California, on June 2, 2020, she told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
The curfew was imposed as the city struggled to manage protests in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
After another day of protests against police violence, nearly 20 protesters led by the Democratic Socialists of America arrived at City Hall to protest the curfew, DSA member Hope Williams told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. After recruiting more participants at City Hall, the group marched to the Hall of Justice to perform a peaceful sit-in after the 8 p.m. curfew.
Sato covered the march on her social media accounts, she told the Tracker. The dual crises of the Floyd protests and the coronavirus pandemic had recently inspired her to pursue a career in journalism, she said. But she was not on assignment for an outlet that night.
San Francisco police followed the march and formed a cordon around the protesters after they arrived at the Hall of Justice, Sheraz Sadiq, a producer for local NPR and PBS affiliate KQED who was also covering the march, told the Tracker.
Sato and Sadiq were both stuck inside the cordon as they reported on the sit-in, now about 30 people strong. Around 9:30 p.m., police warned over a megaphone that the protesters were in violation of curfew and ordered them to disperse, Sadiq said. But protesters, ignoring the warnings, responded with chants like “I don’t see no riot here. Why are you in riot gear?”
In a video tweeted by Sadiq just before 10:30, police can be seen arresting the protesters one by one. Protesters cheer in support each time it is the next protester’s turn to stand, put their hands behind their back and walk away in the custody of the San Francisco Police Department.
Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez, Sadiq’s KQED colleague who was reporting from outside the cordon, tweeted a photo of the arrests. Sato can be seen observing police take away a protester.
Shortly thereafter, Sato was also arrested. She told the Tracker that a group of officers approached her, said she was under arrest and asked if she would resist. She responded that she was a journalist. She was placed in zip ties anyway and taken to a transport vehicle.
“I said I am a member of the press, and they ignored that,” Sato said.
The city’s curfew order excluded “authorized representatives of any news service, newspaper, radio or television station or network, or other media organization.”
“The thing that really upset me was that she was obviously functioning as a reporter,” protest organizer Williams said. “There was no reason why she should’ve been arrested alongside us. It’s insane to me.”
Footage from the protest filmed by the KQED journalists and protesters show Sato always standing apart from the protesters, observing and documenting, never participating.
“The police in San Francisco in my experience are loath to make allowances for citizen journalists or for journalists in training,” Fitzgerald Rodriguez, who is also the vice president of the Northern California chapter of the Society for Professional Journalists, told the Tracker. “They tend to only respect a credentialed journalist or a journalist with a SFPD-issued press pass.”
Sato had not yet acquired press credentials. Michael Applegate, the executive officer of the Pacific Media Workers Guild, said Sato had just joined the Guild Freelancers. The union expedited sending her a press card after her arrest.
Police officers also briefly detained Sadiq after the protesters and Sato were in custody, Sadiq and Fitzgerald Rodriguez told the Tracker. Sadiq, who had a KQED press ID, was released after officers verified his credentials.
Sato told the Tracker she began to feel sick as soon as she sat down in the police transport vehicle. The zip ties constricted the blood flow to her wrists, and she began to feel weak.
Williams, who was also arrested and placed in the van, said that the protesters asked the officers to take Sato out first when they arrived at Pier 50 for processing.
Sato was given a citation on charges of violating curfew and resisting, delaying or obstructing a public officer or peace officer. An officer warned her that if she was arrested again for the same reason, she could be put in jail, she said. Her possessions, which had been confiscated upon her arrest, were returned to her, and she was released after several hours in custody.
Williams said the protesters were released on the same charges.
Rachel Marshall, a spokesperson for San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin, said Sato’s case was discharged. She said Boudin “deeply values the First Amendment—including its protection of the press,” adding that Boudin supports the protests against police brutality and will not prosecute peaceful activity.
As of June 19, Sato said she had not heard official confirmation that her case was dropped.
A SFPD spokesperson said the department was reviewing body camera footage but did not respond to specific questions about Sato's arrest and Sadiq's detention by press time.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Freelancer Sakura Sato, left with backpack, watches as San Francisco police take protesters into custody shortly before her own arrest on June 2, 2020.
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The curfew was imposed as the city struggled to manage protests in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
After another day of protests against police violence, nearly 20 protesters led by the Democratic Socialists of America arrived at City Hall to protest the curfew, DSA member Hope Williams told the Tracker. After recruiting more participants at City Hall, the group marched to the Hall of Justice to perform a peaceful sit-in after the 8 p.m. curfew.
San Francisco police followed the march and formed a cordon around the protesters after they arrived at the Hall of Justice, Sadiq told the Tracker.
Not wanting to be confused for a protester, Sadiq showed officers his credentials and told them he was working for KQED, he said.
Around 9:30, police warned over a megaphone that the protesters were in violation of curfew and ordered them to disperse, Sadiq said. But protesters, ignoring the warnings, responded with chants like “I don’t see no riot here. Why are you in riot gear?”
Sadiq said he tried to leave the cordoned area, but an officer blocked his exit. When he identified himself as a journalist, the officer called over a sergeant.
The sergeant said Sadiq was in a “sanitized zone” and could not leave, according to Sadiq. When Sadiq told the sergeant he was a journalist, the sergeant said they would “sort it out later,” according to Sadiq.
Rebuffed on one side, Sadiq said he tried to leave on the other side of the cordon. But there, too, he was turned back. Sadiq was stuck inside the cordon with the sit-in, now about 30 people strong.
In a video tweeted by Sadiq just before 10:30, police can be seen arresting the protesters one by one. Protesters cheer in support each time it is the next protester’s turn to stand, put their hands behind their back and walk away in the custody of the San Francisco Police Department.
The city’s curfew order excluded “authorized representatives of any news service, newspaper, radio or television station or network, or other media organization.”
But freelance journalist Sakura Sato, who was also inside the cordon, was arrested with the protesters despite identifying as a journalist, she told the Tracker. Sato, who recently decided to pursue journalism, had not yet acquired press credentials.
Sadiq, who had a press ID from KQED, was treated differently. With all the protesters and Sato under arrest, only Sadiq remained inside the police cordon. Two officers approached him.
“They looked a little bit confused. They had to check with each other. Like, should we get him?” Sadiq explained. “Then I stepped back and they said, ‘Sir, you are going to have to come with us.’”
Sadiq asked why, and the officers said that he was not under arrest but detained until they could check his credentials. The officers asked if Sadiq would resist. He said no, but voiced his disagreement about what was happening, he told the Tracker.
“Joe, I’m being arrested!” Sadiq yelled out to his KQED colleague Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez, who was reporting across the street. Fitzgerald Rodriguez remained outside the cordon but was flanked by officers.
“What did I tell you?” one of the officers responded, according to Sadiq. “You’re not being arrested. You’re just being detained.”
The officers took Sadiq to a staging area, where he was asked to provide his driver’s license. Sadiq removed the face mask he was wearing to help confirm his identity, he said.
Sadiq said he asked why he was being detained, and the officers responded that he disobeyed the dispersal order. When Sadiq said he was a working journalist exempt from the curfew order, the police said that protesters had falsely been claiming to be journalists in an attempt to evade arrest.
Sadiq said he was released after about 15 minutes.
Fitzgerald Rodriguez told the Tracker that he shouted across the street trying to vouch for his detained colleague. Eventually an officer, who he believes was a sergeant, crossed the street to talk to him before returning to Sadiq.
Sato and the protesters were released with a citation on charges of violating curfew and resisting, delaying or obstructing a public officer or peace officer, Sato and Williams, the DSA member, told the Tracker.
Rachel Marshall, a spokesperson for San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin, said the cases were discharged. She said Boudin “deeply values the First Amendment—including its protection of the press,” adding that Boudin supports the protests against police brutality and will not prosecute peaceful activity.
A SFPD spokesperson said the department was reviewing body camera footage but did not respond to specific questions about Sato's arrest and Sadiq's detention by press time.
Sadiq said the police treated him politely but the incident left him questioning why his detention was necessary at all.
“It’s not like this was a melee, a chaotic scene that was unfolding, and in the scrum of the confusion, they swept up everybody,” Sadiq explained. “This was a very orderly, very well-organized demonstration.”
Yet once someone is inside the police cordon, Sadiq said, they seemed to be treated “almost like an enemy combatant” that the police must “screen and verify and go through their protocols, including detention and possibly arrest.”
Sadiq, who is of South Asian heritage, said he did not see any evidence of racial prejudice during his detention. But he worried throughout that his name would end up on a list that could cause trouble in the future.
“As a person of color, especially with the protests that are engulfing the nation around racial inequity, this is a conversation or a monologue sometimes people of color have, especially when being subject to interactions with law enforcement,” Sadiq said.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Protesters perform a sit-in at San Francisco’s Hall of Justice on June 2, 2020, as KQED’s Sheraz Sadiq, standing right, in white sweater, documents the scene. The protesters were arrested and Sadiq was detained.
",detained and released without being processed,not charged,San Francisco Police Department,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, Freelance journalist detained until colleague vouches for her to Los Angeles police,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/freelance-journalist-detained-until-colleague-vouches-her-los-angeles-police/,2020-08-05 16:14:05.872520+00:00,2021-11-19 16:39:21.166405+00:00,2021-11-19 16:39:21.116661+00:00,,Arrest/Criminal Charge,,,,Samanta Helou-Hernandez (Freelance),,2020-06-02,False,Los Angeles,California (CA),34.05223,-118.24368,"Samanta Helou-Hernandez, a freelance multimedia journalist, was detained by Los Angeles police on June 2, 2020 while covering a protest near the mayor’s residence.
The protest was part of a wave of Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality demonstrations across the country sparked by the release of a video showing a white Minneapolis police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest. Floyd was later pronounced dead in a hospital.
The officer has been charged with second-degree murder. Three other officers who were present face felony charges.
The protest in central Los Angeles began at the Getty House, the mayor’s residence, before the city-wide curfew at 6:30 p.m., Helou-Hernandez told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. Some protestors wanted to continue demonstrating past curfew and Helou-Hernandez stayed to document them. Around 7:30 p.m., about 100 protesters marched through Hancock Park before turning onto Wilshire Boulevard where they were met by police in riot gear.
Helou-Hernandez followed the group of protesters onto a side street. Someone yelled, “they’re shooting,” and Helou-Hernandez said she followed a smaller contingent of around a dozen people onto another side street, where they were cornered by officers with the Los Angeles Police Department. Helou-Hernandez was cuffed with zip ties. When she told the police that she was press, they moved her aside. She explained that she didn’t have press credentials because she was a freelancer and offered to show LAPD her clips and website on her phone.
According to Helou-Hernandez, an officer said something to the effect of, “If you’re press, why did you run away from us? You should have run toward us” if you thought there was shooting. At this point, Helou-Hernandez and protesters were brought to a second location to join a larger group of about 20-30 handcuffed protesters. The officers called their names and directed them to form lines. The group was sent to a third location on 8th and Crenshaw where buses would take them to the precinct.
Lexis-Olivier Ray, a journalist for L.A. Taco, was at 8th and Crenshaw documenting arrests. Ray was already in touch with a police supervisor because he and an L.A. Taco colleague had been barred from crossing the police line. Ray heard Helou-Hernandez calling his name.
“I grabbed the attention of the supervisor who I had been talking to already ... and I bring his attention to the fact that my friend and fellow journalist Sami is in custody,” Ray said. He also showed the LAPD her website and clips.
At 9:36 p.m. Ray tweeted a video of Helou-Hernandez in zip ties with the caption, “My friend and fellow journalist @Samanta_Helou is currently in custody. @LAPDHQ is trying to verify her identity. We've shown them her work for @kcet @curbed @laist @lataco.”
My friend and fellow journalist @Samanta_Helou is currently in custody. @LAPDHQ is trying to verify her identity. We've shown them her work for @kcet @curbed @laist @lataco. pic.twitter.com/ttLPiynnGU
— Lexis-Olivier Ray (@ShotOn35mm) June 3, 2020
Ray was told that the media relations officer would make a decision regarding whether Helou-Hernandez would be taken into custody. After 20-30 minutes, the media relations officer arrived and Helou-Hernandez was released.
Helou-Hernandez was not given a certificate of release, but estimates that she was in custody for 90 minutes. At 10:02 p.m. she tweeted that she had been released. The LAPD did not respond to a request for comment.
“Had I not seen a colleague I would have ultimately been taken on the bus downtown,” Helou-Hernandez told the Tracker.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering Black Lives Matter protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Spencer Wilson, a reporter for local CBS affiliate KKTV 11, was pepper sprayed by police while covering a protest in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on June 2, 2020.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
Wilson had been covering the protest in front of the Colorado Springs police headquarters with a KKTV photographer, Jon Modic, all day, and broadcast much of the demonstrations on Facebook Live. The pair were reporting from a barricade in front of the police headquarters, where about 75 people were protesting and about 40 police officers were standing on the other side, Wilson told the Committee to Protect Journalists.
At around 10:30 p.m., an announcement came over a loudspeaker informing the crowd that the protest was no longer peaceful, and that protesters needed to leave. Wilson heard the same announcement while covering protests the previous night, June 1. On both nights, the announcement angered the crowd, Wilson said, and he saw bottles being thrown at police officers.
At this point, Wilson was standing with Shawn Shanle, a photographer for FOX 21, and he began moving back as officers with riot shields moved toward the crowd. Wilson estimated no more than two minutes passed between the dispersal order and the police moving in on the crowd. Then, fireworks exploded and police shouted, “That was not us!” Officers then began pepper spraying the crowd.
“I’m walking away from the police. I turn around to start walking backwards, like I’m in a marching band, while I’m holding up my camera on my shoulder,” Wilson said. “A police officer, who is on the very edge of the line, just randomly sprays pepper spray as if it was silly string.”
Wilson said the officer looked directly at him when he sprayed from about 10 yards away. “It was directly aimed at me and that photographer and it wafted over to us and went directly into us.”
Wilson said he was clearly identifiable as a member of the media. He had a large camera on his shoulder, was dressed in a suit and tie, and was wearing a media I.D. on a lanyard.
Wilson also had visited the police station earlier in the day to ask where journalists should report from, and where they should move to in the event of a dispersal. When told to disperse, Wilson walked in the direction the police had told him to go earlier in the day.
After he was sprayed, Wilson turned the camera at the police, repeated that he was media, and asked the officer why he sprayed. Wilson says the officer was silent, and continued chasing after protesters who were walking away. Wilson didn’t get the name of the officer, and said he didn’t know whether he had been targeted as a member of the press.
After being sprayed, Wilson said he was separately hit with tear gas deployed by police. A police officer led Wilson — coughing and with eyes stinging from the chemicals — away from the street. He used a water bottle given to him by a protester to wash out his eyes and finished reporting at around midnight.
A spokesperson for the Colorado Springs Police Department declined to comment on the incident, but said the department worked with the media to address safety concerns. The department also said on Twitter that demonstrators are ordered to disperse only when protests turn violent.
In a message sent to members of the media on June 3, the Colorado Springs Police Department said, “Please know that you are never targeted because you are press. When officers are working to safely disperse a crowd, they cannot differentiate media in the crowd (as many protestors also have cameras), and are working to disperse everyone present.” The message goes on to ask reporters to wear clothing that clearly identifies them as press, and that journalists have their credentials on them at all times.
The next day, Wilson’s boss bought goggles and reflective vests for journalists to wear for future assignments, so police could more easily identify them. Wilson said he went back to the Colorado Springs police headquarters and told officers about the vests.
“The officers I spoke with laughed and said, ‘It’s not going to help.’ I was taken aback.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Independent videographer Alyse Gallagher said she was hit in the chest with a crowd-control projectile and targeted with pepper balls by police as she recorded a confrontation between law enforcement and protesters in Seattle on June 2, 2020.
The city was in its fourth night of large protests against police violence sparked by the May 25 police killing of George Floyd, a Black man, in Minneapolis. Gallagher, who posts footage of demonstrations on her YouTube channel, AlyseUnleashed, was filming the standoff at the intersection of Pine Street and 11th Avenue in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood.
Police fired tear gas after some people in the crowd threw objects at officers. Protesters retreated about half a block north, as did Gallagher, who stopped in a parking lot where she tried to clear her eyes of tear gas.
She said she intentionally stayed away from the protesters so she wouldn’t be seen as a potential target by law enforcement. Gallagher was carrying and using a camera but said she wasn’t wearing visible press identification and was “going lower profile” that night.
Unable to see and in pain from the tear gas, she put her camera down and reached for her bag to get a bottle of water to flush her eyes.
“That’s when I realized I had...flashlights trained on me and I’m like: They think I’m grabbing something,” she told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
She said police fired pepper balls at her. In the video she filmed that night, a white puff consistent with a pepper ball impact can be seen.
“I’m not getting anything! I need water!” she shouted in the video. “I’m fucking press!”
Gallagher can later be heard waving off a protester offering help, saying she doesn’t want to be “too associated because they keep shooting shit at me.”
Less than two minutes later and still having trouble seeing, Gallagher was trying to untangle herself from her camera gear’s cables when she got hit in the chest by what she believes was a 40 millimeter crowd-control round containing a chemical irritant. “I just remember it hitting me in the chest and then like reeling backwards and then just screaming because I hit the ground hard enough that I recoiled. Like I could feel my chest bounce back.”
She said she doesn’t believe police targeted her for being a journalist, but is upset police used crowd-control weapons on her since she had clearly separated herself from the protesters.
“That’s the one thing that kind of bothers me: You're going to shoot the one person who’s not behind the wall of shields? Where if you’re up to anything, that’s where you’re going to be?” she said. “I was by myself in that parking lot at that point.”
The Seattle Police Department didn’t respond to a request for comment about the incident.
Protests following the deaths of Floyd in Minneapolis, Breonna Taylor in Louisville and against police brutality have continued in many U.S. cities for months. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering these protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Detroit Free Press reporter Darcie Moran had her hands zip-tied and was flung to the ground by Detroit police while reporting on protests in the city on June 2, 2020, the reporter told the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Moran said that she was working on a story about police tactics and observed police blocking a line of protesters on Gratiot Avenue and an armored vehicle coming up from behind the protesters.
Moran said she was standing on a grassy area with other reporters near the Family Dollar store at 10950 Gratiot Avenue while the protesters were in the streets. She stepped slightly away from the group to get a better glimpse of the protesters.
“All of a sudden there was a rush to my right and I can’t say exactly what happened because it was a little bit of a blur,” she said, stating that protesters might have run up to the curb between the grassy area and the street.
“What I do know is that police started coming up from the side and not from the spots that we had been facing,” she said. “I turned and as I go to lift up my press badge that’s hanging on my chest, I am pushed to the ground and they start putting me in zip ties,” she said.
Moran said she had a respirator on at the time and so wasn’t sure if police could hear her yell, “I’m media, I’m media!” Moran said her colleagues behind her were yelling that she was a member of the media and for police to release her once she was on the ground.
Moran’s colleagues posted a video of the incident online. “You can see in the video that he allows me to put my phone in my back pocket,” Moran said.
Another officer walked up and instructed his colleague to release Moran, the journalist said. Moran said that until she saw the video, she didn’t realize that her second hand was in the process of being zip-tied when the police officer intervened.
“What’s interesting about this is they had released media passes for these events two nights prior,” Moran said. “[I] had a giant one printed out and used duck tape to strap it on my back, so it was a very large sign that a number of people pointed out would have been visible as I was on the ground being zip-tied,” she told CPJ, a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
Moran said that the officer who ended the confrontation helped her up from the ground, apologized and then found her later to apologize again. Moran said she had a scratch and some back and ankle pain the next day.
Detroit police did not respond to CPJ’s emailed request for comment.
San Antonio Express-News reporter Mark Dunphy was hit by a crowd-control munition fired by law enforcement officers who were attempting to disperse protesters in downtown San Antonio, Texas, on the evening of June 2, 2020.
Protesters had gathered in San Antonio and in cities across the U.S. to denounce the police killing of George Floyd, a Black man who died while being arrested in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 25.
In San Antonio, demonstrators were marching towards the Alamo, a symbolic site where in 1836 a vastly outnumbered group of Texan settlers were besieged in the mission by 1,500 Mexican troops.
Dunphy and Spectrum News reporter Lena Blietz were on the scene as protesters gathered by a line of police officers wearing riot gear in front of Alamo Plaza, a commercial center next to the historic mission.
Blietz told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the protest was “super peaceful.” As some protesters took a knee and one addressed the crowd near the police line, Blietz said she thought she was about to witness officers and protesters embracing — something that had happened in Fort Worth, Texas, the previous night.
A video captured by Blietz showed a man standing in front of riot police telling protesters, “put your hands up — let everybody know we’re not here for violence!”
As he said that, there is a commotion alongside several bangs and the sound of crowd-control munitions being fired as people scramble to flee.
Dunphy, who was standing near Blietz when police moved to disperse protesters, was hit with a crowd-control munition.
“Caught one of them to the leg. Free Yin Yang tattoo, I suppose,” Dunphy wrote on Twitter alongside photos of a hand holding a wooden projectile and a dark welt on the back of his thigh.
Blietz was also struck in the leg with a crowd-control munition. The Tracker has documented that case here.
In another tweet, Dunphy wrote that he saw a plastic bottle thrown at police shortly before officers began firing wooden rounds and using tear gas. In a video shared by Dunphy that night, dots from laser pointers aimed at police officers can be seen. Blietz can be seen standing directly in front of police, filming a protester’s address to the crowd.
In a photo shared by Dunphy the day after he was hit, the welt caused by the wooden round had grown in size, turning purple and red.
After the incident, one of Dunphy’s colleagues at the Express-News tweeted that Dunphy had been hit by a wooden bullet fired by police and tagged San Antonio mayor Ron Nirenberg, asking “are you okay with this?”
“No, I’m not,” Nirenberg responded, “I am asking for more information on these projectiles.
No, I'm not.
— Mayor Ron | Get vax’d! 💪 (@Ron_Nirenberg) June 3, 2020
I am asking for more information on these projectiles. https://t.co/TCEEexVEXZ
Dunphy and the Express-News didn’t respond to requests for comment. Spokespeople for the San Antonio mayor’s office also didn’t respond to the Tracker.
“It is my understanding that two local journalists were hit during the crowd dispersal,” San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said in a June 3 statement. “Although this was unfortunate, this was certainly not the police department’s intent. During crowd control dispersal action officers cannot readily distinguish between peaceful protesters, media and agitators once the situation has reached a boiling point.”
McManus added that the police department was and would continue offering journalists the opportunity to cover protests from a “safe zone” behind the line of officers. The police chief advised journalists who cover protests from within crowds to leave if the situation becomes volatile.
A public information officer for the San Antonio Police Department said they had no additional statement.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Tampa Bay Times reporter Jay Cridlin was detained on June 2, 2020, while covering a protest in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Protesters had gathered in St. Petersburg and in cities across the U.S. to denounce police brutality following the death of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25.
The Times reported that Cridlin was covering demonstrations outside police headquarters on First Avenue North when protesters were ordered to disperse. St. Petersburg police officers and Pinellas County sheriff’s deputies then advanced on the crowd to make arrests. Cridlin was detained by a sheriff’s deputy, who placed his hands in zip ties.
A St. Petersburg police spokesperson told the Times that Chief Anthony Holloway recognized Cridlin and had a deputy free him right away.
Cridlin told the Times that Holloway, Mayor Rick Kriseman and Sheriff Bob Gualtieri reached out to apologize the following day. Gualtieri also said he was looking into the incident.
“You guys have a role. This has nothing to do with the media,” Gualtieri said. “It was clearly accidental, and we just need to avoid it.”
In a statement the following day, Times Executive Editor Mark Katches objected to the detentions of Cridlin and a second Times journalist, Divya Kumar, in Tampa on June 3. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documented Kumar’s arrest here.
“Journalists need to be able to do our jobs and report the news without being harassed, detained, intimidated or harmed by law enforcement,” Katches said.
The Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier staff writer Jeff Reinitz was struck in the back of the head while covering a protest in Waterloo, Iowa, late on the night of June 2, 2020.
Reinitz was attacked during protests sparked by the police killing of George Floyd, a Black man, in Minneapolis on May 25. A juvenile was later arrested on charges related to the assault on the journalist, the Courier reported.
Reinitz told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was covering a march through downtown Waterloo on the night of June 2 when a man started shouting at him to leave.
In a video Reinitz livestreamed of the march on Facebook, a man can be heard identifying him as an employee of the Courier. “You can’t walk with us, bro,” he shouted. Reinitz responded that he was doing his job.
“You work for the police,” the man said, pointing at Reinitz. “No, I don’t,” the journalist responded.
Reinitz, who was focused on photographing the demonstrations that evening, said he ignored the man, and picked up his pace so he was walking with a different part of the crowd for the next several blocks.
After marching through the city, the protesters congregated on a highway overpass, and the crowd thinned out, Reintz said. The same man who had heckled Reinitz earlier in the evening approached him again.
The man shouted at the reporter again, telling him to leave more aggressively than before.
A cellphone video of the interaction shared on social media showed the man took a swing at Reinitz, according to the reporter.
Reinitz said he backed up to try to de-escalate the situation and to focus on doing his job, and other protesters stood up for him. One marcher got in front of Reinitz to defend the journalist, and the man punched him in the face, Reinitz said.
Reinitz didn’t want the protester to get hit again, so tried to signal to him that he was OK. Mixed in the crowd, he felt someone come up near his other side and try to knock his camera from his right hand. Because the strap was tethered to hand, the camera didn’t fall to the ground. When Reinitz looked to see who had tried to hit his camera, he saw a young man walking away.
Then, as Reinitz turned back to the man who had originally become aggressive toward him, a third person came up behind him and punched him in the back of the head.
A cell phone video that captured the incident shows a person come up behind Reinitz and strike him. Reinitz stayed on his feet, but staggered slightly, raising his hand up to the back of his head as he moved away and leaned against a concrete barrier.
The Courier reported that a 16-year-old, who wasn’t identified, struck Reinitz. The youth was arrested on June 4 and charged for disorderly conduct and rioting, according to the Courier.
Reinitz said didn’t seek medical attention for his injury. He realized as he left the protest later that night that he was bleeding slightly behind his ear from the blow.
“My main concern was like, how do I go about doing my job without getting hit again?” he said. “I guess part of it's this other concern where you're trying to not be the news and I was just trying to think about, OK, how do I get basically back in the game.”
After he was hit, Reinitz continued to follow the protesters through the city. Police used tear gas to try to disperse the demonstrators, he said. When Reinitz was walking through clouds of tear gas near a park, a fourth person who had been involved with the altercation on the overpass came up and shoved him, before running off, he said.
Details about the 16-year-old’s case were not available because the individual is a juvenile, according to Reinitz. The Black Hawk County Attorney’s office didn’t respond to a request for information on the status of the case.
Protests against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May, following the deaths of Floyd, Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky, and others by police.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering these protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
While livestreaming a protest in Waterloo, Iowa, Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier staff writer Jeff Reinitz was harassed and assaulted multiple times.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, Journalist arrested during Houston protest,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-arrested-during-houston-protest/,2020-10-29 12:11:04.138281+00:00,2022-05-12 21:42:10.282001+00:00,2022-05-12 21:42:10.218309+00:00,,"Arrest/Criminal Charge, Assault",,,,Derrick Broze (90.1 KPFT),,2020-06-02,False,Houston,Texas (TX),29.76328,-95.36327,"Derrick Broze, co-host of Free Thinker Radio on 90.1 KPFT and a freelance reporter, was arrested in downtown Houston, Texas, while documenting protests on June 2, 2020, according to his and other news accounts of events.
Protests in Houston were held in response to the death of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd grew up in Houston’s Third Ward and lived in Texas until around 2014, Texas Monthly magazine reported.
In a video posted to Facebook, Broze narrates that protesters were near the intersection of McKinney Street and Avenida De Las Americas when some individuals began throwing bottles at a dense line of advancing officers.
A few minutes later, Broze can be heard saying, “They’re coming on both sides, they’re closing us in.”
In an account written for The Last American Vagabond, Broze said that he had been documenting the protests for approximately five hours before police declared the demonstration an unlawful assembly.
“The police – dressed in riot gear and armed with live ammunition – surrounded the protesters, medics, and yours truly using a tactic known as ‘kettling,’” Broze wrote. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented the arrests and assaults of other journalists within kettles here.
Houston police officers surrounded the group of around 50 protesters and began “violently rushing into the crowd and grabbing people,” according to Broze’s account.
“During the chaos I told several officers I was press documenting the situation,” he wrote. “I was told over and over that I should take it up with the courts.”
In Broze’s footage, he can be heard identifying himself as a member of the press multiple times and asking whether he can be released from the kettle or speak to a public information officer.
Broze tweeted the following day that he was among the individuals “snatched” and thrown to the ground when placed under arrest. His footage of the incident ends before he is placed under arrest.
Broze added that he was charged with “obstructing a highway/passageway.”
breaking the law. However, me and the other 2 dozen people I was kidnapped with were kettled in by the police as they violently snatched protesters, throwing some to the ground, including me. I was charged with "obstructing a highway/passageway" for being on the sidewalk.
— Derrick Broze (@DBrozeLiveFree) June 3, 2020
In his account of the incident, Broze wrote that he was taken to Harris County Jail and held there for 16 hours.
The Houston Police Department did not respond to a voicemail requesting comment.
Broze wrote, “As a journalist (and an opponent of police violence) I will continue to document the George Floyd protests and other important movements in the United States.”
The Harris County District Attorney’s Office dismissed nearly 800 charges on June 9 against individuals at demonstrations “in the interest of justice,” the Houston Chronicle reported. The DA’s office did not respond to a request to verify that the arrest charges against Broze were among those dropped, but the Tracker is marking as such barring further information.
The Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Protesters march at a rally for George Floyd on June 2, 2020, in Houston, Texas.
",arrested and released,charges dropped,Houston Police Department,2020-06-03,None,True,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, kettle, protest",,blocking traffic: obstructing a highway or passageway,,, Freelance photographer assaulted by police while covering Detroit protests,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/freelance-photographer-assaulted-by-police-while-covering-detroit-protests/,2020-10-29 19:35:19.139901+00:00,2021-10-19 15:47:31.434751+00:00,2021-10-19 15:47:31.389095+00:00,,Assault,,,,Sean Work (Freelance),,2020-06-02,False,Detroit,Michigan (MI),42.33143,-83.04575,"Freelance photographer Sean Work was assaulted by police officers while covering protests against police violence in Detroit, Michigan, on June 2, 2020.
Work told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in an email that he had been following protesters as they marched through downtown that evening. At 8:47 p.m., after a curfew went into effect, Work said he’d been taking photos of police arresting protesters, with his two media passes prominently displayed — one hanging on a lanyard around his neck and another taped to his camera bag. An officer, he said, then came up behind him and forced him to the ground, while a second climbed on top of him while he was lying faceup.
Work said he screamed, “I’m media,” several times while holding up his credential. “Another officer then said ‘he’s media.’ The officer got off of me.”
Work said he was then ordered to move back from the scene.
The Detroit Police Department did not respond to multiple requests for comment as of press time.
Protests in the city that day were in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
On the evening of June 2, 2020, Detroit police assaulted Steve Neavling, a journalist with the Detroit Metro Times who was covering protests against police violence, Neavling told the Committee to Protect Journalists in a phone interview.
Neavling told CPJ that he and other reporters were watching a group of about 150 peaceful protesters along Gratiot Avenue on Detroit's east side when police surrounded the protesters and moved in on them. The journalist said that he was filming the scene when a police officer grabbed him and threw him to the ground.
Just got attacked, punched, kneed and elbowed by police, who threw my phone and broke my glasses. More worried about the protesters. Mass arrests. Out of control in Detroit. That was police brutality. pic.twitter.com/o4dSZ8uMVN
— Motor City Muckraker (@MCmuckraker) June 3, 2020
“I yelled ‘I’m with the media!’ and [the officer] immediately threw me down, swatted my phone out of my hand and, intentionally or not, ripped the glasses off of my face and they were broken,” Neavling said. “My camera lens was broken during the fall and every time I [said] ‘media,’ I got kicked, punched and elbowed by the same officer,” Neavling told CPJ, adding that his accreditation was visible.
Neavling said the officer warned him he would be arrested. Neavling said he then heard another voice saying Neavling should be let go.
“I started walking away without my glasses. I couldn’t see and [the assaulting police officer] kept yelling ‘Get the fuck out of here,’” Neavling said.
The journalist, who said he is unable to see clearly further than two feet without his glasses, heard someone say that the police chief was nearby. Neavling said he approached the chief, told him what happened and was told by the chief to speak with the police internal affairs unit.
Neavling said he called the communications point person for Detroit police, who put him in touch with the internal affairs department. An officer in internal affairs was dismissive of Neavling’s complaints and said police had thousands of cases to work through, the journalist told CPJ. Neavling told CPJ in an email on October 13 that he filed a complaint the night of the assault, but four months later had not heard back.
Sgt. Nicole Kirkwood from the Detroit Police Deparment’s media relations team did not respond to CPJ’s request for comment.
Neavling said that due to COVID-related restrictions he had to wait a week before he could get a new pair of glasses, during which time he was unable to work because he could not see well without his glasses. He also said that he sustained bruises and small scrapes on his right elbow and right shoulder.
The protests in Detroit that day were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during a May 25 arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Cory Elia, an editor at Village Portland and host of a KBOO podcast, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was assaulted by police on June 2, 2020, in Portland, Oregon, despite clearly identifying himself as press.
The protest was one of many that broke out across the U.S. 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 Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
In Portland, nightly protests over the death of Floyd began on May 29, prompting Mayor Ted Wheeler to declare an 8 p.m. curfew that lasted three days. Even after the curfew was lifted, journalists continued to be targeted by police, according to a class action suit the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon filed against the Portland Police Bureau in June.The city agreed to a preliminary injunction in July to not to arrest or harm any journalists or legal observers of the protests or impede their work.
“The police physically assaulted KBOO reporter Cory Elia because he was recording them,” the complaint said.
On June 2 at 11:34 p.m., Elia posted a video of protesters running from the police, who can be heard declaring the protest an unlawful assembly. Projectiles can be seen landing between the protesters as they run through tear gas, while flash bangs can also be heard.
About 10 minutes later, Elia tweeted, “I just got manhandled by police after filming this one even while identifying myself as a journalist and showing my press pass. They slammed me into a wall as I was choking on teargas. An independent journo pulled me away from officers and got me out.”
Elia told the Tracker that an officer struck him in the back with a baton, and then he was slammed into the wall head first. He fell over his bicycle and hit his ribs on the handlebars, then officers kicked him as he choked on tear gas, he said.
A video recorded by reddit user testsubject011 shows part of the assault. The person recording the video approaches Elia, who is straddling his bicycle and holding up his press pass. “I’m a journalist, I’m a journalist. If they start messing with me just keep chasing them,” says Elia, before warning, “They’re coming behind you.”
The person continues to record while retreating from police. When Elia comes back into view about 24 seconds into the video, he appears to get pinned against the wall by police.
“If these instances are not seen, not heard about, not reported, they can continue. It results in a very dangerous situation. Any reporter out there can be subjected to this treatment without any kind of consequence or accountability for those actions,” Elia told the Tracker.
On July 8, Elia and Lesley McLam, a colleague at Village Portland and KBOO radio station, filed a civil lawsuit against the city, the state, and multiple law enforcement officers for allegedly violating their constitutional rights and for battery, assault, negligence and false arrest. They are also seeking compensation for their injuries and punitive damages.
The PPB has said they wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation.
Editor's Note: This article has been updated to reflect that Cory Elia is not a plaintiff in the ACLU of Oregon's lawsuit, but filed an independent civil rights suit with journalist Lesley McLam.
NBC Bay Area reporter and anchor Terry McSweeney was handcuffed and temporarily detained by police while filming an arrest during a protest in Oakland, California, on June 2, 2020.
Protests in Oakland were held for several days in early June amid a national wave of demonstrations against racism and police brutality in response to the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and other Black people at the hands of police.
McSweeney and an NBC Bay Area videographer were covering the demonstration as protesters started to march from City Hall to the Oakland Police Department, McSweeney told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. The videographer followed protesters on foot and McSweeney drove a station van up the street to meet him, he said.
As McSweeney turned onto 11th Street from Broadway, he came up behind a van that was stopped in the middle of the street, while police detained two people on the sidewalk next to the vehicle. McSweeney said he began recording the scene on his cell phone from inside the van.
McSweeney said an officer came up to the van — which was clearly marked as belonging to the NBC Bay Area news station — tapped on the hood, and told him to leave. McSweeney said he told the officer he was with the media, but the officer again directed McSweeney to leave and said he would be arrested if he didn’t. When McSweeney responded that he believed he had a right to be there, the officer told him to get out of the van.
The officer took McSweeney’s phone and put his wrists in handcuffs, McSweeney said.
He asked the officer why he was detaining him, and the officer replied, “I told you to move.”
The officer who detained him then asked another police officer to walk McSweeney up to a street corner about a block away, according to McSweeney.
McSweeney said the second officer asked if he was OK and offered to loosen the cuffs. After stepping away for a moment, the officer removed the handcuffs and again walked away. McSweeney said he waited at the corner for about 10 minutes on his own, before the second officer returned and told him he could go. Police returned McSweeney’s phone, and he drove away.
McSweeney said he immediately called NBC Bay Area’s news director to alert his colleagues to the incident, and the news station has been in contact with the Oakland Police Department. He didn’t file an official complaint with the department about the incident.
Oakland Police Department Public Information Officer Johnna Watson told the Tracker the department was made aware of the incident shortly after it happened, and said it was a concern for the department and the relationship between police and journalists. She said the department reviewed the incident and communicated with McSweeney and newsroom supervisors at NBC Bay Area about it, and met with other media outlets in the region about media policies.
“We fully support the journalism and the reporting of journalists. It is really important for us to allow the access to ensure that our media is able to report on what is going on. We want to have that access and that reporting without any barriers,” Watson said.
Watson said the vehicle stop McSweeney came across was associated with the investigation into the shooting death of a federal agent in Oakland on May 29, and was considered a “high risk” situation. She said no officers were disciplined related to McSweeney’s detention, however, the department did go over media policy training with officers involved with protests after the incident.
McSweeney said he was skeptical about the police department’s comments that officers needed more training, noting that the department deals frequently with protest coverage.
“There was no misunderstanding whatsoever,” McSweeney said. “I told him exactly who I was, who I was with, he knew who I was with and he understood that. And he detained me anyway and took me away from the scene.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering these protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
A TV reporter and a photojournalist were assaulted on-air while reporting on the aftermath of protests in Madison, Wisconsin, on June 2, 2020.
NBC15 News reporter Amelia Jones and photojournalist Curt Lenz were on State Street in downtown Madison, reporting live for the local station’s morning news after a third night of protests against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
In a video clip from the news program from that morning, Lenz’s camera is turned toward Jones, who is holding a microphone and about to deliver a report. Then suddenly the camera pans to show a man on a bicycle approaching, before the live news feed cuts off.
According to a report from the City of Madison Police Department, the suspect had been going through looted goods from a nearby 7-Eleven. Right after the camera panned, the report said that the suspect charged toward Lenz and the camera, throwing bottles, then grabbing Lenz and “vigorously shaking him and his camera” before leaving the scene on a bicycle.
While neither Jones nor Lenz could be reached for comment by the time of publication, the incident was confirmed to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker by NBC15 management.
After a chase, Madison police captured and arrested 40-year-old Michael E. Campbell, for “battery, disorderly conduct, resisting/obstructing, and on a probation hold,” according to the police report.
According to a news report on the incident from NBC15, Jones and Lenz were described as “shaken” but OK after the incident.
The news story said that just prior to the assault, Lenz had been recording people at a 7-Eleven store that had been looted. The suspect saw Lenz and informed him he did not want to be recorded.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
A news crew from WIVB in Buffalo, New York, was struck by crowd-control munitions fired by police while covering protests in the city on June 1, 2020, the same night a Buffalo protester was tackled and forcibly arrested by police while giving an on-camera interview.
The demonstrations that evening were part of a wave of protests resulting from a viral video showing a Minneapolis police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
June 1 was a particularly chaotic night in Buffalo. At one point, an SUV carrying two people who had been shot drove through a line of law enforcement officers, two of whom suffered injuries and were taken to a hospital. Blocks away from that incident, police deployed tear gas to clear the streets. In the midst of that, WIVB reporter Dave Greber and photographer Brad Berchou were caught in a volley of pepper ball fire from police. One of the projectiles hit the camera lens, but it was not damaged.
In an interview with WIVB, Greber said that he did not believe he and Berchou were targeted because they were journalists.
“I think they were firing at anything that moved. And we happened to be moving,” he said. “I would hope, to be honest with you, that they didn’t know who we were. It would be a real shame that if they identified us as media positively, and then pulled the trigger.”
At a press conference, Buffalo police captain Jeff Rinaldo said that any harm journalists suffered during the protests from police was incidental.
“We try as hard as we can to make sure that members of the media have access to these events. But when situations like this unfold, when we’re trying to disperse large crowds, there is the potential for media members to become part of the situation,” he said.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Detroit News reporter Jordyn Grzelewski was assaulted by police officers and forced to the ground while covering protests against police violence in Detroit, Michigan, on June 2, 2020.
Grzelewski told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she had been following protesters as they marched through downtown that evening. As the city’s 8 p.m. curfew approached, Grzelewski was reporting along Gratiot Avenue between Conner Street and Outer Drive, documenting the scene on Facebook Live.
In the video, a line of police officers in riot gear can be seen marching along the street and ordering protesters to disperse or be subject to arrest. Grzelewski was standing on the sidewalk between protesters and the police when an officer approached her.
“They told me that I was in their way, grabbed my hands and started to put them behind my back and take me to the ground,” Grzelewski said.
In the video, an officer can be heard telling her to get down, to which Grzelewski replies that she is a member of the press. The officer asks for her press pass, and she says she has it in her hand. She is then released by the officer.
Press passes had been issued daily to journalists in the city and were printed with a brightly colored background.
Grzelewski said that the assault was over quickly, but she was still prevented from doing her job.
“In all, it was just, you know, a few seconds, but it happened,” she said. “It was a short encounter and they did not detain me in any lengthy way but they did attempt to do so.”
Grzelewski said an officer then directed her and other members of the media to get back from the street where protesters were being arrested and detained. She said they were “shepherded” into the parking lot of a nearby Family Dollar.
“They kept telling us to get back, and I said something like, ‘I’m just trying to do my job.’ And he was very insistent, saying, ‘No, you have to stand back,’” she said.
Grzelewski continued her livestream from the parking lot, documenting as officers arrested or attempted to arrest protesters. Grzelewski confirmed that reporters were not detained, and were free to leave the scene entirely through the other end of the parking lot, but had to remain there in order to continue to report on the protest and arrests underway.
“Certainly it felt like I could not get closer to where the arrests were taking place, because the police were basically ordering us to stay away from the area,” she said.
The Detroit Police Department did not respond to multiple requests for comment as of press time.
Protests in the city that day were in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
A TV photojournalist and reporter a photojournalist were assaulted on-air while reporting on the aftermath of protests in Madison, Wisconsin, on June 2, 2020.
NBC15 News photojournalist Curt Lenz and reporter Amelia Jones were on State Street in downtown Madison, reporting live for the local station’s morning news after a third night of protests against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
In a video clip from the news program from that morning, Lenz’s camera is turned toward Jones, who is holding a microphone and about to deliver a report. Then suddenly the camera pans to show a man on a bicycle approaching, before the live news feed cuts off.
According to a report from the City of Madison Police Department, the suspect had been going through looted goods from a nearby 7-Eleven. Right after the camera panned, the report said that the suspect charged toward Lenz and the camera, throwing bottles, then grabbing Lenz and “vigorously shaking him and his camera” before leaving the scene on a bicycle.
While neither Lenz nor Jones could be reached for comment by the time of publication, the incident was confirmed to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker by NBC15 management.
After a chase, Madison police captured and arrested 40-year-old Michael E. Campbell, for “battery, disorderly conduct, resisting/obstructing, and on a probation hold,” according to the police report.
According to a news report on the incident from NBC15, Jones and Lenz were described as “shaken” but okay after the incident.
The news story said that just prior to the assault, Lenz had been recording people at a 7-Eleven store that had been looted. The suspect saw Lenz and informed him he did not want to be recorded.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Two journalists for the Associated Press were assaulted by law enforcement officers and ordered to leave the scene of protests in New York, New York, on June 2, 2020.
Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 have spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
The AP reported that video journalist Robert Bumsted and photojournalist Maye-E Wong were documenting protests in lower Manhattan shortly after the 8 p.m. curfew took effect. Members of the media were exempted from the order as “essential workers.”
In a video captured by Bumsted, more than half a dozen officers can be seen confronting the journalists and ordering them to clear the street along with all the demonstrators in the area.
“Thank you. Have a good day. Go the fuck home,” one officer can be heard saying.
Bumsted, who declined to comment, can be heard responding that they are essential workers and are therefore exempt from the curfew. The AP reported that both were wearing press credentials and repeatedly identified themselves as media.
An officer responds, “I don’t give a shit.” Another can be heard repeatedly shouting, “Who are you essential to?”
The AP reported that officers repeatedly shoved both journalists toward Bumsted’s nearby car, separating them from each other. At one point, officers pinned Bumsted against his car.
In the video, an officer can be heard telling Bumsted, “You need to get in your car and get out of here.”
Bumsted responds that he needs the keys, which Wong was carrying, so the officers allow her to approach the vehicle.
As Bumsted appears to get into his car, he can be heard saying, “Don’t be like that. Respect the press.”
The New York Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Spectrum News reporter Lena Blietz was hit by crowd-control munitions fired by law enforcement officers who were attempting to disperse protesters in downtown San Antonio, Texas, on the evening of June 2, 2020.
Protesters had gathered in San Antonio and in cities across the U.S. to denounce the police killing of George Floyd, a Black man who died while being arrested in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 25.
In San Antonio, demonstrators were marching towards the Alamo, a symbolic site where in 1836 a vastly outnumbered group of Texan settlers were besieged in the mission by 1,500 Mexican troops.
Blietz was on the scene as protesters gathered by a line of police officers wearing riot gear in front of Alamo Plaza, a commercial center next to the historic mission.
Blietz told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the protest was “super peaceful.” As some protesters took a knee and one addressed the crowd near the police line, Blietz said she thought she was about to witness officers and protesters embracing — something that had happened in Fort Worth, Texas, the previous night.
A video captured by Blietz showed a man standing in front of riot police telling protesters, “put your hands up — let everybody know we’re not here for violence!”
As he said that, there is a commotion alongside several bangs and the sound of crowd-control munitions being fired as people scramble to flee.
“Eventually they brought out the tear gas and the rubber bullets or pepper bullets, whatever they’re using,” said Blietz in a video recorded after the incident. “I was shot in the leg but I’m fine,” she wrote on Twitter.
Blietz’s polo shirt and hat were emblazoned with the Spectrum News logo and she wore press credentials around her neck. She said she had been standing between protesters and police before law enforcement tried to disperse the crowd, and that she was clearly identifiable as media.
In a photo of a welt on the back of her thigh the next day, she wrote: “It looks like I was standing in a batting cage.”
Thank you to everyone who’s reached out and I’ll get back to all of you soon.
— Lena Blietz (@LenaBlietz) June 3, 2020
Here’s an update on my thigh from the non-lethal bullet shot by SAPD SWAT last night.
It looks like I was standing in a batting cage.#BlackLivesMatter #SanAntonioProtest #rubberbullets #protests2020 pic.twitter.com/DsEpcKtYBb
“The next day I basically couldn’t walk it hurt so much,” she told the Tracker.
San Antonio Express-News reporter Mark Dunphy, who was standing near Blietz when police moved to disperse protesters, also was hit. The Tracker has documented that case here.
In another tweet, he wrote that he saw a plastic bottle thrown at police shortly before officers began firing wooden rounds and using tear gas. In a video shared by Dunphy that night, dots from laser pointers aimed at police officers can be seen. Blietz can be seen standing directly in front of police, filming a protester’s address to the crowd.
“It is my understanding that two local journalists were hit during the crowd dispersal,” San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said in a June 3 statement. “Although this was unfortunate, this was certainly not the police department’s intent. During crowd control dispersal action officers cannot readily distinguish between peaceful protesters, media and agitators once the situation has reached a boiling point.”
McManus added that the police department was and would continue offering journalists the opportunity to cover protests from a “safe zone” behind the line of officers. The police chief advised journalists who cover protests from within crowds to leave if the situation becomes volatile.
A public information officer for the San Antonio Police Department said they had no additional statement.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Police briefly detained KPIX 5 News reporter Katie Nielsen while she was documenting protests in Oakland, California, on June 1, 2020.
Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Nielsen told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she was documenting a peaceful protest organized by Oakland Tech High School students. Approximately 15,000 people had gathered with a plan to march to the Oakland Police Department on 7th Street, but were stopped by a police barricade a block away.
“Protesters started yelling. Officers masked up, and as soon as a protester threw something across the police line, they fired back with tear gas and flash bangs,” Nielsen said.
Police gave dispersal warnings as the 8 p.m. curfew approached; Nielsen said that about a dozen protesters were still in the area at curfew, and police rushed in to make arrests.
“I was grabbed by an officer and told to put my hands behind my back. I kept repeating that I was a reporter and had my credentials right here, visible,” Nielsen said.
A second officer approached her, but walked away after he heard that she was a reporter. The initial officer continued to walk her into the middle of the intersection and handcuffed her.
“The photographer I was with, Erin Baldassari, was not just a few feet away shooting everything that was happening to me,” Nielsen said. “They just held me there standing in the middle of the intersection.”
Police rushed in and started arresting everyone present pic.twitter.com/jATY8xjasM
— Erin Baldassari (@e_baldi) June 2, 2020
Five to ten minutes later, a police lieutenant approached Nielsen, verified her credentials and released her without charges, she said. Nielsen said she was only in custody for a few minutes, but, “it was enough to keep us from reporting and shooting the arrests that were happening with the protesters.”
In an interview on KPIX 5 News after the incident, Oakland Police spokesperson Johnna Watson apologized to Nielsen for the arrest.
Here is the 11pm story about the protest, my detainment, and a statement from OPD regarding the incident. pic.twitter.com/mg9FRaYnz0
— Katie Nielsen (@KatieKPIX) June 2, 2020
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting damage of equipment and multiple journalists arrested or struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas while covering related protests across the country. Find all of these cases here.
Police in Oakland, California, detain KPIX 5 News reporter Katie Nielsen on June 1, 2020. The interaction was captured by another photographer with whom Nielsen was documenting protests in the city.
",detained and released without being processed,not charged,Oakland Police Department,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, "Asbury Park Press journalist arrested covering protests, released the next day",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/asbury-park-press-journalist-arrested-covering-protests-released-next-day/,2020-06-09 13:52:37.487049+00:00,2022-05-12 21:42:59.637348+00:00,2022-05-12 21:42:59.557446+00:00,(2020-07-13 07:14:00+00:00) Reporter sues New Jersey police following investigation that cleared officers of wrongdoing,"Arrest/Criminal Charge, Assault",,,,Gustavo Martínez Contreras (Asbury Park Press),,2020-06-01,False,Asbury Park,New Jersey (NJ),40.22039,-74.01208,"Gustavo Martínez Contreras, a multimedia journalist with the New Jersey daily Asbury Park Press, was arrested while covering an anti-police violence protest in Asbury Park on the night of June 1, 2020. He was released after spending the night in custody.
The city of Asbury Park had imposed an 8 p.m. curfew ahead of planned protests, part of the national wave of unrest since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody on May 25. The curfew, which explicitly excluded credentialed media, did not stop protesters from marching, according to the Asbury Park Press.
Throughout the night, Martínez Contreras posted videos of the protest in Asbury Park on Twitter. In his last video, Martínez Contreras captured his own arrest while livestreaming.
The video, posted around 10 p.m., shows a suddenly tense scene compared to his previous footage. Asbury Park police began to enforce the curfew by advancing in riot gear and making arrests. A police officer shoved Martínez Contreras, apologized with no explanation, and returned attention to protesters.
Minutes later on the feed, Martínez Contreras filmed police arresting two young protesters when two police officers approached him shouting “Go home” and “This shit is fucking over.” A third police officer off-screen said “Fuck him, he’s the problem” and tackled Martínez Contreras to the ground. “You're under arrest. Put your fucking hands behind your back," the officer said. The video then cut out.
In a personal account on the Press website, Martínez Contreras wrote that one police officer yelled “take down his fucking phone” and slapped it out of his hand. Police escorted him to a van transporting arrested protesters.
On the way to the van, an officer asked Martínez Contreras what was hanging around his neck, Martínez Contreras wrote. His press badge, he replied. It was one of several times Martínez Contreras identified himself as a journalist to the police before, during, and after his arrest.
The van took the prisoners to Belmar Police Department. Martínez Contreras told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that a plainclothes officer asked him if he knew about or had any interaction at the protest with the radical left-wing activist movement antifa, a group President Donald Trump vowed to declare a terrorist organization, even though he reportedly may lack the legal authority to do so. Martínez Contreras said he was familiar with the group because of his work as a journalist. He said the officer warned him to avoid antifa because it is a terrorist organization.
Martínez Contreras was released the following morning after five hours in custody, he wrote. Police returned his belongings, including his phone, backpack, safety goggles, and helmet.
Martínez Contreras had been booked on charges of failing to obey an order to disperse, according to a summons posted on the Monmouth County Prosecutor Office’s Facebook page. The charges were quickly dropped by morning. The police request to dismiss the charge, also posted on the prosecutor’s Facebook page, claimed that Martínez Contreras had failed to identify as a reporter, which Martínez Contreras disputes.
The Asbury Park Police and the Belmar Police Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
On Twitter, New Jersey State Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal pledged to “figure out why this happened and make sure it doesn’t happen again [because] in America, we don’t lock up reporters for doing their job.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred total incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd while in police custody. Find all of these cases here.
Kristen Graham, a reporter for the daily Philadelphia Inquirer, was temporarily detained on June 1, 2020, by police while returning home from reporting post-curfew, her paper reported.
Graham was one of three journalists similarly detained that night in Philadelphia. Reporter Jeff Neiburg and photographer Jenna Miller of Wilmington’s The News Journal and Delaware Online were also arrested by Philadelphia police as they attempted to return home after the 6 p.m. curfew, the outlet reported.
Their respective outlets said the three journalists were reporting on protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 and spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Graham, a Pulitzer Prize-winning education reporter, volunteered to cover the protests that day, she said in a personal account written for the Inquirer. Police deployed tear gas around 5 p.m. into a crowd near Graham. She continued to report despite the stinging in her eyes.
As the curfew set in by 6 p.m. and the protesters dissipated, Graham wrote that she decided to walk back to her car near the Inquirer office. After passing dozens of police officers, one approached her to ask where she was going. The officer urged her to keep her press credentials prominently displayed. So she did.
After she photographed some police buses near City Hall, another officer told her she was not allowed there. So Graham turned around to walk the other way around the building.
A minute later, she wrote, two officers confronted her and put her hands behind her back. Despite Graham trying to explain she was a reporter, the officers cuffed her in zip ties. Graham told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the officers placed her helmet and phone inside her backpack.
The curfew order explicitly excludes working media as essential personnel. But Graham told the Tracker that the officers “brushed aside” her explanation that she was working as a journalist.
Graham wrote in her account for the Inquirer that she was brought to an empty bus that soon was filled with more than 20 women, including Miller from The News Journal. Like Graham, Miller and Neiburg were detained near City Hall and brought to buses segregated by gender, Neiburg said in an interview with the local radio station 97.5 The Fanatic. The journalists, with the other detainees, were then driven to the 22nd District Headquarters.
Graham told the Tracker that she was brought into the station for processing. But a police supervisor told the officers there was no room and ordered her taken back to the bus.
For two hours, the journalists remained on the buses, their outlets reported. In her Inquirer account, Graham described how the buses were not air conditioned and one woman urinated herself after not being allowed to use the bathroom. Another woman had a medical emergency and was eventually taken to receive medical care.
An officer informed the detainees on Graham and Miller’s bus they would be issued citations for violating the curfew and released by the end of the night, both journalists said.
Graham wrote in the Inquirer that she was eventually able to maneuver her hands in order to send texts to her husband and editor on her smartwatch. A lawyer for the Inquirer contacted city officials. Around 9 p.m., the journalists were released without charge but with an apology from officials.
City spokesperson Mike Dunn told the Tracker that Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney is “extremely troubled” by the detentions and has called some of the journalists. Both Mayor Kenney and Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw “are strongly committed to allowing press access so the public can be fully informed,” Dunn said.
Toward that end, Dunn said Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw ordered an investigation into the detentions. And police protocols that ensure “properly credentialed press are essential workers and not subject to restrictions of a curfew, as long as they are not impeding public safety or police operations […] have been reiterated repeatedly in internal communications to officers.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred total incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd. Find all of these cases here.
Cincinnati police temporarily detained Enquirer journalist Pat Brennan as he covered protests against police violence in the Over-The-Rhine neighborhood on June 1, 2020.
Brennan told the Tracker that he normally covers professional soccer but has reported on many police scenes in his career. With a short staff due to furloughs, he was recruited to help cover the protests that swept through Cincinnati and the rest of the nation after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody on May 25.
Cincinnati police began to enforce a curfew shortly after 8 p.m., the paper reported. A video provided by Brennan shows a SWAT vehicle advancing as a loudspeaker blares warnings to leave the streets or face arrest. Protesters run away from the police line. Brennan decided to stay put, identify as a journalist, and let the police pass, he told the Tracker.
His colleague Maddie Mitchell told the Enquirer that Brennan was separated from the group and she called out to him to rejoin. But he suddenly disappeared from view as he crossed behind a police vehicle.
Brennan had crossed behind the vehicle on the orders of the police, his video shows. Brennan records police arresting two people. One officer tells Brennan to “do what you want but back up.” Brennan says he is trying to reconnect with his crew. An officer says to go on the other side of the vehicle. So Brennan crossed to the other side of the street and sought a way to reconnect with his colleagues, he told the Tracker.
The detention was captured in two videos filmed by other media present.
Courtney Francisco, a senior journalist with the local ABC affiliate WCPO, posted on her social media a video that begins moments before police took Brennan into custody.
In the video, two police officers warn Francisco and the WCPO crew to leave the area. “Sir, we are with the news,” she says. “I know but we need space,” one officer responds before warning her again to get back.
Within a minute, the camera swings towards a commotion and records at least seven officers taking Brennan to the ground. As an officer pulls out plastic restraints to cuff Brennan, Francisco gets quickly caught up herself. The two police officers who previously warned her begin shoving her backwards. The officers force the crew around the corner of a building and out of sight of Brennan.
“They were pushing very hard and very fast. I couldn’t keep up,” she says to the camera.
Nick Swartsell, a journalist on furlough from the Cincinnati CityBeat, posted a video on Twitter showing Brennan walk by a police SWAT vehicle toward the police line. Police officers stop Brennan, who is wearing a mask, goggles, and a badge around his neck. A police loudspeaker blares “He’s been told” before the officers take him to the ground.
Brennan told the Tracker he did his best to avoid face-planting as one officer stuck his leg out to trip him. He collapsed to the ground with the officers, who shoved his cheek into the pavement and cuffed him. Police then brought him to a wall where others were being held.
The police released Brennan from custody without charge after 30 minutes, according to the Enquirer.
That night Brennan said on Twitter that he had a “respectful conversation” with Cincinnati’s chief of police, Eliot Isaac. Brennan told the Tracker that Isaac arrived on scene and immediately went to apologize to Brennan.
The police department apologized on Twitter for “any inconvenience” regarding Brennan’s detention and Francisco’s removal from the area. According to Swartsell, Isaac said Brennan “got mixed up in the crowd,” claiming he was wearing goggles and a mask without an obvious ID.
Lt. Steve Saunders, a spokesman for the Cincinnati police department, told the Tracker on June 10 that the department had entered ongoing conversations with media outlets to help better identify journalists and ensure they can report while not interfering in police operations. “If we can do things better, we want to do things better,” he said, while insisting that this applies to journalists, too.
Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley also apologized on Twitter, calling the arrest a “big mistake” and stating that reporters are crucial to democracy.
Francisco and Swartsell did not respond to emailed requests for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred total incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd while in police custody. Find all of these cases here.
While documenting protests in Cincinnati, journalists with ABC affiliate WCPO captured multiple officers forcing Cincinnati Enquirer journalist Pat Brennan to the ground to detain him.
",detained and released without being processed,not charged,Cincinnati Police Department,None,None,True,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, Broadcast photographer struck with pepper balls while covering Buffalo protests,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/broadcast-photographer-struck-with-pepper-balls-while-covering-buffalo-protests/,2020-06-15 04:18:38.545378+00:00,2022-03-10 20:52:15.717968+00:00,2022-03-10 20:52:15.659359+00:00,,Assault,,,,Brad Berchou (WIVB-TV),,2020-06-01,False,Buffalo,New York (NY),42.88645,-78.87837,"A news crew from WIVB in Buffalo, New York, was struck by crowd-control munitions fired by police while covering protests in the city on June 1, 2020, the same night a Buffalo protester was tackled and forcibly arrested by police while giving an on-camera interview.
The demonstrations that evening were part of a wave of protests resulting from a viral video showing a Minneapolis police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
June 1 was a particularly chaotic night in Buffalo. At one point, an SUV carrying two people who had been shot drove through a line of law enforcement officers, two of whom suffered injuries and were taken to a hospital. Blocks away from that incident, police deployed tear gas to clear the streets. In the midst of that, WIVB photographer Brad Berchou and reporter Dave Greber were caught in a volley of pepper ball fire from police. One of the projectiles hit the camera lens, but it was not damaged.
In an interview with WIVB, Greber said that he did not believe he and Berchou were targeted because they were journalists.
“I think they were firing at anything that moved. And we happened to be moving,” he said. “I would hope, to be honest with you, that they didn’t know who we were. It would be a real shame that if they identified us as media positively, and then pulled the trigger.”
At a press conference, Buffalo police captain Jeff Rinaldo said that any harm journalists suffered during the protests from police was incidental.
“We try as hard as we can to make sure that members of the media have access to these events. But when situations like this unfold, when we’re trying to disperse large crowds, there is the potential for media members to become part of the situation,” he said.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Officers from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources temporarily detained Atlanta Journal-Constitution photographer Alyssa Pointer as she covered protests in Atlanta, Georgia, on June 1, 2020.
Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Pointer told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she’d been following a group of protesters marching near City Hall when she realized they intended to try to get on the interstate south of the state Capitol. She heard an officer instruct others to arrest any protester who tried to go down an embankment toward the interstate, she said.
As the Georgia State Patrol began to make arrests, Pointer said she continued to photograph the scene. After she captured the arrest of two young women, an officer from the DNR demanded to know what she was doing.
The department, which usually provides law enforcement for outdoor recreation, was one of several state and local agencies assisting the Atlanta Police Department that day, DNR spokesperson Mark McKinnon told the Tracker.
Pointer responded that she was a journalist with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and said she was heading back up the embankment. Pointer’s press badge hung clearly visible around her neck, she said.
“I don’t care. You’re being detained,” the DNR officer said, according to Pointer. Two other officers followed that order and proceeded to detain her.
McKinnon said that two Atlanta Police Department officers told DNR officers to arrest everyone in the area where protesters were blocking traffic on the highway. DNR officers detained Pointer as part of that group.
Pointer told the Tracker that the officers were not able to handcuff her due to all of her equipment. So they took her two cameras and backpack and placed her in plastic restraints. They then hung her cameras around her neck.
Journalists walking among the protesters found Pointer sitting with her back against the support of an underpass surrounded by several DNR officers. In a livestream video by NBC affiliate 11Alive, reporter Doug Richards spots Pointer and asks, “Whoa, is that Alyssa?”
Two other journalists were already filming Pointer and talking to the officers. “She’s with the AJC!” Richards shouts in the video. A DNR officer responds that he did not know who detained her or why.
“It’s as if the story of these guys is that someone cuffed her and then walked away,” Richards explains to his livestream audience.
A DNR officer, seeing Pointer’s press badge, asked her who detained her. She said she did not know, because the initial officer had left after giving the order. An officer then left to search for his colleague, she said.
Pointer told the Tracker that one officer offered to write down a phone number for her to call once she was taken to jail. “I kept telling him I’m not going,” Pointer said, repeating that she was a journalist. “But they weren’t listening.”
McKinnon said a DNR supervisor ordered her release after Pointer provided evidence that she was a journalist.
Pointer’s restraints were removed; she’d been detained for approximately 10 minutes.
“Bottom line, I was going to jail if the journalists weren’t there,” Pointer told the Tracker.
Pointer gathered her things and immediately headed up the street to catch up with the protest. She had a job to do, she said.
Pointer told the Tracker it was frustrating to know the officers were not listening to her as a journalist or as a black woman.
“I’m not afraid, but there’s all this legacy of why I possibly should be,” she said. “So listen to a journalist when they tell you who they are. Don’t detain us. Let’s have a conversation.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred total incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd while in police custody. Find all of these cases here.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution photographer Alyssa Pointer was detained while covering protests in Atlanta on June 1, 2020. Three other journalists intervened on her behalf until she was released.
",detained and released without being processed,not charged,Atlanta Police Department,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, News Journal photographer one of three journalists detained by Philadelphia police past curfew,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/news-journal-photographer-one-three-journalists-detained-philadelphia-police-past-curfew/,2020-06-17 03:06:19.728001+00:00,2021-11-19 16:19:33.698204+00:00,2021-11-19 16:19:33.636010+00:00,,Arrest/Criminal Charge,,,,Jenna Miller (The News Journal and Delaware Online),,2020-06-01,False,Philadelphia,Pennsylvania (PA),39.95233,-75.16379,"Two journalists working for Wilmington’s The News Journal and Delaware Online were temporarily detained on June 1, 2020, the outlet reported. Philadelphia police arrested photographer Jenna Miller and reporter Jeff Neiburg as they returned home from reporting around 7 p.m., after the 6 p.m. curfew, Miller said in a tweet.
A third journalist was similarly detained that night in Philadelphia. Kristen Graham, a reporter for the daily Philadelphia Inquirer, was also arrested by police as she attempted to return to her car soon after the curfew, the paper reported.
Their respective outlets said the three journalists were reporting on protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 and spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
After the curfew set in by 6 p.m. and the protesters dispersed, Miller and Neiburg decided to go home and file their reporting, Neiburg said in an interview with the local radio station 97.5 The Fanatic. Miller’s bike was parked near police headquarters, so they headed in that direction.
They asked a police officer how to get there safely, who instructed the journalists to walk around the south side of City Hall, Neiburg said in the radio interview. As they walked, they saw police officers arresting people.
The journalists held their press credentials in the air, Neiburg said in the radio interview.
“They’re going to round you up, they’re going to round you up,” a group of officers warned the journalists. One of the police officers started to escort Miller and Neiburg out of concern they would be arrested, Neiburg said in the radio interview.
But two other officers interceded and overruled her, Neiburg said. The journalists were to be detained.
Miller said in a tweet after her release that they repeatedly identified themselves as journalists and showed their press credentials. But officers claimed they were under orders to detain everyone.
“I don’t believe you,” one officer told the journalists, in reference to their press credentials, according to Neiburg.
Miller and Neiburg were placed in plastic restraints and escorted to gender segregated buses, Neiburg said in the radio interview.
Graham wrote in her account for the Inquirer that she was also arrested near City Hall and brought to an empty bus that soon was filled with more than 20 women, including Miller from The News Journal. The journalists, with the other detainees, were then driven to the 22nd District Headquarters.
For two hours, the journalists remained on the buses, their outlets reported. In her Inquirer account, Graham described how the buses were not air conditioned and one woman urinated herself after not being allowed to use the bathroom. Another woman had a medical emergency and was eventually taken to receive medical care.
An officer informed the detainees on Graham and Miller’s bus they would be issued citations for violating the curfew and released by the end of the night, both journalists said.
Graham wrote in the Inquirer that she was eventually able to maneuver her hands in order to send texts to her husband and editor on her smartwatch. A lawyer for the Inquirer contacted city officials. Around 9 p.m., the journalists were released without charge but with an apology from officials.
City spokesperson Mike Dunn told the Tracker that Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney is “extremely troubled” by the detentions and has called some of the journalists. Both Mayor Kenney and Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw “are strongly committed to allowing press access so the public can be fully informed,” Dunn said.
Toward that end, Dunn said Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw ordered an investigation into the detentions. And police protocols that ensure “properly credentialed press are essential workers and not subject to restrictions of a curfew, as long as they are not impeding public safety or police operations […] have been reiterated repeatedly in internal communications to officers.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred total incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd. Find all of these cases here.
Two journalists working for Wilmington’s The News Journal and Delaware Online were temporarily detained on June 1, 2020, the outlet reported. Philadelphia police arrested reporter Jeff Neiburg and photographer Jenna Miller as they returned home from reporting around 7 p.m., after the 6 p.m. curfew, Miller said in a tweet.
A third journalist was similarly detained that night in Philadelphia. Kristen Graham, a reporter for the daily Philadelphia Inquirer, was also arrested by police as she attempted to return to her car soon after the curfew, the paper reported.
Their respective outlets said the three journalists were reporting on protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 and spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
As the curfew set in by 6 p.m. and the protesters dispersed, Miller and Neiburg decided to go home and file their reporting, Neiburg said in an interview with the local radio station 97.5 The Fanatic. Miller’s bike was parked near police headquarters, so they headed in that direction.
They asked a police officer how to get there safely, who instructed the journalists to walk around the south side of City Hall, Neiburg said in the radio interview. As they walked, they saw police officers arresting people.
The journalists held their press credentials in the air, Neiburg said in the radio interview.
“They’re going to round you up, they’re going to round you up,” a group of officers warned the journalists. One of the police officers started to escort Miller and Neiburg out of concern they would be arrested, Neiburg said in the radio interview.
But two other officers interceded and overruled her, Neiburg said. The journalists were to be detained.
Miller said in a tweet after her release that they repeatedly identified themselves as journalists and showed their press credentials. But officers claimed they were under orders to detain everyone.
“I don’t believe you,” one officer told the journalists, in reference to their press credentials, according to Neiburg.
Miller and Neiburg were placed in plastic restraints and escorted to gender segregated buses, Neiburg said in the radio interview.
Graham wrote in her account for the Inquirer that she was also arrested near City Hall and brought to an empty bus that soon was filled with more than 20 women, including Miller from The News Journal. The journalists, with the other detainees, were then driven to the 22nd District Headquarters.
For two hours, the journalists remained on the buses, their outlets reported. In her Inquirer account, Graham described how the buses were not air conditioned and one woman urinated herself after not being allowed to use the bathroom. Another woman had a medical emergency and was eventually taken to receive medical care.
An officer informed the detainees on Graham and Miller’s bus they would be issued citations for violating the curfew and released by the end of the night, both journalists said.
Graham wrote in the Inquirer that she was eventually able to maneuver her hands in order to send texts to her husband and editor on her smartwatch. A lawyer for the Inquirer contacted city officials. Around 9 p.m., the journalists were released without charge but with an apology from officials.
City spokesperson Mike Dunn told the Tracker that Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney is “extremely troubled” by the detentions and has called some of the journalists. Both Mayor Kenney and Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw “are strongly committed to allowing press access so the public can be fully informed,” Dunn said.
Toward that end, Dunn said Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw ordered an investigation into the detentions. And police protocols that ensure “properly credentialed press are essential workers and not subject to restrictions of a curfew, as long as they are not impeding public safety or police operations […] have been reiterated repeatedly in internal communications to officers.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred total incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd. Find all of these cases here.
Police shot projectiles at freelance journalist Sam Bishop after he identified himself as press to officers while covering a protest in Worcester, Massachusetts on June 1, 2020.
Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Bishop, who has produced work for The Daily Dot and Patch.com, was recording protests on his Twitter page. He told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the scene grew tense when police in riot gear began arresting protesters and dispersing the crowd using pepper spray and projectiles, interrupting what he described as a peaceful demonstration up until that point.
A Worcester Police Department press release says that officers began to use “less-lethal measures including smoke grenades and pepperball rounds” after people in the crowd targeted them.
As the protest thinned out, he said, police continued to shoot tear gas and projectiles and people threw tear gas canisters and rocks at the police. Bishop said he identified himself as a member of the press to a sergeant who assured him that he would not be attacked or targeted as long as he was not breaking the law.
“At this point, most of the crowd was about maybe 300 yards back from the riot squad officers when I went up to them,” Bishop told the Tracker.
Bishop stood away from the crowd to avoid projectiles when he said an officer, who was standing close to the sergeant he had spoken with, started shooting at him with projectiles. He believes the officer overheard him seeking assurances from his colleague, and was deliberately targeting him.
“As I'm going back, probably off to the side from the main street, I'm up on the sidewalk, it's clear, I'm alone, there's nobody else near me,” Bishop said. “And then suddenly, I can see in front of me, and I guess kind of behind me the pavement being chipped off from the roadway [from the force of the projectiles].”
“I'm close enough that he can clearly see who I am, and I can see who he is,” said Bishop, who said he was wearing press identification.
Bishop said he moved back into the crowd to avoid being singled out by the police again. Inside the crowd, he was exposed to tear gas, which later caused him to develop a skin rash.
“For a couple days after what happened my face was blistered off,” Bishop said. “I don't know if it was tear gas burns or some kind of allergic reaction, but my forehead and the base of my nose was really just like red and kind of burned.”
The Tracker contacted the Worcester Police Department to ask about the incident and the projectiles used. In response, a representative clarified that the department does not use rubber bullets. The representative did not immediately respond to follow up questions about Bishop’s other claims, but directed the Tracker to its press release detailing the department’s version of the night’s events.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred total incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd while in police custody. Find these cases here.
In a response to request for additional comment, the Worcester Police Department guided the Tracker to its press release. This article has been updated to reflect that release.
After being targeted by police with projectiles on June 1 in Worcester, Massachusetts, journalist Sam Bishop says he retreated into the crowd, only to have a chemical reaction after tear gas was used.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, chemical irritant, protest, shot / shot at",,,,, Journalist detained by Omaha police for covering protests after curfew,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-one-three-detained-omaha-police-covering-protests-after-curfew/,2020-06-20 13:40:14.226105+00:00,2021-11-09 21:49:29.554088+00:00,2021-11-09 21:49:29.499200+00:00,,"Arrest/Criminal Charge, Equipment Search or Seizure",,backpack: count of 1,,Michelle Renne Leach (Freelance),,2020-06-01,False,Omaha,Nebraska (NE),41.25626,-95.94043,"Michelle Renne Leach, a freelance journalist on assignment for the Daily Beast, was briefly detained by police in Omaha, Nebraska, while covering a protest against police violence on June 1, 2020, she told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
Leach was one of at least six journalists who were either detained, searched or aggressively confronted by law enforcement while covering the protest that evening, according to several journalists on the ground that night.
For days, Omaha officials had struggled to respond to escalating protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 and spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Protesters once again gathered on June 1 after Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine announced that a white bar owner would not be charged in the fatal shooting of a 22-year-old black man two days earlier, according to the Associated Press. Kleine said the bar owner had fired in self-defense.
The Daily Beast had contacted Leach to report on the developing story, she told the Tracker. When she arrived at the protest, Leach found a calm scene. But things escalated quickly as an 8 p.m. curfew drew close, she said.
Several hundred protesters peacefully engaged with police and National Guardsmen only a block away from the location of the bar shooting in the Old Market area, according to news reports.
After protesters and law enforcement took a knee together, Deputy Police Chief Ken Kanger attempted to escort a large group of the remaining protesters out of the area so they could return home for curfew, according to the Omaha World-Herald. But a water bottle was thrown, pepper balls were fired and the chaos of mass arrests quickly enveloped the block.
Leach told the Tracker she captured an image of police cuffing a kneeling protester right before she, too, was detained. She said one of the arresting officers knew she was a journalist because she had talked to him earlier to get estimates of the number of protesters and officers.
“I was just confused that I was even being arrested because he knew I was just trying to do my job,” Leach said.
The police cuffed Leach in plastic restraints and placed her phone and notebook into her bag. She said at least two officers then led her to a fenced area across the street where they were holding others in custody. They then searched her belongings.
Leach repeatedly insisted she was a journalist throughout her detention and search of her belongings.
At least five other journalists were caught up in the police action as well. The Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests here.
The incidents occurred despite the curfew explicitly excluding "members of the media.” As police waited to transport the arrested protesters, they asked members of the media to leave the area, World-Herald reporter Mike Sautter told the Tracker. The block was “like a crime scene,” the police said.
The detained journalists, including Leach, were eventually released.
Police took Leach away from the other protesters to investigate whether she was a journalist, she told the Tracker. She did not have press credentials.
“I don’t know how much it really would have mattered,” she said, citing the treatment of the other journalists. “The onus really fell on me to show them all of my work and prove who I was.”
After examining Leach’s online portfolio, officers found a National Guardsman to cut off her restraints, she said. The officers told her to hold onto them and gave her a slip of paper to show to any other law enforcement official who might try to arrest her for a curfew violation as she returned home.
Leach said that only upon returning home, her hands tingling and numb, did she realize how tight the restraints had been tied.
Lieutenant Sherie Thomas, a spokesperson for the Omaha Police Department, told the Tracker that Police Chief Todd Schmaderer had ordered “an overall review of the protests.” Thomas later said that the department sent "clear communication" to news outlets "to make sure employees had visible badges showing that they work for the media" and to "wear highly visible vests."
Major Scott Ingalsbe, a spokesperson for the Nebraska National Guard, told the Tracker, “Once National Guardsmen and law enforcement were able to quickly and correctly identify members of the news media, they were released without arrest.”
"We appreciate the work journalists do and the service they provide to our community," Ingalsbe said. He added that he had personally reached out to outlets covering the protests and has yet to hear any indications the National Guard harmed them or interfered with their work.
Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert did not respond to request for comment.
Two days after the protest, the prosecutor reversed course on the shooting case, according to news reports. A grand jury would review the case after all.
Freelance journalist Michelle Renne Leach reports on anti-police violence protests in Omaha, Nebraska, on June 1, 2020, before being detained later in the day.
",detained and released without being processed,not charged,Omaha Police Department,None,None,True,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, Freelance journalist caught up in a wave of arrests in Omaha,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/freelance-journalist-caught-wave-arrests-omaha/,2020-06-22 03:53:01.303842+00:00,2021-11-19 16:23:21.735894+00:00,2021-11-19 16:23:21.664835+00:00,,Arrest/Criminal Charge,,,,Megan Feeney (Freelance),,2020-06-01,False,Omaha,Nebraska (NE),41.25626,-95.94043,"Freelance reporter Megan Feeney was briefly detained by police in Omaha, Nebraska, as she covered a protest against police violence on June 1, 2020, she told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
Feeney was on assignment for public outlets NET News and America Amplified, she wrote in an article for NET News, home to Nebraska’s PBS and NPR stations.
Feeney was one of at least six journalists who were either detained, searched or aggressively confronted by law enforcement while covering the protest that evening, according to several journalists on the ground that night.
For days, Omaha officials had struggled to respond to escalating protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 and spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Protesters once again gathered on June 1 after Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine announced that a white bar owner would not be charged in the fatal shooting of a 22-year-old Black man two days earlier, according to the Associated Press. Kleine said the bar owner had fired in self-defense.
Several hundred protesters peacefully engaged with police and National Guardsmen only a block away from the location of the bar shooting in the Old Market area, according to news reports.
After protesters and law enforcement took a knee together, Deputy Police Chief Ken Kanger attempted to escort a large group of the remaining protesters out of the area so they could return home for the city’s 8 p.m. curfew, according to the Omaha World-Herald. But a water bottle was thrown, pepper balls were fired and the chaos of mass arrests quickly enveloped the block.
Despite the media exemption to the curfew, Feeney knew she risked being detained for continuing to report past 8 p.m., she told the Tracker. She was especially at risk as a freelancer without credentials.
“I felt the need to witness what happened next despite the consequences,” she said.
Feeney was not the only journalist who faced consequences for continuing to report past curfew. At least five other journalists were caught up in the police action as well, including two who were briefly detained. The Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests here.
The incidents occurred despite the curfew explicitly excluding “members of the media.” As police waited to transport the arrested protesters, they asked members of the media to leave the area, World-Herald reporter Mike Sautter told the Tracker. The block was “like a crime scene,” the police said.
In videos by KMTV’s Kent Luetzen, who was nearly detained himself, and Omaha World-Herald’s Aaron Sanderford, a police officer escorts Feeney down the street. Feeney is wearing a yellow reflective vest with “PRESS” written on the front. She identifies as a freelancer for NET News and America Amplified, a microphone resting on her hip and a camera dangling from her zip-tied hands.
Feeney was escorted to a hot police van holding other people in custody, she wrote for NET News. She told the Tracker, “I had no way of verifying to the arresting officer that I was media other than my word.”
NET News learned of her detention on Twitter and contacted Omaha police, Feeney said. Michael Pecha, a public information officer for the Omaha police, tweeted just before 9 p.m. that another officer, Joseph Nickerson, was on his way “to sort this out.”
The detained journalists, including Feeney, were eventually released.
Lieutenant Sherie Thomas, a spokesperson for the Omaha Police Department, told the Tracker that Police Chief Todd Schmaderer had ordered “an overall review of the protests.” Thomas later said that the department sent “clear communication” to news outlets “to make sure employees had visible badges showing that they work for the media” and to “wear highly visible vests.”
Major Scott Ingalsbe, a spokesperson for the Nebraska National Guard, told the Tracker, “Once National Guardsmen and law enforcement were able to quickly and correctly identify members of the news media, they were released without arrest.”
“We appreciate the work journalists do and the service they provide to our community,” Ingalsbe said. He added that he had personally reached out to outlets covering the protests and has yet to hear any indications the National Guard harmed them or interfered with their work.
Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert did not respond to request for comment.
Two days after the protest, the prosecutor reversed course on the shooting case, according to news reports. A grand jury would review the case after all.
An Omaha police officer escorts freelancer Megan Feeney, a camera dangling from her zip-tied hands, on June 1, 2020.
",detained and released without being processed,not charged,Omaha Police Department,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, Police search journalist’s bag and detain three other journalists in Omaha,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/police-search-journalists-bag-and-arrest-three-other-journalists-in-omaha/,2020-06-22 04:01:09.911258+00:00,2020-06-22 14:43:16.148002+00:00,2020-06-22 14:43:16.056149+00:00,,Equipment Search or Seizure,,backpack: count of 1,,Reece Ristau (Omaha World-Herald),,2020-06-01,False,Omaha,Nebraska (NE),41.25626,-95.94043,"A member of the Sarpy County Sheriff’s Office searched the bag of Omaha World-Herald reporter Reece Ristau as he covered a protest against police violence in Omaha, Nebraska, on June 1, 2020, Ristau told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
Ristau was one of at least six journalists who were either detained, searched or aggressively confronted by law enforcement while covering the protest that evening, according to several journalists on the ground that night.
For days, Omaha officials had struggled to respond to escalating protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 and spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Protesters once again gathered on June 1 after Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine announced that a white bar owner would not be charged in the fatal shooting of a 22-year-old Black man two days earlier, according to the Associated Press. Kleine said the bar owner had fired in self-defense.
Several hundred protesters peacefully engaged with police and National Guardsmen only a block away from the location of the bar shooting in the Old Market area, according to news reports.
After protesters and law enforcement took a knee together, Deputy Police Chief Ken Kanger attempted to escort a large group of the remaining protesters out of the area so they could return home for the city’s curfew, according to the Omaha World-Herald. But a water bottle was thrown, pepper balls were fired and the chaos of mass arrests quickly enveloped the block.
Ristau told the Tracker that when he saw officers don gas masks, he put on his orange vest and safety glasses. With a large press badge around his neck, Ristau began filming arrests.
“Once the first pepper balls were fired, things moved quickly,” Ristau said.
In a video Ristau posted to his social media, a police officer kicks, punches and stomps on a protester struggling on the ground with two National Guardsmen. Ristau continues to film as he walks into the crowd of arrested protesters. Crying and coughing can be heard over the ratcheting of zip ties. An officer then warns Ristau in the video to “Back it up.”
Shortly thereafter, a Sarpy County Sheriff officer tapped Ristau on the shoulder and said he needed to search Ristau’s backpack, Ristau told the Tracker. Ristau said he was unsure of the officer’s rank.
Ristau showed his press badge and said he did not consent to a search. But the officer insisted and threatened to jail Ristau if he did not comply, Ristau said.
Out of the corner of his eye, Ristau noticed his colleague Anna Reed focus her camera in his direction, he said. Her photo of the search shows Ristau in safety goggles, mask and bright orange vest holding his backpack in front of the officer equipped in riot gear, plastic restraints hanging at the ready.
Without Ristau’s consent, the officer searched through Ristau’s bag. Ristau said the officer did not ask to search his phone or question him about his reporting.
At least five other journalists were caught up in the police action as well, including three who were briefly detained. The Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests here.
The incidents occurred despite the curfew explicitly excluding “members of the media.” As police waited to transport the arrested protesters, they asked members of the media to leave the area, World-Herald reporter Mike Sautter told the Tracker. The block was “like a crime scene,” the police said.
The detained journalists were eventually released.
Ristau said that his paper’s executive editor, Randy Essex, complained about the search to the Omaha mayor, Jean Stothert, and law enforcement officials.
Sarpy County Sheriff Chief Deputy Greg London refused to respond to questions about the search of Ristau’s bag.
“Just like a journalist, I’d be extremely remiss if I responded to secondhand information that I haven’t verified,” he said, adding that Ristau can file a formal complaint or contact him if he felt mistreated.
Lieutenant Sherie Thomas, a spokesperson for the Omaha Police Department, told the Tracker that Police Chief Todd Schmaderer had ordered “an overall review of the protests.” Thomas later said that the department sent “clear communication” to news outlets “to make sure employees had visible badges showing that they work for the media” and to “wear highly visible vests.”
Major Scott Ingalsbe, a spokesperson for the Nebraska National Guard, told the Tracker, “Once National Guardsmen and law enforcement were able to quickly and correctly identify members of the news media, they were released without arrest.”
“We appreciate the work journalists do and the service they provide to our community,” Ingalsbe said. He added that he had personally reached out to outlets covering the protests and has yet to hear any indications the National Guard harmed them or interfered with their work.
Mayor Stothert did not respond to request for comment.
Two days after the protest, the prosecutor reversed course on the shooting case, according to news reports. A grand jury would review the case after all.
The headline of this article was updated to emphasize the journalists were detained, not arrested.
A member of the Sarpy County Sheriff’s Office searches the bag of Omaha World-Herald reporter Reece Ristau on June 1, 2020, in Omaha, Nebraska.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, KMTV journalists caught up in arrests in Omaha,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/kmtv-journalists-caught-arrests-omaha/,2020-06-22 04:13:18.149675+00:00,2021-11-19 16:20:18.197656+00:00,2021-11-19 16:20:18.132251+00:00,,Arrest/Criminal Charge,,,,Jon Kipper (KMTV 3 News Now),,2020-06-01,False,Omaha,Nebraska (NE),41.25626,-95.94043,"Jon Kipper, a reporter for CBS affiliate KMTV, was briefly detained by police in Omaha, Nebraska, as he covered a protest against police violence on June 1, 2020, Kipper said on social media.
Kipper was one of at least six journalists who were either detained, searched or aggressively confronted by law enforcement while covering the protest that evening, according to several journalists on the ground that night.
For days, Omaha officials had struggled to respond to escalating protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 and spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Protesters once again gathered on June 1 after Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine announced that a white bar owner would not be charged in the fatal shooting of a 22-year-old Black man two days earlier, according to the Associated Press. Kleine said the bar owner had fired in self-defense.
Several hundred protesters peacefully engaged with police and National Guardsmen only a block away from the location of the bar shooting in the Old Market area, according to news reports.
Shortly before the city’s 8 p.m. curfew, Kipper shared a photo on Twitter of Deputy Police Chief Kanger kneeling with other law enforcement officers and protesters.
Kanger then attempted to escort a large group of the remaining protesters out of the area so they could return home for curfew, according to the Omaha World-Herald. But a water bottle was thrown, pepper balls were fired and the chaos of mass arrests quickly enveloped the block.
In a video Kipper posted on Twitter, police can be seen making arrests amid a chaotic chorus of pepper ball shots, screams and shouts of “On the ground!” Kipper swings the camera to the left to show an advancing line of riot police.
“I’m media,” Kipper says to the approaching officers. He repeats it again, and then a third time even louder.
“On the ground!” an officer orders Kipper, who appears to lower himself as the camera angle shifts. For a fourth and fifth time, Kipper says he’s media.
The officer reaches out and suddenly the camera—and Kipper—tumble to the pavement. For a sixth time, Kipper yells that he’s media—this time with an expletive for emphasis. Then the video cuts out.
At the same time on the same block, two of Kipper’s colleagues were also nearly detained. Reporters Maya Saenz and Kent Luetzen both recorded videos of a National Guardsman apparently attempting to detain them.
In the videos, Luetzen repeatedly says, “We’re fine. We’re fine,” as law enforcement make arrests all around them. Suddenly, a National Guardsman grabs Luetzen. Both journalists repeatedly scream, “We are media! We are media!” before the guardsman disengages.
Saenz films a protester shrieking as a police officer brings them into custody. Another officer screams, “Get out!” at the journalists. They then weave around several protesters on the ground in an attempt to find safety.
“OK, I think it’s time to go,” Saenz says in the video after leaving the block.
Both Kipper and Saenz were wearing polo shirts with a KMTV logo. It is not clear from the footage whether Luentzen was also displaying the logo.
Kipper said on Twitter he was released after an officer took him to the side of the action and confirmed his profession.
At least three other journalists were caught up in the police action as well, including two who were briefly detained. The Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests here.
The incidents occurred despite the curfew explicitly excluding “members of the media.” As police waited to transport the arrested protesters, they asked members of the media to leave the area, World-Herald reporter Mike Sautter told the Tracker. The block was “like a crime scene,” the police said.
The detained journalists were eventually released.
Lieutenant Sherie Thomas, a spokesperson for the Omaha Police Department, told the Tracker that Police Chief Todd Schmaderer had ordered “an overall review of the protests.” Thomas later said that the department sent “clear communication” to news outlets “to make sure employees had visible badges showing that they work for the media” and to “wear highly visible vests.”
Major Scott Ingalsbe, a spokesperson for the Nebraska National Guard, told the Tracker, “Once National Guardsmen and law enforcement were able to quickly and correctly identify members of the news media, they were released without arrest.”
“We appreciate the work journalists do and the service they provide to our community,” Ingalsbe said. He added that he had personally reached out to KMTV and other outlets covering the protests and has yet to hear any indications the National Guard harmed them or interfered with their work.
Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert did not respond to request for comment. The KMTV journalists also did not respond to requests for comment.
Two days after the protest, the prosecutor reversed course on the shooting case, according to news reports. A grand jury would review the case after all.
Independent photojournalist Joe Piette was shot by law enforcement officers with a projectile that injured his hand and destroyed his camera while covering protests in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on June 1, 2020.
Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 have spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Piette told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was photographing protesters as they poured onto the I-676 highway, halting traffic in both directions at around 5 p.m. Minutes later, Piette said, Philadelphia police began firing tear gas into the crowd.
“I was one of many people who ran up a grass embankment through a lot of gas fumes to street level,” he said.
Piette told the Tracker that once he was out of the gas, protesters helped pour water into his eyes and he crossed to the other side of the expressway, where there were very few people.
“From that vantage point, I had a good view of police continuing to shoot [crowd control munitions] at protesters as they tried to flee up an embankment and over a 10-foot-tall fence,” Piette said. “I took a few photos, and suddenly my camera was shot out of my hands and I felt a lot of pain in my right hand.”
After looking at his photos the following day, Piette saw that his second-to-last image shows an officer on top of a tank approximately 20 feet from him. Piette told the Tracker that he assumes that is the officer who shot at him.
While Piette was not wearing any press identifiers, he told the Tracker that the officer had no cause to shoot at him, as he was standing away from the disturbance and with no other people around him.
“The camera is totaled. The glass was shot out of the lens. The in-camera flash is stuck in the up position. When I turn on power, nothing happens,” Piette said.
Piette told the Tracker that he went to the hospital to have his hand X-rayed. While it was not broken, he said that it was discolored, sore and swollen.
“This is an attack on the press, a clear violation of the Constitution. I have a right, as every citizen does, to film and report on police activities, especially when the police are violating the rights of peaceful protesters,” Piette said.
In a late-night statement on June 1, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney and Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said that officers had no choice but to use tear gas after the protest turned violent, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
WHYY reported that there does not appear to be evidence to support those claims.
Neither Mayor Kenney nor the Philadelphia Police Department responded to requests for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred total incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Photojournalist Joe Piette captured this image of Pennsylvania police officers using crowd control ammunition during a protest on June 1, 2020, moments before he was hit with one of the projectiles.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, chemical irritant, protest, shot / shot at",,,,, Dallas Morning News photojournalist caught in crossfire documenting protesters on bridge,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/dallas-morning-news-photojournalist-caught-crossfire-documenting-protesters-bridge/,2020-06-25 20:59:04.260469+00:00,2022-03-10 17:06:26.962600+00:00,2022-03-10 17:06:26.896705+00:00,,Assault,,,,Ryan Michalesko (Dallas Morning News),,2020-06-01,False,Dallas,Texas (TX),32.78306,-96.80667,"A newspaper photographer was struck in the thigh by a foam round while documenting protesters hemmed in by law enforcement on a bridge in Dallas, Texas, on June 1, 2020.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
June 1 marked the second night of downtown Dallas’ 7 p.m. curfew, from which journalists were expressly excluded.
At around 9 p.m., Ryan Michalesko, a staff photojournalist at the Dallas Morning News, was photographing a group of several hundred protesters who’d marched from the county courthouse to the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge, an architectural landmark that spans the Trinity River and connects downtown and west Dallas.
A police line began to form across the bridge, Michalesko told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in an email. “Over their speakers they ordered the protesters to stop moving forward and turn around. At this point many of the protesters took a knee with their arms in the air,” he wrote. Police then deployed canisters of smoke into the crowd, followed by tear gas.
Police in gas masks and riot gear began advancing on protesters from both sides of the bridge, employing a technique known as “kettling” to hem them into a small area. As protesters came to realize what was happening, Michalesko turned toward them, exposing his back to police, he told the Tracker. “I knew at that moment it was important I find a way to capture the fear in people’s eyes as they found themselves trapped,” Michalesko wrote.
As he took photos, he regularly looked back over his shoulder at police. “This is when I was struck with a less-lethal round in the back of my upper thigh. I felt it hit, realized what had happened as I watched the blue-tipped projectile bounce across the ground,” he continued.
Michalesko was wearing press credentials, holding a camera and had another camera around his neck. But the shot came from 25 feet away, he estimated, putting him too far from police to be identifiable as press. He was unable to identify to which agency the officer who fired the shot belonged.
Police then began to command everyone on the bridge to lie down on their stomachs, before firing foam rounds and other projectiles. “I could tell they were aiming these at the ground near people’s feet,” he wrote. Michalesko complied with police commands and continued to snap photos of the moving line from his stomach. “I also felt like the officers were at this point still too far away for me to face them and attempt to declare myself as press. I had already been hit once and didn’t want it to happen again,” he wrote.
When he saw an officer nearby, he shouted, “I am a photojournalist with the Dallas Morning News. Don’t shoot!” He then asked if he could stand up and continue to take photographs. According to Michalesko’s recounting, the officer said yes, before adding the caveat, “But if I tell you to move, you need to move quick.”
Michalesko continued to work, filming and photographing the scene as police zip-tied protesters’ hands and lined them up. He observed members of the Dallas Police Department, state troopers from the Texas Department of Public Safety, National Guardsmen and FBI agents as protesters were being detained and processed.
Police have surrounded the protesters on the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge and are arresting everyone. @dallasnews pic.twitter.com/OtnOvPE6wl
— Ryan Michalesko (@photosbylesko) June 2, 2020
Some 674 protesters on the bridge were cited with obstructing a freeway and released, the Dallas Morning News reported, but those charges were all later dropped.
When he returned home, Michalesko was able to inspect his bruise, describing it as “black, blue, and about the size of a baseball.” It remained sore for a full week, making sitting uncomfortable, he said.
Whatever you want to call it: rubber bullet, foam bullet, less-lethal ammunition. I was hit in the rear with this on the bridge Monday night as I was caught between the police line advancing from the west and protesters. It still hurts to sit. https://t.co/GgWzpzvh6y pic.twitter.com/IX9kqd1Tqu
— Ryan Michalesko (@photosbylesko) June 6, 2020
A slideshow of Michalesko’s photos from the evening can be seen here.
Melinda Gutierrez, a spokesperson for the Dallas Police Department told the Tracker, “Not having specific details from the person involved and taking in to account the atmosphere, it’s challenging to provide a comment about an incident that is unfamiliar.” A spokesperson for the Texas Department of Public Safety wrote in an email that the agency “did not use any less lethal projectiles (e.g. rubber munition) during the protests on the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge on June 1.” The Texas National Guard did not return an emailed request for comment as of press time.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering Black Lives Matter protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Police surround and detain hundreds of protesters on the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge in Dallas, Texas on June 1, 2020. Dallas Morning News photojournalist Ryan Michalesko was hit with a projectile while reporting.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,no,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest, shot / shot at",,,,, Journalist hit by multiple individuals while broadcasting live from Times Square,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-hit-multiple-individuals-while-broadcasting-live-times-square/,2020-06-26 14:13:21.903653+00:00,2021-05-25 17:48:21.182189+00:00,2021-05-25 17:48:21.119019+00:00,,Assault,,,,Hasanuzzaman Saki (Somoy TV),,2020-06-01,False,New York,New York (NY),None,None,"Hasanuzzaman Saki, a journalist for the Bengali-language news organization Somoy TV, was attacked by individuals in New York City on June 1, 2020.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
According to an interview the journalist gave to Somoy TV, Saki was in Times Square around 11 p.m. doing a standup to camera when he was attacked. In a video of the incident published on YouTube, he can be seen in front of a line of people, all wearing face masks. One smacks him on the back of the head while walking by; then, a second person takes a swing at him. Saki said the individuals also attacked his cameraperson and tried to confiscate the camera, but the Tracker was unable to independently verify that information. He added that he identified himself as a member of the media, was wearing a press pass and holding a microphone.
It’s unclear who the attackers were or what their motivations were.
“I never thought that I, myself, would become the news,” Saki told Somoy TV, according to an English-language write-up of the interview on TBS News, a site that focuses on Bangladesh.
Somoy TV and Saki did not respond to a request for an interview. The New York Police Department did not immediately respond when asked if this incident had been reported.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
People fill Times Square in New York City on June 1, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, "Journalist choked, pushed in encounter with police officers while covering protest in Ohio",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-choked-pushed-encounter-police-officers-while-covering-protest-ohio/,2020-06-29 17:36:38.156494+00:00,2022-02-14 17:33:40.431983+00:00,2022-02-14 17:33:40.370373+00:00,,Assault,,,,Nick Swartsell (Independent),,2020-06-01,False,Cincinnati,Ohio (OH),39.12711,-84.51439,"Journalist Nick Swartsell said police officers grabbed and pulled him by the bandana around his neck as he reported on protests in Cincinnati, Ohio, on June 1, 2020.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the U.S. since the end of May.
Police officers began to arrest protestors in the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood shortly after the 8 p.m. curfew went into effect, said Swartsell, news editor for the weekly publication CityBeat Cincinnati. When Swartsell and another journalist, Pat Brennan of the Cincinnati Enquirer, walked around the right side of a police vehicle to observe an arrest taking place near the intersection of West McMicken Avenue and Mohawk Place, an officer told them to move to the other side of the vehicle, Swartsell said.
While complying with the orders, Swartsell said an officer suddenly yanked him by the back of the bandana tied around his neck, and pulled him backwards. The journalist was pulled so forcibly, he said, that he was choked by the bandana and felt like he couldn't breathe for several seconds. He was then pushed into a crowd of officers with shields who shoved him off to the side.
Police grabbing media. I was grabbed by my bandana from behind and pulled into a group of officers as they approached me. An enquirer reporter just hauled off. pic.twitter.com/cNreMVFgyH
— Nick Swartsell (@nswartsell) June 2, 2020
Swartsell told the Tracker that he momentarily glimpsed body armor but otherwise couldn’t see the officer who had pulled him. He also said that he was unaware of body camera footage that captured the incident.
The force of the assault left red marks around Swartsell’s neck for several hours but he told the Tracker that he was otherwise uninjured. He immediately resumed reporting on the arrests. The journalist is covering the protests pro bono for CityBeat while on furlough due to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Enquirer’s Brennan was then forcibly detained by police, which the Tracker documented separately.
The Cincinnati Police Department did not return requests for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. Find all of these cases here.
Police struck a Dallas journalist with projectiles, zip-tied his wrists and placed him under arrest while he was covering a protest march against police violence on a bridge over the Trinity River in Dallas, Texas on June 1, 2020.
Steven Monacelli, a freelance writer on assignment for the Dallas Voice, an LGBT magazine serving north Texas, had been documenting the march of several hundred protesters from the Dallas County courthouse to the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge over the Trinity River, he told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. The evening of June 1 was the second that downtown Dallas was under a 7 p.m. curfew, from which members of the media were explicitly exempt.
On the bridge, police employed a technique known as “kettling” to hem in demonstrators from both sides. Monacelli was standing between the crowd and a police line, hugging one side of the bridge, when police began advancing towards the crowd, he said. One of the officers fired a wooden pellet, he said, which hit someone nearby before falling to the ground near Monacelli’s feet.
Seconds later, Monacelli was hit by a projectile. “I just got hit in the leg,” he exclaims on a video recording of the incident, which he posted to Instagram. A second projectile then struck his backpack and lower back. “They shot me twice, I’ve been shot twice with wooden pellets.”
Monacelli was wearing PRESS badges on his front and back, but said he didn’t have the opportunity to verbally identify himself as a member of the media before police fired on the crowd. He said it was dark on the bridge and very loud.
Monacelli told the Tracker while he initially suspected the projectiles that hit him were made of wood, he now believes the object that hit the back of his left thigh was a canister of tear gas, because of the sound it made on the video and the size of his resulting bruise. “In various videos of the moment at which I was shot you can hear a loud ‘POP’ and then metal sounding ricochet,” he tweeted days later.
The second projectile he believes was a green marking round, he said. Another freelance journalist on the bridge, Benjamin Diez, captured a video of Monacelli being hit, showing the round that hit Monacelli’s back and backpack gave off a puff of green dust on impact.
Around ten minutes later, Monacelli was then detained with a group of protesters, despite his repeated declarations that he was a member of the media, he said. The officers demanded to see Monacelli’s laminated press credentials, which he didn’t have, and ignored his repeated invitations to view his LinkedIn profile on his phone, as well as his email exchanges with his editors.
“I'm reporting for the Dallas Voice, I've got the email from the editor. I'm a freelance journalist, so I can show you all the information...the magazine I'm with,” he told the police, in a video he posted to Instagram. He said he had emailed his editor, who he hoped would call the police. “Not sure what else I could do to show you who I am.”
“What sort of credentials, when you ask me that, are you looking for?” Monacelli asked the officer standing before him. The officer replied that he wanted to see a press ID on a lanyard. "I'm stuck here because I don't have a laminated card," Monacelli then tells the viewers of his Instagram livestream.
After detaining him over an hour, an officer placed him in zip ties at around 10:40 p.m. and told him he was under arrest. “Are you aware that I am a member of the press?” he said he asked the officer. In response, the officer replied, “you are under arrest,” Monacelli said.
After midnight, an officer took him up on his invitation to look at his email messages with his editor and his LinkedIn page. Satisfied he was a journalist, the officer released Monacelli from the zip ties. He was released without charges.
Later that morning, he snapped a photo of the newly formed bruise on the back of his leg, and posted it to Twitter on June 11. Monacelli documented his experience on the bridge in a story in the Dallas Voice and in a piece for Central Track, a website covering Dallas culture.
Ryan Michalesko, a staff photographer at the Dallas Morning News, was hit in the thigh with a foam round while covering the same protest on the bridge. That incident is documented here.
Asked for comment on Monacelli’s arrest and the use of projectiles that led to his injuries, a spokesman for the Dallas Police Department, Sgt. Warren Mitchell, wrote, “We are not at a place we can speak on a specific incident during any nights of the protests.”
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering Black Lives Matter protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Steven Monacelli, left, was hit with projectiles and detained while covering protests in Dallas, Texas, on the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge on June 1, 2020.
",detained and released without being processed,not charged,Dallas Police Department,None,None,False,3:21-cv-02649,['ONGOING'],Civil,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,no,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest, shot / shot at",,,,, "Photographer hit with projectile, tear gas while covering protests in Louisville",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-hit-projectile-tear-gas-while-covering-protests-louisville/,2020-07-08 12:22:55.718731+00:00,2022-03-10 17:07:00.936924+00:00,2022-03-10 17:07:00.876296+00:00,,Assault,,,,Amy Harris (Freelance),,2020-06-01,False,Louisville,Kentucky (KY),38.25424,-85.75941,"Freelance photographer Amy Harris was hit by pepper balls shot by law enforcement officers while covering protests in Louisville, Kentucky, on June 1, 2020.
The Associated Press reported that protests in Louisville have centered around the deaths of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, both of whom were Black. Taylor was shot eight times in her Louisville home in mid-March by narcotics police who broke down her door. Floyd died on May 25, after a white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, kneeled on his neck for several minutes during an arrest. Video of Floyd’s death has sparked protests across the country.
Harris told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she had been photographing peaceful protests for several hours around Jefferson Square Park when police officers, who had previously been present only on the roofs of surrounding buildings, began to appear on the ground to enforce a 9 p.m. curfew. At approximately 10:15, Harris said, officers lined up in riot formation and announced that everyone present was in violation of curfew and ordered them to disperse.
The officers then began to shoot tear gas and pepper balls in all directions, according to Harris, and she was hit with a pepper ball. Both she and a nearby TV news crew, with whom she had paired up with earlier in the day for safety purposes, all felt the tear gas, she said. Harris said it was impossible to know whether they had been targeted.
Harris and the other journalists tried to flee but couldn’t tell which direction the projectiles were coming from and felt surrounded on all sides, she told the Tracker. Eventually, they were able to retreat. Harris said they heard the sounds of gunshots from the crowd while leaving.
The TV crew and their security team accompanied Harris to her car and she was able to leave the scene. Harris said she had bruising from the pepper balls but otherwise was uninjured in the attack.
The Louisville Police Department did not respond to requests for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents — including others involving Harris — of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Photographer Amy Harris said she had been documenting protests around Louisville's Jefferson Square Park for several hours before she was hit with a projectile.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, chemical irritant, protest, shot / shot at",,,,, Freelance photojournalist arrested amid curfew crackdown in Los Angeles,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/freelance-photojournalist-arrested-amid-curfew-crackdown-los-angeles/,2020-07-28 03:26:57.868910+00:00,2021-11-19 16:25:14.540665+00:00,2021-11-19 16:25:14.464225+00:00,(2020-07-22 15:22:00+00:00) Charges dropped against freelance photojournalist arrested amid curfew crackdown in Los Angeles,"Arrest/Criminal Charge, Equipment Search or Seizure",,camera bag: count of 1,,Robert Spangle (Freelance),,2020-06-01,False,Los Angeles,California (CA),34.05223,-118.24368,"Freelance photojournalist Robert Spangle was arrested while covering protests against police violence in Los Angeles on June 1, 2020, he told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. Spangle’s exploration of fashion in the protests was published in British GQ and Achtung Digital.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the U.S. since the end of May.
As part of the protests, hundreds of demonstrators marched down Sunset Boulevard on June 1, according to news reports. But after a 6 p.m. curfew, the majority of protesters began to disperse, Spangle said. He decided to head back toward his car.
Along the way, Spangle realized that law enforcement had begun to block streets, trapping protesters and Spangle on Schrader Boulevard near a parking lot just north of Sunset Boulevard. Fear and confusion took over the block, Spangle said.
“This is kettling and we’re getting locked in here,” Spangle recalled thinking. “The thing to do is go out and loudly identify yourself as press.”
Spangle, who was wearing a helmet with the word PRESS on it, stepped into the middle of the street with a badge identifying him as press in one hand and his camera in the other.
“At the top of my voice, I very loudly announced, ‘Hey I’m a journalist,’” Spangle said. “‘What do you want me to do, officer?’”
But he received no response. Six or seven times he said he tried to the same effect. So Spangle turned and approached another line of officers in the same way. Five or six times more he identified as a journalist, he said. But still, there was no response. Spangle was trapped.
Shortly before 9 p.m., two officers approached Spangle and ordered Spangle to get on his knees and put his hands on the back of his head, he told the Tracker. He was then zip-cuffed.
“I let them do their thing,” Spangle said. “I said, ‘Hey sir, please look at my press badge. I’m here as a journalist. I’m covering the event. I’m complying.’” He told the Tracker that he tried to draw on his military experience to respond in a calm, professional manner to resolve what he assumed was a mistake.
Officers brought Spangle to a fence where they were gathering others that had been arrested, he said. Spangle asked a journalist on the other side of the fence, which was outside the police cordon, to contact his editor at GQ about his arrest.
After about thirty minutes, Spangle said he was taken to a transport vehicle along with other people who had been arrested. Officers performed a search of Spangle’s possessions and confiscated a small camera bag. But they left his cameras, press badge, and phone with him, Spangle said.
Spangle said he never heard an officer acknowledge his repeated attempts to identify as a journalist. “I think there were efforts for those kinds of things to not be said out loud,” Spangle said.
As he got on the bus, he asked an officer to inform the supervisor he is a journalist, Spangle told the Tracker. The officer responded, “All I can say to you is you’ll be alright,” Spangle said. Spangle interpreted the answer as evidence that a bad command decision had been made to arrest everyone in the area, journalist or not.
The bus drove around the city for hours, stopping at two other locations, until stopping to process the arrestees shortly before midnight at the parking lot of UCLA’s Jackie Robinson Stadium, Spangle said. He was one of the last on the bus to be released on a charge of violating the Los Angeles County curfew.
The university later issued a statement saying it was "troubled" that the stadium was used as a processing center "without UCLA's knowledge or permission.”
Spangle said he was arrested by Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies, who wear a distinct tan and green uniform that contrasts the dark blue worn by officers with the Los Angeles Police Department. Spangle said he was transported in a sheriff’s bus. He received a citation from the LAPD at a processing center in western Los Angeles and said he received his seized camera bag back with the citation.
Spokespeople for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and LAPD told the Tracker that they could not provide specific information on Spangle’s arrest because of the sheer number of arrests made during the protests.
Footage from news helicopters that night shows LAPD officers, assisted by sheriff’s deputies, attempting to contain multiple marches and scattered looting across Hollywood. Arrested individuals were boarded on to sheriff’s buses for transport. The LAPD arrested a record-breaking 585 people in Hollywood alone, NBC reported, citing department officials.
Officer Drake Madison, an LAPD spokesperson, suggested filing a public records request. On June 24, LAPD denied a records request concerning Spangle’s arrest filed by journalist security expert Runa Sandvik with the collaborative reporting website MuckRock. In its response, LAPD said investigatory records are exempt from disclosure.
On June 8, Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey announced that she would not prosecute citations for violating curfew or failing to disperse, while Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer said he would resolve cases involving peaceful protesters in a “restorative approach” outside of the court system.
On June 10, the LAPD said it had assigned 40 investigators to examine “allegations of misconduct, violations of Department policy, and excessive force during the recent civil unrest.”
Spangle said he did not feel any bitterness toward the officers who were following orders. “They were professional; they were courteous,” Spangle said. “They did the wrong thing but they did it professionally and in a courteous way.”
“Somewhere along the line there was a really bad call made,” Spangle said. He described it as, “press or whatever, it doesn’t matter, we’re arresting everyone.”
Rob Wilcox, a spokesperson for Feuer, told the Tracker that the office is in the process of sending thousands of declination letters to those arrested on curfew related charges. The letter says the office will use its prosecutorial discretion to not file criminal charges and invites the recipient to join a series of virtual conversations on law enforcement, bias, and injustice. Wilcox said 2,044 letters had been sent as of July 27 and the remainder will be sent by the end of the week.
Spangle said as of July 27 he had not yet received the letter.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred total incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering Black Lives Matter protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Freelance photojournalist Robert Spangle captured this image of a Los Angeles processing center seen from the parking lot of UCLA’s Jackie Robinson Stadium shortly after his arrest on June 1, 2020.
",arrested and released,charges dropped,Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, kettle, protest",,curfew violation: breaking curfew order,,, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reporter assaulted while covering Little Rock protests,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/arkansas-democrat-gazette-reporter-assaulted-while-covering-little-rock-protests/,2020-07-21 02:18:44.373413+00:00,2020-07-21 02:21:53.236847+00:00,2020-07-21 02:21:53.168331+00:00,,"Assault, Equipment Damage",,,notebook: count of 1,Tony Holt (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette),,2020-06-01,False,Little Rock,Arkansas (AR),34.74648,-92.28959,"Tony Holt, a reporter for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, was struck in the face and injured while he covered protests in Little Rock, Arkansas, on June 1, 2020.
Protests in Little Rock began after the death of George Floyd, a Black man, who was killed during an arrest in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020, when a white police officer kneeled on his neck for more than eight minutes. Floyd’s death prompted widespread demonstrations against racism and police violence across the country.
Holt was reporting on the third day of protests in Little Rock when he was hit and hurt to the point of needing medical treatment.
Holt didn’t respond to a request for comment. Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Managing Editor Eliza Gaines detailed the incident in an interview with the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
Shortly before he was attacked, Holt tweeted that hundreds of people were still out a few minutes past the city’s 10 p.m. curfew. People had been throwing rocks through windows and damaging property, Gaines said. Holt was “in the thick of it,” she said, when he felt someone take his reporter’s notebook from his pocket. Then he was struck with something.
Gaines said many of the details around the attack were unclear. Holt doesn’t know exactly what happened to him, or who did it, she said.
A “good Samaritan” got him to emergency services, she said, and he was transferred to a hospital. Editors — alerted to the attack by a tweet Holt sent at the time — went to wait for word of his status outside the building, since Covid-19 restrictions barred them from entering.
The following day, Holt posted on Twitter that his nose was broken in the attack and that he was in the hospital for five hours.
“I have no memory of the attack last night in Little Rock, but there was a small group among the rioters who clearly didn’t want me there,” he wrote.
I have no memory of the attack last night in Little Rock, but there was a small group among the rioters who clearly didn’t want me there. Suffered a broken nose, but no other fractures. All journos, seriously, be careful. I got too close and paid for it w/ a 5-hour hospital stay pic.twitter.com/Dju2BfdsZ6
— Tony Holt (@HoltDemGazette) June 2, 2020
Holt wasn’t wearing anything that would clearly mark him as a reporter, Gaines said, though he had credentials with him and carried a notebook. The newspaper bought vests with the word “press” on the back for reporters after the assault on Holt, Gaines said, but “we realized it might put a target on someone's back.” Reporters can decide whether or not to wear them, Gaines said.
“It'd be good if you had it so the police could see it but otherwise it's kind of, you know, alerting others that you're press,” she said.
Gaines said she didn’t believe the incident had been reported to police. A spokesperson for the Little Rock Police Department said police weren’t aware of the incident.
Two days earlier, reporter Shelby Rose of KATV Channel 7 News was shouted at and struck with an object while she was broadcasting live from protests in Little Rock.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd and others while in police custody. Find all of these cases here.
Ken Bedford, a veteran photographer and cameraman for the television station ABC 7 Chicago, reported that he was assaulted by an unidentified individual on June 1, 2020, while covering damage left in the wake of protests and looting in the South Shore neighborhood.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the U.S. since the end of May.
On the afternoon of June 1, Bedford and ABC7 reporter Leah Hope were preparing to report on clean-up efforts in the aftermath of looting the night before. They were at a strip mall at the intersection of 75th and Stony Island streets. Suddenly, Bedford was attacked from behind and knocked to the ground by an unidentified man, Bedford told WTTW, Chicago’s PBS station. Bedford said he didn’t see the man approaching.
He “shouldered me and thrusted me forward into the camera and then ultimately to the ground,” Bedford told WTTW. “And then he ran off.”
Bedford, who did not respond to emailed requests for comment, wrote in a Facebook post the following day that his camera and tripod had helped break his fall, but that he scraped his knee and bruised his elbow.
According to Bedford’s Facebook post, the photojournalist got up and began to pursue his assailant, but the man had joined a “few more men, who were talking among themselves and looking in my direction,” he wrote. “As they started walking towards me, I decided then it was no longer safe for us and I took the camera off the tripod, lowered the tripod slowly and placed them in my car, got in and drove off slowly.”
ABC7 did not respond to Tracker calls or emails for comment but published that it reported the incident to the police.
The Chicago Police Department did not respond to a request for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering Black Lives Matter protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Three journalists from The Lantern, the Ohio State University student newspaper, were pepper sprayed and threatened with arrest by police officers while covering protests in Columbus, Ohio, on June 1, 2020. The three students clearly and repeatedly identified themselves as members of the media before the assault, according to interviews with the journalists and video footage of the incident.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the U.S. since the end of May.
On the night of June 1, Lantern editors Maeve Walsh, Sarah Szilagy and Max Garrison were covering peaceful protests that had moved from the Ohio Statehouse in downtown Columbus toward the Ohio State University campus. About 20 minutes after a 10 p.m. curfew went into effect, the protesters reached the intersection of North High Street and Lane Avenue on the edge of campus.
Up until this point, the journalists had not noticed a police presence. A few minutes after reaching the intersection, however, police cars suddenly arrived and stopped behind the protesters, Walsh and Garrison told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
Police officers got out of their cars, walked swiftly through the crowd, and began using pepper spray to disperse the protesters, they said. The three journalists, who were standing behind a concrete barrier on the sidewalk, somewhat removed from the protesters in the street, remained on the scene as the protesters left, Walsh and Garrison told the Tracker. Szilagy, the Lantern’s campus editor, did not respond to emailed requests for comment.
The journalists were then “approached from multiple directions by police officers telling them to ‘go home’ because of the curfew,” according to an account of the incident Garrison wrote for The Lantern.
Walsh, special projects editor, said that all three journalists were holding their press passes in the air to show them to the officers and repeatedly identified themselves as press. In a video Walsh posted to Twitter, an officer tells her, “Leave or you’re going to jail.” When Walsh responds, “we’re members of the media,” the officer says, “I don’t care.”
Columbus Police began spraying protestors around 10:25 at the corner of High and Lane. @m_p_garrison @sarahszilagy and I were also sprayed despite making them aware we are members of @TheLantern. The press is exempt from the curfew. pic.twitter.com/BcyitLujyQ
— Maeve Walsh (@maevewalsh27) June 2, 2020
Another group of officers approached and “got very close to us,” according to Garrison, forcing them to step back. Garrison said one officer pushed him. Another shot pepper spray at the group from point-blank range, hitting him on the arm and Szilagy in the eyes, Garrison said. Walsh was not directly hit, but said the gas made her cough.
In a video of the incident The Lantern posted to Twitter, the journalists are pepper sprayed after repeatedly identifying as media who are “exempt from curfew.”
Hi everyone: this was me. I was sprayed in the face after we identified ourselves and presented our press passes multiple times. Media are exempt from curfew. Media are exempt from curfew. https://t.co/DAIDudVpud
— Sarah Szilagy (@sarahszilagy) June 2, 2020
Adam Cairns, a staff photographer with the Columbus Dispatch, witnessed the attack. Cairns told the Tracker that he had been standing near the edge of the intersection with the student journalists, but turned to walk away before another officer came around the corner and shot pepper spray at the journalists. “[I] will attest that they were screaming at the cops that they were media,” Cairns posted to Twitter. “Police, despite clearly seeing press credentials, did not care. I crossed Lane at that point and missed the pepper spray.”
Here is a photo of @TheLantern journalists showing their press IDs to police moments before being pepper sprayed pic.twitter.com/Mvr4TLT83F
— Adam Cairns (@atomicphoto) June 2, 2020
The three journalists turned to flee but were followed by an officer who fired pepper spray at their backs before they turned into an alley, according to Garrison. They then sought refuge nearby at the house of their editor, Sam Raudins, where they spent several hours recovering. None of them returned to the protests that night. “They basically just censored us,” Szilagy told The Washington Post, “and made us incapable of covering other things that happened that night.”
In the hours following the attack, Raudins sent an email to the Columbus Division of Police reporting the incident. “This was not our team getting caught in the crossfire; this was a direct interaction between CPD and The Lantern,” she wrote in the letter posted to Twitter.
Our editor-in-chief @sam_raudins emailed @ColumbusPolice, reporting how officers threatened to arrest and then pepper-sprayed our reporters after our reporters identified themselves as members of the news media. #columbusprotest pic.twitter.com/UXaSYC9bVQ
— The Lantern (@TheLantern) June 2, 2020
In a press conference the following day, Columbus Police Chief Thomas Quinlan was asked about the police officers’ treatment of journalists.
“There’s no malice involved, there’s no intent, it’s just a very chaotic situation,” Quinlan said. “And in that regard, I’d ask the public to have some patience and please comply, and we’ll work it out afterward. But please don’t stand there and argue; move along and comply and we’ll fix this after the fact so nothing bad happens.”
Quinlan also said, “we are dealing with imperfect human beings in imperfect situations. Mistakes will happen and we will take action to correct them and make sure that we do not allow our mistakes to be repeated.”
When asked specifically about the incident involving the Ohio State student journalists, Quinlan said the reporters were not easily recognizable as news media, but the department had launched an internal affairs investigation of the officers, the Dispatch reported.
“We are aware of the incident in question and it is currently under investigation per our use of force policy,” Sergeant James Fuqua, public information officer, said in response to the Tracker’s request for a status update.
The Columbus Division of Police did not respond to the Tracker’s request for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Multiple journalists for the Spanish-language outlet Telemundo reported being hit with projectiles while covering protests near the White House on June 1, 2020.
The protests that day were part of a wave of demonstrations resulting from a viral video showing a Minneapolis, Minnesota, police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the U.S. since the end of May.
The Telemundo journalists — cameraman Edwin López, senior Washington correspondent Cristina Londoño Rooney and bureau chief Lori Montenegro — reported being hit with projectiles as law enforcement officials attempted to disperse protesters half an hour before the district’s 7 p.m. curfew on June 1 and as President Donald Trump addressed the nation from the Rose Garden, nearby.
Emailed requests to the Telemundo journalists for interviews were not returned as of press time.
In a video posted shortly before being hit, Londoño described “a very tense atmosphere” and how tear gas was “already starting to make our throats itch.” She wondered if “protesters are aware that the president will be addressing the nation any time.”
After the attack, the Colombian journalist posted a video in which she detailed the journalists’ injuries, stating that López had been hit on his right arm and ribs; that Montenegro had been hit on the back and that her throat was sore after breathing air filled with tear gas; and that law enforcement had used “long weapons that were pointing at us” to push them out of the area close to the White House.
In a tweet on June 5, Londoño shared pictures of her wounds and bruises, writing, “The White House also said rubber bullets were not used. Can anyone tell me what this looks like?”
La Casa Blanca negó que usaron gases lacrimógenos o balas de goma para dispersar a los manifestantes y periodistas el lunes. Sentí los gases y el @washingtonpost ahora los confirma. Y esto ¿Me pueden decir esto qué es? pic.twitter.com/CkjEIPSwqu
— Cristina Londoño Rooney (@CristiLondono) June 6, 2020
D.C. is notable for the large number of different police forces that operate within its borders. Park Police said in a statement on June 2 that its officers and other assisting law enforcement partners had not used tear gas that day, though multiple outlets, including the Washington Post, have reported that “chemical agents” were deployed. Regarding this particular incident, Park Police did not respond to our request for comment as of press time.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Freelance photographer Stephen Yang was assaulted by an unknown individual and had his camera stolen while covering protests in New York City on June 1, 2020, for the New York Post.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a Minneapolis, Minnesota, police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, for more than eight minutes during a May 25 arrest. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a local hospital. The incident sparked anti-police brutality and Black Lives Matter demonstrations across the country.
Yang told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that while covering June 1 protests in Manhattan he was taking photos of individuals looting stores near the intersection of Sixth Avenue and 39th Street.
He said that an unknown individual approached him from behind and began to yank on his camera strap. Yang said that the individual then punched him in the face and was able to get the camera free from his shoulder.
Yang said the blow left him with a bloody nose but that he did not seek medical attention. He also said he did not get a clear look at the individual who threw the punch and that he didn’t believe he was targeted for being a journalist.
Yang said that police officers at the scene did not directly witness the assault but that one officer approached him after it was over and encouraged him to report it.
He later reported the assault and the camera theft to the New York City Police Department. He said the stolen camera was valued at $2,500 and that his equipment is covered by insurance.
Fortunately, Yang was carrying a backup camera on the night of the assault and was able to keep covering protests for several more hours, he said.
Yang said he did not encounter any further violence while covering demonstrations in New York City, but that he took time off work after the June 1 assault to recuperate.
“I had to take a couple of days off after, I think, just for my mental health,” Yang said. “Overall I felt extremely lucky that this was the only incident I’ve experienced.”
The NYPD did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
A New York City police officer stands in front of a vandalized store following protests in the Manhattan borough of New York on June 1, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,no,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest, robbery",,,,, "June: While reporting from protests across the nation, journalists tear-gassed, threatened",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/june-1-while-reporting-protests-across-nation-journalists-tear-gassed-threatened/,2020-09-14 17:10:33.911820+00:00,2022-06-14 19:34:49.087689+00:00,2022-06-14 19:34:48.977893+00:00,,Other Incident,,,,,,2020-06-01,False,Multiple,None,None,None,"George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020, ignited a sweeping assembly of protesters across the United States — and the globe — a staggering, monthslong outcry for police reform and racial justice. In many moments peaceful, in many others bracingly violent, journalists of all stripes took to documenting these demonstrations. At times, to do the job meant to expose oneself to the effects of riot-control agents, to face harassment from individuals or law enforcement officials, to fear for your safety or have your reporting interrupted. Below is a geographically organized roundup of such examples from around the U.S. on June 1, 2020.
A full accounting of incidents in which members of the press were assaulted, arrested or had their equipment damaged while covering these protests can be found here. To learn more about how the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents and categorizes violations of press freedom, visit pressfreedomtracker.us.
In Columbus, Ohio
We are on Ohio state’s campus. Despite being members of the media officers threatened to pepper spray us. pic.twitter.com/ATguBBr95s
— Paige Southwick Pfleger (@PaigePfleger) June 2, 2020
.@PaigePfleger and I had a similar experience. Being threatened with a tear gas canister is a new one. “If you don’t back up in two seconds, I’m going to spray you.” https://t.co/cl6vUwQ1c9
— Clare Roth (@ClareAliceRoth) June 2, 2020
In Washington, D.C.
Last scene from the streets of #WashingtonDCProtest outside the #WHITEHOUSE after 10 hours of live coverage , got tear gassed twice, exhausted but left the city in one piece #ICantBreathe #GeorgeFloyd #StJohnsChurch #DCProtests pic.twitter.com/gmaoHRJ7RS
— Nadia.Bilbassy-Charters (@nadia_bilbassy) June 2, 2020
In Cincinnati, Ohio
In Seattle, Washington
Here’s the entirety of my stream when all hell broke loose last night: https://t.co/KbOCe6L7tE
— nathalie graham (@gramsofgnats) June 3, 2020
Protesters arrive in the Capitol Hill neighborhood in Seattle, Washington, on June 2, 2020.
In Charlotte, North Carolina
Video posted online moments after we were hit with gas covering the demonstrators tonight. https://t.co/7fOGzsJY36
— Cam Man Ron Lee (@WBTVCamMan) June 3, 2020
In Oakland, California
Having some fun at tonight's Oakland Protest. People doing the electric slide. Protesters out past curfew and a few pointing lasers at our news chopper, which is dangerous & a federal crime, but overall, a peaceful night. @nbcbayarea https://t.co/Na7mXu9ZJa #GeorgeFloydProtest pic.twitter.com/vZjffhJgnH
— Janelle Wang (@janellewang) June 4, 2020
In New York, New York
Night seven marching up Adams pic.twitter.com/YPd6FC1L9U
— Alejandra 🎅🏻’Connell-Domenech (@AODNewz) June 4, 2020
In New York, New York
A quartet of journalists, covering protests across New York City that had extended past the city’s 8 p.m. curfew, reported being told to go home by NYPD officers despite being exempt from the curfew and displaying proper identification.
And shit just changed. Cops charge the crowd, beating, arresting. Here’s the moment. pic.twitter.com/jVOqkb4T5c
— Ben Verde (@verde_nyc) June 5, 2020
A cop just told me to go home with my NYPD press pass visible, meanwhile pic.twitter.com/zceCjVQz8a
— Julianne Cuba (@Julcuba) June 5, 2020
There are so many officers here. One shouted “if you’re press you’d better have your badge our or else you’re getting collared.” pic.twitter.com/xo9WpRtfOP
— Caroline Haskins (@caro1inehaskins) June 5, 2020
Even so, having a BuzzFeed badge was a determining factor in my safety. Organizers and freelancers don't have that safety
— Caroline Haskins (@caro1inehaskins) June 5, 2020
As we left, there were more cops waiting with batons. They kindly reminded us that we could go home or be arrested. Now there are many cop cars driving past and dozens of cops blocking certain streets near Barclays.
— Daniel Moritz-Rabson (@DMoritzRabson) June 5, 2020
In Ohama, Nebraska
In Miami, Florida
FHP big wig (looks like a commander of some sort) started yelling at me and some TV guys. “Media! They can protest. You cannot be up here! You’re inciting it! You come up here again and you will be arrested”
— David Ovalle (@DavidOvalle305) June 13, 2020
I was calmly taking notes, BTW, and watching.
Thanks for being there to witness it. @FHPMiami also wrongfully accused of me and my crew of leading protestors on the highway and inciting a riot. A discussion needs to take place with @FHPSWFL about our rights as journalists and roles in that situation. pic.twitter.com/Fc67B0cbjw
— Jamie Guirola (@jamieNBC6) June 13, 2020
In Richmond, Virginia
Pepper sprayed was just sprayed into the crowd people are on the ground coughing
— Brandon Jarvis (@Jaaavis) June 15, 2020
In Richmond, Virginia
Video from Richmond police headquarters last night: I was showing my press badge to these officers before one rolled a flash bang directly toward me and a group of protesters. pic.twitter.com/hdMuBpfnn4
— Andrew Ringle (@aeringle) June 16, 2020
In Compton, California
#AndresGuardado pic.twitter.com/mdq5ARyHFM
— Aarón Cantú (@aaron_con_choco) June 22, 2020
— Josie Huang (@josie_huang) June 22, 2020
In Phoenix, Arizona
The scene outside dream city church @ Cave creek and Sharon Cave Creek and Sharon. I have been told if I keep taking pictures I will be part of unlawful assembly and will be subject to arrest. @KTAR923 pic.twitter.com/BrhBcz4YkR
— Bob McClay (@BobMcClay) June 24, 2020
In Graham, North Carolina
No answer from Graham police about why we’re all going to be arrested for for standing on the sidewalk. pic.twitter.com/QlvwCP8IMj
— Tammy Grubb (@TammyGrubb) June 29, 2020
Information in this roundup was gathered from published social media and news reports as well as interviews where noted. To read similar incidents from other days of national protests also in this category, go here.
National Guard officers stand watch during June 1, 2020, protests in Washington, D.C.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,Media,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, chemical irritant, protest",,,,, "Journalist shoved, hit with pepper spray during Washington, D.C., protest",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-shoved-hit-pepper-spray-during-washington-dc-protest/,2020-09-29 15:05:09.404445+00:00,2022-03-10 22:02:26.386030+00:00,2022-03-10 22:02:26.310819+00:00,,Assault,,,,Mike Brest (Washington Examiner),,2020-06-01,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"A journalist for the Washington Examiner said police shoved and hit him with pepper spray as he covered protests against police violence in Washington, D.C., on June 1, 2020.
Mike Brest, a reporter for the conservative news site and weekly magazine, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was following a group of protesters that evening as they marched from the White House down Lafayette Parkway into the northwest section of the city.
Metropolitan Police officers were enforcing a 7 p.m. curfew. At about 8 p.m., Brest and the group of protesters he followed reached the block of Swann Street between 14th and 15th Streets.
Police lines formed on both ends of the block, which is lined on both sides by townhouses — a maneuver known as “kettling” in which officers corral protesters and often make mass arrests. Journalists have reported that police in New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco and other cities have employed the maneuver.
Brest said he was near one of the police lines on Swann Street when he was shoved by an officer and pepper spray was fired at the crowd. He said he was hit by the spray after verbally identifying himself as a journalist and while carrying a bag bearing the word “PRESS.”
Brest said he was able to keep working after getting sprayed and remained at the scene for several hours more. “It was just hard to see for a short period of time afterwards,” Brest told the Tracker.
He said he didn’t believe law-enforcement officials targeted him as a journalist. Approximately 200 protesters had gathered on Swann Street after the curfew, but the scene was peaceful when police mobilized, Brest said.
“I didn’t see anything that would have warranted such a reaction,” Brest said.
He said he wasn’t sure which law enforcement agency deployed the pepper spray -- some officers at the scene were identifiable as clearly from the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia, while others were dressed in unmarked camouflage fatigues and riot gear that obscured their faces.
Brest said he and protesters were kettled so tightly on the Swann Street block that he was concerned about transmission of COVID-19.
“It should be noted that there are probably 200 protesters crammed into a half block of a D.C. street and probably another 75 law enforcement [officers] all close together,” Brest tweeted from the scene. “No social distancing possible.”
Brest told the Tracker that he and most protesters at the scene wore masks.
“Considering COVID, that seemed like a very dangerous thing for law enforcement to do,” the journalist said. “They held people in this one block radius for between an hour or two hours before any arrests were made.”
Brest said he stayed in the area until around midnight. An officer led Brest to a supervisor who told the journalist he had to leave the area. He was escorted from the scene and wasn’t arrested.
The Metropolitan Police Department didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Brest and other journalists reported that Rahul Dubey, a 44-year-old homeowner living on the block, opened his doors to offer refuge to protesters crowded in front of his home — a scene that Dubey described as a “human tsunami” to a Washington Post reporter.
The DCist reported that Dubey opened his home to at least 50 protesters, who stayed inside until the curfew lifted at 6 a.m. on June 2.
Protests against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the country after a viral video showed a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
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 an escalated police presence, with officers from the Worcester Police Department, the Massachusetts State Police and the Clark University Police blocking roads and offloading vans filled with officers in riot gear.
Cummings said he heard the officers screaming, as if “to get pumped up for something.” He added he didn’t understand what was happening, because the protest was elsewhere and he hadn’t seen any escalation there.
The Telegram & Gazette, Worcester’s daily newspaper, reported that a group of people had gathered in the neighborhood after the peaceful protest in downtown had dispersed. A confrontation reportedly ensued with law enforcement after the group staged a “die-in” in a roadway.
According to Cummings, the officers moved in formation down Main Street, chanting, “Move back,” and firing tear gas and projectiles as some individuals threw rocks and shot fireworks toward them. He said several people were arrested, many of whom appeared to not have been the ones throwing objects.
Cummings said he was struck twice by projectiles fired by police during the melee, once on his left shoulder and once on his right elbow. He told the Tracker he was unsure what type of projectiles they were.
Cummings said he then moved to stand next to a police formation near the intersection of Hammond and Main, figuring it was a safer place to photograph. He said he told an officer that he was a freelance photojournalist and that the officer directed him to stand on the sidewalk, which he did, continuing to document the scene.
Another officer, who Cummings said seemed to be in charge at the scene, asked Cummings what he was doing. Cummings said he was told it was all right to be where he was. A recording filmed by Cummings and published by the Telegram & Gazette appears to have captured this interaction.
In the video, an officer can also be heard saying of a protester, “I’m keeping eyes on him. I’d love to hit him with a pepper gun.”
About 15 to 20 minutes later, Cummings said, he was suddenly grabbed by an unknown number of officers, who bent him over a brick wall with his arms behind his back. Cummings said an officer screamed he was going to break Cummings’ arms and called him a homophobic slur.
Cummings told the Tracker that he didn’t resist and pleaded with the officer to not break his camera. While a second officer took his camera, Cummings said, the officer who pinned and screamed at Cummings seized his cellphone.
Both the Worcester Police Department and the Worcester County District Attorney’s Office declined to comment.
Cummings said he was then escorted to a police van, where he said he began to have a panic attack, in part due to the impact of exposure to pepper spray or tear gas and in part due to fear of contracting coronavirus in a confined space. He also said the metal handcuffs cut into his wrists.
“It was hell, pretty much for taking pictures on the sidewalk,” Cummings said. “I wasn’t being rude to any cops. I wasn’t yelling at any cops. I went there ... I didn’t show any side. I was just documenting it.”
Cummings was one of nearly 20 people arrested that night on charges of disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace and failure to disperse during a riot, the Telegram & Gazette reported.
Cummings told the Tracker that, on his release early the next morning, he noticed that videos on his phone appeared to have been deleted. He said that his phone didn’t have password protection, so its data would have been accessible. Cummings said that he was unable to recover any of the deleted footage.
Cummings’ legal team, who are representing multiple people arrested that night, said the phones of two other individuals had disappeared or been destroyed, the Telegram & Gazette reported.
Cummings pleaded not guilty on Aug. 21, according to the Telegram & Gazette. A Worcester County District Attorney’s Office spokesperson told the Tracker that his next hearing is scheduled for Nov. 28. If convicted on all charges, Cummings faces up to a year in prison and fines totaling up to $800.
The protest was held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the U.S. since the end of May.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred total incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering demonstrations across the country. Find all of these cases here.
George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020, ignited a sweeping assembly of protesters across the United States — and the globe — a staggering, monthslong outcry for police reform and racial justice. In many moments peaceful, in many others bracingly violent, journalists of all stripes took to documenting these demonstrations. At times, to do the job meant to expose oneself to the effects of riot-control agents, to face harassment from individuals or law enforcement officials, to fear for your safety or have your reporting interrupted.
In Portland, Oregon, the protests have been particularly acute, not only in their duration, but also their intensity. Not coincidentally, the journalists who’ve documented the unfolding events have seemingly faced a heightened level of risk, most notably in their interactions with local and federal law enforcement. In response, the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon filed a class-action lawsuit in June “on behalf of journalists and legal observers who were targeted and attacked by the police while documenting protests.” The suit led to an agreement by the Portland Police Bureau in July not to arrest or harm any journalists or legal observers of the protests or impede their work. A judge later expanded the ban to federal officers, who were a heavy presence in the city until Oregon Governor Kate Brown negotiated a phased withdrawal with the Trump administration in late July. While an appeals court later issued a temporary stay on that order, the federal ban was reinstated in early October.
Below is a roundup of incidents involving journalists in Portland getting tear-gassed, threatened or somehow impeded in their work in the city beginning summer of 2020.
A full accounting of incidents in which members of the press have been assaulted, arrested or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the nation can be found here. To learn more about how the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents and categorizes violations of press freedom, visit pressfreedomtracker.us.
June 2, 2020
Tear gassed. pic.twitter.com/vAkqCR8lvb
— Alex Zielinski (@alex_zee) June 3, 2020
Tear gas hurts a lot but fades quickly pic.twitter.com/h1YlKEPaFf
— Blair Stenvick (@BlairStenvick) June 3, 2020
June 5, 2020
Last night a member of my crew was almost rammed by a red truck (newish, likely Ford) with an American flag flying from each end of the back. The police aimed their guns at her when she tried to get its plate #.
— Robert Evans (The Only Robert Evans) (@IwriteOK) June 6, 2020
If any member of the crowd filmed this, please let me know.
June 7, 2020
An officer shouts "You were standing taking photos..." as two people hiding behind a car are arrested. Another officer threatens me with arrest as I clearly state I am press as I move back and comply with orders. pic.twitter.com/fwTStAsceO
— Alex Milan Tracy (@AlexMilanTracy) June 7, 2020
June 16, 2020
Portland police officer “your asked to disperse, wearing the press does not give you the right to be here”
— Sergio Olmos (@MrOlmos) June 16, 2020
Reporter @_jlevinson: “we’re moving”
Police: “you’ve been given warnings, so if you don’t move faster your gonna go to jail”
“So you want us to run?”
“yes I do” pic.twitter.com/I9zrFRnwhf
A few officers sprint forward to make an arrest and as I document I am threatened with arrest. pic.twitter.com/nVRcwvEmXi
— Alex Milan Tracy (@AlexMilanTracy) June 16, 2020
July 18, 2020
I got LIT UP last night! New riot gear paid for itself already. The feds were ABSOLUTELY targeting media & press.
— Mason Lake Media (@MasonLakePhoto) July 19, 2020
I was not the only one. Let me tell you something, nothing turns your blue pants brown like militarized police pointing at you!!!
😳😳😳 pic.twitter.com/PEYLIMdDOd
A PBB officer told me to “go home” another said “get the fuck out”, I pointed to my credentials and said “press”, the officer said “I don’t care.” But they drove off without saying anything else.
— Sergio Olmos (@MrOlmos) July 18, 2020
Officers shove protestor who's trying to leave. Then threatened @TheRealCoryElia, me, and 10+ other legal observers / press for filming pic.twitter.com/ME3vKMcyp2
— Griffin - Live from Portland (@GriffinMalone6) July 18, 2020
Got lost from the rest of press group officer ran up to me, I yelled press and he yelled "nope" and started running at me. Pretty sure this isn't legal.
— Griffin - Live from Portland (@GriffinMalone6) July 18, 2020
July 22, 2020
Tonight I was coated in mace by the feds three times to the point I had to leave cause everything about me was sticky. I *just* did laundry today too...
— Teebs (@TeebsGaming) July 23, 2020
Any tips on things I can do or buy to increase the number of macings before I need to leave and shower??
July 26, 2020
Federal officer drags protester to the floor, pushes journalist, and says “get the the fuck out of here” to press pic.twitter.com/P6m9SCjERs
— Sergio Olmos (@MrOlmos) July 26, 2020
July 30, 2020
Feds ambush and assault press; Mace and arrest protester who is on their knees w hands in the air. @AthulKAcharya @ACLU_OR @DontShootPdx pic.twitter.com/5d9eem84q9
— Mathieu Lewis-Rolland (@MathieuLRolland) July 30, 2020
Aug. 1, 2020
The police form a riot line, they tell press to leave the area, we were on the sidewalk. #blacklivesmatter #protest #pdx #Portland #Oregon #BLM #acab #PortlandProtests #PDXprotests #PortlandStrong pic.twitter.com/ixMA27i7k1
— Garrison Davis (@hungrybowtie) August 2, 2020
A cop walks up close to me and @IwriteOK and threatens us with pepper spray. #blacklivesmatter #protest #pdx #Portland #Oregon #BLM #acab #PortlandProtests #PDXprotests #PortlandStrong pic.twitter.com/gFabrZ9bAL
— Garrison Davis (@hungrybowtie) August 2, 2020
Aug. 5, 2020
Here we see, from a bit earlier, how the police tried to justify their illegal dispersal. They claim it is NOT a dispersal, but a road closure. So they can legally force journalists off.
— Robert Evans (The Only Robert Evans) (@IwriteOK) August 6, 2020
I do not think this would hold up in court. Which is probably why they left. pic.twitter.com/7kLa5BnhUY
Aug. 6, 2020
A cop tells us we're all under arrest
— Laura Jedeed (Misanthrophile) (@1misanthrophile) August 6, 2020
Then the line loads up on their riot van and leaves
I live in a Tom and Jerry cartoon
Aug. 7, 2020
Anyone who doesn't leave the area is subject to arrest "to reiterate this order applies to the press"
— Griffin - Live from Portland (@GriffinMalone6) August 7, 2020
Is this legal? @AthulKAcharya? pic.twitter.com/BZ7rwjN5fT
Aug. 9, 2020
Aug. 12, 2020
Aug. 14, 2020
Just tried to walk up to the group of protesters and a police officer blocked me from covering, saying “M’am, I’m not having this conversation. For the last eight weeks I’ve had press throwing things at me and calling me names. So you will have to go around the block.”
— Suzette Smith (@suzettesmith) August 15, 2020
Aug. 15, 2020
Portland police tell press that talking to officers is illegally engaging them. They shove press for not being on the sidewalk even though they were, they then tell them to "be press" on a different sidewalk. They assaulted legal observers and press following orders all night. pic.twitter.com/lDHNxvVMIw
— Daniel V. Media (@danielvmedia) August 16, 2020
Aug. 18, 2020
“If you’re in the street again, you’re going to jail. Period,” one officer says as a chase ends and I get back onto the sidewalk.
— Cata Gaitán (@catalinagaitan_) August 19, 2020
A different officer pulls on my left arm as I walk forward, then says: “Stay on the sidewalk.” pic.twitter.com/xoxOmx1nKG
Aug. 19, 2020
The Portland Police have declared a riot. They are warning "media and press" that they are ordered to disperse. This is a violation of the Federal Restraining Order. pic.twitter.com/BYVLPjrMtu
— Robert Evans (The Only Robert Evans) (@IwriteOK) August 20, 2020
Aug. 22, 2020 - Aug. 23, 2020
Police make another arrest, then run up on press trying to film #PortlandProtests #Portland #PortlandRiots pic.twitter.com/bFMiX6L3cK
— Brendan Gutenschwager (@BGOnTheScene) August 23, 2020
Aug. 25, 2020
Sept. 5, 2020
Back by the park more teargas being used, smoke grenade lands right in a group of press. #blacklivesmatter #protest #pdx #Portland #Oregon #BLM #PortlandProtest #pdxprotest #portlandpolice pic.twitter.com/wmkecM5f8g
— Garrison Davis (@hungrybowtie) September 6, 2020
Sept. 6, 2020
Here I am getting menaced by the cops for doing what they told me to do. pic.twitter.com/Vpwm04hCyz
— Jake “wear a mask” Johnson (@FancyJenkins) September 6, 2020
Sept. 23, 2020
Cops tell multiple people marked press to move back “30 feet.”
— Garrison Davis (@hungrybowtie) September 24, 2020
We are on the sidewalk against a building. Also police cannot disperse press due to the federal TRO that is still in effect for PPB. #PortlandProtests #BLM #PDX #BlackLivesMatter #portland pic.twitter.com/TrTR3ZAS6U
Oct. 11, 2020
It looks like the far-right portion of today is over, at least
— Laura Jedeed, Professional Stocker (@LauraJedeed) October 11, 2020
I'm not a big selfie person: not my style. But I'm posting this one so you can see exactly what I looked like when I was threatened
I am not in bloc. I am wearing a press pass pic.twitter.com/ub2em1TSVH
Information in this roundup was gathered from published social media and news reports as well as interviews where noted. To read similar incidents from other days of national protests also in this category, go here.
While documenting July 18, 2020, protests in Portland, Oregon, videographer Mason Lake said federal law enforcement officers were aiming for the press. “They threw tear gas canisters and flash bangs right at us,” he said.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,Media,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, chemical irritant, protest",,,,, Independent journalist arrested while covering LA protests,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalist-arrested-while-covering-la-protests/,2020-10-20 16:11:22.603129+00:00,2021-11-19 16:14:42.367749+00:00,2021-11-19 16:14:42.300384+00:00,,Arrest/Criminal Charge,,,,Jeff Weiss (Freelance),,2020-06-01,False,Los Angeles,California (CA),34.05223,-118.24368,"Independent journalist Jeff Weiss was arrested while covering protests in Los Angeles on June 1, 2020.
Weiss was covering the protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement for Los Angeles Magazine. He declined an interview with the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, but referred to his written first-person account and answered follow up questions via email.
According to his article, Weiss was heading home from other local protests shortly after the citywide 6 p.m. curfew when he encountered a group protesting in the middle of Sunset Boulevard near the Palladium.
Weiss wrote that the police moved in on the protesters without ordering them to disperse or giving a warning.
“Consider it white privilege or journalistic entitlement, but a part of me dumbly believed that the cops wouldn’t actually arrest me,” Weiss wrote. “In theory, that whole enshrined in the Constitution combo of ‘freedom of speech’ and ‘freedom of the press’ should have had me covered.”
When an officer approached him and zip-tied his wrists, Weiss said he told the officer that he was a journalist. Weiss and others who had been arrested were held on the street for about an hour. The arresting officer asked Weiss for his press pass, and Weiss explained that he didn’t have one.
Press passes are a “particularly antiquated bastion of a bygone era,” Weiss told the Tracker in an email. Many journalists will never be on staff at a publication, and therefore not receive one, he said. Some publications don’t issue press passes to journalists on their staffs, Weiss said.
“It's a farcical conceit that police can use every form of surveillance technology — whether it's facial recognition or getting warrants to search social media accounts — but can't do a two second Google [search] to verify a journalist's information before arresting them,” Weiss said.
The officer who arrested Weiss told him that he believed that Weiss is a journalist, according to Weiss’s magazine account. But the officer told Weiss, “it’s out of my hands. Nothing I can do.”
Weiss also spoke to a police lieutenant to explain that he was a journalist, according to the article. “I tell him that I’m a journalist and a writer and besides, really, this is really a first amendment freedom of speech thing anyway, and none of these violations will actually hold up in a court,” Weiss wrote.
The lieutenant responded, “Well, what are you? A writer or a journalist?” Weiss wrote that he did not continue to argue with the lieutenant.
Weiss was transported with others who had been arrested to a processing facility set up by the Los Angeles Police Department. After waiting several hours, Weiss received a citation for violating curfew. He was required to sign a document promising to appear in court before March 2021. He was released shortly before 11 p.m.
Police confiscated Weiss’s phone, which he had been using to take notes, during his arrest, Weiss told the Tracker. He wrote that his phone was returned with the rest of his belongings after he was processed and released.
On June 8, Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey announced that she would not prosecute citations for violating curfew or failing to disperse. Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer said he would resolve cases involving peaceful protesters in a “restorative approach” outside of the court system.
Weiss told the Tracker he received communication from the city that the charges against him were dropped.
The Los Angeles Police Department did not respond to a request for comment.
The Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Independent journalist Jeff Weiss posted a screenshot of his June 1 arrest in Los Angeles to his Instagram account.
,arrested and released,charges dropped,Los Angeles Police Department,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,curfew violation: breaking curfew order,,, Australian correspondent assaulted by police amid crackdowns in DC,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalists-assaulted-police-chaotic-crackdowns-dc/,2020-10-29 14:24:13.665893+00:00,2022-03-10 17:07:57.484405+00:00,2022-03-10 17:07:57.421137+00:00,,Assault,,,,Amelia Brace (7News Australia),,2020-06-01,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"A news crew for Australia’s 7News was assaulted by law enforcement while covering protests against police violence in Washington, D.C., on June 1, 2020, a chaotic day for demonstrations throughout the nation’s capital.
Correspondent Amelia Brace and cameraman Tim Myers were reporting live on-air amid a group of protesters facing a police line when officers rushed the crowd. An officer wearing riot gear can be seen pushing Myers with a shield and hitting his camera. As Myers and Brace fled the scene, an officer can be seen swinging a baton at Brace.
Watch the shocking moment #7NEWS reporter @AmeliaBrace and our cameraman were knocked over by a police officer LIVE on air after chaos erupted in Washington DC. pic.twitter.com/R8KJLnfxPN
— Sunrise (@sunriseon7) June 1, 2020
“They were quite violent and they do not care who they’re targeting at the moment,” Brace told in-studio anchors during a subsequent report for 7News.
“We were trying to move on. The last thing we ever want is to get in the way, but there was just no opportunity,” she continued. “There was really no choice but to try to hide in that corner, hoping that they pass by ... as you can see in those pictures, they did not.”
Brace also told the anchors that a rubber bullet hit her “on the backside” and that another round struck Myers on the neck.
7News did not respond to requests for comment or make its journalists available for interviews.
D.C. is notable for the large number of different police forces that operate within its borders. The Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia did not respond to requests for comment on these incidents as of press time.
Protests against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the country after a viral video showed a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Law enforcement officers rush protestors and observers in Lafayette Park and near the White House on June 1, 2020, in Washington, D.C., to clear a path for the president.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest, shot / shot at",,,,, Des Moines Register reporter hit with pepper spray in face after repeatedly identifying as press,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/des-moines-register-reporter-hit-pepper-spray-face-after-repeatedly-identifying-press/,2020-11-21 16:05:13.527942+00:00,2022-03-10 22:02:51.790622+00:00,2022-03-10 22:02:51.736423+00:00,,Assault,,,,Katie Akin (Des Moines Register),,2020-06-01,False,Des Moines,Iowa (IA),41.60054,-93.60911,"In the chaos following a dispersal order by the Des Moines police at a June 1, 2020, protest, a police officer pepper sprayed Des Moines Register reporter Katie Akin, hitting her in the eye and ear. A video she took of the incident shows her repeatedly identifying herself as press while fleeing from a clash between police and protesters.
The June 1 protest was one of a series in Des Moines that began after the May 25 death in Minneapolis of George Floyd, a Black man who was killed by a white police officer. As the protests continued, on May 31 the Polk County, Iowa, Board of Supervisors implemented a 9 p.m. curfew due to “the violent outbreak of civil unrest” in Des Moines. Protestors defied the curfew, Akin told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in a phone interview, but their demonstrations remained “pretty orderly.”
Akin’s tweets created a timeline of the protest that congregated at the state capitol just before 11 p.m on June 1, where several hundred protesters confronted 50 police officers lined up at the top of the steps. At 11:30 p.m., Akin tweeted that the crowd heard a police officer announce an unlawful assembly.
Akin told Tracker that she and fellow Des Moines Register reporter Shelby Fleig chose a grassy spot off to the side to separate themselves from the clash while still being able to record the confrontation between police and protesters. She said she and Fleig each had press badges and “tried to stay out of the way.”
At 11:40 p.m., Akin tweets, “Shelby and I are safely to the side (hopefully). A protester near us said the police said it’s the final warning. Crowd holds their hands up. A tense moment.”
Two videos posted by Akin document the police line moving down the capitol steps to confront the protestors. The videos, which Akin shot from some distance to the side of the protests, also show more officers arriving from different directions, as police begin clearing the crowd using pepper spray and flash bang canisters. In the first video, as protestors flee the scene, Akin also begins to move away, passing by police officers as she goes. Several police officers lower their batons and let her pass as she yells repeatedly “I’m press,” “I’m with the Des Moines Register,” and “I’m going.” Akin identifies herself as press 17 times in 30 seconds.
Here’s the advance. Shelby and I are safe with an editor now. pic.twitter.com/S2MphcXuSF
— Katie Akin (@katie_akin) June 2, 2020
The second video shows some of the same footage of Akin fleeing the scene past police officers. Then one officer, holding a red spray can, runs up to her as she is yelling, “I’m with the Des Moines Register, I’m going, I’m going.” The officer yells, “Get the fuck out of here,” and sprays Akin with the canister. She continues running away, eventually is reunited with reporter Fleig, and says that she was hit with pepper spray and can’t see out of her eye.
Here’s me getting pepper sprayed. pic.twitter.com/YlDnLezPLR
— Katie Akin (@katie_akin) June 2, 2020
The following morning, Gov. Kim Reynolds held a news conference, where Iowa Department of Public Safety Commissioner Stephan Bayens answered a few questions about the protests. Bayens said law enforcement’s response to the protests had been defined by “restraint, restraint, restraint,” adding that law enforcement did not have “any desire to see anyone that is there in a peaceful capacity or as a member of the media to get caught up with [pepper spraying and all] that.”
A Des Moines Register article from the next day reported that Executive Editor Carol Hunter asked Des Moines police to conduct an internal review of the incident. Akin said she gave a statement to police shortly after that but has not heard any updates since.
The morning podcast 1460 KXNO Morning Rush, located in Des Moines, has a weekly segment called “Ask 5-0 anything,” in which police officer Paul Parezik answers callers’ questions. During the June 2 program, Parezik, who is seen as an informal spokesperson for the Des Moines police, reflected that members of the media “have to step to the side and get out of the mix” when dispersal orders are given. He also spoke on the necessity of having clear credentials.
Akin said that she and Fleig both had clear credentials. As for getting “out of the mix,” Akin — whose videos were shot a clear distance from the protestors — told the Tracker she “can’t think of a way that I could be close to the action and seeing what was going on without getting squeezed into it.”
Des Moines Register reporter Katie Akin caught on camera the moment a police officer pepper sprayed her in the face as she was moving out of the way of police on June 1, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, chemical irritant, protest",,,,, Videojournalist detained during Sacramento protests,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/videojournalist-detained-during-sacramento-protests/,2020-12-01 20:54:06.897821+00:00,2020-12-01 21:13:34.973547+00:00,2020-12-01 21:13:34.930399+00:00,,Arrest/Criminal Charge,,,,Jeoffrey Zingapan (Black Zebra Productions),,2020-06-01,False,Sacramento,California (CA),38.58157,-121.4944,"Jeoffrey Zingapan, co-founder of Black Zebra Productions, was briefly detained while on assignment for the Sacramento Bee covering demonstrations in Sacramento, California, on June 1, 2020.
According to the Bee, June 1 was the first night of a citywide curfew. In a FacebookLive video on Black Zebra’s page captured by Zingapan’s reporting partner shortly after 11 p.m., Zingapan can be seen standing on a public sidewalk surrounded by several Sacramento Police Department officers. According to the Bee, officers detained him while he was filming an arrest on the public sidewalk.
Zingapan, who appears to be wearing a yellow safety vest, was placed in handcuffs and questioned by officers for at least five minutes after the livestream began.
Zingapan and Black Zebra Productions did not respond to messages requesting comment.
The Bee posted a statement following Zingapan’s arrest on Facebook: “We want to be clear: The Bee supports Black Zebra — and all media — to independently report and produce journalism. Detaining working journalists is not acceptable.”
The outlet also confirmed that it had hired the Black Zebra reporting team and issued them Sacramento Bee credentials so they could produce documentaries on demonstrations in the city for the news outlet.
According to the Bee’s post, the police department assured them that moving forward the Black Zebra team would “be afforded the same freedoms to report as other media outlets.”
The Sacramento Police Department did not respond to an emailed request for comment.
Reuters journalists Andy Sullivan and Jonathan Landay were assaulted by unknown individuals on June 1, 2020 while covering protests in Washington, D.C.
Protests against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the country after a viral video showed a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Sullivan, a White House correspondent for the outlet, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker the demonstrations that he and Landay encountered on June 1 were nonviolent. He said they witnessed “no vandalism or anything of that nature.”
But at about 8 p.m., a group of unknown individuals approached Sullivan and Landay near the intersection of 14th Street NW and Rhode Island Avenue NW, Sullivan said. One of the individuals asked “in an aggressive way” if Sullivan was a police officer.
“I approached him to start a discussion and maybe get an interview,” Sullivan said in an email to the Tracker. “Bad idea!”
Voice of America journalist Ani Chkhikvadze was near the scene and captured video of three males wearing black T-shirts swinging their fists at Landay as he ducked away from the assailants.
Chkhikvadze, who reports for VOA’s Georgian language service, tweeted that she accidentally caught footage of the attack while she covered the protests. She posted two versions of the video, and in the longer one Landay is heard explaining that the individuals who tried to punch him asked “What are you doing down here?”
Group of people at #DCprotests attacked #Reuters journalist @JonathanLanday. I accidentally caught it on camera - while covering the protests. According to him he was asked why he was there, he replied “I am here to tell you story” / which is when he was attacked. @VOANews pic.twitter.com/EWZtqGcjGQ
— Ani Chkhikvadze (@achkhikvadze) June 2, 2020
In the video, Landay tells Chkhikvadze that he replied: “I’m here to tell your story.” The assailants began swinging for Landay after he replied, Chkhikvadze wrote.
In the video, Landay is seen wearing a black flak vest with “PRESS” emblazoned in white block letters on the front, and he has press credentials hanging from a lanyard hanging around his neck.
Sullivan told the Tracker that the assailants took a “few swings” at him and at Landay but that ultimately “no damage was done.” He said that other protesters stepped in to intervene, giving the journalists time to retreat.
“I started all this by accident by trying to interview these guys,” Sullivan said in a retweet of Chkhikvadze’s video. “Sorry @JonathanLanday!”
I started all this by accident by trying to interview these guys. Sorry @JonathanLanday! https://t.co/GGpoVcDkAt
— Andy Sullivan (@andysullivan) June 2, 2020
Sullivan told the Tracker that throughout the evening of June 1 he saw the same group of individuals assault a cyclist and confront motorists.
Landay, a national security correspondent for Reuters who has reported from conflict zones, told the Tracker that he witnessed the assailants “pushing and shoving” people several blocks away on T Street NW between 14th and 15th streets NW.
Landay said he tried to point out the assailants to Metropolitan Police Department officers who were cordoning off 14th Street, informing them that he had video recordings of his own assault. But he said police “just ignored me.”
The Metropolitan Police Department did not respond to a request for comment on the incident.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Reporter Katherine Burgess of the Commercial Appeal in Memphis, Tennessee, was pushed by a police officer with a riot shield while covering a Black Lives Matter protest at Memphis City Hall on North Main Street on June 1, 2020.
The protest, in response to the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, began in the daylight hours of May 31 at the National Civil Rights museum. In a long-running thread on Twitter, Burgess posted video and text showing the movement of the protesters and occasional confrontations with Memphis police.
In the footage Burgess posted to her personal Twitter account, a Memphis police officer is seen pushing Burgess back with a riot shield near City Hall. One of the officers tells Burgess to “back up” a few times, as she attempts to document arrests of protesters in an area closed off by police. In the video, she says several times that she is “media” and asks “Why are you pushing me away from the scene?” More than a dozen officers can be seen, most with riot gear and a few holding billy clubs.
Police moved abruptly to arrest peaceful protesters I was with. Then they pushed me back and forced me to move down the mall. They made 3-4 arrests. They had one man on the ground. pic.twitter.com/X6uQoYye4S
— Katherine Burgess〽️ (@KathsBurgess) June 1, 2020
“After I was pushed with riot shields and told to "go home" by police officers when trying to film several arrests, then followed in an intimidating fashion up the mall outside City Hall,” Burgess told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
Moments after the incident, Burgess said she called the Commercial Appeal’s executive editor, Mark Russell, to share her experience. According to Burgess, Russell expressed his disappointment with how officers treated his staff. In a call with the Tracker, Russell said he sent a letter to Memphis Police and city and county officials, saying that Burgess was “just doing her job” when she was pushed. Russell noted that since that communication, his staff has not had any issues with local law enforcement.
Memphis Police, Tennessee State Highway Patrol and the Shelby County’s Sheriff Office did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Windows of a WHDH 7News van were smashed while a news team from the local TV station was covering protests in Boston, Massachusetts, in the early hours of June 1, 2020.
Demonstrations in Boston began as protesters gathered in cities across the country, sparked by the May 25 death of George Floyd, a Black man, in police custody. Thousands of people joined Boston protests on May 31 against police brutality and racial injustice. Late that night, after hours of peaceful demonstrations, protests escalated into violence as some participants smashed windows and set fires across the city, WBUR reported.
Nathalie Pozo, a reporter for 7News, posted on Twitter that her news team had covered the protests for six hours and was wrapping up its work for the night when the station’s van was attacked. Video she posted shows the vehicle driving by a group of people when the driver’s side window suddenly bursts, spraying glass into the cab. Another object hits and breaks the windshield.
A voice can be heard asking if the driver is okay, and the driver responds, “Yeah, I got glass in my eye.”
As our night was coming to an end...This happened. Thankfully we are all ok. After six hours of covering peaceful #GeorgeFloydProtests in Boston- It took a turn, from powerful messages to vandalism & looting @7News #7News @photogsap pic.twitter.com/KSY80n2tep
— Nathalie Pozo (@NathalieWCVB) June 1, 2020
In her tweet, Pozo said the news crew was okay but noted that after hours of covering peaceful protests, the demonstrations “took a turn, from powerful messages to vandalism & looting.”
WHDH 7News did not respond to multiple requests for comment from the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
According to a report about the incident filed with the Boston Police Department and reviewed by the Tracker, the news station’s van was surrounded by about 30 people, who were trying to break into the vehicle. The windshield and windows on the passenger and driver’s side were smashed before the van was able to drive away, the document states.
7News reported that the window was shattered when someone threw a large rock. A photograph included in Pozo’s video shows a rock and shards of glass on the seat of the van. Other photographs show graffiti on the side of the van and another window of the vehicle entirely missing.
The police report noted that one person had been pelted with glass and would seek medical attention independently.
Det. Sgt. John Boyle, a spokesperson for the Boston Police Department, said that the incident remains under investigation as of February 2021 and no arrests have been made.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering these protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Journalist Jo Ling Kent was hit on the arm with an exploding incendiary device while reporting live from protests in Seattle, Washington, on June 1, 2020. Kent was uninjured, according to social media posts.
Kent, a correspondent for the TV networks NBC and MSNBC, was covering protests against racial injustice and police brutality that moved through the city of Seattle on the evening of June 1, according to the journalist’s posts on Twitter.
The protest was among the many demonstrations that broke out in response to police violence and in support of Black Lives Matter following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Starting at around 6 p.m., Kent tweeted photos and videos of large crowds moving towards Seattle’s east precinct and through the Capitol Hill neighborhood.
At 7:49 p.m., she tweeted that protesters were “proceeding peacefully” through the streets. But less than an hour later, at 8:27 p.m., Kent wrote that “Tensions are rising near the east precinct in Seattle.” Her tweet accompanied a photo of a police officer holding a baton and facing a protester.
Shortly after, at 9:19 p.m., Kent was reporting live on MSNBC from a sports field in Capitol Hill. In a video of the broadcast posted to Twitter by MSNBC, fireworks are seen going off in the background while Kent reports that police officers are “now advancing on protesters.” Seconds later, an incendiary device explodes and hits Kent on her left arm. She is then hustled away by the network’s security team to the back of the field, where she continues to report until the anchor cautions her to leave the area and a crowd of people start running and yelling. Kent and her team then run off and the video ends.
WATCH: @jolingkent is hit with fireworks during live broadcast as protests in Seattle, Washington, quickly escalate. pic.twitter.com/0KdpGXzhH6
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) June 2, 2020
Kent, who did respond to messages via Twitter and emails seeking comment, later tweeted that “Thankfully, our whole team is ok and safe. I’m totally fine - my jacket sleeve got singed and that’s it.”
As Kent was leaving the scene after being hit she reported on air that “there is severe tear gas and fireworks being deployed by Seattle police.” In its caption with the post of the recording to Twitter, MSNBC wrote that Kent was “hit with fireworks during live broadcast as protests in Seattle, Washington, quickly escalate.”
Dozens of commenters on both MSNBC and Kent’s posts wrote they thought the device, which was seen emitting smoke after exploding and hitting Kent, resembled a tear gas canister or a flash-bang grenade, rather than a firework.
The Seattle Police Department did not respond to an email seeking comment.
Maya Saenz, a news anchor for Omaha-metro area CBS affiliate KMTV, said she was shoved by National Guard officers while covering a June 1, 2020 protest in Omaha, Nebraska, against police violence.
Protests against police violence had spread across the country following the May 25 death of George Floyd. On June 1, demonstrations in Omaha also protested a decision by Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine to not charge a white bar owner, who had shot and killed 22-year-old Black man James Scurlock two days earlier, according to the Omaha World-Herald.
After an 8 p.m. curfew went into effect June 1, the World-Herald reported that at least 150 protesters remained on downtown streets. According to Mayor Jean Stothert's proclamation, as reported by WOWT 6 News, members of the media were exempt from the curfew.
Saenz told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she and her KMTV colleague, Kent Luetzen, were covering protests near Jackson Street and South 13th Street when they were aggressively confronted by National Guard officers.
“Guardsmen quickly ran towards the middle of the street and started grabbing protesters and throwing them on the ground and then placing zip-ties around their wrists,” she said. “I started recording on my cell phone and recorded when one guardsman shoved my colleague and I against a wired fence and attempted to arrest both of us and place zip-ties around us. We yelled, ‘We’re media! We’re media!’ and that’s when they let us go, but several others barked at us to leave the scene.”
In a video posted to Twitter at 9:07 p.m., both reporters repeatedly scream that they are media as a National Guard officer grabs Luetzen. Saenz said she was wearing a shirt with a KMTV logo in the top corner as well as her media credential on a lanyard around her neck. “During the forceful encounter with the guardsmen, my lanyard tore,” she said. “After that, I put it in my pocket.”
Luetzen told the Tracker he was briefly put into zip-ties, but quickly released. At the same time on the same block, one of their colleagues, Jon Kipper, was tackled and also briefly detained.
Approximately half an hour later, Luetzen and Saenz were briefly detained by Omaha police.
Around 9:30 p.m., Luetzen said protesters had spread out after police made a series of arrests in the downtown area. He told the Tracker that he and colleagues from his station, including Saenz, were walking away from the main demonstration area after being told repeatedly that they would be arrested if they didn’t leave. At the intersection of Leavenworth Street and South 15th Street, they came across four Omaha police officers who had detained two people.
"They made us get on the ground and put our hands behind our backs," Luetzen said. "Even though we work with them daily and they knew my co-worker, they still made us get down, put our chests to the ground."
Luetzen said he had his press credentials around his neck and a KMTV logo on his hat. He said that Saenz told the officers that they were all working journalists and were leaving the area. After Saenz’s clarification, he said, the officers let them leave.
The Nebraska National Guard did not respond to an immediate request for comment. When asked for comment about Luetzen’s detainment, Lt. Sherie Thomas, a spokesperson for the Omaha Police Department, told the Tracker that Police Chief Todd Schmaderer had ordered “an overall review of the protests.” Thomas later said that the department sent “clear communication” to news outlets “to make sure employees had visible badges showing that they work for the media” and to “wear highly visible vests.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Kent Luetzen, a reporter for Omaha-metro CBS affiliate KMTV, said police ordered him to lie on the ground and threatened him with arrest while he was covering a protest in Omaha, Nebraska, on June 1, 2020.
Protests against police violence had spread across the country following the May 25 death of George Floyd. On June 1, demonstrations in Omaha also protested a decision by Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine to not charge a white bar owner, who had shot and killed 22-year-old Black man James Scurlock two days earlier, according to the Omaha World-Herald.
Around 9:30 p.m., Luetzen said protesters had spread out after police made a series of arrests in the downtown area. He told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he and colleagues from his station — including KMTV reporter Maya Saenz — were walking away from the main demonstration area after being told repeatedly that they would be arrested if they didn’t leave. At the intersection of Leavenworth Street and South 15th Street, they came across four Omaha police officers who had detained two people.
"They made us get on the ground and put our hands behind our backs," Luetzen said. "Even though we work with them daily and they knew my co-worker, they still made us get down, put our chests to the ground."
Luetzen said he had his press credentials around his neck and a KMTV logo on his hat. He said that Saenz told the officers that they were all working journalists and were leaving the area. After Saenz’s clarification, he said, the officers let them leave.
About half an hour earlier, while covering the demonstration in another area, Luetzen was briefly put into zip-ties and detained by National Guard officers.
When asked for comment about Luetzen’s detainment, Lt. Sherie Thomas, a spokesperson for the Omaha Police Department, told the Tracker that Police Chief Todd Schmaderer had ordered “an overall review of the protests.” Thomas later said that the department sent “clear communication” to news outlets “to make sure employees had visible badges showing that they work for the media” and to “wear highly visible vests.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Kent Luetzen, a reporter for Omaha-metro area CBS affiliate KMTV, said he was briefly detained by National Guard officers while covering a June 1, 2020 protest in Omaha, Nebraska, against police violence.
Protests against police violence had spread across the country following the May 25 death of George Floyd. On June 1, demonstrations in Omaha also protested a decision by Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine to not charge a white bar owner, who had shot and killed 22-year-old Black man James Scurlock two days earlier, according to the Omaha World-Herald.
After an 8 p.m. curfew went into effect June 1, the Omaha World-Herald reported that at least 150 protesters remained on downtown streets. According to Mayor Jean Stothert's proclamation, as reported by WOWT 6 News, members of the media were exempt from the curfew.
Luetzen told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he and his colleague, Maya Saenz, were covering protests at Howard Street and South 13th Street when they were aggressively confronted by National Guard officers. In a video posted to Twitter at 9:07 p.m., both reporters repeatedly scream, "We are media! We are media!" as a National Guard officer grabs Luetzen.
Luetzen told the Tracker he was briefly put into zip-ties even though he had his press credentials hanging around his neck and a KMTV logo on his hat. He said he was released shortly after the Guard officer verified his identity.
According to Luetzen, reporter Saenz was told to leave, but not zip-tied. At the same time on the same block, one of their colleagues, Jon Kipper, was tackled and also briefly detained.
Approximately half an hour later, Luetzen and Saenz were both briefly detained by Omaha police.
The Nebraska National Guard did not respond to a request for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Documentary and news photographer Diana Zeyneb Alhindawi was assaulted by a baton-wielding New York Police Department officer while she was photographing police beating a young man in lower Manhattan on June 1, 2020, according to a federal lawsuit.
Alhindawi is one of five news photographers who filed a federal lawsuit on Aug. 5, 2021, “seeking to hold the New York Police Department [NYPD] accountable for its violation of their First Amendment rights.” The suit is being led by the National Press Photographers Association, of which four of the journalists are members, in partnership with Davis Wright Tremaine LLP.
According to the complaint, Alhindawi was photographing NYPD officers beating a young man inside a Foot Locker store at 440 Broadway that had been broken into, “taking a position near the store window and to the left of the security gate,” alongside several other photographers. When the photographers were directed by officers to move back from the window, they complied and shifted to the other edge of the sidewalk.
“Alhindawi was staring down at the tilted-up view screen of her camera, focusing on getting her shot,” when at least two NYPD officers charged toward the group of photographers, according to the complaint. One swung a baton at Alhindawi, “striking her in the face and splitting her lip open.”
“This is an unprovoked assault. It's one thing to order or request someone to move back,” Mickey H. Osterreicher, general counsel to the NPPA, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. “It's another thing to physically assault someone for no apparent reason.” Osterreicher confirmed Alhindawi was carrying a camera and wearing a Frontline Freelance Register credential.
Alhindawi and the New York Police Department did not respond to a request for comment. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Three journalists from The Lantern, the Ohio State University student newspaper, were pepper sprayed and threatened with arrest by police officers while covering protests in Columbus, Ohio, on June 1, 2020. The three students clearly and repeatedly identified themselves as members of the media before the assault, according to interviews with the journalists and video footage of the incident.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the U.S. since the end of May.
On the night of June 1, Lantern editors Max Garrison, Sarah Szilagy and Maeve Walsh were covering peaceful protests that had moved from the Ohio Statehouse in downtown Columbus toward the Ohio State University campus. About 20 minutes after a 10 p.m. curfew went into effect, the protesters reached the intersection of North High Street and Lane Avenue on the edge of campus.
Up until this point, the journalists had not noticed a police presence. A few minutes after reaching the intersection, however, police cars suddenly arrived and stopped behind the protesters, Garrison and Walsh told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
Police officers got out of their cars, walked swiftly through the crowd, and began using pepper spray to disperse the protesters, they said. The three journalists, who were standing behind a concrete barrier on the sidewalk, somewhat removed from the protesters in the street, remained on the scene as the protesters left, Garrison and Walsh told the Tracker. Szilagy, the Lantern’s campus editor, did not respond to emailed requests for comment.
The journalists were then “approached from multiple directions by police officers telling them to ‘go home’ because of the curfew,” according to an account of the incident Garrison wrote for The Lantern.
“Our reporters continued to film and identify themselves as members of the news media, who are exempt from the curfew,” wrote Garrison, who is the assistant campus editor. “A group of police officers continued to yell over our reporters, saying they ‘don’t care’ and ‘get inside.’ The officers also threatened our reporters with arrest.”
Columbus Police began spraying protestors around 10:25 at the corner of High and Lane. @m_p_garrison @sarahszilagy and I were also sprayed despite making them aware we are members of @TheLantern. The press is exempt from the curfew. pic.twitter.com/BcyitLujyQ
— Maeve Walsh (@maevewalsh27) June 2, 2020
Another group of officers approached and “got very close to us,” according to Garrison, forcing them to step back. Garrison said one officer pushed him. Another shot pepper spray at the group from point-blank range, hitting him on the arm and Szilagy in the eyes, Garrison said. Walsh was not directly hit, but said the gas made her cough.
In a video of the incident The Lantern posted to Twitter, the journalists are pepper sprayed after repeatedly identifying as media who are “exempt from curfew.”
Hi everyone: this was me. I was sprayed in the face after we identified ourselves and presented our press passes multiple times. Media are exempt from curfew. Media are exempt from curfew. https://t.co/DAIDudVpud
— Sarah Szilagy (@sarahszilagy) June 2, 2020
Adam Cairns, a staff photographer with the Columbus Dispatch, witnessed the attack. Cairns told the Tracker that he had been standing near the edge of the intersection with the student journalists, but turned to walk away before another officer came around the corner and shot pepper spray at the journalists. “[I] will attest that they were screaming at the cops that they were media,” Cairns posted to Twitter. “Police, despite clearly seeing press credentials, did not care. I crossed Lane at that point and missed the pepper spray.”
Here is a photo of @TheLantern journalists showing their press IDs to police moments before being pepper sprayed pic.twitter.com/Mvr4TLT83F
— Adam Cairns (@atomicphoto) June 2, 2020
The three journalists turned to flee but were followed by an officer who fired pepper spray at their backs before they turned into an alley, according to Garrison. They then sought refuge nearby at the house of their editor, Sam Raudins, where they spent several hours recovering. None of them returned to the protests that night. “They basically just censored us,” Szilagy told The Washington Post, “and made us incapable of covering other things that happened that night.”
In the hours following the attack, Raudins sent an email to the Columbus Division of Police reporting the incident. “This was not our team getting caught in the crossfire; this was a direct interaction between CPD and The Lantern,” she wrote in the letter posted to Twitter.
Our editor-in-chief @sam_raudins emailed @ColumbusPolice, reporting how officers threatened to arrest and then pepper-sprayed our reporters after our reporters identified themselves as members of the news media. #columbusprotest pic.twitter.com/UXaSYC9bVQ
— The Lantern (@TheLantern) June 2, 2020
In a press conference the following day, Columbus Police Chief Thomas Quinlan was asked about the police officers’ treatment of journalists.
“There’s no malice involved, there’s no intent, it’s just a very chaotic situation,” Quinlan said. “And in that regard, I’d ask the public to have some patience and please comply, and we’ll work it out afterward. But please don’t stand there and argue; move along and comply and we’ll fix this after the fact so nothing bad happens.”
Quinlan also said, “we are dealing with imperfect human beings in imperfect situations. Mistakes will happen and we will take action to correct them and make sure that we do not allow our mistakes to be repeated.”
When asked specifically about the incident involving the Ohio State student journalists, Quinlan said the reporters were not easily recognizable as news media, but the department had launched an internal affairs investigation of the officers, the Dispatch reported.
“We are aware of the incident in question and it is currently under investigation per our use of force policy,” Sergeant James Fuqua, public information officer, said in response to the Tracker’s request for a status update.
The Columbus Division of Police did not respond to the Tracker’s request for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Three journalists from The Lantern, the Ohio State University student newspaper, were pepper sprayed and threatened with arrest by police officers while covering protests in Columbus, Ohio, on June 1, 2020. The three students clearly and repeatedly identified themselves as members of the media before the assault, according to interviews with the journalists and video footage of the incident.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the U.S. since the end of May.
On the night of June 1, Lantern editors Sarah Szilagy, Max Garrison and Maeve Walsh were covering peaceful protests that had moved from the Ohio Statehouse in downtown Columbus toward the Ohio State University campus. About 20 minutes after a 10 p.m. curfew went into effect, the protesters reached the intersection of North High Street and Lane Avenue on the edge of campus.
Up until this point, the journalists had not noticed a police presence. A few minutes after reaching the intersection, however, police cars suddenly arrived and stopped behind the protesters, Walsh and Garrison told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. Szilagy, the Lantern’s campus editor, did not respond to emailed requests for comment.
Police officers got out of their cars, walked swiftly through the crowd, and began using pepper spray to disperse the protesters, they said. The three journalists, who were standing behind a concrete barrier on the sidewalk, somewhat removed from the protesters in the street, remained on the scene as the protesters left, Walsh and Garrison told the Tracker.
The journalists were then approached from multiple directions by officers ordering them to “go home” because of the curfew, according to an account of the incident Garrison wrote for The Lantern. They continued to film and identify themselves as press, holding their press passes in the air, Walsh said. The officers responded that they “don’t care” and threatened to arrest the journalists if they didn’t disperse.
Another group of officers approached and “got very close to us,” according to Garrison, forcing them to step back. Garrison said one officer pushed him. Another shot pepper spray at the group from point-blank range, hitting him on the arm and Szilagy in the eyes, Garrison said. Walsh was not directly hit, but said the gas made her cough.
In a video of the incident The Lantern posted to Twitter, the journalists are pepper sprayed after repeatedly identifying as media who are “exempt from curfew.”
Hi everyone: this was me. I was sprayed in the face after we identified ourselves and presented our press passes multiple times. Media are exempt from curfew. Media are exempt from curfew. https://t.co/DAIDudVpud
— Sarah Szilagy (@sarahszilagy) June 2, 2020
Adam Cairns, a staff photographer with the Columbus Dispatch, witnessed the attack. Cairns told the Tracker that he had been standing near the edge of the intersection with the student journalists, but turned to walk away before another officer came around the corner and shot pepper spray at the journalists. “[I] will attest that they were screaming at the cops that they were media,” Cairns posted to Twitter. “Police, despite clearly seeing press credentials, did not care. I crossed Lane at that point and missed the pepper spray.”
Here is a photo of @TheLantern journalists showing their press IDs to police moments before being pepper sprayed pic.twitter.com/Mvr4TLT83F
— Adam Cairns (@atomicphoto) June 2, 2020
The three journalists turned to flee but were followed by an officer who fired pepper spray at their backs before they turned into an alley, according to Garrison. They then sought refuge nearby at the house of their editor, Sam Raudins, where they spent several hours recovering. None of them returned to the protests that night. “They basically just censored us,” Szilagy told The Washington Post, “and made us incapable of covering other things that happened that night.”
In the hours following the attack, Raudins sent an email to the Columbus Division of Police reporting the incident. “This was not our team getting caught in the crossfire; this was a direct interaction between CPD and The Lantern,” she wrote in the letter posted to Twitter.
Our editor-in-chief @sam_raudins emailed @ColumbusPolice, reporting how officers threatened to arrest and then pepper-sprayed our reporters after our reporters identified themselves as members of the news media. #columbusprotest pic.twitter.com/UXaSYC9bVQ
— The Lantern (@TheLantern) June 2, 2020
In a press conference the following day, Columbus Police Chief Thomas Quinlan was asked about the police officers’ treatment of journalists.
“There’s no malice involved, there’s no intent, it’s just a very chaotic situation,” Quinlan said. “And in that regard, I’d ask the public to have some patience and please comply, and we’ll work it out afterward. But please don’t stand there and argue; move along and comply and we’ll fix this after the fact so nothing bad happens.”
Quinlan also said, “we are dealing with imperfect human beings in imperfect situations. Mistakes will happen and we will take action to correct them and make sure that we do not allow our mistakes to be repeated.”
When asked specifically about the incident involving the Ohio State student journalists, Quinlan said the reporters were not easily recognizable as news media, but the department had launched an internal affairs investigation of the officers, the Dispatch reported.
“We are aware of the incident in question and it is currently under investigation per our use of force policy,” Sergeant James Fuqua, public information officer, said in response to the Tracker’s request for a status update.
The Columbus Division of Police did not respond to the Tracker’s request for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Multiple journalists for the Spanish-language outlet Telemundo reported being hit with projectiles while covering protests near the White House on June 1, 2020.
The protests that day were part of a wave of demonstrations resulting from a viral video showing a Minneapolis, Minnesota, police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the U.S. since the end of May.
The Telemundo journalists — senior Washington correspondent Cristina Londoño Rooney, bureau chief Lori Montenegro and cameraman Edwin López — reported being hit with projectiles as law enforcement officials attempted to disperse protesters half an hour before the district’s 7 p.m. curfew on June 1 and as President Donald Trump addressed the nation from the Rose Garden nearby.
Emailed requests to the Telemundo journalists for interviews were not returned as of press time.
In a video posted shortly before being hit, Londoño described “a very tense atmosphere” and how tear gas was “already starting to make our throats itch.” She wondered if “protesters are aware that the president will be addressing the nation any time.”
After the attack, the Colombian journalist posted a video in which she detailed the journalists’ injuries, stating that Montenegro had been hit on the back and that her throat was sore after breathing air filled with tear gas; that López had been hit on his right arm and ribs; and that law enforcement had used “long weapons that were pointing at us” to push them out of the area close to the White House.
In a tweet on June 5, Londoño shared pictures of her wounds and bruises, writing, “The White House also said rubber bullets were not used. Can anyone tell me what this looks like?”
La Casa Blanca negó que usaron gases lacrimógenos o balas de goma para dispersar a los manifestantes y periodistas el lunes. Sentí los gases y el @washingtonpost ahora los confirma. Y esto ¿Me pueden decir esto qué es? pic.twitter.com/CkjEIPSwqu
— Cristina Londoño Rooney (@CristiLondono) June 6, 2020
D.C. is notable for the large number of different police forces that operate within its borders. Park Police said in a statement on June 2 that its officers and other assisting law enforcement partners had not used tear gas that day, though multiple outlets, including the Washington Post, have reported that “chemical agents” were deployed. Regarding this particular incident, Park Police did not respond to our request for comment as of press time.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Multiple journalists for the Spanish-language outlet Telemundo reported being hit with projectiles while covering protests near the White House on June 1, 2020.
The protests that day were part of a wave of demonstrations resulting from a viral video showing a Minneapolis, Minnesota, police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the U.S. since the end of May.
The Telemundo journalists — bureau chief Lori Montenegro, senior Washington correspondent Cristina Londoño Rooney and cameraman Edwin López — reported being hit with projectiles as law enforcement officials attempted to disperse protesters half an hour before the district’s 7 p.m. curfew on June 1 and as President Donald Trump addressed the nation from the Rose Garden, nearby.
Emailed requests to the Telemundo journalists for interviews were not returned as of press time.
In a video posted shortly before being hit, Londoño described “a very tense atmosphere” and how tear gas was “already starting to make our throats itch.” She wondered if “protesters are aware that the president will be addressing the nation any time.”
After the attack, the Colombian journalist posted a video in which she detailed the journalists’ injuries, stating that Montenegro had been hit on the back and that her throat was sore after breathing air filled with tear gas; that López had been hit on his right arm and ribs; and that law enforcement had used “long weapons that were pointing at us” to push them out of the area close to the White House.
In a tweet on June 5, Londoño shared pictures of her wounds and bruises, writing, “The White House also said rubber bullets were not used. Can anyone tell me what this looks like?”
La Casa Blanca negó que usaron gases lacrimógenos o balas de goma para dispersar a los manifestantes y periodistas el lunes. Sentí los gases y el @washingtonpost ahora los confirma. Y esto ¿Me pueden decir esto qué es? pic.twitter.com/CkjEIPSwqu
— Cristina Londoño Rooney (@CristiLondono) June 6, 2020
D.C. is notable for the large number of different police forces that operate within its borders. Park Police said in a statement on June 2 that its officers and other assisting law enforcement partners had not used tear gas that day, though multiple outlets, including the Washington Post, have reported that “chemical agents” were deployed. Regarding this particular incident, Park Police did not respond to our request for comment as of press time.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
A news crew for Australia’s 7News was assaulted by law enforcement while covering protests against police violence in Washington, D.C., on June 1, 2020, a chaotic day for demonstrations throughout the nation’s capital.
Cameraman Tim Myers and correspondent Amelia Brace were reporting live on-air amid a group of protesters facing a police line when officers rushed the crowd. An officer wearing riot gear can be seen pushing Myers with a shield and hitting his camera. As Myers and Brace fled the scene, an officer can be seen swinging a baton at Brace.
Watch the shocking moment #7NEWS reporter @AmeliaBrace and our cameraman were knocked over by a police officer LIVE on air after chaos erupted in Washington DC. pic.twitter.com/R8KJLnfxPN
— Sunrise (@sunriseon7) June 1, 2020
“They were quite violent and they do not care who they’re targeting at the moment,” Brace told in-studio anchors during a subsequent report for 7News.
“We were trying to move on. The last thing we ever want is to get in the way, but there was just no opportunity,” she continued. “There was really no choice but to try to hide in that corner, hoping that they pass by ... as you can see in those pictures, they did not.”
Brace also told the anchors that a rubber bullet hit her “on the backside” and that another round struck Myers on the neck.
7News did not respond to requests for comment or make its journalists available for interviews.
D.C. is notable for the large number of different police forces that operate within its borders. The Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia did not respond to requests for comment on these incidents as of press time.
Protests against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the country after a viral video showed a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Nicole Roussell, a reporter for Sputnik, a Russian state-owned outlet, was struck by multiple crowd-control munitions, shoved and pepper sprayed by law enforcement while covering protests against police violence in Washington, D.C., on June 1, 2020, a chaotic day for demonstrations throughout the nation’s capital.
Roussell told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she had been filming what she described as peaceful protests near the White House and Lafayette Square when police in riot gear began to fire rubber bullets and mace at the crowd, brandish their batons and use their shields to shove people.
Rousell said she did not come out unscathed: She told the Tracker she got hit with rubber bullets, with her employer sharing images of her injuries on Twitter; caught in the mace, despite yelling, “I’m press! I’m press!” to police, holding up her press badge and donning a reflective orange vest at the time; and, at a moment when police advanced on the crowd, had an officer push her with his shield, causing her to fall and hit her elbow, ribs and leg on the ground.
PHOTOS | Nicole sustained wounds from rubber bullets that were fired by US police, while she had on press credentials and vocally stated she was part of the press covering the protests#GeorgeFloydProtests #BlackOutTuesday https://t.co/XulcUeVitf pic.twitter.com/3PziHUzJgr
— Sputnik (@SputnikInt) June 2, 2020
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation issued a statement on the incident the following day, writing, in part, “We regard the deliberate attack on Nicole Roussell, a producer at the Sputnik News Agency, in Washington on June 1, 2020, as an unfriendly step on the part of the US authorities, as well as a flagrant violation of their international legal obligations to ensure the safety of journalists and their unhindered work.”
D.C. is notable for the large number of different police forces that operate within its borders. The Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia also did not respond to requests for comment on these incidents as of press time.
Protests against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the country after a viral video showed a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Reuters journalists Jonathan Landay and Andy Sullivan were assaulted by unknown individuals on June 1, 2020 while covering protests in Washington, D.C.
Protests against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the country after a viral video showed a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Sullivan told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker the demonstrations that he and Landay encountered on June 1 were nonviolent. He said they witnessed “no vandalism or anything of that nature.”
But at about 8 p.m., a group of unknown individuals approached Landay and Sullivan near the intersection of 14th Street NW and Rhode Island Avenue NW, Sullivan said. One of the individuals asked “in an aggressive way” if Sullivan was a police officer.
Voice of America journalist Ani Chkhikvadze was near the scene and captured video of three males wearing black T-shirts swinging their fists at Landay as he ducked away from the assailants.
Chkhikvadze, who reports for VOA’s Georgian language service, tweeted that she accidentally caught footage of the attack while she covered the protests. She posted two versions of the video, and in the longer one Landay is heard explaining that the individuals who tried to punch him asked “What are you doing down here?”
Group of people at #DCprotests attacked #Reuters journalist @JonathanLanday. I accidentally caught it on camera - while covering the protests. According to him he was asked why he was there, he replied “I am here to tell you story” / which is when he was attacked. @VOANews pic.twitter.com/EWZtqGcjGQ
— Ani Chkhikvadze (@achkhikvadze) June 2, 2020
In the video, Landay tells Chkhikvadze that he replied: “I’m here to tell your story.” The assailants began swinging for Landay after he replied, Chkhikvadze wrote.
In the video, Landay is seen wearing a black flak vest with “PRESS” emblazoned in white block letters on the front, and he has press credentials hanging from a lanyard hanging around his neck.
Sullivan, a White House correspondent for Reuters, told the Tracker that the assailants took a “few swings” at him and at Landay but that ultimately “no damage was done.” He said that other protesters stepped in to intervene, giving the journalists time to retreat.
“I started all this by accident by trying to interview these guys,” Sullivan said in a retweet of Chkhikvadze’s video. “Sorry @JonathanLanday!”
I started all this by accident by trying to interview these guys. Sorry @JonathanLanday! https://t.co/GGpoVcDkAt
— Andy Sullivan (@andysullivan) June 2, 2020
Landay said in a reply to Sullivan’s tweet that Sullivan got between him and the assailants and “had me walk away.”
“Good comrade indeed,” Landay tweeted.
Sullivan told the Tracker that throughout the evening of June 1 he saw the same group of individuals assault a cyclist and confront motorists.
Landay, a national security correspondent for Reuters who has reported from conflict zones, told the Tracker that he witnessed the assailants “pushing and shoving” people several blocks away on T Street NW between 14th and 15th streets NW.
Landay said he tried to point out the assailants to Metropolitan Police Department officers who were cordoning off 14th Street, informing them that he had video recordings of his own assault. But he said police “just ignored me.”
The Metropolitan Police Department did not respond to a request for comment on the incident.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Lincoln Journal Star reporter Chris Dunker was thrown to the ground and arrested by law enforcement officers while reporting on protests in Lincoln, Nebraska, on May 31, 2020.
Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 have spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Dunker told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was livestreaming a protest in front of the City/County Building in downtown Lincoln for the outlet’s Facebook page. At approximately 8:35 p.m., officers with the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office began to enforce the 8 p.m. curfew order announced that day, he said.
“As law enforcement pursued the protesters away from the area, a deputy sheriff turned toward me and ordered me to leave,” Dunker said. “I was wearing a neon vest with ‘PRESS’ on it and had on my media credential. I told the deputy I had a constitutional right to be there.”
In a video of the incident published by the Journal Star, the deputy can be seen charging at Dunker without a word and tackling him to the ground. Dunker told the Tracker that his knee and elbow were scraped as two deputies pinned him to the ground and handcuffed him.
“I asked them to return my phone, which had fallen onto the concrete parking lot where I was standing, and my hat, which they did,” Dunker said.
Dunker said that another law enforcement officer told the deputy sheriff who had charged at him that officers were not supposed to arrest members of the media. He said the deputy disregarded this and instead continued to lead Dunker to an area where other arrestees were awaiting transport to jail.
“A higher ranking member of the department told the police to check my identity and if I had any warrants before cutting me loose,” Dunker said. “Police promptly did and I was allowed to keep filming the protests for several more hours that evening.”
Sheriff Terry Wagner with the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting damage of equipment and multiple journalists arrested or struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas while covering related protests across the country. Find all of these cases here.
A screenshot from the livestream of Lincoln Journal Star reporter Chris Dunker of protests in Lincoln, Nebraska, on May 31, 2020. Dunker was detained by police while reporting.
",detained and released without being processed,not charged,Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office,None,None,True,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, BuzzFeed News journalist detained while covering Santa Monica protests,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/buzzfeed-news-journalist-detained-while-covering-santa-monica-protests/,2020-06-04 02:48:50.109279+00:00,2021-11-19 15:02:39.918785+00:00,2021-11-19 15:02:39.871033+00:00,,Arrest/Criminal Charge,,,,Brianna Sacks (BuzzFeed News),,2020-05-31,False,Santa Monica,California (CA),34.01949,-118.49138,"BuzzFeed News reporter Brianna Sacks was detained by Santa Monica police while documenting protests in Santa Monica, California, on May 31, 2020.
Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 have spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Sacks told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she was documenting protests in downtown Santa Monica around 6:30 or 7 p.m. when police officers began arresting protesters for failing to disperse and for violating the city’s 4 p.m. curfew.
“[The officers] pulled me out of the crowd, took my phone away, put it in my backpack and placed me in zip-tie handcuffs,” Sacks said. “I explained to them that I was media several times and they told me to just give them a few minutes and hold still.”
Officers looked at her press badge several times, Sacks said. She said they did not tell her why she was being detained.
Sacks said she was detained for approximately 15-20 minutes before officers flagged down a sergeant who told them to release her and remove the zip ties. The sergeant also told her that upon her release she would have to leave the scene. She did not.
The Santa Monica Police Department could not immediately be reached for comment.
In photos published by Sacks on Twitter, her wrists appear bruised and irritated from the tightness of the zip ties.
Police also pulled me out of the crowd and put me in zip tie cuffs and I was able to convince them to let me go because I was media, which I know is pretty damn lucky pic.twitter.com/EUXQ7T6bYR
— Brianna Sacks (@bri_sacks) June 1, 2020
“[The officers] were pretty reasonable and my experience was incredibly mild based on what other reporters have been enduring,” Sacks said.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting damage of equipment and multiple journalists arrested or struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas while covering related protests across the country. Find all of these cases here.
Police pepper-sprayed and arrested Des Moines Register reporter Andrea Sahouri while she was covering protests in Des Moines, Iowa, on May 31, 2020.
Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 have spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
In a video recorded while in the back of a police transport vehicle, Sahouri said she was reporting on a demonstration at Merle Hay Mall when she was arrested.
— Andrea May Sahouri (@andreamsahouri) June 1, 2020
Shortly before 8 p.m., Sahouri tweeted that police deployed tear gas, forcing all the protesters to run into the street. Sahouri said in her recording that she and her boyfriend were running with protesters when he was struck by a tear gas canister.
“As I was seeing if his leg was O.K., police came closer and we went around the corner and I was saying, ‘I’m press. I’m press. I’m press,’” Sahouri said.
An officer responded, “I didn’t ask,” before spraying her twice in the face with pepper spray, the Register reported. Officers then handcuffed her using zip ties, Sahouri said in the video.
In footage captured by KCCI 8 News, Sahouri can be seen sitting on a curb, hands cuffed behind her back.
“I’m just doing my job as a journalist,” Sahouri said in her recording. “I’m just out here reporting as I see.”
Sahouri was taken to the Polk County Jail, where she was charged with failure to disperse and interference with official acts. She was released from police custody shortly after 11 p.m., the Register reported.
The Des Moines Police Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting damage of equipment and multiple journalists arrested or struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas while covering related protests across the country. Find all of these cases here.
KCCI 8 News captured footage of reporter Andrea Sahouri's arrest on May 31, 2020 in Des. Moines, Iowa.
",arrested and released,acquitted,Des Moines Police Department,None,None,True,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, chemical irritant, protest",,"obstruction: interference with official acts, rioting: failure to disperse",,, Sheriff’s deputies shoot reporter with pepper balls in California protests,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/sheriffs-deputies-shoot-reporter-with-pepper-balls-in-california-protests/,2020-06-05 04:39:04.909606+00:00,2022-03-10 20:53:48.557400+00:00,2022-03-10 20:53:48.502942+00:00,,Assault,,,,Andrew Dyer (San Diego Union-Tribune),,2020-05-31,False,La Mesa,California (CA),32.76783,-117.02308,"San Diego Union-Tribune reporter Andrew Dyer was shot with pepper balls while he was documenting protests in La Mesa, California, on May 31, 2020.
Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 have spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Dyer told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was covering a protest near City Hall at around 9:15 p.m., and was wearing a reflective orange vest with his press credentials and camera around his neck.
He was standing to the side of a group of demonstrators when a protester threw a water bottle at a line of San Diego County Sheriff’s deputies. In response, the deputies opened fire on the crowd with what Dyer believes were pepper balls.
Just got a couple of bean bags to my leg and side, identified myself as press, was told by unknown officer to get out of the way. A protester threw some kind of bottle at the line of officers. I'm wearing a bright orange vest. @sdut
— Andrew Dyer (@SDUTdyer) May 31, 2020
Dyer said two of the pepper balls hit him on his right side. He said he saw the deputies aim before firing, and believed that he had been targeted.
“Every time I saw deputies fire they shouldered the weapons and took aim,” Dyer said. “I’m also a large target.”
After he was hit, Dyer loudly identified himself as a member of the press, and said law enforcement then ignored him and continued to advance on the crowd. He added that he was bruised by the shots but was otherwise unharmed.
Neither the La Mesa Police Department nor San Diego County Sheriff’s Department could immediately be reached for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting damage of equipment and multiple journalists arrested or struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas while covering related protests across the country. Find all of these cases here.
Andrew Gunn, a journalist for the student-run newspaper at the University of New Mexico, was hit by a ricochet foam-tipped munition when law enforcement officers fired into a small protest that Gunn and his colleagues were covering in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on May 31, 2020.
Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 have spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Gunn, a senior reporter and copy editor for the New Mexico Daily Lobo, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he arrived in downtown Albuquerque at 1 a.m to document the protests, joining a group of colleagues.
Approximately 30 minutes later, Gunn said he was standing with photo editor Sharon Chischilly and reporter and photographer Liam DeBonis reporting on the protests when officers fired tear without warning.
Gunn said that all three journalists were clearly identified as media, with DeBonis wearing a helmet marked with the word “PRESS.”
.@LiamDebonis ‘s helmet is brilliant! pic.twitter.com/j7e9HXlu83
— Sharon Chischilly (@Schischillyy) June 1, 2020
Gunn continued reporting via livestream on Twitter. He said that shortly after he turned off the livestream just after 2 a.m., law enforcement fired foam rounds at protesters, and one ricocheted off the street and struck him in the back.
— ᴀɴᴅʀᴇᴡ ɢᴜɴɴ 🏳️🌈 (@agunnwrites) June 1, 2020
Gunn said that two other colleagues, data editor Joe Rull and senior reporter Bella Davis, were standing with him also wearing press identification when the officers opened fire; Gunn said no one was injured.
“Everyone is safe and unharmed, and things are quieting down, but I was quite shaken by the encounter along with my colleagues,” said Gunn, who provided a photograph of the munition to the Tracker.
Gunn said that these incidents followed similar ones earlier in the evening. Before Gunn arrived on the scene he said colleagues told him they were fired upon with tear gas and foam rounds.
had to run back because they shot something toward the crowd pic.twitter.com/3BUJBSs5OY
— Joe Rull (@rulljoe) June 1, 2020
Gunn said he saw officers with the Albuquerque Police Department, the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Department and the New Mexico State Police on patrol; he is not certain to which agency the officers firing the foam rounds or the tear gas belonged.
The Tracker contacted all three agencies but did not receive immediate responses from APD or the Sheriff’s Department.
The New Mexico State Police deferred comment to the Albuquerque Police Department, which it said was the lead agency in charge of managing the protests.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting damage of equipment and multiple journalists arrested or struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas while covering related protests across the country. Find all of these cases here.
Student journalist Joe Rull picked up this foam-tipped munition shortly after he and colleagues from the New Mexico Daily Lobo were fired upon by law enforcement in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest, shot / shot at",,,,, Freelance journalist detained while covering protests for The Washington Post in Atlanta,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/freelance-journalist-detained-while-covering-protests-washington-post-atlanta/,2020-06-05 05:04:59.400617+00:00,2021-11-19 15:04:35.292732+00:00,2021-11-19 15:04:35.237168+00:00,,Arrest/Criminal Charge,,,,Haisten Willis (Freelance),,2020-05-31,False,Atlanta,Georgia (GA),33.749,-84.38798,"Freelance reporter Haisten Willis was detained by officers with the Atlanta Police Department while covering protests in the city on assignment with The Washington Post on May 31, 2020.
Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 have spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Willis told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was on the street in downtown Atlanta about 30 minutes after the city’s 9 p.m. curfew went into effect, looking at his phone for continued protests on Twitter.
“I heard and noticed a large number of police coming toward me,” Willis said.
He stepped under a streetlight to be sure that the officers saw him, Willis said, and called out to identify himself as press.
Willis said one of the officers asked if he had a press pass, and he responded that he had a digital credential issued to him by The Post on his phone.
“That’s when things kind of went wrong,” Willis said.
Willis said the officer refused to allow him to pull up the press credential on his phone, saying that it wasn’t sufficient identification. He said the officer told him that he was under arrest. Officers then took Willis’ phone and a pen that he had been using to take notes, handcuffed him with zip ties and patted him down for weapons.
The detention was broadcast live by a CBS46 news crew in the area.
Willis told the Tracker that when officers pulled his wallet out of his pocket, he told them he had business cards inside identifying him as a journalist. Officers examined the cards — which list his title as “freelance journalist” — and after a few minutes decided to release him, Willis said.
The officers removed the zip ties, and returned his phone and pen, he said.
A coalition of Georgia journalism organizations released a statement condemning Willis’ detention, and that of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution staff photographer Alyssa Pointer, who was detained by the officers with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources when covering protests on June 1, according to the statement.
“The detainments of Willis and Pointer were clear abridgments of press freedoms. The confiscation of equipment, cell phones and other supplies hinders the ability of reporters to uphold responsibilities granted by the First Amendment,” the statement reads.
The Atlanta Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting damage of equipment and multiple journalists arrested or struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas while covering related protests across the country. Find all of these cases here.
The detention of reporter Haisten Willis, on assignment with The Washington Post to cover protests in Atlanta, was broadcast live by CBS46.
",detained and released without being processed,not charged,Atlanta Police Department,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, Minneapolis reporter injured by broken glass after nonlethal round shatters car window,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/minneapolis-reporter-injured-broken-glass-after-nonlethal-round-shatters-car-window/,2020-06-11 03:52:00.027677+00:00,2022-03-10 17:09:57.639555+00:00,2022-03-10 17:09:57.575574+00:00,,"Equipment Damage, Assault",,,vehicle: count of 1,Ryan Faircloth (Minneapolis Star Tribune),,2020-05-31,False,Minneapolis,Minnesota (MN),44.97997,-93.26384,"Law enforcement officers fired a nonlethal round at a car driven by Minneapolis Star Tribune reporter Ryan Faircloth, breaking the left passenger window and injuring him with glass shards, while he was covering protests in the city at about 12:15 a.m. on May 31, 2020.
Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Faircloth told the Committee to Protect Journalists in a phone interview that he was driving and arrived at a street blocked by National Guard and Minnesota State Police. He turned away from the police line, and then a marker round shattered the window, sending pieces of glass into the car, which cut him on his left forearm and brow.
He said he could not tell whether police or the National Guard troops fired the round, or whether they had fired other shots as well.
“I was taken aback,” Faircloth told CPJ. “I thought I was leaving the area [of the protests] and so my guard wasn’t up at all. And then everything shattered and all of a sudden I was bleeding.”
The Ford Focus he was driving is owned by the Star Tribune, and did not have any markings identifying it as a press vehicle, Faircloth said.
Faircloth had tweeted earlier in the night that the car had been fired upon by law enforcement on another street, but said no damage was done then.
My colleague, @ChaoStrib, and I were driving near Lake Street and mistakenly turned down a street that was blocked off at the end. Before we had a chance to reverse, the Guard/ State Patrol fired #rubber bullets at our car without warning. https://t.co/8yUVKz7rhA
— Ryan Faircloth (@RyanFaircloth) May 31, 2020
Protesters and law enforcement at a rally in Minneapolis on May 31, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,no,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest, shot / shot at",,,,, "Denver Post reporter struck in head, body with multiple projectiles during protests",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/denver-police-train-less-lethal-rifle-two-colorado-reporters-shortly-after-one-was-hit-projectiles/,2020-06-11 13:21:12.050701+00:00,2022-03-10 17:10:14.452691+00:00,2022-03-10 17:10:14.391498+00:00,,Assault,,,,Alex Burness (The Denver Post),,2020-05-31,False,Denver,Colorado (CO),39.73915,-104.9847,"Denver Post reporter Alex Burness was hit by a pepper ball and foam projectiles while covering protests in Denver, Colorado, on the evening of May 31, 2020.
The protests were sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, for 7 minutes and 46 seconds during an arrest in Minneapolis on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
At around 8:40 p.m., Burness was reporting on Denver’s Colfax Avenue downtown when police deployed tear gas at protesters, a scene he described as “utter chaos.” He told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was hit in the back by a pepper ball.
“I was wearing my press credentials but I would not say I was targeted,” he said.
Burness followed protesters as they moved toward the headquarters of the Denver Police Department. Shortly after 10 p.m., police clad in riot gear began firing projectiles into the crowd, he said. Burness ran away from the clash, shouting “Press!” He said he was hit four times by projectiles, once in the temple, twice in his side, and once in his upper thigh. He was left with two “very big welts” on his side, and a small bump on his head.
Burness, who does not believe he was being singled out when he was hit, posted about the attack on Twitter, calling it the “most violent single moment I’ve covered over these four days.”
Jack Healy, a New York Times reporter, posted a photo of Burness’s side with a newly forming bruise:
This is @alex_burness, Denver Post reporter. He screamed “Press” shortly before being hit as officers fired on protesters. pic.twitter.com/bE4a7kGIoq
— jack healy (@jackhealyNYT) June 1, 2020
Later that night, an officer pointed a rifle directly at Burness and Esteban Hernandez, a Denverite and Colorado Public Radio reporter. Burness described the rifle as the type used to shoot less-lethal projectiles. The Tracker has documented those cases here and here.
A request for comment to the Denver Police Department was not immediately returned.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
New York Times correspondent Jack Healy captured on Twitter the fresh bruise forming on Denver Post reporter Alex Burness on May 31, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,no,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest, shot / shot at",,,,, Freelance photographer detained by Buffalo police,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/freelance-photographer-detained-buffalo-police/,2020-06-17 02:27:44.041869+00:00,2021-11-19 14:57:26.990201+00:00,2021-11-19 14:57:26.935166+00:00,,Arrest/Criminal Charge,,,,Andrew Jasiura (Freelance),,2020-05-31,False,Buffalo,New York (NY),42.88645,-78.87837,"Freelance photographer Andrew Jasiura was briefly handcuffed by police officers while reporting on protests in Buffalo, New York, on May 31, 2020. Jasiura said he was harassed and singled out because he is a freelancer rather than affiliated with a mainstream news outlet.
The protests were part of a wave of demonstrations across the country following the May 26 release of a video showing a Minneapolis police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest. Floyd was later pronounced dead at the hospital.
Local officials in Buffalo had placed the area under a 9 p.m. curfew following protests that had turned violent. Law enforcement dispersed crowds by using nonlethal weapons like pepper balls. Jasiura was reporting on those protests on May 30 when he was hit by pepper balls and a police officer attempted to grab his camera.
On May 31, Jasiura was photographing protests again when the police checked his credentials and told him to go home because the curfew was set to go into effect. But he noticed that local news crews were not leaving.
“So I went back out and stood next to them for a while, got a couple of pictures and then strayed off from the group to get a better angle,” he told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. “And the cops came back over and handcuffed me.” He also said that the officers pointed guns at his head and said, “Fuck your First Amendment.”
On Sunday, at exactly 8:01PM (8pm curfew) I had four M16S assault rifles pointed at my head by Buffalo SWAT. I asked why this was all happening to a member of the press with 1A protections to which they responded "fuck your first amendment" and put me in handcuffs
— DrewJazzyPhoto (@PhotoJazzy) June 6, 2020
Shortly after Jasiura was cuffed, he heard an officer say over the radio that they should cut him loose. He was freed after about 10 minutes, during which time police ran his ID and checked his credentials. Jasiura said that none of the other journalists on the scene were subject to similar treatment.
The Buffalo Police Department did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred total incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd while in police custody. Find these cases here.
NBC News journalist Simon Moya-Smith was pepper-sprayed and detained while covering protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in the early hours of May 31, 2020.
Multiple days of protests in Minneapolis and across the nation were sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital. Thousands gathered around the convenience store where Floyd had been detained and at the police department’s Third Precinct building in the days that followed.
Moya-Smith told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was following along with a group of about a dozen Native American and black protesters as they walked through the south side of Minneapolis shortly after 1 a.m. An 8 p.m. curfew order was in place that night, though members of the media were explicitly exempt.
Four or five Minneapolis police cruisers suddenly came upon the group and encircled them, Moya-Smith said. An officer in one of the vehicles shouted, “Go home! Go home!” to which one of the protesters responded, “We are! We are going home!”
An officer then jumped out of one of the cruisers and began pepper-spraying the protesters indiscriminately and ordering them to get on the ground.
“As we’re all lying down, she comes around and just begins to spray as if she were in her backyard garden — individually, as if she were just spraying her plants,” Moya-Smith said.
He added that he, too, was sprayed while facedown, much of it hitting his back.
“It was a completely unnecessary use of force on the group. Everyone was complying,” Moya-Smith said.
Officers then came around to each of the protesters and asked for their IDs. When they came around to Moya-Smith, he told them that he had an ID in his wallet and that he was a reporter with NBC News. When they told him to wait as he was, Moya-Smith said he thought, “OK, so this is how this is going to go.”
“I’m sure one, two or maybe all of them knew that if they allowed me to exercise my First Amendment right as a reporter that I would immediately begin documenting the situation, and I think that is what they were trying to prevent,” Moya-Smith said.
Moya-Smith told the Tracker that multiple officers checked his press badge: One referred to him as “Mr. Journalist” when ordering him to roll over; another simply shrugged.
I was pepper-sprayed then arrested last night by Minneapolis PD even after identifying myself as a reporter MULTIPLE times:
— Simon Moya-Smith (@SimonMoyaSmith) May 31, 2020
Cop 1: *checks press badge as I’m on the ground*
Cop 2: “Roll on your side, Mr. journalist.”
Cop 3: *loads me in the car, sees my press badge and shrugs*
Moya-Smith was loaded into one of the cruisers and transported to the Minneapolis Police Department’s Fifth Precinct along with the demonstrators. When they arrived at the station, he said, it was chaotic and overwhelmed by the number of arrests that night.
While their arresting officer had decided to issue them citations outside the station and release them, another officer convinced him that there was still space to book them in the jail, Moya-Smith said.
When the officer came around to him to ask for his ID again, Moya-Smith said, “Yupp, and here’s my press badge.”
Moya-Smith said the officer seemed surprised and called over a commanding officer, who immediately said that he needed to be released. Officers dropped him off about half a block from where the National Guard was operating.
“And as they were letting me go [the officer] said, ‘You’re going to tell everybody that we treated you nicely, right?’ And I said, ‘Yeah,’” Moya-Smith told the Tracker.
Moya-Smith said that he was in police custody for a little over an hour and that he suffered no serious effects from the pepper spray other than a few coughing attacks.
He noted that while covering the protests in Minneapolis he found that being a member of the press did not protect him from police tactics.
“They still come directly toward you. They still charge you. It’s not a situation where you can even be a fly on the wall and cover it,” Moya-Smith said. “It feels like more of a target than a badge.”
When asked for comment, a representative from the Minneapolis Police Department’s Records Information Unit told the Tracker that the MPD was not the arresting authority for Moya-Smith. The Minneapolis State Patrol did not respond to requests for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred total incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find all of these cases here.
State patrol officers stand guard in Minneapolis on May 31, 2020.
",detained and released without being processed,not charged,Minneapolis Police Department,None,None,True,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,no,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, chemical irritant, protest",,,,, "Reporter detained, zip tied and searched while covering San Francisco protest",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-detained-zip-tied-and-searched-while-covering-san-francisco-protest/,2020-06-23 02:42:15.048081+00:00,2021-11-19 15:58:14.662529+00:00,2021-11-19 15:58:14.567470+00:00,,"Arrest/Criminal Charge, Equipment Search or Seizure",,backpack: count of 1,,Leonardo Castañeda (The (San Jose) Mercury News),,2020-05-31,False,San Francisco,California (CA),37.77493,-122.41942,"Leonardo Castañeda, reporter for The (San Jose) Mercury News and East Bay Times, was briefly detained by local police while covering a Bay Area protest on May 31, 2020.
The protest was part of a wave of Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality demonstrations across the country sparked by the release of a video showing a white Minneapolis police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest. Floyd was later pronounced dead in a hospital.
The officer has been charged with second-degree murder. Three other officers who were present face felony charges.
Castañeda told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the May 31 protest began at San Francisco City Hall. It was the first day of a citywide 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew that was lifted less than a week later.
Castañeda was following the main body of the protest group that remained after 8 p.m. as it continued to splinter off after encounters with law enforcement. Around 10 p.m. the protesters went down an alleyway called Stevenson Street, which connects 6th and 7th streets in San Francisco’s Mid-Market neighborhood.
The San Francisco Police Department “was able to kettle them in and block off both entrances to the alleyway,” Castañeda told the Tracker. “And they immediately started clearing everyone that was inside that alley, which was by that point maybe 30 protesters just because the main group had been whittled down so much at that point.”
Castañeda identified himself as press and was put against the wall alongside the protesters. He said that his press pass was displayed on a lanyard over his jacket. San Francisco police officers searched his pockets and his backpack, but not his notebook or phone, Castañeda said. Then, officers instructed him to sit on the curb with the other protesters. His hands were zip tied behind his back by police officers.
“The police captain in charge of the operation that night came by and said, ‘I can see you’re press. We’re going to detain you but we’re not going to take you to the county jailhouse for processing,’” Castañeda said.
Castañeda captured audio from his detainment by recording a video from his cell phone, which was inside his jacket pocket. During the recording, which he provided to the Tracker, he repeatedly identifies himself as press and references his press badge.
The certificate of release provided by the San Francisco Police Department lists Castañeda’s time in custody from 10:04 p.m. to 10:15 p.m. However, Castañeda estimates that 30 minutes passed between the time he was moved against the wall to when he walked out of the alleyway. A photo Castañeda tweeted at 10:34 p.m. shows nearly a dozen protesters with their hands up on the sidewalks lining the alley as a line of 10 officers appear to advance.
“Just got detained by @SFPD with a group of about 20 protesters. identified myself as press, got zip tied and searched and eventually released. gonna call it a night now, here’s the last shot i got,” the tweet reads.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred total incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd while in police custody. Find all of these cases here.
A San Francisco Sheriff's Deputy removes a barricade as the city-wide curfew begins on May 31, 2020.
",detained and released without being processed,not charged,San Francisco Police Department,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, Minnesota State Patrol officers threaten reporter for German outlet,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/minnesota-state-patrol-officers-threaten-reporter-for-german-outlet/,2020-06-25 20:08:41.330294+00:00,2022-03-10 17:10:31.328929+00:00,2022-03-10 17:10:31.268926+00:00,,Assault,,,,Maximilian Förg (Deutsche Welle),,2020-05-31,False,Minneapolis,Minnesota (MN),44.97997,-93.26384,"A Deutsche Welle news team was threatened and aimed at with a weapon by Minnesota State Patrol troopers while documenting protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, after curfew went into effect on May 31, 2020.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
At 8:08 p.m., eight minutes after curfew — from which members of the media were specifically exempted — DW cameraman Maximilian Förg and correspondent Stefan Simons were standing near a fence running alongside Interstate 35W in Minneapolis. State police officers stood in a line on the highway, where two hours earlier a truck had plowed into a crowd of protesters.
As Simons began his live shot, several members of the Minnesota State Patrol, clad in tan riot gear, bounded up the hillside towards the journalists.
“Hey, we’re press, guys, from D.C.,” Simons shouted. “We’re all press here.” Despite this, at least one officer in riot gear pointed his gun at him through the fence.
"Come on guys we have permission to be out here! Stop it!” Simons continued, as the officer continued to train his weapon at him. “Sir, the governor of Minnesota exempts press,” he said, referencing the curfew.
Simons and Förg cut their live shot short, got into their car, and drove away. Video of the encounter aired live on DW, and was later posted on the website.
Simons told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that just prior to the live shot, officers had fired off canisters of tear gas in their direction, followed by several rounds of projectiles. “We all took cover behind my car,” he said. Other members of the media were present in the vicinity, Simons said, but he did not know their names or outlets.
State police had already cleared protesters off the highway when they turned their attention to the press, DW's Simons said.
When Simons and Förg drove away, the officers fired some sort of projectile at their vehicle, which pinged the door but did not damage it, Simons said.
A day prior, on May 30, police fired projectiles at Simons and his crew and threatened them with arrest. That incident was captured separately by the Tracker.
The attacks garnered the attention of German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, who told reporters at a press conference in Berlin on June 2 he would be reaching out to the U.S. government about the matter. Deutsche Welle is an international English-language news station funded by the German government.
"With regard to the incidents involving Deutsche Welle, of which we have also been made aware, we will contact U.S. authorities to find out more about the circumstances," Maas said. "We remain firmly committed: Journalists must be able to carry out their task, which is independent coverage of events, without endangering their safety."
"Democratic states under the rule of law have to meet the highest standards when it comes to protecting freedom of press," Maas said.
A request for comment emailed to the Minnesota State Patrol was not immediately returned.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Minneapolis officers line up across I-35W on May 31, 2020, the sixth day of demonstrations in the city.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, chemical irritant, protest, shot / shot at",,,,, "Radio journalist arrested, cited for failure to disperse during Philadelphia protest",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/radio-journalist-arrested-cited-failure-disperse-during-philadelphia-protest/,2020-06-28 23:31:48.862734+00:00,2022-05-12 21:47:26.602769+00:00,2022-05-12 21:47:26.528965+00:00,(2020-07-08 13:27:00+00:00) Charges dropped against radio journalist arrested during protest,Arrest/Criminal Charge,,,,Avi Wolfman-Arent (WHYY Radio),,2020-05-31,False,Philadelphia,Pennsylvania (PA),39.95233,-75.16379,"Avi Wolfman-Arent, a reporter for WHYY, Philadelphia’s NPR affiliate, was arrested and charged with failure to disperse while covering a protest in the city on May 31, 2020.
The protest was held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
Wolfman-Arent told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was documenting a relatively small protest of 50 to 75 people as they walked from Philadelphia Police Department headquarters in the neighborhood of Old City at around 4:30 p.m.
Im a reporter with @WHYYNews in Philly. Yes, I was just arrested. A very brief explanation below: pic.twitter.com/5u5h4A7erS
— Avi Wolfman-Arent (@Avi_WA) May 31, 2020
After a few skirmishes with protesters, police reportedly gave a dispersal warning: Wolfman-Arent said in a video posted to Twitter that he did not hear it, and that his back was turned as he tried to send a tweet.
“They started advancing really quickly,” he said in the video, “and I was tackled from behind by an officer on the steps of the Curtis Publishing Building in Philadelphia near Sixth and Walnut [streets].”
Wolfman-Arent told the Tracker that though he identified himself as a member of the press, he was arrested alongside at least a dozen protesters.
“It felt unprovoked,” he said. “It wasn’t crowd control. It wasn’t some kind of potentially chaotic situation. The demonstration had just started and there were almost no people there.”
WHYY reported that police confiscated the recorder and boom microphone Wolfman-Arent was carrying and transported him to the Philadelphia Police 22nd-23rd Precinct. His equipment was returned upon his release at around 5:50 p.m., and he was cited for failure to disperse.
All told, Wolfman-Arent said, he was in police custody for approximately an hour.
Sandra Clark, WHYY’s vice president of news and civic dialogue, said that Wolfman-Arent’s arrest, after he clearly identified himself as a journalist, was “completely unacceptable.”
“We have a duty to serve the public and that means seeking truth and accountability, and representing diverse perspectives and experiences,” she said. “We aren’t going anywhere.”
A police spokesperson told WHYY that the department was aware of the allegation and had opened an Internal Affairs investigation.
Neither Mayor James Kenney nor the Philadelphia Police Department responded to the Tracker’s requests for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred total incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Kandist Mallett, a freelance journalist and columnist for Teen Vogue, was detained alongside her reporting partner while attempting to document protests against police violence in Los Angeles on May 31, 2020.
Protests that began in Minneapolis on May 26 have spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Mallett told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she and freelance journalist Aaron Cantú were walking in downtown L.A. around 6:30 p.m., looking for protesters, when they turned onto Figueroa Street from Olympic Boulevard.
“We were just trying to figure out where the crowd was,” Mallett said. “All of a sudden we see all of these cops come from behind them, the cops start running out from their cars and then, as we turn to look, we already see that there are cops behind us and that we’ve been kettled,” she said, referring to a police maneuver used to hem in protesters. Approximately 30 to 40 demonstrators were trapped in the kettle as well.
In a video of the incident Mallett shared with the Tracker, at least 50 police officers can be seen in lines approaching from up the street. Cantú can be heard calling out, “We’re press! We just came around the corner; we got sandwiched in between.”
Mallett told the Tracker, “I have my press pass, so I just hold it up and shout, ‘Press! We’re press!’ And they just ignore us.” Police then ordered everyone in the so-called kettle to sit.
“My partner is worried that I’m going to get shot and tells me to sit down, so I sit,” Mallett said. “And then the supervisor at the scene walks by so I tell him that we’re press, and he says, ‘You’re the least of my priorities right now.’”
The Los Angeles Police Department didn’t respond to emailed requests for comment.
Mallett said that when officers began making arrests, Cantú was the first one they took because the two of them were the closest to the line of officers.
So, this happened yesterday evening. After coming home, taking a breath and sleeping on it, I'm doing a thread on what happened. This is also a thread with some thoughts on US police crushing freedom of the press, which unfortunately I've experienced firsthand in the past. pic.twitter.com/NJ6ShfaIvg
— Aarón Cantú (@aaron_con_choco) May 31, 2020
Cantú told the Tracker that two or three officers lifted him up from the curb, pushed him against a chain link fence and zip-tied him, but that Mallett was able to dissuade them from similarly zip-tying her hands.
Mallett said that she tried to convince the officers that they were journalists, and Googled examples of their published work when asked for evidence.
“I started filming, and as soon as I did the supervisor changed his tone,” Mallett said. “It was like, ‘We’re not going to hold you guys, we’re not going to arrest you,’ and to me, ‘I’m not going to put you in zip-ties.’ But we were detained and not able to leave.”
After about 20 minutes, officers took down both Cantú and Mallett’s information and removed the zip ties from Cantú’s wrists.
“They asked us if we wanted to stay, but both of us were pretty shaken up and we just wanted to get out of there,” Mallett said. In total, she said they were gone from the apartment they share for only an hour.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd while in police custody. Find all of these cases here.
Freelance journalist Aaron Cantú was detained alongside his reporting partner while attempting to document protests against police violence in Los Angeles, California, on May 31, 2020.
Protests that began in Minneapolis on May 26 have spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Cantú — who has written for The Nation, the Santa Fe Report, The Intercept and others — told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he and Teen Vogue columnist Kandist Mallett were walking in downtown LA at around 6:30 p.m., looking for protesters when they turned onto Figueroa Street from Olympic Boulevard.
“We saw a group of young protesters running down the street towards us and that’s when we kind of walked over toward them because that seemed to be where some action was happening,” Cantú said. A group of Los Angeles police officers were behind the protesters, which he said wasn’t unusual.
“But then we noticed that police behind us on the other side of the street had started to close in,” he added.
The officers encircled Cantú, Mallett and 30 to 40 protesters in a tactic called “kettling,” and ordered all of them to sit down.
“Kandist was very vocal about her press pass, about both of us being members of the press,” Cantú said. He added that while he had his camera on his shoulder, he wasn’t wearing a press pass.
In a tweet about the incident, Cantú wrote, “I’ve found that having [a press pass] makes functionally little difference in how cops target journalists, though now it appears it might actually make it worse.”
The Los Angeles Police Department didn’t respond to emailed requests for comment.
In a video of the incident Mallett shared with the Tracker, at least 50 police officers can be seen in lines approaching from up the street. Cantú can be heard calling out, “We’re press! We just came around the corner; we got sandwiched in between.”
An officer responds, ordering them to sit down. Cantú complies, and says, “OK. We’re trying to leave though. We haven’t done anything illegal.”
Cantú said that when police began making arrests he was the first zip-tied because he and Mallett were the closest to the line of officers.
So, this happened yesterday evening. After coming home, taking a breath and sleeping on it, I'm doing a thread on what happened. This is also a thread with some thoughts on US police crushing freedom of the press, which unfortunately I've experienced firsthand in the past. pic.twitter.com/NJ6ShfaIvg
— Aarón Cantú (@aaron_con_choco) May 31, 2020
“Two or three of them grabbed me, lifted me up — I was sitting on the curb — and basically pushed me against a chain link fence and tied my zip ties,” he said. Cantú added that Mallett was able to dissuade the officers from zip-tying her while she continued to tell them that they were journalists and pulled up their bylines and information on her phone.
After taking down both Cantú and Mallett’s information, an officer cut off Cantú’s zip ties and a supervisor told the pair that they could stay or leave.
“And we decided to leave,” Cantú said. “It was probably within an hour of the curfew starting, and one of the officers who arrested me said that we had to be inside. I didn’t know if that was true or not, as we’re members of the media, but obviously they didn’t really seem to care.”
A curfew was in place that night beginning at 8 p.m., and while the order didn’t explicitly exempt journalists, city and county officials had confirmed with outlets that they’d be able to cover the protests.
He added that they were detained for about 20 minutes, and were gone from the apartment they share for approximately an hour.
Cantú was arrested while covering protests at the inauguration of President Trump in Washington, D.C., in January 2017, and was indicted on eight separate felony counts. The charges, which could have brought up to 75 years in prison if Cantú had been convicted, were dropped in July 2018. Cantú and freelance journalist Alexei Wood, who was also arrested during the inauguration protests, have filed a lawsuit against seeking damages against Washington, D.C. and its police department.
“My aversion to risk is greater now than it was then, and I still ended up in a similar kettling situation, which I found very strange,” he said.
The day after his detention, Cantú tweeted: “My J20 [Jan. 20] prosecution ‘[told] reporters to stay home & avoid the risk of prosecution rather than to go to newsworthy events.’ That’s what I did last night. After being outside less than an hour, I was arrested. I went home after release. It felt cowardly.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd while in police custody. Find all of these cases here.
Two journalists with the Las Vegas Review-Journal were hit with crowd-control munitions while covering a protest in Las Vegas on May 31, 2020.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
The journalists, Shea Johnson and Blake Apgar, had recorded a roughly hour-long video following the demonstrations. Aside from some protesters yelling at the police, it was a very peaceful demonstration, Johnson told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. The mood of the protest then became more agitated as dusk to dark.
The journalists were walking with a group of protesters away from members of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department at about 8:45 p.m. when they were hit with pepper balls.
Officers moved the crowd aggressively, Johnson said. They warned demonstrators that failure to disperse would result in a misdemeanor charge. Officers moved the crowd south on Las Vegas Boulevard near Mandalay Bay. They moved the crowd at walking speed and then shot off the projectiles to move people faster, Johnson said.
Johnson described the incident as “jarring” but told the Tracker that he and Apgar were not targeted.
“We were walking in a group so I don’t see any way we would have been targeted as journalists,” said Apgar, the Review Journal’s North Las Vegas and Henderson reporter.
Both Johnson and Apgar ended up in an apartment complex parking lot cornered by the police, unable to walk toward their vehicle. They continued to live tweet and eventually they were able to leave the scene, they said.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department did not immediately respond to the Tracker’s request for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Nick Swartsell, news editor for CityBeat Cincinnati, was shoved by officers while filming an arrest during protests in Cincinnati, Ohio, on May 31, 2020.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
Shortly after 10 p.m. Swartsell was with a group of reporters who were attempting to document the mass arrest of people he believed to be protesters on Green Street in the neighborhood of Over-the-Rhine. Police officers refused to let the journalists get close enough to see what was happening and told them “You don’t need to see this,” Swartsell told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. On Twitter, he wrote that he was threatened with arrest if he argued further.
Hearing roughly 150 people being arrested on Green. I have not been allowed to get within a distance at which I can observe. Threatened w arrest if I argue further.
— Nick Swartsell (@nswartsell) June 1, 2020
After moving a block away from the mass arrests, Swartsell said the journalists witnessed police officers near the intersection of Elm and Liberty streets arresting a woman on the street for violating curfew. The woman repeatedly asked the group of journalists to film her arrest. When the journalist began to film, a group of police officers started pushing them away with their shields and ordered them to leave immediately, Swartsell said.
In videos posted to Twitter of the incident, Swartsell, as well as the other journalists, can be heard yelling repeatedly “We’re press,” as the officers pushed into the group with their shields.
This woman asked her arrest be filmed. This is response we got. pic.twitter.com/VUeOqxsZQf
— Nick Swartsell (@nswartsell) June 1, 2020
One officer in the video is then heard telling the journalists that their identification needs to be more prominently visible. In a tweet about the incident, Enquirer journalist Sarah Brookbank said she had her press badge in her hand.
“That was a little disturbing to me, we were not right up on them, obviously we weren’t trying to do anything other than film it and we weren’t close enough to disrupt anything and they still pushed us pretty far back,” said Swartsell.
The Tracker reached out to the Cincinnati Police Department for comment, but did not receive a reply.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find all of these cases here.
Detroit police briefly detained Detroit News reporter Christine MacDonald as she covered protests against police violence in Detroit, Michigan on May 31, 2020, she told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the U.S. since the end of May.
Detroit braced for the third night in a row of protests on May 31. MacDonald told the Tracker she volunteered to help that night in part because the newsroom was short-staffed due to furloughs. For the first time in her career, she grabbed a gas mask from the newsroom.
MacDonald followed hundreds of protesters marching through the city, but the situation grew tense as an 8 p.m. curfew fell, she said. Around 9 p.m., police fired tear gas to disperse the crowd, according to news reports.
About thirty minutes later, MacDonald saw a couple people running in Grand Circus Park near Woodward Avenue, she said. A police officer tackled one of them to the ground. MacDonald filmed the apparent arrest by livestreaming from her phone. She filmed from a distance to not interfere.
Suddenly without warning, the livestream picks up the sound of ratcheting handcuffs from behind. A voice asks, “Who are you with?” MacDonald was being detained.
“It happened very quickly. There was no conversation,” MacDonald said. “As soon as I noticed someone behind me is when I felt my hands being brought to the back.”
She told the Tracker she tried to follow a colleague’s advice on what to do if detained: check your ego, identify yourself, and try to sort it out.
MacDonald identified herself as a journalist and said she had her press credentials around her neck.
“I had that gas mask on but I could still talk,” MacDonald said. “It wasn’t like he couldn’t hear me. He could hear me through that mask.”
The officer escorted MacDonald to his patrol car on Woodward Avenue and told her to stand at the front of the vehicle, MacDonald said.
MacDonald’s livestream, obscured by her handcuffed hands reflecting the blue and red of police lights, continued to broadcast as the officer checked her credentials.
On the way out of the park, the officer asked someone else who had a camera if MacDonald was with him, she told the Tracker. The person said no.
Eli Newman, a reporter and producer for NPR-affiliate WDET, told the Tracker he was walking with a group of about a half-dozen journalists for safety when he saw a woman in a gas mask walking handcuffed to a police vehicle.
The group was not immediately sure if she was a journalist or not, Newman said. But Newman thought he recognized MacDonald. So he shouted to confirm and she nodded her head. Realizing she was a colleague, the journalists tried to vouch for her with the police officer.
A video filmed by Detroit Free Press journalist Mark Kurlyandchik shows the police officer examining MacDonald’s credentials hanging around her neck. Someone off camera says “We all know her!”
Newman said he believed the journalists’ intervention helped ensure her release. MacDonald said the officer did not acknowledge the journalists, but they were vocal and he was likely aware that they were filming the interaction.
The officer asked MacDonald twice if she planned to go home after her release due to curfew, she told the Tracker. MacDonald said she would continue reporting as she was exempt from the curfew.
The officer told MacDonald that he believed her and joked about helping the police out next time by tripping people running away after throwing bottles at them, MacDonald told the Tracker.
The officer released MacDonald less than three minutes after he detained her.
It is not clear why the officer immediately handcuffed MacDonald before interacting with her. MacDonald told the Tracker that she had identified herself as a journalist to police prior to the incident.
“There was no reason to detain me,” MacDonald said. “Earlier in the night, officers asked me who I was and when I responded who I was, they had no problem leaving me to my job, but this officer didn’t even have a conversation with me before putting the cuffs on.”
MacDonald said she did not ask the officer to identify himself, and the Detroit police did not respond to a request for comment about the detainment.
Speaking about MacDonald and other incidents involving journalists that night, Sgt. Nicole Kirkwood, also a department spokesperson, told Detroit News, “we take every allegation seriously” and “the vast majority of the men and women in the department do get it right.”
After May 31, the Detroit police began issuing daily, color-coded press passes to journalists to facilitate the identification of journalists in protests, MacDonald and Newman told the Tracker.
MacDonald debriefed with the other journalists following her encounter with police. “My editor is yelling at me because my hand was in front of the camera,” she said in her still-broadcasting livestream. “Well yeah, because I was arrested.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Detroit News reporter Christine MacDonald stands handcuffed in a gas mask as a Detroit police officer verifies her credentials on May 31, 2020.
",detained and released without being processed,not charged,Detroit Police Department,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, "San Diego student journalist hit with tear gas, projectiles while covering protest",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/san-diego-student-journalist-hit-tear-gas-projectiles-while-covering-protest/,2020-07-15 17:10:20.472580+00:00,2022-03-10 17:11:04.002164+00:00,2022-03-10 17:11:03.939747+00:00,,Assault,,,,JoseLuis Baylon (Freelance),,2020-05-31,False,San Diego,California (CA),32.71571,-117.16472,"Journalist JoseLuis Baylon was hit by tear gas and projectiles while covering a San Diego protest on May 31, 2020. Baylon is a columnist for East County Californian and his campus newspaper The SWC Sun, but was covering the protest as an independent reporter.
The protest was part of a wave of Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality demonstrations across the country sparked by the release of a video showing a white Minneapolis police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest. Floyd was later pronounced dead in a hospital. The officer has been charged with second-degree murder. Three other officers who were present face felony charges.
The protesters were standing in front of Spreckels Theatre at 121 Broadway in downtown San Diego facing a line of San Diego Police Department officers, Baylon told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. At 3:19 p.m. the SDPD tweeted, “Unlawful assembly order being given in the area of Broadway. We are asking everyone to disperse immediately due to the escalation of violence by the protestors.”
Baylon was standing on a ramp in front of a business near the police line. “At one point the officers started putting on their gas masks and then the crowd started saying to themselves ‘hey, watch out, they’re getting ready.’ A lot of people didn’t know, but those that got the word started moving back,” he said.
At 3:10 p.m. Baylon recorded a video that appears to show SDPD firing pepper balls and flash-bang grenades at the protesters. In the recording Baylon says, “We’re all coughing, it’s everywhere.”
At 3:41 p.m. Baylon tweeted a video that he began recording at 3:19 p.m. Tear gas appears to blow back toward where Baylon is standing. He ducks behind a railing and moves away from the street, eventually taking shelter among overturned patio tables and pouring milk in his eyes. A badge identifying him as press is visible on a lanyard around his neck. “As we’re crawling to get out, we’re still shot,” Baylon said of the video. “I’m nowhere near where the protesters were.”
The camera bag that Baylon was wearing prevented the pepper balls from physically harming him, he told the Tracker. A photograph shows residue from the pepper balls on Baylon’s bag.
The video lasts one minute and forty-eight seconds, Baylon estimates he was in the line of fire for forty seconds of that. The SDPD repeated the same crowd-clearing tactics throughout the afternoon. SDPD didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd while in police custody. Find all of these cases here.
Journalist JoseLuis Baylon shows pepper balls and residue on his camera bag from covering a protest in downtown San Diego on May 31, 2020.
Adam Cairns, a staff photographer for the daily Columbus Dispatch, was hit with a projectile while covering protests in Columbus, Ohio, on May 31, 2020.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the U.S. since the end of May.
On the night of May 31, Cairns and his colleague Dean Narciso left the Dispatch office and walked half a block to the intersection of Broad and High streets adjacent to the Ohio state capitol building where protesters had gathered. At around 9:45 p.m., shortly before a 10 p.m. curfew went into effect, Cairns observed a large police presence moving into formation in the middle of the intersection, he told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. As the officers lined up, he said he saw something that resembled a water bottle thrown at the police. Immediately, and without warning, according to Cairns, police began shooting projectiles and pepper spray to disperse the crowd.
Cairns and Narciso were standing at a distance from the group of protesters who had congregated. They turned to leave the scene. At that moment, Cairns told the Tracker, he was struck on the back of his right ear and cheek by what appeared to be a wooden bullet, knocking his safety glasses off his head. Narciso was not hit, according to Cairns. The men returned to the Dispatch office and Cairns said he did not resume photographing the protests until the following night. The projectile left a welt on his cheek for several hours and a scratch on his ear, he said. His equipment was not damaged.
In a photograph taken by Cairns shortly before he turned away and was hit, a police officer can be seen aiming in his direction.
Police open fire with non-lethal rounds to disperse protesters from Broad/High as curfew neared pic.twitter.com/lYxdzwXGDF
— Adam Cairns (@atomicphoto) June 1, 2020
In an editorial for the paper, Dispatch Editor Alan D. Miller wrote of the photograph, “It’s unclear whether it was that officer’s bullet that grazed Cairns’ ear and cheek… It’s unclear whether the officer who fired at Cairns was targeting a journalist. But there was no mistaking Cairns for a protester, given the camera equipment and press credentials he was carrying.”
Cairns told the Tracker “it’s really hard to say” whether he was targeted by law enforcement. “As I look back on it, there was nobody else in the area other than me with cameras pointed at them,” he said.
The Columbus Division of Police did not immediately respond to phone and emailed requests for comment.
In his editorial, Miller wrote that when asked in a press conference two days later about police treatment of journalists covering the protests, Columbus Police Chief Thomas Quinlan responded, “There’s no malice involved, there’s no intent. ... We ask the public to have some patience and please comply, and we’ll work it out afterward. Please don’t stand there and argue; move along and comply and we’ll fix this after.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering Black Lives Matter protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Soon after taking this photograph for Ohio's Columbus Dispatch, staff photographer Adam Cairns was hit with a projectile on May 31, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest, shot / shot at",,,,, Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist shoved to the ground by LAPD,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/pulitzer-prize-winning-photojournalist-shoved-ground-lapd/,2020-07-17 12:17:12.071463+00:00,2020-07-17 12:17:12.071463+00:00,2020-07-17 12:17:12.014461+00:00,,"Assault, Equipment Damage",,,camera lens: count of 1,Barbara Davidson (Freelance),,2020-05-31,False,Los Angeles,California (CA),34.05223,-118.24368,"A Los Angeles Police Department officer shoved freelance photographer Barbara Davidson to the ground, breaking a camera lens, while she covered a protest in the city on May 31, 2020.
The protest was part of a wave of Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality demonstrations across the country sparked by the release of a video showing a white Minneapolis police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest. Floyd was later pronounced dead in a hospital. The officer has been charged with second-degree murder. Three other officers who were present face felony charges.
The demonstrators were taking a left turn on foot from West Third Street onto South Fairfax Avenue when a police line advanced. An officer yelled at Davidson to leave. “I said ‘Sir, I’m a journalist’ and they just kept on screaming,” Davidson told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. She also showed them the badge identifying her as a journalist, but it made no difference in their demeanor toward her.
The LAPD didn’t respond to a request for comment.
“I realized in that moment that I wasn’t going to win this debate,” said Davidson, a Pulitzer-prize winning photographer who is currently a Guggenheim fellow. “I turned to walk away, and as I turned to walk away he shoved me with his baton and I went flying.” Davidson was wearing a helmet.
Fellow freelance journalist Jason Ryan witnessed the incident. “They wouldn’t even give her a minute to get up,” he told the Tracker. At 5:06 p.m. Davidson tweeted a photo of herself with the caption, “I got pushed from behind by the @911LAPD after I told them I was a journalist. I was hit so hard that I went flying before crashing to the ground and hitting the back of my head on a fire hydrant. Protesters picked me up preventing me from being crushed by the ‘line’.”
I got pushed from behind by the @911LAPD after I told them I was a journalist. I was hit so hard that I went flying before crashing to the ground and hitting the back of my head on a fire hydrant. Protesters picked me up preventing me from being crushed by the "line" pic.twitter.com/Hbp1M6RskL
— barbaradavidson (@Photospice) May 31, 2020
Davidson said she had the symptoms of a concussion but had to delay seeing her doctor due to COVID-19. The lens of her Hasselblad camera was damaged in the fall and needed to be shipped to New Jersey for repair at her own expense.
Davidson has covered Los Angeles for 13 years and said she never had an encounter like that with an officer. “I was specifically targeted because I was a journalist and that’s why I decided to speak up,” she told the Tracker.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
An unidentified assailant hit freelance photojournalist Matthew Rodier in the face, breaking his jaw, while the contributor to the Sipa USA agency covered protests on May 31, 2020 against police violence in Washington, D.C.
May 31 was the third night of widespread demonstrations in the nation’s capital. The protest was held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the U.S. since late May.
The evening began peacefully, but tensions escalated as the night wore on. At around 10:30 p.m. Rodier was struck by a police officer’s baton, he told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. Shortly afterward, he was reviewing video on his phone when a group of people approached him, saying, “that’s the police right there.”
Rodier said he told them repeatedly that he was a journalist, but they demanded that he lift up his shirt to prove that he wasn’t a police officer. It isn’t clear why they accused him of being with law enforcement. Rodier said he didn’t have his usual press credentials because they had been stolen the day before by another protest attendee.
Was just attacked by protesters after accusations I was a cop. Jaw might be broken tooth is upside down, headed to hospital.
— Matthew Rodier (@mattrodierphot1) June 1, 2020
“As I was doing that, I was struck by either a fist or a foreign object on the right side of my face,” Rodier told the Tracker. He added that a surgeon who reconstructed his jaw told him it had been broken in several places. Two other individuals intervened, took him to a first-aid provider and then to police officers, who eventually got him to a paramedic. Rodier said he was loaded into an ambulance and spent three nights in the hospital.
The impact from his injuries will be long-lasting; Rodier underwent oral surgery to repair a cracked molar. “After that my jaw should be able to finally heal for the most part, although my surgeon recently told me I might not regain feeling in my lower lip and chin for up to a year, because they needed to move a nerve out of the way to do the surgery,” he said.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
This article has been updated to clarify that it's not known why journalist Matthew Rodier was asked to lift his shirt or why he was accused of being with law enforcement.
People march toward the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. on May 31, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, Getty photojournalist hit with rubber bullets in Detroit; officer charged,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/multiple-photographers-hit-rubber-bullets-detroit-officer-charged/,2020-07-29 17:54:55.930233+00:00,2022-03-10 17:12:42.688419+00:00,2022-03-10 17:12:42.622698+00:00,(2021-10-28 10:25:00+00:00) Charges dismissed against Detroit officer who hit Getty photojournalist,Assault,,,,Matthew Hatcher (Getty Images),,2020-05-31,False,Detroit,Michigan (MI),42.33143,-83.04575,"Freelance photojournalist Matthew Hatcher was on assignment for Getty Images covering demonstrations in Detroit, Michigan, when he was struck alongside other photographers by crowd-control munitions fired by police on May 31, 2020.
The protests that evening were in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the U.S. since the end of May.
Hatcher, along with Seth Herald, on assignment for Agence France-Presse, and Nicole Hester, a staff photographer for MLive, encountered at least two officers while trying to return to their car in the Kennedy Parking Garage downtown around midnight, according to Herald and Hatcher.
The photographers told the Committee to Protect Journalists — a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker — that they put their hands in the air and identified themselves as members of the press. They said they thought the police signaled that they could cross the street when the officers opened fire.
Hatcher sent pictures to CPJ that showed his injuries: a busted, bleeding lip and welts on his nose, forehead and torso. Hester was hit with as many as a dozen pellets in the face, arms, legs and chest, leaving welts and narrowly missing an eye, according to the article by her employer.
After police fired on the journalists, Herald told CPJ, he asked one of the officers if he believed in freedom of the press. The officer answered that he didn’t know, Herald said.
According to the MLive article, one of the officers told Hester: “Maybe you’ll write the truth some day, lady!”
The three journalists then continued to the parking garage and passed another group of officers. One told them that if he saw their faces again, he would lock them up, according to MLive and interviews with Herald and Hatcher.
The trio arrived to find the parking garage locked and had to leave their car overnight, walking several blocks to get a ride-share home, Hatcher told CPJ.
On July 20, Detroit Police Corporal Daniel Debono was charged with three counts of felony assault for shooting non-lethal rounds at Hester, Herald and Hatcher, according to MLive.
In the article, the vice president of content for MLive Media Group said that they “are pleased that the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office investigated this thoroughly, and that this is moving forward toward justice."
The Detroit Police Department did not respond to phone or emailed requests for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Protesters march in the street in Detroit, Michigan, on May 30, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest, shot / shot at",,,,, CNN journalist assaulted while covering DC protests,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cnn-journalist-assaulted-while-covering-dc-protests/,2020-07-29 23:16:24.912055+00:00,2021-10-19 20:09:12.606280+00:00,2021-10-19 20:09:12.562023+00:00,,Assault,,,,Josh Replogle (CNN),,2020-05-31,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"Multiple journalists said they were assaulted by law enforcement during a chaos-filled night of protests in Washington, D.C., on May 31, 2020, the third evening of widespread demonstrations in the nation’s capital after the death of George Floyd.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
Josh Replogle, a journalist with CNN, tweeted early the following morning that at one point the night before he’d been pinned by officers and struck with a baton by another. He tweeted: “I was supporting a CNN cam had my creds on police knew I was media,” adding “I’m hurt but ok.”
video of police hurting me in DC. I was supporting a CNN cam had my creds on police knew I was media. I was on the side out of the way trying to let cops pass me. police pinned me, an officer hits my knee with a baton while another officer had me pinned. I’m hurt but ok. @mkraju pic.twitter.com/1alqVa3LK8
— Josh Replogle CNN (@Joshrepp) June 1, 2020
CNN did not respond to a request for comment on this incident as of press time.
D.C. is notable for the large number of different police forces that operate within its borders. Requests for comment from the Metropolitan Police Department and the U.S. Park Police were not returned.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
A protester stands in front of law enforcement during a May 31, 2020, demonstration in Washington, D.C.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, "WSJ reporter says NYPD hit him in face, shoved him to ground during protests",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/wsj-reporter-says-nypd-hit-him-face-shoved-him-ground-during-protests/,2020-07-30 15:03:05.078738+00:00,2020-07-30 15:03:05.078738+00:00,2020-07-30 15:03:05.013997+00:00,,Assault,,,,Tyler Blint-Welsh (The Washington Post),,2020-05-31,False,New York,New York (NY),None,None,"Tyler Blint-Welsh, a reporter for The Wall Street Journal, said he was hit in the face and shoved to the ground by police while he covered protests in Lower Manhattan on May 31, 2020.
The protest in New York was held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the U.S. since the end of May.
Blint-Welsh told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that on the evening of May 31 he was walking his bike through a crowd a couple of blocks from Union Square, his New York Police Department-issued press credentials dangling from his neck. He saw police officers in riot gear and with Plexiglas shields a couple rows deep. Protesters faced down the police and refused to leave, he said.
Blint-Welsh said that NYPD played a recording over and over, for about 15 to 20 minutes: “This protest is destructive and violent. We order you to disperse. If you do not disperse, you are subject to arrest.”
In response, the crowd began to chant, “This is a nonviolent protest!”
Suddenly, Blint-Welsh said, the police rushed forward. People screamed and started to run, he said, but he decided it was better if he stayed apart, on a street corner. He left his bike and found himself in a group of people under some scaffolding.
Blint-Welsh said he told an officer, “I’m press!” and raised his hands in the air.
Then, he said, an officer pushed his shield into the journalist’s face, hard, with a corner of the shield tearing his lip and breaking his glasses, which fell from his face. Blint-Welsh said his head was protected by his bike helmet.
The reporter said it felt dangerous to turn and walk away, but when the sidewalk widened, he was able to do so. Blint-Welsh said that’s when a police officer shoved him in the back and he fell, injuring his ankle.
He said he heard an officer yell, “Get ’em!” as if officers were going to jump on him.
At about 11 p.m., Blint-Welsh posted about the assault on Twitter.
Lost my glasses and my ankle is in searing pain after NYPD hit me in the face multiple times with riot shields and pushed me to the ground. I was backing away as request, with my hands up. My NYPD-issued press badge was clearly visible. I’m just sitting here crying. This sucks.
— Tyler Blint-Welsh (@tylergabriel_) June 1, 2020
The New York City Police Department acknowledged a request to answer questions about the incident, but didn’t reply to further messages.
Blint-Welsh told the Tracker he sought medical attention and was given a medical boot to stabilize his foot.
A spokesman for the New York Police Department said police are looking into the allegation.
“The incident, sadly, is the latest of many across the country in recent days in which we have seen journalists injured, and in some cases targeted, and a reminder of the dangers we face covering the story,” WSJ Editor in Chief Matt Murrray told staff in an email. IAPE, the Journal’s staff union of which Blint-Welsh is a member, also released a statement condemning the assault.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
NYPD officers form a line near the Manhattan Bridge in the Manhattan borough of New York City on May 31, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, Photojournalist hit in head by projectile while covering Santa Monica protest,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-hit-head-projectile-while-covering-santa-monica-protest/,2020-08-04 22:24:51.501555+00:00,2022-03-10 17:13:09.548332+00:00,2022-03-10 17:13:09.483392+00:00,,"Assault, Equipment Damage",,,camera: count of 1,Jason Ryan (Freelance),,2020-05-31,False,Santa Monica,California (CA),34.01949,-118.49138,"Photojournalist Jason Ryan said he was hit in the head with what he believes was a rubber bullet while covering a protest in Santa Monica, California, on May 31, 2020.
The protest was part of a wave of demonstrations against police violence across the country sparked by the release of a video showing a white Minneapolis police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest. Floyd was later pronounced dead in a hospital. The officer has been charged with second-degree murder. Three other officers who were present face felony charges.
Ryan told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was photographing protesters at the intersection of Colorado Avenue and Ocean Avenue. He began behind the police line, then moved to the side of the protesters to get a better shot. He said the police were using teargas, pepper balls, rubber bullets and flash bangs against the crowd. He didn’t hear them make any announcements before firing.
“They just started right into it,” said Ryan, who was covering the protests independently. Ryan was carrying several cameras and said he was wearing a yellow vest that said “Press” on it, with a badge also identifying him as a journalist pinned to one shoulder. He said he believes he was targeted for being a journalist, given how prominent his identifiers were.
The last photograph Ryan took before he was hit shows a line of officers almost entirely obscured by teargas. The timestamp on the photograph is 3:15 pm. Ryan told the Tracker that the rubber bullet narrowly missed his temple. “It was above my right ear, a couple of inches or an inch from my temple. Just above my right ear, there’s still a small knot,” he said.
Ryan added that the impact reactivated a prior issue with nerve pain in his face. One of his cameras, a Fujifilm X-T3, also required cleaning and repair after being damaged by a projectile.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd while in police custody. Find all of these cases here.
VICE News journalist Todd Zwillich told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was hit in the head by multiple projectiles during a chaos-filled night of protests in Washington, D.C., on May 31, 2020.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
According to his Twitter feed, Zwillich had spent much of the evening of May 31 covering protests in Lafayette Park, near the White House. He told the Tracker that at around 11 p.m., the start of the city’s curfew, he’d been filming a line of law enforcement officials as they marched up 16th Street to clear protesters from the area, saying that the scene was not particularly crowded and that his credentials were visible.
He said that shortly thereafter an officer aimed at him and fired two projectiles. On Twitter he posted that he’d been “hit with a rubber bullet,” but he clarified to the Tracker that he wasn’t sure what the projecticles were. He was hit in the head, though did not suffer serious injury.
Police moving protesters up 16th st. I just got hit in the head with a rubber bullet. My press credentials are out. I’m fine. pic.twitter.com/x6PVf1MnDS
— Todd Zwillich (@toddzwillich) June 1, 2020
“I don’t know what they saw. I don’t know what they thought,” Zwillich told the Tracker. “I know what I was doing. But I don’t know how it was perceived.”
Zwillich said he was not certain which agency the officer was with. D.C. is notable for the large number of different police forces that operate within its borders. Requests for comment from the Metropolitan Police Department and the U.S. Park Police were not immediately returned.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Law enforcement in front of the White House in Washington, D.C. on May 31, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest, shot / shot at",,,,, Australian correspondent detained while covering Minneapolis protests,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/australian-correspondent-detained-while-covering-minneapolis-protests/,2020-08-21 14:07:42.292929+00:00,2021-11-19 16:08:49.547167+00:00,2021-11-19 16:08:49.492536+00:00,,Arrest/Criminal Charge,,,,Tim Arvier (Nine News Australia),,2020-05-31,False,Minneapolis,Minnesota (MN),44.97997,-93.26384,"Minneapolis Police briefly detained a Nine News Australia news crew and security guard in the early hours of May 31, 2020, the outlet reported. U.S. Correspondent Tim Arvier and cameraman Adam Bovino were covering the fifth night of protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the U.S. since the end of May.
Arvier reported that police and the Minnesota National Guard deployed throughout Minneapolis on the night of May 30 in an attempt to assert control. The Nine News crew documented protesters marching in defiance of an 8 p.m. curfew as the police pushed back with less-lethal projectiles and tear gas.
The crew was driving to find a backdrop for a live interview when they heard gunfire and encountered a police roadblock, Arvier told the Tracker.
“We didn’t want to approach the roadblock, or drive up to it because obviously we’d seen numerous examples in the past 48 hours of how jumpy the police were,” Arvier said.
So Bovino stopped the car short of the roadblock and waited for the police to notice them, Arvier told the Tracker. As the police officers approached, the crew held their hands out the windows and shouted that they were press.
Two officers seemed calm, Arvier said, but a third yelled at them to get out of the car and drew his firearm.
“That’s when I hit record on my phone and held my phone up in my hand to record all this happening, just to have a record,” Arvier said. The crew tried to remain calm to avoid misunderstandings that could have escalated, he told the Tracker.
The security guard, who the crew hired after observing street violence, informed the police that he had weapons in the car, Arvier said.
In Arvier’s video, a police officer warns other officers to not let the journalists and the security guard drop their hands because there are guns in the car.
Arvier asks an officer in the video if it is okay to keep holding his phone in his raised hands. The officer responds, “You’re good.”
The officer who drew his weapon searched Bovino and escorted him handcuffed to the curb, Arvier said. The security guard was brought by another officer to the curb handcuffed as well.
A third officer searched Arvier, who continued to film. Additional footage shows Arvier holding his credentials in one hand as he’s searched. As he is patted down, Arvier explains to the officer that he is wearing a bulletproof vest.
In the video, an officer explains why the Nine News Australia crew was being treated carefully. “You can hear all the gunshots going off all around us. It’s like a warzone,” the officer said. “And here you guys are in bulletproof vests with a rifle in the car.”
Arvier was escorted to the curb, but he was not handcuffed like his colleagues. After the police checked their press credentials, the crew was released. Arvier said the crew was carrying press passes issued by the Los Angeles Police Department since their bureau is based in Los Angeles.
The police warned the journalists that it was dangerous to be out and advised them to return to their hotel for their safety, Arvier said.
Arvier said they had been treated respectfully and he understood why the police would be anxious. But it was unclear why they had to be detained and handcuffed. They had previously been pulled over to have their credentials checked without issue, Arvier said.
“If it wasn’t for the one police officer there, I get the feeling that the other ones would’ve handled it a lot more calmly and we probably would have been fine like we were the first time we were pulled over,” Arvier said.
Minnesota Police Department spokesperson John Elder told the Tracker he was unable to comment about this and other incidents involving the press. He said, “Every use of force by the MPD is under investigation internally.”
The crew’s detention on May 30 was one of several incidents involving the police during the days of protests, Arvier told the Tracker. On the night of May 29 the crew was pinned down in a parking lot in the 5th Precinct as police confronted protesters with tear gas and rubber bullets, Arvier said. They were trying to return to their car to send footage back to Australia, but the police line blocked their way. When the crew tried to approach the line while identifying as press, the police yelled at them to get back. Police eventually escorted Bovino to the team’s vehicle to retrieve the equipment they needed. The vehicle had a large dent that the journalists presumed came from a tear gas canister strike.
On May 31, the crew was filming police push back protesters near a highway, Arvier said. The crew positioned off to the side so that they could either fall back on the highway or behind police lines to stay safe, Arvier said. But Nine News footage shows Arvier and his cameraman forced by police to run through tear gas. "That is ugly, ugly scenes," Arvier said in a video posted to Twitter as he struggled with the effects of the tear gas.
Arvier told the Tracker he recognized the risks the police were facing and did not feel bitter toward them. But he noted their attitude toward journalists seemed different than in previous protests he has covered.
In other protests, “the cops just sort of let you work through it and we don’t get in their way and they don’t get in our way and everyone is fine,” Arvier said “But that certainly seemed to be a different state of affairs in terms of the police attitude in Minneapolis.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Peter Murtaugh, a freelance videographer with the BBC, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was assaulted by a police officer while covering protests in Washington, D.C., on May 31, 2020.
Murtaugh, who has filmed for the BBC for decades, was in the nation’s capital to document demonstrations held in response to a video of a white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Murtaugh told the Tracker that at about 9 p.m. he had been on H Street in front of Lafayette Square, a short distance from the White House. Murtaugh said that some protesters had set debris on fire in the middle of the road and, in response, a line of officers in riot gear from the U.S. Park Police had advanced, clearing the street and securing the area. In a video Murtaugh shared with the Tracker, a woman can be seen approaching the officers and attempting to talk with them. An officer can be seen shoving her back with their shield, to which she responded by yelling, “We aren’t doing shit to you!” In the video, some objects, including what appear to be firecrackers, are tossed at officers.
While he was filming this altercation, Murtaugh said an officer rushed toward him and slammed their shield into him. Murtaugh said that he was clearly identifiable as a member of the media — his credentials were visible, and he was holding a large camera with a light atop it. The assault was captured by his camera and later posted to Twitter by Mutaugh’s colleague Aleem Maqbool:
This was before curfew and our cameraman @p_murt clearly a member of the press, a block away from the White House this evening... pic.twitter.com/X7oQqZm8eW
— Aleem Maqbool (@AleemMaqbool) June 1, 2020
Murtaugh said his camera was not damaged and that he was not seriously injured or even knocked down. He said the officer returned to their place in the line without a word after the attack. Still, Murtaugh said he felt it was noteworthy because “this officer seemed as if he was intentionally gunning for me.”
The videographer has covered a number of high-profile and combative protests in places like Ferguson, Missouri, and Baltimore, Maryland. “I've been banged around by the police a little bit, but it’s never felt like it was intentionally directed at me as a journalist, and this one was,” he told the Tracker.
Murtaugh also told the Tracker that he was struck by so many pepper balls in the course of the evening that his green flannel shirt was “white with powder” by the end of the night. He said, though, that he didn’t suffer any serious injuries; he’d been wearing a long-sleeved shirt, goggles, and a helmet.
The U.S. Park Police did not respond to emailed requests for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
A still image from the video taken by Peter Murtaugh while filming for the BBC in Washington, D.C. on May 31, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, Primer Impacto reporter injured by rubber bullet during protests in Santa Monica,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/primer-impacto-reporter-injured-rubber-bullet-during-protests-santa-monica/,2020-08-10 19:26:29.071238+00:00,2022-03-10 17:14:15.614094+00:00,2022-03-10 17:14:15.555064+00:00,,Assault,,,,Paula Rosado (Primer Impacto),,2020-05-31,False,Santa Monica,California (CA),34.01949,-118.49138,"Paula Rosado, a reporter for Primer Impacto, a Spanish-language evening news program broadcast by Univision, was hit with a rubber bullet as she covered protests in Santa Monica, California, on May 31, 2020.
Demonstrations that day were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
Rosado had been narrating a livestream on Facebook in the late afternoon of May 31. A little over 12 minutes in, shots can be heard, followed by a loud scream from Rosado, who then said she’d been hit in the leg.
The assault occurred as law enforcement tried to disperse the demonstrators with tear gas and rubber bullets, Univision reported the next day.
Rosado was taken to an area hospital. In a later video, she compared the day’s events to the riots that erupted in Los Angeles in 1992, after four policemen had been acquitted of beating Rodney King.
In her next on-air appearance, Rosado can be seen on crutches. She tells her audience: “We left a dangerous situation safe and sound, so that we could tell our story and do our job. We know we are not the only ones, but there’s an entire nation in conflict and we hope with the strict curfews, the city comes back to normal.”
Rosado, the Los Angeles Police Department and the Santa Monica Police Department did not respond to requests for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Univision reporters Alexander Zapata and Fernando Rentería said they were fired on with what they believed to be pepper ball rounds by police while covering the arrest of a civilian protester in Las Vegas, Nevada, on May 31, 2020.
The protest that day was held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
Zapata and Rentería had been streaming live on Facebook as night fell on May 31, covering protests along the Strip. About an hour into their stream, the reporters can be seen making their way north on Las Vegas Boulevard when Zapata explains that tear gas had been fired on the crowd but that it was not very intense. Shortly thereafter, the reporters walked toward a group of officers from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. Zapata can be heard saying, “It looks like they are arresting a civilian.”
➡️ Equipo de noticias de Univision en Las Vegas recibe balas de gomas de parte de la policía en medio de las protestas por la muerte de #GeorgeFloyd. pic.twitter.com/zJV0YHXoa1
— Univision Noticias (@UniNoticias) June 1, 2020
In the video, reviewed by the Tracker, an officer can be seen moving toward the journalists. Several shots can be heard, after which Zapata can be heard groaning. He says on the livestream, “They have just shot us.”
Zapata then said to his audience, “Police officers from Las Vegas just shot us. Police officers from Las Vegas Police Department are attacking the press. I repeat, my partner, Fernando Rentería, and I were hit by the police.”
The LVMPD responded to requests for comment by emailing the Tracker two press releases. Neither addressed Zapata or Rentería specifically, or members of the media more broadly. Nor did they address the use of particular munitions.
Zapata told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, “I believe no reporter or member of the press should become a victim of these kind of attacks from any kind of authority. Our job is to narrate the events that take place during situations like these. We are not standing up for any side. We just tell the community what is happening.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Minneapolis police briefly detained a Nine News Australia news crew and security guard in the early hours of May 31, 2020, the outlet reported. Cameraman Adam Bovino and U.S. Correspondent Tim Arvier were covering the fifth night of protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the U.S. since the end of May.
Arvier reported that police and the Minnesota National Guard deployed throughout Minneapolis on the night of May 30 in an attempt to assert control. The Nine News crew documented protesters marching in defiance of an 8 p.m. curfew as the police pushed back with less-lethal projectiles and tear gas.
The crew was driving to find a backdrop for a live interview when they heard gunfire and encountered a police roadblock, Arvier told the Tracker.
“We didn’t want to approach the roadblock, or drive up to it because obviously we’d seen numerous examples in the past 48 hours of how jumpy the police were,” Arvier said.
So Bovino stopped the car short of the roadblock and waited for the police to notice them, Arvier told the Tracker. As the police officers approached, the crew held their hands out the windows and shouted that they were press.
Two officers seemed calm, Arvier said, but a third yelled at them to get out of the car and drew his firearm.
“That’s when I hit record on my phone and held my phone up in my hand to record all this happening, just to have a record,” Arvier said. The crew tried to remain calm to avoid misunderstandings that could have escalated, he told the Tracker.
The security guard, who the crew hired after observing street violence, informed the police that he had weapons in the car, Arvier said.
In Arvier’s video, a police officer warns other officers to not let the journalists and the security guard drop their hands because there are guns in the car.
Arvier asks an officer in the video if it is okay to keep holding his phone in his raised hands. The officer responds, “You’re good.”
Bovino, who declined an interview because Arvier had already spoken with the Tracker, said in an email that the officer who drew a firearm handcuffed him. Officers escorted Bovino and the security guard in handcuffs to the curb.
A third officer searched Arvier, who continued to film. Additional footage shows Arvier holding his credentials in one hand as he’s searched. As he is patted down, Arvier explains to the officer that he is wearing a bulletproof vest.
In the video, an officer explains why the Nine News Australia crew was being treated carefully. “You can hear all the gunshots going off all around us. It’s like a warzone,” the officer said. “And here you guys are in bulletproof vests with a rifle in the car.”
Arvier was escorted to the curb, but he was not handcuffed like his colleagues. After the police checked their press credentials, the crew was released. Arvier said the crew was carrying press passes issued by the Los Angeles Police Department since their bureau is based in Los Angeles.
The police warned the journalists that it was dangerous to be out and advised them to return to their hotel for their safety, Arvier said.
Arvier said they had been treated respectfully and he understood why the police would be anxious. But it was unclear why they had to be detained and handcuffed. They had previously been pulled over to have their credentials checked without issue, Arvier said.
“If it wasn’t for the one police officer there, I get the feeling that the other ones would’ve handled it a lot more calmly and we probably would have been fine like we were the first time we were pulled over,” Arvier said.
Minnesota Police Department spokesperson John Elder told the Tracker he was unable to comment about this and other incidents involving the press. He said, “Every use of force by the MPD is under investigation internally.”
The crew’s detention on May 30 was one of several incidents involving the police during the days of protests, Arvier told the Tracker. On the night of May 29 the crew was pinned down in a parking lot in the 5th Precinct as police confronted protesters with tear gas and rubber bullets, Arvier said. They were trying to return to their car to send footage back to Australia, but the police line blocked their way. When the crew tried to approach the line while identifying as press, the police yelled at them to get back. Police eventually escorted Bovino to the team’s vehicle to retrieve the equipment they needed. The vehicle had a large dent that the journalists presumed came from a tear gas canister strike.
On May 31, the crew was filming police push back protesters near a highway, Arvier said. The crew positioned off to the side so that they could either fall back on the highway or behind police lines to stay safe, Arvier said. But Nine News footage shows Arvier and Bovino forced by police to run through tear gas. "That is ugly, ugly scenes," Arvier said in a video posted to Twitter as he struggled with the effects of the tear gas.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
A Virginia public radio reporter was pepper sprayed and knocked to the ground by police officers while covering protests in Richmond on May 31, 2020. The journalist had identified himself as a member of the press before the assault, he told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
On the evening of May 31, VPM News reporter Roberto Roldan and photographer Crixell Matthews were covering protests that moved from the site of the Robert E. Lee Memorial toward the Virginia State Capitol building in downtown Richmond. A line of police officers formed behind protesters on East Broad Street. At around 9 p.m., after an 8 p.m. curfew had gone into effect, the line of officers fired tear gas into the crowd, Roldan told the Tracker.
Cops are now firing tear cas at protesters from the back of the crowd. Now moving down Broad toward Shockoe.
— Roberto Roldan (@ByRobertoR) June 1, 2020
Though they were not directly hit, Roldan and Matthews coughed and experienced sinus drip from the effects of the gas, said Roldan, who typically covers Richmond City Hall.
Roldan helped Brian Palmer, a Richmond-based photographer covering the protests, rinse pepper spray out of his eyes, Palmer told the Tracker. When Palmer said he was feeling better, Roldan and Matthews decided to move on from what had become a “chaotic situation,” Roldan told the Tracker.
Then the two journalists turned off East Broad Street and walked around the corner to East Marshall Street to take cover. While walking on East Marshall they encountered a line of police officers who were blocking the street and not allowing anyone to advance, Roldan said.
Seeking to leave the area, Roldan, who was wearing a reflective vest and his press badge around his neck, approached the line of police officers with his press badge in his hand and verbally identified himself as a member of the press, he told the Tracker.
”As soon as I said ‘I’m with the press,’ an officer on the police line who had a tank of pepper spray in his hand released the pepper spray at us,” Roldan said. Roldan was hit across his face and hands, though protective glasses shielded his eyes, the journalist said.
Matthews told the Tracker that she was behind Roldan when the pepper spray was fired and hit with residual spray. “The spray mostly hit my arms with some of it hitting my face,” Matthews said.
Disoriented from the pepper spray, Roldan stopped and bent over at the waist in front of the line of officers. As he looked up, he said he saw a large police officer run toward him. The officer “shoulder-tackled” him to the ground, Roldan said.
Matthews helped Roldan off the ground and the two of them approached the police line again. This time they were permitted to pass. Roldan said he tried to explain to an officer on the other side of the line what had happened. The officer asked to see Roldan’s press badge, and then offered no response, Roldan said.
As they continued down East Marshall Street, Roldan and Matthews saw an officer who they recognized as the person who had shoved Roldan to the ground, the reporter said. Roldan said the officer refused to stop or respond when Roldan asked for his badge number. Roldan noted the numbers on the back of the officer’s helmet. He then posted to Twitter about the incident.
After showing my badge and yelling “I am with the press” a @RichmondPolice officer sprayed pepper spray in my face and shoved me to the ground. Had “3397” on his helmet. I’m out. @myVPM #Richmond #GeorgeFloydProtests
— Roberto Roldan (@ByRobertoR) June 1, 2020
The two journalists then asked a VPM News editor who lived nearby to pick them up and drive them home. While in the car, Roldan said he received a telephone call from Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney who had seen his tweet. The mayor apologized for what had happened and said he would call for an investigation, Roldan said.
The following day, Stoney confirmed he had spoken with Roldan and had ordered the investigation, according to news reports. The mayor also tweeted, “There is NO reason this should have happened to a member of the press. No reason. It is absolutely unacceptable, and we are investigating the matter.”
There is NO reason this should have happened to a member of the press. No reason. It is absolutely unacceptable, and we are investigating the matter.
— Levar M. Stoney (@LevarStoney) June 1, 2020
In a press conference on June 1, Police Chief Will Smith said the incident had been “completely accidental” and that the officer “was actually running, and sadly is not as agile as we would like. We weren’t throwing [Roldan] to the ground to effect arrest. It was really in a very tense moment and we were trying to affect other things.” Roldan told VPM news that while he doesn’t know what the officer was thinking, “the tackle felt intentional.”
“My skin was definitely burning for a while after leaving the scene and getting back home,” Matthews told the Tracker.
While her camera equipment was not damaged, there were “residual chemicals on at least the lens hood that I hadn't thought to wipe down,” Matthews said. “I realized it after those chemicals were reactivated by my sweat a few days later during a separate event when I had it sitting on my arm.”
The Richmond Police Department did not respond to the Tracker’s requests for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Protesters rally around the memorial of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in Richmond, Virginia, in mid-June 2020.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, chemical irritant, protest",,,,, Videographer hit by police projectile during Portland protest on May 31,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/videographer-hit-police-projectile-during-portland-protest-may-31/,2020-09-01 16:05:33.417642+00:00,2022-03-10 17:14:49.480498+00:00,2022-03-10 17:14:49.423787+00:00,,Assault,,,,Mason Lake (Independent),,2020-05-31,False,Portland,Oregon (OR),45.52345,-122.67621,"Independent journalist Mason Lake said he was shot by law enforcement officers with a projectile that injured his arm while covering protests in Portland, Oregon, on May 31, 2020.
Lake, a videographer based in Portland, was filming one of the many protests that broke out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd, a Black man. A viral video showed a white police officer kneeling on Floyd’s neck during an arrest in Minneapolis. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a local hospital.
In Portland, protests over the death of Floyd began on May 29, prompting Mayor Ted Wheeler to declare an 8 p.m. curfew that lasted three days. Lake, who wasn’t wearing anything to identify himself as press, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was documenting protesters at Southwest Main Street and Southwest Third Avenue around the time the curfew was going into effect on May 31.
Lake said law enforcement officers began using force against protesters.
“The police gave no announcement. They were shooting tear gas with no warning,” he said.
Derek Carmon, a Portland Police Bureau spokesman, disputed Lake’s version of events. He told the Tracker that it is “not our practice to use any crowd-control device without warning. Multiple announcements were given in the area during that time frame.”
Video taken by Lake at around 8:05 p.m. shows protesters in a haze of tear gas. One of the law enforcement officers stationed at the Multnomah County Justice Center can be seen throwing a flash bang grenade at protestors, and an announcement can be heard warning that the officers will use force if the demonstrators don’t leave.
In another video Lake sent to the Tracker, at around 8:10 p.m., he filmed demonstrators kneeling and chanting across from the Justice Center building. Somebody near Lake yells, “incoming!” Then the video goes askew as Lake yells in pain.
When Lake recovers, he films his injured arm and says, “I just got shot by the Portland police.”
“It shoved my hand and left me with welts,” Lake told the Tracker. “I stayed for a little bit to keep recording, but the tear gas came on, and I had to leave and recover.”
Lake said he believes he was hit by a “foam baton,” a projectile used by law enforcement officers for crowd control, due to the sound it made. The Tracker couldn’t independently verify what kind of munition was used.
He said both the Portland Police Bureau and Multnomah County Sheriff's Office policed protests that day. It isn’t clear which agency the officer who fired the shot works for.
On June 6, Lake filed a lawsuit against the City of Portland over the alleged battery by the police that occurred on May 31, seeking up to $450,000 in damages. “Mr. Lake believes he was specifically targeted by City of Portland police officers because he was a photographer documenting police brutality,” the lawsuit states.
Portland City Attorney Tracy Reeve told the Tracker she couldn’t comment on pending litigation.
In an emailed response to questions about Lake’s allegations, Carmon of the Portland Police said: “If it is Portland officers in the video who use force, they know that all uses of force are required to be documented in a police report and administratively reviewed per our policy to determine if they meet our standards. If there is a determination that something was out of policy, it would follow the process for investigation with [Independent Police Review]/[Internal Affairs] to determine if discipline is warranted.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Editor's note: This article has been updated to reflect information gained from a copy of Lake's lawsuit against the City of Portland.
Jack Sorgi, a video journalist for Boston Stringer Media, which sells video footage to news outlets, was pepper-sprayed by police while filming protests in Boston, Massachusetts, on the night of May 31, 2020, according to Sorgi and video of the incident.
The protests were held in response to a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
Beginning around 11 p.m. on May 31, Sorgi filmed a series of tense standoffs between law enforcement and protesters in downtown Boston, the journalist told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in an email. In one chaotic scene, with sirens blaring in the background, bottles of water and other objects can be seen being thrown at officers with bicycles. In another, the windshield of a squad car is damaged with what appears to be a trash can.
Later in Sorgi’s footage, canisters of colored smoke can be seen landing near protesters, some of whom appeared to then kick or throw the canisters back at police. Sorgi said he believes these were a mild form of tear gas.
For a time, Sorgi said, police remained mostly stationary. At one point in Sorgi’s footage, an officer can be heard using a bullhorn to tell the demonstrators to disperse. Shortly thereafter, Sorgi captured officers advancing toward the protesters.
According to Sorgi, officers started to use pepper spray after a protester approached them and gestured in a hostile manner. From that point on, Sorgi said, one or two officers would deploy pepper spray to the line of people closest to the front of the police line, where Sorgi was filming.
Sorgi, who said he was wearing a vest, goggles and a helmet emblazoned with the word “PRESS,” told the Tracker that the first bursts of pepper spray didn’t affect him. But then, he said, police “deployed a different type of pepper spray” that seemed “to seep into my skin and burn much more intensely than the other sprays combined.”
“I was completely unable to see,” Sorgi told the Tracker. “I ran away shouting, ‘Press’ as I was unsure if the police were rushing the crowd.”
In Sorgi’s footage, the journalist can be heard shouting, “Water, water, water!” as he turns and runs from the area.
Sorgi said another photographer grabbed him and poured Gatorade in his eyes, which helped him to see slightly. Then, he said, a group of protesters took him by the arm and shepherded him into an alleyway, where he was then let into the back entrance of a hotel by a doorman. Sorgi said he sat in the hotel for about 25 minutes while the doorman brought him towels and water and some protesters stayed by his side. Sorgi said he then returned to the streets to continue filming.
Sorgi said the police generally seemed to be respecting journalists and that it was unlikely that he was targeted by those using pepper spray. He said he later contacted the Boston Police Department about the incident and that a representative denied that officers had targeted journalists and apologized that he was hurt by the pepper spray.
The BPD did not immediately respond to an email from the Tracker seeking comment.
Later in the evening, Sorgi was hit on the head by a bottle of frozen water and harassed by individuals who tried to take his camera. The Tracker has documented that incident here.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
While filming protests on May 31, 2020, for Boston Stringer Media, Jack Sorgi captures the moment before he was caught in pepper spray for the sixth time. “I was completely unable to see,” he said.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, chemical irritant, protest",,,,, Video journalist hit by thrown object during Boston protest; individuals try to steal camera,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/video-journalist-hit-thrown-object-during-boston-protest-individuals-try-steal-camera/,2020-09-11 17:56:24.514292+00:00,2020-09-11 17:56:24.514292+00:00,2020-09-11 17:56:24.363961+00:00,,Assault,,,,Jack Sorgi (Boston Stringer Media),,2020-05-31,False,Boston,Massachusetts (MA),42.35843,-71.05977,"Video journalist Jack Sorgi said he was hit on the head by what he believes was a frozen water bottle while filming protests in Boston, Massachusetts, on the night of May 31, 2020. Individuals also tried to prevent him from filming by blocking his camera and attempting to steal it.
The protests were held in response to a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
Beginning around 11 p.m. on May 31, Sorgi, who owns and runs Boston Stringer Media, which sells video footage to news outlets, filmed a series of tense standoffs between law enforcement and protesters in downtown Boston, the journalist told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in an email.
Sorgi said he believes he was hit accidentally by one of the individuals facing off against dozens of officers that evening. “Throughout the escalating demonstration people repeatedly threw objects (water bottles, fireworks, rocks and pieces of bricks),” he wrote to the Tracker.
“I have no reason to believe I was targeted by any member of the crowd and was hit merely for being close to the police line where objects were being thrown.”
Sorgi said he was wearing a helmet emblazoned with the word “PRESS” and was not seriously injured.
Later that night, while Sorgi was filming people looting a store whose glass front had been shattered, a man held up his hand to block the lens, the journalist said. A few seconds later, another man came from behind him and tried to grab the camera, a Panasonic AG UX90, out of his hand.
In a separate incident earlier that night, Sorgi was pepper-sprayed by police. The Tracker has documented that incident here.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Jack Sorgi was filming protests for Boston Stringer Media on May 31, 2020, when a man blocked the camera and another tried to steal it. Earlier in the night the journalist was hit with a flying object as well as multiple rounds of pepper spray.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,no,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, Photographer says he was targeted by police with projectiles and tear gas during Portland protest,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-says-he-was-targeted-police-projectiles-and-tear-gas-during-portland-protest/,2020-09-16 20:11:48.867487+00:00,2022-06-09 14:05:59.436364+00:00,2022-06-09 14:05:59.224889+00:00,,Assault,,,,Mathieu Lewis-Rolland (Freelance),,2020-05-31,False,Portland,Oregon (OR),45.52345,-122.67621,"Independent photographer Mathieu Lewis-Rolland said he was fired on by police and targeted with tear gas at close range while covering protests in Portland, Oregon, on May 31, 2020.
Lewis-Rolland, based in Portland, was covering one of the many protests that broke out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd, a Black man. A viral video showed a white police officer kneeling on Floyd’s neck during an arrest in Minneapolis. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a local hospital.
In Portland, protests over the death of Floyd began on May 29, prompting Mayor Ted Wheeler to declare an 8 p.m. curfew that lasted three days. Around 10:40 p.m. on May 31, Lewis-Rolland went to investigate a loud bang at the intersection of Southwest Salmon Street and Southwest Third Avenue, on the same corner as the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse, according to a class-action lawsuit filed by American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. Lewis-Rolland is a plaintiff in the case, which led to an agreement by the Portland Police Bureau in July not to arrest or harm any journalists or legal observers of the protests.
The intersection by the U.S. Courthouse was mostly clear of protesters when Lewis-Rolland arrived, according to his case filing. As he began photographing, an officer aimed a gun directly at him. Shortly after, the officer fired several projectiles toward him without warning, according to the filing.
The police also threw tear gas, according to the suit. “Mr. Lewis-Rolland was overcome by the effects of tear gas and was unable to continue documenting protests or police action at that location, but he attempted to continue operating his camera to the best of his ability while recovering from the effects of the tear gas,” says the complaint. “He was able to capture a visual cloud of gas hovering over the intersection he had just retreated from.”
Lewis-Rolland later posted a photo on Facebook showing the officer just before he fired. “He could see I was holding a camera as well as I could see he was holding a gun,” Lewis-Rolland said in the post. He added that while he wasn’t injured, he felt shrapnel hit his body.
About an hour later, he was photographing a protest around the corner from the first incident, at Southwest Fourth Avenue and Southwest Taylor Street, when a different officer threw a canister of tear gas designed for crowd control at his feet, according to the suit. The photographer was again momentarily incapacitated by the effects of the tear gas.
When he started covering the protests on May 30, Lewis-Rolland wore a shirt and jeans and carried a Nikon camera with a telephoto lens, he told the Committee to Protect Journalists, a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, in a recent interview. “Before this I covered local music, festivals, local business editorials, landscapes, and weddings,” he said.
Lewis-Rolland told CPJ that he later had a T-shirt printed with the word “press” on the front and back and received a press pass from the Portland Mercury. He couldn't be reached for further comment about the incident.
The ACLU class-action complaint said that during the May 31 incident, Lewis-Rolland was “unmistakably present in a journalistic capacity” since he was carrying a “large Nikon D850 camera with a 70-200mm lens and a flash.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
At least two news vehicles were vandalized amid protests against police violence in Kansas City, Missouri, on May 31, 2020.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the U.S. since the end of May.
KSHB 41 Action News reported that one of its vehicles was parked near the intersection of 46th and Main streets when it was vandalized and set on fire. In its request for tips, the Kansas City Police Department posted on Twitter that it occurred at around 9:30 p.m.
KSHB reporter Megan Strickland published a video of the burning car on Twitter. Lines of spray-painted graffiti were also visible on the hood and passenger doors of the Ford SUV.
A KSHB 41 Action News team films a standup in front of the burned out remains of its news vehicle after the car was vandalized amid protests on May 31, 2020. KSHB 41 NEWS/KATHLEEN CHOAL
Station General Manager Kathleen Choal told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the station took additional precautions — including hiring security for each field crew — to ensure the journalists’ safety while covering protests.
Choal told the Tracker that prior to the fire, several KSHB journalists had rocks, bricks and water bottles thrown at them, but no one was injured.
“Journalists find themselves facing more aggression and hostility while documenting history,” she said. “However, this has not diminished their passion to tell the stories of the amazing Kansas City community.”
KCPD spokesperson Capt. Dave Jackson told the Tracker they were working on the cases, but that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives had taken the lead on the arson investigation.
A KMBC 9 News vehicle was also vandalized that night. The Tracker has documented that case here.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
A 41 Action News vehicle burns at the intersection of 46th and Main streets after it was vandalized and set on fire during protests on May 31, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,KSHB 41 Action News,"arson, Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, Miami social media producer arrested for curfew violation while covering protests; charges dropped,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/miami-social-media-producer-arrested-curfew-violation-while-covering-protests-charges-dropped/,2020-09-21 20:18:32.022251+00:00,2022-05-12 21:48:18.792089+00:00,2022-05-12 21:48:18.720125+00:00,,Arrest/Criminal Charge,,,,Joel Franco (WSVN 7News),,2020-05-31,False,Miami,Florida (FL),25.77427,-80.19366,"Joel Franco, a social media producer with WSVN 7News, a Fox affiliate station based in Miami, Florida, was arrested while covering protests in the city on May 31, 2020.
Franco reported the arrest on Twitter the morning of June 1, writing: “I was arrested last night as I was walking to my car after covering the protests in Downtown Miami. Charged with violating curfew. The curfew ordinance exempts media (I had my credentials).”
Franco, contacted on Twitter by the Committee to Protect Journalists, did not respond to multiple requests for comment. WSVN also did not respond to CPJ’s requests for comment, sent via Twitter direct messages and email. The Miami Herald reported that Franco no longer works for WSVN.
On June 1, in an interview with WSVN, Franco recounted how he’d completed a livestream of protests downtown and was headed back to his car when he noticed a line of police vehicles that appeared to be looking for people who were in violation of the city’s 9 p.m. curfew order. He said he began to film the scene.
“That’s when they noticed I was filming,” Franco told WSVN. “They just swarmed me, got out of the pickup truck, threw me against their pickup truck, raised my arms behind my back and put a little zip tie on me.”
In his account to WSVN, Franco said that he told police he was a member of the press and that he had his work ID on him. He said police “grabbed” the ID and his phone case and started “acting clueless.”
Franco’s girlfriend was with him at the time. She was not arrested.
WSVN reported that Franco spent nine hours in police custody before he was released on bond for the charge of curfew violation. WSVN reported that the charges were subsequently dropped.
WSVN also noted in its June 1 report that the Miami-Dade Police Department was investigating Franco’s arrest. When reached via email for comment by CPJ, a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, the department instructed CPJ to submit a media request on its website. CPJ submitted a request for more information on Franco’s arrest, specifically asking whether an investigation into his arrest had begun or been completed. The department did not respond as of press time.
According to WSVN, Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle released a statement at the time saying, “Working journalists, who pose no threat to law enforcement or public safety, have a First Amendment right to keep us all informed of public developments and public news in our community and in every community in America.”
Speaking at a press conference on June 1, Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez said of Franco’s arrest when questioned about it: “That was a mistake. He should not have been. The media is exempt from the curfew.”
On June 2, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists released a statement condemning assaults by law enforcement on journalists covering protests and asking for investigations to be launched into the unlawful arrest of journalists, particularly journalists of color, including Franco.
Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Movement have been held across the country after a viral video showed the death of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Stephen Quinn, an anchor and reporter for television station ABC 33/40, was attacked by unidentified assailants while covering protests in Birmingham, Alabama, on May 31, 2020.
Protests against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May. They were sparked by a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Quinn told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was livestreaming scenes of protests and looting in the city’s downtown, near the site of the Confederate Soldiers and Sailors Monument in Linn Park. Two days later, the statue was removed by order of Mayor Randall Woodfin in response to the protests.
After police officers had dispersed the crowd gathered in the park, the protesters had moved to the surrounding streets. Some were breaking the windows of buildings on Sixth Avenue, Quinn said.
At around 10:45 p.m., an unidentified individual knocked the phone Quinn had been using to livestream out of his hand. Quinn said he picked the phone off the ground and resumed filming, but shortly after another man grabbed his wallet from his pocket and ran away. Quinn chased but failed to catch the man. In the process, he was tripped by another individual, causing him to stumble.
Quinn then returned to where other members of the media were gathered. He said that shortly afterwards, another man hit him in the back of his head with what he believed to be an ice-filled styrofoam soda cup. A different man then tried to hit him, but missed.
A second journalist, AL.com social media manager Madison Underwood, tried to shield Quinn, but was knocked to the ground, kicked and punched repeatedly by several unidentified men who had surrounded the journalists. The Tracker has documented that assault here.
In a livestream video of the incident recorded by AL.com journalist Ivana Hrynkiw, the incidents are shown occurring over about three minutes. AL.com said in a tweet and a later article that its reporters, including Hrynkiw, who was heard on the livestream screaming as the attack occurred, left the scene after the attack and were OK.
To everyone who has reached out- we are okay. Thank you. Thank you. ❤️
— Ivana Hrynkiw Shatara (@IvanaSuzette) June 1, 2020
Quinn told the Tracker he also left the scene and returned to his station’s vehicle. The reporter said his injuries were mild — some bleeding from a cut on his right ear and temporary redness on his neck — but, at the instruction of his network, went to the hospital to be checked as a precaution.
Took a couple blows to my head and my wallet is gone but I’m okay. Thank you to @BhamPolice for your help. @abc3340 @spann #GeorgeFloyd pic.twitter.com/955myya7hG
— Stephen Quinn (@StephenQ3340) June 1, 2020
Quinn said he believed he was targeted because the people breaking windows didn’t want their faces on camera. They could see he was a member of the press because he wore a polo shirt with the logo of his network, he said. Three days after the incident, a local community member recovered and returned the stolen wallet, which he told Quinn he had spotted while someone tried to sell it in his neighborhood, the reporter said.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Police brandished batons and forcibly moved three journalists for Voice of America’s Turkish service — after they identified themselves as members of the press — while they covered protests against police violence in Washington, D.C., on May 31, 2020, according to a VOA report.
Reporters Mehtap Yilmaz and Uzeyir Yanar and camera operator Tezcan Taskiran were reporting that Sunday night on demonstrations near St. John’s Episcopal Church in Lafayette Square, near the White House.
Yilmaz told VOA that at about 10:30 p.m., police officers at the scene raised batons and advanced on her, her colleagues and others standing in the area and ordered them to leave, despite the fact that Yilmaz’s colleagues were carrying video cameras and that the team identified themselves as journalists.
“There was a harsh intervention of the police against journalists during the protests. Although we showed our press cards, we were drastically removed from the protests in front of the White House,” Yilmaz told VOA.
A spokesperson for VOA declined to comment to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker on the incident. The agency also declined to make Yilmaz, Taskiran or Yanar available for interviews.
Yilmaz was one of several VOA journalists, some of whom have covered conflicts around the globe, who told the news service they were surprised by the violence they encountered at the hands of both police and demonstrators taking part in this year’s protests.
“Becoming a target of either police or protesters is not something new to me,” Yilmaz told VOA. “But it was both surprising and anxious for me to encounter the incidents I witnessed as journalists in America for the last three days during protests in Washington,” said Yilmaz.
It isn’t clear from Yilmaz’s published account of the May 31 incident which law enforcement agency approached her crew.
The same day that VOA journalists were forced from the area around St. John’s Church, fire was set to a nursery room in the basement of the church’s parish house. Firefighters extinguished the blaze, which didn’t spread to other parts of the building.
On June 1, St. John’s became the backdrop for a controversial photo op for President Donald Trump. National Guard troops used tear gas and pepper balls to clear protesters from the area before Trump posed for cameras while holding up a Bible.
Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Movement have been held across the country after a viral video showed a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
KPCC and LAist education reporter Adolfo Guzman-Lopez was shot in the neck with a rubber bullet while covering protests against police violence in Long Beach, California on May 31, 2020.
When reached for comment about the events of that day, Guzman-Lopez directed the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker to previous news coverage, including in the LAist; his tweets from the day; and an essay he wrote about the incident in July.
According to those accounts, at around 6:30 p.m. on May 31, Guzman-Lopez had been finishing an interview with a protester at the intersection of Third Street and Pine Avenue in Long Beach. He was one of only a few people standing in the area, as a crowd of about 200 protesters were on their knees while in a face-off with police, the LAist reported.
As he was typing the protester’s name into his phone, he recalled in an essay published by the LAist in July, he heard a “loud pop,” then felt an impact low on his neck. At that point, he wrote, he and others started running in the other direction.
The impact of the projectile left a bloody mark at the base of Guzman-Lopez’s neck, near his collarbone. At 6:40 p.m., he posted photos of himself on Twitter.
I just got hit by a rubber bullet near the bottom of my throat. I had just interviewed a man with my phone at 3rd and Pine and a police officer aimed and shot me in the throat, I saw the bullet bounce onto the street @LAist @kpcc OK, that’s one way to stop me, for a while pic.twitter.com/9C2u5KmscG
— Adolfo Guzman-Lopez (@AGuzmanLopez) June 1, 2020
“I just got hit by a rubber bullet near the bottom of my throat. I had just interviewed a man with my phone at 3rd and Pine and a police officer aimed and shot me in the throat, I saw the bullet bounce onto the street,” he wrote. “OK, that’s one way to stop me, for a while.”
After he was struck, Guzman-Lopez went live on air on KPCC’s special coverage of the protests to report on what had happened. He noted in the clip that he was obviously conducting an interview at the time he was hit. He was also wearing credentials on a lanyard around his neck, though he observed that the credentials were not as bright as a previous version.
Guzman-Lopez went to the emergency room for treatment for his injury. A CT scan found the impact of the shot knocked the fillings from his teeth, according to an LAist article. He took four weeks off to recover.
“Regardless of whether I was targeted or not, being shot by a police foam round shook my life,” he wrote.
The LAist reported in July that Guzman-Lopez had been hit with a 40mm foam round fired by a Long Beach Police Department officer. According to the LAist, Police Chief Robert Luna told Guzman-Lopez that the department’s investigation found that he had been “inadvertently” struck by a round that had likely ricocheted off of something else.
Luna said that the department couldn’t determine which of two officers had fired the shot that struck the journalist, according to the LAist. Both officers fired rounds within four seconds of each other after two men threw bottles at police.
In a video briefing released on July 24 about the incident, the police department released footage from body cameras some officers were wearing at the time, though the cameras were partially blocked and do not show the full scene.
The videos show that two bottles had been thrown toward the line of police officers before the shots were fired, which prompted the crowd to disperse. Guzman-Lopez “was not the intended target” of the rounds, a narrator said on the police video.
As of late September, the department’s review of the incident was in its final phase, a spokesperson for the Long Beach Police Department told the Tracker.
The incident prompted apologies from local officials and attracted international attention. Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia apologized to Guzman-Lopez following the incident, the LAist reported. Guzman-Lopez was among several journalists mentioned in a resolution the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors passed on June 9 affirming the rights of journalists to cover protests and opposing the use of force against the press.
The protests in Long Beach that day were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
While covering Long Beach, California, protests on May 31, KPCC/LAist reporter Adolfo Guzman-Lopez was hit by a rubber bullet fired by police. He posted this selfie shortly after, and was treated at a hospital for the injury.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,no,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest, shot / shot at",,,,, "Detroit Free Press reporter charged by police, told to leave",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/detroit-free-press-reporter-charged-police-told-leave/,2020-10-06 15:12:56.002115+00:00,2022-03-10 22:04:44.411422+00:00,2022-03-10 22:04:44.348713+00:00,,Assault,,,,Mark Kurlyandchik (Detroit Free Press),,2020-05-31,False,Detroit,Michigan (MI),42.33143,-83.04575,"On May 31, 2020, while covering protests in Detroit, Michigan, Detroit Free Press reporter Mark Kurlyandchik was charged by a police officer, who knocked his phone out of his hands as he was filming, and told by another to leave the area where press were permitted, according to Kurlyandchik’s tweets from that day.
Neither Kurlyandchik, the Free Press, nor the Detroit Police Department responded to the U.S. Press Freedom’s request for comment as of press time.
According to Kurlyandchik’s Twitter feed, the incident occurred after police had deployed tear gas and as he was putting on his goggles to protect against the gas.
I just got charged by a DPD officer as I was putting my goggles on to protect against the tear gas they shot. Knocked my hat off my head and phone out of my hands. Another officer tried to make us clear the area even though we were standing in the press zone.
— Mark Kurlyandchik (@MKurlyandchik) June 1, 2020
Tweeted video footage from his phone shows dozens of riot police holding shields running toward the camera. After Kurlyandchik appears to collide with an officer, the phone falls to the ground, filming the sky.
It wasn’t clear if there were protesters around. Kurlyandchik said in a separate tweet that he was with three other Free Press reporters and that another officer had tried to “force” them away from the area. “Said a guy with TV camera was fine to stay but he didn’t believe we were press despite all of us showing our badges,” Kurlyandchik tweeted. “I’m fine, but it shouldn’t take a big news camera to exercise our constitutional duty.” It wasn’t clear where exactly the incident took place.
The protests in Detroit that day were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Law enforcement ordered Luke Johnson, a San Jose Spotlight reporter, to get on the ground with his face down while he was covering the third consecutive night of protests against police violence in San Jose, California, on May 31, 2020.
Earlier in the day, City Manager David Sykes had announced the implementation of a citywide curfew from 8:30 p.m. to 5 a.m. Notably, media outlets were deemed “essential businesses” and exempt from the measure.
When curfew arrived that evening, demonstrators remained on the streets. Johnson confirmed with the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in an interview that he’d been following a group marching in neighborhoods near San Jose State University. At around 9:30 p.m., he said, police began to surround them, scattering the protesters.
“I followed them into a driveway that led to a backyard parking lot for a couple housing units,” he wrote in a piece for the Spotlight. “However, once they started hopping fences into other backyards, that’s where I decided to draw the line and stop following them."
Johnson said he was waiting in the area with Maggie Angst, a journalist from the Mercury News who’d also been covering the protests that evening, when, with batons waving, officers rushed into the backyard area and ordered both journalists to get on the ground with their faces down. The Tracker documented Angst’s detainment here.
Johnson told the Tracker that officers then scoured the area and asked the journalists several times what they were doing there. He said he repeatedly verbally identified himself as a journalist and had a camera hanging around his neck. Johnson said the officers did not provide any further instruction and were unclear about whether or not the journalists could get up and leave.
“Some of the officers were telling me to go home and some were saying to stay there. After a while, it went quiet,” Johnson said. “I looked back and they weren’t even there anymore.”
Johnson recalls that he and Angst were on the ground for several minutes. After noticing that the officers had left, he gathered his camera and belongings and prepared to go home. One officer, Johnson remembered, returned to retrieve his sunglasses but did not make any verbal contact.
UPDATE: Police told me to get on the ground, face down and hands out. They held me there for about two minutes. I identified myself as a reporter.
— Luke Johnson (@Scoop_Johnson) June 1, 2020
They told me to remain in a backyard. About 20 minutes later, police left the area without further instruction.
Afterward, Johnson said, residents in the area offered support to the journalists, sharing water and food.
The following day, according to his piece in the Spotlight, Johnson and his editor, Ramona Giwargis, spoke on the phone with San Jose Police Chief Eddie Garcia.
“He wanted to share his team’s side of the story,” Johnson told the Tracker. “There was a lot of confusion going on. Some of the officers were put out there before the curfew was put into effect. He was thoroughly apologetic.”
Garcia explained that many officers were experiencing a citywide curfew for the first time and that it is not protocol for officers to leave individuals on the ground without further instruction, according to Johnson’s account in the Spotlight.
On September 3, the San Jose Police Department released a 243-page “preliminary After-Action Report” analyzing law enforcement’s response to the “civil unrest” that followed George Floyd’s death from May 29 through June 7. In it, the SJPD detailed numerous incidents with members of the press and concluded that the department needs additional formalized training, clear instruction of protocols for interacting with media and a comprehensive review of procedures regarding use of force and crowd control.
One recommendation raised in the report suggests providing “identifiable reflective vests” to reporters, so they are “more easily distinguishable in a crowd.” However, Sergeant Christian Camarillo told the Tracker that he personally believes that police-issued vests could risk journalists being targeted.
“One of the things I wanted to improve on after reading that after-action report was sitting down and having a dialogue with some of our local media reporters on how to keep them safe,” Camarillo said. “We want to have input from the people out there doing the work.”
Protests against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Movement have been held across the country after a viral video showed a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Maggie Angst, a city reporter for the Mercury News, was ordered to get on the ground by law enforcement despite repeatedly holding out her press badge while covering protests against police violence in downtown San Jose, California, on May 31, 2020.
Earlier in the day, City Manager David Sykes had announced the implementation of a citywide curfew from 8:30 p.m. to 5 a.m. Notably, media outlets were deemed “essential businesses” and exempt from the measure.
The night’s protests started at City Hall, Angst told the Tracker in a phone interview. When curfew went into effect, she said, demonstrators continued to march around the downtown area, eventually making their way into the neighborhoods near San José State University. Police officers soon announced over loudspeakers that the protesters were violating curfew.
“I turned down a street and there was a line of cops on motorcycles and in cars on both sides,” Angst said. “We got kettled. The protesters started running into yards and houses.”
Angst said she followed several individuals into a backyard, but stopped when some started to jump over the fence. She said she debated walking back out to the main street, but officers had begun to fire rubber bullets and tear gas. So she decided to wait in the backyard instead, which is where she met another reporter, Luke Johnson from the San José Spotlight. Anticipating that the police would soon be entering the backyard, Angst held out her press badge.
“They just started to charge at us and were screaming to get on the ground with our faces down,” Angst said. “I tried to explain that I was with the media and show my badge, but they screamed more and were waving batons, so I got down.”
Angst said the officers surveyed the backyard and asked what she and Johnson were doing there. Again, Angst announced she was a reporter with the Mercury News. She said one officer finally looked at her ID, but no further instruction or permission to leave was given. The Tracker has documented Johnson’s detainment here.
After several minutes, Angst told the Tracker, the officers left the backyard. She was unsure if she could leave the area and did not know if officers were still firing rubber bullets or tear gas on the main street, which she later learned is where they’d detained protesters.
“I was pretty freaked out,” Angst said. “Eventually, another reporter that was there with me talked to the cops. She said to walk out slowly with my hands up, so I did that.”
Angst tweeted about the incident that evening, writing, “Unfortunately, I was too shaken to try and record a video or take down badge numbers. Noted for the future. One officer came back with a flashlight in the backyard at one point — while I was still sitting on the ground — to pick up his dropped sunglasses.”
The mayor and several city council members reached out the following day, according to Angst. She also said she spoke to San Jose Police Chief Eddie Garcia, who shared that some officers may have been put out on patrol but inadequately informed about media exemptions from the citywide curfew.
On September 3, the San Jose Police Department released a 243-page “preliminary After-Action Report” analyzing law enforcement’s response to the “civil unrest” that followed George Floyd’s death from May 29 through June 7. In it, the SJPD detailed numerous incidents with members of the press and concluded that the department needs additional formalized training, clear instruction of protocols for interacting with media and a comprehensive review of procedures regarding use of force and crowd control.
One recommendation raised in the report suggests providing “identifiable reflective vests” to reporters, so they are “more easily distinguishable in a crowd.” However, Sergeant Christian Camarillo told the Tracker that he personally believes that police-issued vests could risk journalists being targeted.
“One of the things I wanted to improve on after reading that after-action report was sitting down and having a dialogue with some of our local media reporters on how to keep them safe,” Camarillo said. “We want to have input from the people out there doing the work.”
Protests against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Movement have been held across the country after a viral video showed a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Voice of America video journalist Khrystyna Shevchenko was punched in the face and fractured three toes while covering protests against police violence in Santa Monica, California, on May 31, 2020.
Shevchenko told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in an interview that she and a friend, Christian Gomez, had been filming along the Third Street Promenade in downtown Santa Monica that afternoon when individuals split away from the protesters and broke into various stores, taking shoes and other items.
As Shevchenko was setting up her frame, an unidentified man charged toward her and punched her in the face, she said. She immediately blacked out, and her camera and tripod fell on her foot, fracturing three toes and breaking the camera’s viewfinder. Gomez told the Tracker that the assailant then punched him in the face as well.
“My friend fought back,” Shevchenko said. “But then that guy started to call for help, so [other individuals] started to kick my friend without any analysis of what was going on.”
Gomez told the Tracker that he had pinned the assailant down, but then released him to check on Shevchenko, who had regained consciousness. The assailant ran away with Gomez’s gimbal and lens. Gomez then helped Shevchenko to his car and drove her to the UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center emergency room, where a doctor diagnosed the three fractured toes and a minor head injury, Shevchenko said. Shevchenko underwent surgery on her foot two weeks after the incident.
Shevchenko said she couldn’t be certain if she was targeted specifically because she was a journalist, though she surmised that the assailant attacked her in order to take her camera and other equipment.
After returning home from the ER, Shevchenko filed her story for Voice of America’s Ukrainian service.
“I was so shocked—I couldn’t think that I would go through all of that and not have the story air,” Shevchenko said of her need to get the story out despite the pain she was in. “I had to write the story.”
In early June, Shevchenko and Gomez filed a report with the Santa Monica Police Department.
“He [the unidentified man] is in my footage and my friend recognized him,” Shevchenko explained. “However, the police said that because I didn’t document the action of punching, they cannot confirm that he did it.”
Additionally, Shevchenko made clear that Gomez was a witness to the incident, but the police department never reached out to him after taking his initial statement, according to Gomez. Shevchenko’s case is pending, but as of early October, she said she has yet to receive new updates.
The Santa Monica Police Department did not respond to multiple requests for comment as of press time.
“It’s an injustice,” Gomez stated. “She went through neuropathy for a month, and it seems like there’s no recourse to alleviate financial hardships or provide any help at all. It’s not just a physical thing that she had to overcome. It’s emotional, mental.”
Shevchenko told the Tracker that she still experiences post-traumatic stress and is unable to walk independently.
Numerous protests across the Los Angeles area ensued following the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. In a widely circulated video online, a white police officer kneeled on Floyd’s neck, ignoring his calls that he could not breathe. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Khrystyna Shevchenko, a Voice of America video journalist, was injured by an unknown assailant while covering protests in Santa Monica, California, on May 31, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, Detroit Free Press reporter shoved by police while covering protests,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/detroit-free-press-reporter-shoved-police-while-covering-protests/,2020-10-15 19:44:59.019924+00:00,2020-10-15 19:44:59.019924+00:00,2020-10-15 19:44:58.942464+00:00,,Assault,,,,Darcie Moran (Detroit Free Press),,2020-05-31,False,Detroit,Michigan (MI),42.33143,-83.04575,"Detroit Free Press reporter Darcie Moran was shoved by Detroit police near their headquarters while covering protests in the city on May 31, 2020, Moran told the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Moran said that she was with her colleague Branden Hunter at the time when she received a text from another colleague stating that the police public information officer wanted all media to move to a designated area. But Moran said she didn’t know where that was.
Moran said that Hunter told her he heard police announce that they were going to use tear gas, so they decided to find the media area and stay there.
“We went over there [when] some officers came and started pushing us,” Moran told CPJ, a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. “They were pushing us back toward Detroit police, which was confusing because there were police on both sides so we didn't really know where to go.”
The journalist said she kept saying that they were members of the media, but the officers persisted.
Detroit Free Press colleague Mark Kurlyandchik, who was standing nearby, was charged by police at this time, Moran said. “I was concerned he was about to go head first into a ticket vestibule,” she said. The Tracker has documented Kurlyandchik’s assault here.
Moran said she was pushed, but “not far,” despite yelling that they were members of the media. “I don’t care,” one of the officers shouted back, according to Moran.
The Detroit Free Press reporters were stuck as police jostled them around, Moran said.
“It was difficult because we wanted to see the direct interactions between protesters and police, but we were now kind of stuck behind police,” Moran said. “We did some interviews with some stragglers there and saw some arrests taking place.”
At one point that evening an officer began yelling that Moran and several of her colleagues were going to be arrested for being out. Moran said that they replied that they’re members of the media, but the police officer said that didn’t matter.
We were in the designated media area. Police started shoving us and said they didn’t care we were media. One reporter went down hard. He is fine.
— Darcie Moran (@darciegmoran) June 1, 2020
Moran said they observed the detention of reporter Christine MacDonald that evening and were able to make it back to the newsroom. The Tracker has documented MacDonald’s arrest here.
The Detroit police did not respond to CPJ’s emailed request for comment.
A photojournalist covering protests in Des Moines, Iowa, tweeted that he was hit in the thigh by a rubber bullet fired by police on May 31, 2020.
I was hit in the thigh by a nonlethal projectile (rubber bullet) while covering the protests last night in Des Moines. #GeorgeFloydProtests #desmoines pic.twitter.com/SEfcKDfTi9
— Bryon Houlgrave (@bryonhoulgrave) June 1, 2020
The journalist, Bryon Houlgrave of the Des Moines Register, declined to comment further about the incident.
Demonstrations that night included a march starting at Evelyn K. Davis Park, a candlelight vigil, and protests outside Merle Hay Mall and Des Moines police headquarters, the Register reported.
Register reporter Andrea Sahouri was pepper-sprayed and arrested while documenting the Merle Hay Mall demonstration.
The journalists were covering the third night of protests in the city in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Two Sacramento Bee journalists were assaulted and their work equipment damaged and stolen while covering protests against police violence in downtown Sacramento, California, on May 31, 2020.
SacBee photojournalist Paul Kitagaki Jr. was reporting that night with colleague reporter Sam Stanton. The pair had been following protests at the state Capitol, which law enforcement had dispersed with flash-bang grenades and tear gas at around 11:30 p.m. As the crowd broke up, Kitagaki and Stanton left the area, soon walking past a 7-Eleven a block from the Capitol that appeared to be being looted, according to Kitagaki.
Kitagaki told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in a phone interview that the city was loud that night and the journalists didn’t hear as two men ran up behind them, hitting them, in Stanton’s words, “full speed from behind.” Stanton was thrown to the ground, hitting his knee and head, while Kitagaki had one of his cameras yanked off his shoulder, breaking his right hand in the process. Stanton’s assault and equipment damage are documented by the Tracker here.
Kitagaki told the Tracker that he got the impression that the attackers, who quickly ran away after the assault, were looters, unassociated with the protesters, and that he and Stanton were targeted because of the camera equipment he was carrying.
Kitagaki and Stanton intended to continue working that night, with Kitagaki using his left hand to take photos with a second camera of which he was still in possession. However, within 10 minutes of Stanton tweeting about the attack, all Sacramento Bee reporters and photographers were pulled out of the area. Reporter Alex Yoon-Hendricks tweeted that the newspaper was concerned for its journalists' safety, as looting had escalated and police were hard to find.
All @sacbee_news reporters and photographers have been pulled out of downtown/midtown Sacramento. Right now, groups of mostly young men are smashing windows, stealing. Few cops along J and K St. Some people were walking dogs right next to people in ski masks breaking into cars. https://t.co/qrjUNoCdk5
— Alex BOOn-Hendricks 🐝 (@ayoonhendricks) June 1, 2020
Kitagaki reported the assault to the police the following day, and Kitagaki and Stanton were both interviewed about the attack. The Sacramento Police department did not respond to a request for comment for this story.
Kitagaki took two months off work to heal his broken hand, and will continue in physical therapy four months after the assault.
Protests in Sacramento and across the United States have surged in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following a viral video that showed a white police officer kneeling on the neck of a Black man, George Floyd, during his arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Two journalists for KTUL, Tulsa, Oklahoma’s ABC affiliate station, were hit with pepper balls fired by police while covering protests against police violence on the night of May 31, 2020, according to social media and a news report.
The Tulsa protests were part of national demonstrations that followed the death of George Floyd, a Black man, at the hands of a white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. May 31 was also the 99th anniversary of what’s known as the Tulsa race massacre, when a racist white mob killed hundreds of Black residents in the then-thriving Black business community.
Reporter Ethan Hutchins and photojournalist Jacob Aranda were covering a standoff between police and protesters outside a gas station at the intersection of East 36th Street and South Peoria Avenue at around 10 p.m. Footage that streamed live on the station’s Facebook page shows people milling about near the gas station, with flashing police lights down the road in the distance.
“So something is happening here, we’re not exactly sure,” a female voice, presumably from the KTUL studio, says. “We do have three crews that are there.”
As popping noises erupt, some projectiles can be seen flying through the air, leaving smoke trails. “We see something beginning,” she says.
“Hey, guys, A.J., pull back,” said Hutchins on the broadcast. “Kim, oh, Kim, I just got shot, excuse me, with a pepper ball,” a likely reference to Kim Jackson, the weekend anchor at KTUL who had been speaking.
“Police officers have thrown a flash-bang, they have thrown a flash-bang, and my photographer and I, Jacob and I, have gotten hit with pepper balls,” said Hutchins, who declined to comment for this article. “The demonstrators have walked off now. We’ll toss it back to you real quick.”
A portion of the same broadcast later posted on the station’s Twitter account:
⚠️VIEWER WARNING: This was a live, uncensored event⚠️ Tulsa police fired pepper balls and tear gas into a crowd of protesters overnight at 36th and Peoria. Channel 8's @TylerButlerKTUL and @ehutchinsnews were live on air when it happened. pic.twitter.com/2r9zTbSiXS
— NewsChannel 8 | KTUL (@KTULNews) June 1, 2020
The footage changes to another reporter on the ground, Tyler Butler, in a mask, who says, “I see Ethan, he’s OK. They’re just catching their breath. As you can see, all that smoke there.”
“We saw a canister of tear gas that one of the protesters kicked backwards,” he said.
The footage then zoomed in on a gas station shrouded in smoke with some people squatting behind parked cars.
When contacted about this incident, Danny Bean of the Tulsa Police Department communications unit, described it as “a peaceful protest that escalated into an unlawful assembly” and that journalists were not targeted by police.
The police response was “to agitators in certain crowds throwing objects at police officers and private property being vandalized. When this begins to occur officers will take action to disperse the crowd, including the use of pepper balls in some cases,” Bean wrote in an email to the Tracker. “At no point was Ethan, or any other member of the media, targeted by TPD. Ethan and his cameraman were inside of the crowd that was being dispersed where TPD introduced pepper balls.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Ford Fischer, co-founder and editor-in-chief of News2Share, was struck by a crowd control munition and detained by Metropolitan Police Department officers while on assignment for digital wire service Zenger covering protests in Washington, D.C., on May 31, 2020.
The protest was one of a surge of demonstrations across the country, sparked by the May 25 death of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis.
Fischer, whose video news service focuses on "the latest on politics and activism,” told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was covering demonstrations in Farragut Square, just north of the White House in downtown D.C.
Some of the protestors, he said, moved from the square eastward toward the intersection of 16th and I streets. A group of riot police were gathered about half a block up I Street, Fischer said, and a small group of officers was on the north side of 16th Street.
Demonstrators were throwing fireworks and police tossed flash-bang grenades, Fischer said, as he filmed from a bit behind the protesters. In footage he posted of the incident, Fischer appears to be standing in the street filming as fireworks are launched by individuals nearby.
“At some point during that charging, there was an instant strike to my head,” Fischer said, noting that he could even hear in his video footage the sound of the crowd control munition flying through the air.
I'll have a full footage thread on @Zenger soon, but I found the HD footage from when I got hit with what I believe was a rubber bullet.
— Ford Fischer (@FordFischer) June 1, 2020
For about a minute, protesters were shooting fireworks at the cops.
Police charged in and open fired, hitting me at 1:17 in this clip. pic.twitter.com/m8iNrUAmSU
Fischer noted in a separate tweet that the “solid goggles” he was wearing helped minimize the harm, saying that he was “fine.” He told the Tracker that he believes the goggles deflected the round.
“That’s how I ended up with this weird, two part injury from this one shot,” Fischer said. “There was this half-golf ball-sized sore coming out of my forehead and then also an impact on the upper part of my nose.”
Fischer said that after he was struck, he attempted to leave the protest by heading west on I Street, where some looting was taking place.
“At some point police charged them, and it was while everyone was running away westward towards the Foggy Bottom/George Washington region of D.C. that the particular group I was running with ended up being kettled.”
“Kettling” is a police maneuver used to hem in protesters and is often followed with indiscriminate arrests or citations.
Fischer said that he and about 20 protesters were detained in the kettle for approximately eight minutes.
“When I realized what was happening I identified myself as press to one of those officers,” Fischer said, “and I remember that he responded, ‘We’ll talk about that later.’”
While detained, Fischer said he interviewed one of the protesters who had his front teeth knocked out by police earlier that evening. Eventually an officer came up to the group and announced that everyone would be allowed to leave as long as they returned home upon their release, according to Fischer.
“So they let us out one by one, and one of the officers took their body cam off of their vest and held it close to our faces as we exited, effectively taking mugshots or documenting the people they had kettled before letting us go,” Fischer said.
The Metropolitan Police Department did not respond to an emailed request for comment.
The previous night, May 30, Fischer was struck twice with pepper balls, which are functionally paintballs filled with a powdery pepper spray: once in the stomach and once on his right shoulder. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented that incident here.
Kentucky Public Radio reporter Jess Clark was shot at with pepper balls while covering protests in Louisville, Kentucky, on May 31, 2020.
The protests were sparked by the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and the March 13 death of Breonna Taylor in Louisville.
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear had deployed the National Guard to the city a day earlier, and Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer instituted a citywide curfew, to begin at 9 p.m., ahead of the May 31 protests, according to NPR affiliate WFPL. It was the first time the National Guard had patrolled the streets in Louisville since 1975.
Just after 7:30 p.m. Ryland Barton, the statehouse bureau chief for WFPL, tweeted that police had surrounded three-fourths of Jefferson Square Park, setting up a perimeter from which officers shot tear gas at protesters. Barton tweeted that there were also flash-bang grenades and pepper balls deployed at the park. The crowd-control devices were deployed from the southwest corner of Liberty and Sixth streets as police moved forward, forcing protesters through the fog, according to WFPL.
In one tweet, Barton said he had been struck with pepper balls and gassed, and he described how police mocked him when he and Clark put their hands up.
“We were crossing a street blockaded by a line of police in riot gear and they fired pepper balls at us,” Clark told the U.S. Press Freedom tracker in an email. Barton couldn’t be reached for comment.
“We were alone, not in a group... and I was carrying a boom mic — so it seems unlikely they didn't realize we were press,” Clark said.
Just after 10 p.m., an hour past curfew, Barton tweeted a picture that he said showed officers shooting crowd-control munitions. He also tweeted a video showing officers shooting pepper balls in the direction of the journalists, noting that both times the firing seemed to be without cause:
This group of police at 4th and Broadway. They just shot proper balls at @jess_m_clark and I for crossing the street. Super unclear why. She's carrying a giant boom microphone. pic.twitter.com/3lzdYaF0S6
— Ryland Barton (@RylandKY) June 1, 2020
Over the course of the night, dozens were arrested according to a police spokesperson.
The Louisville Metro Police Department didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Army National Guard soldiers stand with Louisville Metro Police during a protest in Louisville, Kentucky, on May 31, 2020. Two journalists were shot at with crowd control munitions while covering protests that night.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, chemical irritant, protest, shot / shot at",,,,, MSNBC reporter struck with projectile during live broadcast from Washington protest,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/msnbc-reporter-struck-projectile-during-live-broadcast-washington-protest/,2020-12-24 20:29:02.799913+00:00,2022-03-10 17:17:16.271091+00:00,2022-03-10 17:17:16.211645+00:00,,Assault,,,,Garrett Haake (MSNBC),,2020-05-31,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"MSNBC reporter Garrett Haake was struck with a crowd-control projectile on May 31, 2020 in Washington, D.C. while giving an on-air report on protests that broke out over the deaths of George Floyd and other Black people at the hands of police.
Haake was reporting live after 11 p.m. from I Street Northwest and 16th Street Northwest in downtown Washington on clashes between protesters and law enforcement.
During the report, Haake’s film crew captured images of flipped and burning vehicles in the area and a line of Metropolitan Police Department officers forming on the east side of the intersection, according to clips of the broadcast posted on Twitter and by Mediaite.
Numerous explosions are heard in the distance, which Haake describes as protesters letting off fireworks.
Haake then begins to move toward the north side of the intersection, telling anchor Katy Tur that “we’re going to make some moves here.”
“We’re going to end up in a place we don’t want to be in if we’re not careful, Katy. So...ah dammit!” Haake said on air.
The broadcast then turns back to Tur in the studio, who tells Haake to move to a safer location. But Haake is back on the air in less than a minute and tells Tur that he believed he was hit with a rubber bullet.
“I have some souvenir welts on my side to show for it,” Haake tweeted after the incident. “And sorry for cursing on tv. Those rubber bullets/pellets/bean-bags hurt!”
It isn’t clear from MSNBC’s footage of the incident whether officers from the Metropolitan Police Department fired the rounds that struck Haake. A department spokeswoman said she couldn’t confirm whether officers used crowd-control munitions at this particular time.
Neither Haake nor MSNBC responded to requests for comment. The Office of Police Complaints said it didn’t receive a complaint related to the incident.
The protest was one of many that erupted nationwide in response to the police killings of Black people including George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25, Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky on March 13, and others.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering these protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Henry Houston, a reporter for the Eugene Weekly, an alternative paper in Eugene, Oregon, was targeted with a tear gas canister fired from a Eugene police vehicle on the night of May 31, 2020, according to Houston and a video taken by Adam Duvernay of The Register Guard, a local newspaper.
Houston told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was monitoring a group of Black Lives Matter protesters who were demonstrating that evening beyond a 9 p.m. curfew. The citywide curfew exempted credentialed journalists, according to the The Register Guard.
In the video recorded by Duvernay and uploaded to YouTube, police can be heard warning protesters to go home because of the curfew, which was ordered by the Eugene city manager. The police announcement warns that those who don’t obey are subject to “arrest, chemical munitions, or impact munitions.”
At one point, the video shows protesters running away from an armored police vehicle as it enters a parking lot. One round of what appears to be tear gas is fired in their direction.
While the protesters continue running, Houston stands in the lot recording video of the police vehicle, known as a BearCat, when another canister is fired. In an email to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, Houston said that the canister hit him in his chest.
“Eugene police officer from the turret position of the BearCat threw a tear gas canister toward me, which struck my chest, and sparked on the ground,” he wrote.
In the video Houston can then be seen holding up his press badge in the direction of the BearCat's light. He says he also shouted to police that he was media, before police fired several pepper balls at him.
On July 2, 2020, in conjunction with the Civil Liberties Defense Center, Houston filed a lawsuit in the U.S. Federal District Court in Eugene. The Eugene-based center provides legal and educational resources on civil rights issues, and in its lawsuit against Eugene Police officers and the City of Eugene the center charged that a series of city and police actions were unconstitutional.
According to the CLDC’s press release, police allegedly used “indiscriminate, brutal, and excessive force against local protesters, journalists, and even people sitting on their own porches, firing impact (rubber bullet/”foam”) and chemical (tear gas and pepper gas) munitions from the turrets of militarized vehicles (called BearCats) and implementing unconstitutional curfews.”
The lawsuit, per the press release, also alleged that “unidentified police officers in an armored vehicle shot Mr. Houston with impact and chemical munitions, despite him clearly and repeatedly identifying himself as media.”
The case was settled without a trial on Oct. 21, 2020, according to a report from The Associated Press. The AP story said Houston received $45,000 in the settlement and planned to use it to pay medical bills and make a donation to a local mental health program.
In an emailed statement to the Tracker, Houston said he had sought a settlement with the city “with the hopes that I could force some policy changes without forcing both of us to high costs of a trial.” He said he had made several requests, including asking the city for greater transparency when declaring curfews, changing policies with police-journalist interactions and stopping the use of BearCats during protests. In his email, Houston said the city did not respond to those requests “and instead went with only cash. I took it because although it's not concrete change, it could influence change just as a speeding ticket could change driver behavior.”
In an October email to Eugene Weekly, Laura Hammond, the city’s community relations director wrote, “We are pleased to have quickly reached a mutually agreeable resolution to this matter,” the email said.
The Eugene Police Department’s public information officer referred Tracker requests for comment on the suit and the settlement to the city’s attorney, Benjamin Miller. In a call with the Tracker, Miller said he cannot speak on behalf of the police department.
Photojournalist Edward Leavy Jr. said he was shoved to the ground by police officers multiple times and hit with a baton while reporting on protests in New York City on May 31, 2020.
Racial justice protests in New York and across the country began in response to a video of the police killing of George Floyd on May 25 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting arrests, assaults and other obstructions to journalists covering protests across the country.
Leavy, a member of the National Press Photographers Association, told the Tracker he was covering the protests for the Australian socialist news publication Green Left Weekly. He reported his experience to the Tracker but didn’t respond to further requests for comment.
Leavy said he was following a protest on Broadway between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. when New York Police Department officers began rushing at protesters. He said that an officer told him to back up, so he began walking away. As he was going, he said he was shoved from behind, face-down into the street by an officer.
Leavy said another officer started to place him under arrest, until a superior officer released him. However, he said, he was again shoved into the ground as he was being released.
Leavy said police subsequently pushed him two more times. One time he was shoved into a curb, which wounded both of his legs. He was also pushed over a newspaper box that had been tipped over, which he said bruised his ribs.
Later in the evening, he said he was hit with a baton while he was photographing the protest.
Leavy told the Tracker he was wearing a tactical vest marked with the word “PRESS” and was also displaying press identification cards hanging from his neck.
“When I inquired why are journalists being attacked they only denied that anyone would do that to me,” he said.
NPYD didn’t respond to a request for comment.
A journalist with Full Revolution Media said he was hit with rubber bullets and pepper balls by Portland police officers while he was covering a protest on May 31, 2020, in downtown Portland, Oregon.
The demonstration was among the many that broke out in response to police violence and in support of Black Lives Matter following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
In Portland, protests over the death of Floyd began on May 29, prompting Mayor Ted Wheeler to declare a daily 8 p.m. curfew that lasted three days.
On the night of May 31, protesters gathered near the Multnomah County Justice Center and marched toward Pioneer Courthouse despite the curfew, according to the Oregonian. Shortly after the 8 p.m. curfew took effect, the Portland police declared the protest an unlawful assembly and used tear gas and other crowd-control munitions to disperse the crowd.
John, the Full Revolution Media journalist, told the Tracker that around midnight he was near Southwest Fourth Avenue and Southwest Alder Street, when a "few young males came sprinting around the corner." They were being chased by a police riot van, said John, who asked that his last name not be used out of safety concerns.
"Police dismounted and shot many rounds at [them]," he told the Tracker. "I took one step to the right to make sure the police knew I was there because I was behind a tree, and they shot me multiple times with pepper balls and rubber bullets."
John yelled at the officers, he said, asking why they shot him and asking for a supervisor, but they ignored him and drove away. He told the Tracker that pepper balls were shot right next to his camera. He didn’t have press markings and doesn’t remember if he mentioned being a member of the press, but believes he was targeted.
The rubber bullets split his elbow open and created swelling for several weeks, he said, adding that the pepper balls left small abrasions.
The Portland Police Bureau has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation. After the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon filed a class-action lawsuit, the city agreed to a preliminary injunction in July to not to arrest or harm any journalists or legal observers of the protests or impede their work.
Johnathen Duran, the content editor at Colorado-based Yellow Scene Magazine, said he was hit in the groin by a rubber bullet while he livestreamed from a Black Lives Matter protest in Denver on May 31, 2020.
Duran, who writes under the name De La Vaca, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was at the intersection of Colfax Avenue and North Pearl Street at around 9:30 p.m. when a police officer shot at him with a rubber bullet.
“I was shot in the left testicle with a rubber bullet while wearing a press pass, carrying a camera bag and backpack, holding a cell phone to livestream,” he said, adding he was wearing a white helmet with MEDIA written on it in four places while he shot video with his phone.
In video supplied by Duran and reviewed by the Tracker, gunfire can be heard amid the scene of an apparent protest. In the video he shows a large rubber bullet to the camera.
“It feels like I was kicked in the balls, but I am walking,” he said in the video, adding later: “There’s no blood on my pants, so I should be OK.”
A Denver Police Department spokesperson said the incident was investigated and closed because the officer couldn’t be identified. However, the spokesperson said the department had undertaken a review of its response to the large-scale demonstrations in the city following the killing of George Floyd, some of which escalated into violence.
The department reviewed the use and tracking of “less-than-lethal” munitions, the processes for documenting use of force during protests, the use of body cameras and improving dispersal orders, among other issues.
Freelance photojournalist Seth Herald was on assignment for Agence France-Presse covering demonstrations in Detroit, Michigan, when he was struck alongside other photographers by crowd-control munitions fired by police on May 31, 2020.
The protests that evening were in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the U.S. since the end of May.
Herald, along with Matthew Hatcher, on assignment for Getty Images, and Nicole Hester, a staff photographer for MLive, encountered at least two officers while trying to return to their car in the Kennedy Parking Garage downtown around midnight, according to Herald and Hatcher.
The photographers told the Committee to Protect Journalists — a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker — that they put their hands in the air and identified themselves as members of the press. They said they thought the police signaled that they could cross the street when the officers opened fire.
Hatcher sent pictures to CPJ that showed his injuries: a busted, bleeding lip and welts on his nose, forehead and torso. Hester was hit with as many as a dozen pellets in the face, arms, legs and chest, leaving welts and narrowly missing an eye, according to the article by her employer.
After police fired on the journalists, Herald told CPJ, he asked one of the officers if he believed in freedom of the press. The officer answered that he didn’t know, Herald said.
According to the MLive article, one of the officers told Hester: “Maybe you’ll write the truth some day, lady!”
The three journalists then continued to the parking garage and passed another group of officers. One told them that if he saw their faces again, he would lock them up, according to MLive and interviews with Herald and Hatcher.
The trio arrived to find the parking garage locked and had to leave their car overnight, walking several blocks to get a ride-share home, Hatcher told CPJ.
On July 20, Detroit Police Corporal Daniel Debono was charged with three counts of felony assault for shooting non-lethal rounds at Hester, Herald and Hatcher, according to MLive.
In the article, the vice president of content for MLive Media Group said that they “are pleased that the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office investigated this thoroughly, and that this is moving forward toward justice."
The Detroit Police Department did not respond to phone or emailed requests for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
MLive photojournalist Nicole Hester was covering demonstrations in Detroit, Michigan, when she was struck alongside other photographers by crowd-control munitions fired by police on May 31, 2020.
The protests that evening were in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the U.S. since the end of May.
Hester, along with Matthew Hatcher, on assignment for Getty Images, and Seth Herald, on assignment for Agence France-Presse, encountered at least two officers while trying to return to their car in the Kennedy Parking Garage downtown around midnight, according to Herald and Hatcher.
The photographers told the Committee to Protect Journalists — a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker — that they put their hands in the air and identified themselves as members of the press. They said they thought the police signaled that they could cross the street when the officers opened fire.
Hester was hit with as many as a dozen pellets in the face, arms, legs and chest, leaving welts and narrowly missing an eye, according to the article by her employer. Hatcher sent pictures to CPJ that showed his injuries: a busted, bleeding lip and welts on his nose, forehead and torso.
After police fired on the journalists, Herald told CPJ, he asked one of the officers if he believed in freedom of the press. The officer answered that he didn’t know, Herald said.
According to the MLive article, one of the officers told Hester: “Maybe you’ll write the truth some day, lady!”
The three journalists then continued to the parking garage and passed another group of officers. One told them that if he saw their faces again, he would lock them up, according to MLive and interviews with Herald and Hatcher.
The trio arrived to find the parking garage locked and had to leave their car overnight, walking several blocks to get a ride-share home, Hatcher told CPJ.
On July 20, Detroit Police Corporal Daniel Debono was charged with three counts of felony assault for shooting non-lethal rounds at Hester, Herald and Hatcher, according to MLive.
In the article, the vice president of content for MLive Media Group said that they “are pleased that the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office investigated this thoroughly, and that this is moving forward toward justice."
The Detroit Police Department did not respond to phone or emailed requests for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Two Sacramento Bee journalists were assaulted and their work equipment damaged and stolen while covering protests against police violence in downtown Sacramento, California, on May 31, 2020.
SacBee reporter Sam Stanton was reporting that night with colleague photojournalist Paul Kitagaki Jr. The pair had been following protests at the state Capitol, which law enforcement had dispersed with flash-bang grenades and tear gas at around 11:30 p.m. As the crowd broke up, Stanton and Kitagaki left the area, soon walking past a 7-Eleven a block from the Capitol that appeared to be being looted, according to Kitagaki.
Kitagaki told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in a phone interview that the city was loud that night and the journalists didn’t hear as two men ran up behind them, hitting them, in Stanton’s words, “full speed from behind.” Stanton was thrown to the ground, hitting his knee and head, and his work iPad in his backpack was smashed on impact. Kitagaki had a camera yanked off his shoulder, breaking his right hand in the process. The Tracker has documented Kitagaki’s assault and equipment damage here.
Kitagaki told the Tracker that he got the impression that the attackers, who quickly ran away after the assault, were looters, unassociated with the protesters, and that he and Stanton were targeted because of the camera equipment he was carrying.
Stanton said he “was just roughed up” and he and Kitagaki intended to continue working that night. However, within 10 minutes of Stanton tweeting about the attack, all Sacramento Bee reporters and photographers were pulled out of the area. Reporter Alex Yoon-Hendricks tweeted the newspaper was concerned for its journalists’ safety, as looting had escalated and police were hard to find.
All @sacbee_news reporters and photographers have been pulled out of downtown/midtown Sacramento. Right now, groups of mostly young men are smashing windows, stealing. Few cops along J and K St. Some people were walking dogs right next to people in ski masks breaking into cars. https://t.co/qrjUNoCdk5
— Alex BOOn-Hendricks 🐝 (@ayoonhendricks) June 1, 2020
Stanton tweeted at 11:42 p.m., “I have never willingly left the scene of a news story because of personal peril in my 38 years in the business. But when my editor ordered me to leave tonight, I did it.”
Kitagaki reported the assault to the police the following day, and Kitagaki and Stanton were both interviewed about the attack. The Sacramento Police Department did not respond to a request for comment for this story.
Protests in Sacramento and across the United States have surged in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following a viral video that showed a white police officer kneeling on the neck of a Black man, George Floyd, during his arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
AL.com social media manager Madison Underwood was assaulted while covering protests against police violence in Birmingham, Alabama, on May 31, 2020, according to eye-witness reports and social media posts.
Protests against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May. They were sparked by a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Underwood, who didn’t respond to emails requesting comment, was attacked while trying to protect broadcast reporter Stephen Quinn from a group of unidentified individuals.
The journalists were covering the protests and looting in the city’s downtown, near the site of the Confederate Soldiers and Sailors Monument in Linn Park. Two days later, the statue was removed by order of Mayor Randall Woodfin in response to the protests.
At around 10:45 p.m., an unidentified individual knocked the phone Quinn had been using to livestream out of his hand; other individuals stole his wallet, tripped him and attempted to hit him.
When Underwood attempted to help Quinn, he was knocked to the ground, kicked and punched repeatedly by several unidentified men who had surrounded the journalists. In a message posted to Twitter about the incident shortly after, Underwood said his nose was swollen and bleeding.
That was terrible. I'm glad my colleagues are okay. I'm okay. My nose is swollen and bleeding. My phone is gone. I'm thankful to the folks who dragged me out of there, who checked on me, who said nice things. Not sure why that went bad so quickly. https://t.co/1evjmimm4u
— Madison Underwood (@MadisonU) June 1, 2020
In a livestream video of the incident recorded by AL.com journalist Ivana Hrynkiw, the incidents are shown occurring over about three minutes. AL.com said in a tweet and a later article that its reporters, including Hrynkiw, who was heard on the livestream screaming as the attack occurred, left the scene after the attack and were OK.
To everyone who has reached out- we are okay. Thank you. Thank you. ❤️
— Ivana Hrynkiw Shatara (@IvanaSuzette) June 1, 2020
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Denver Post reporter Alex Burness and a second reporter were aimed at with a crowd-control weapon by law enforcement while covering protests in Denver, Colorado, on the evening of May 31, 2020.
The protests were sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, for 7 minutes and 46 seconds during an arrest in Minneapolis on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Earlier in the night, Burness was struck multiple times with crowd-control munitions. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documented that case here. Burness later ran into Denverite and Colorado Public Radio reporter Esteban Hernandez near the state capitol building, he said.
The lights around the capitol were off, creating an “uneasy” atmosphere, Burness said. A large crowd of protesters had amassed on the north side of the building. Police moved toward protesters, firing tear gas. Burness and Hernandez decided to leave the area, heading away from the tear gas toward the capitol’s south side.
There, they encountered a line of officers standing across a two-lane street. Burness saw an opening that would have allowed them to leave the area without crossing the police line. “We shouted to them ‘Press!’ several times,” Burness said. Both had press credentials around their necks and Hernandez wore a neon yellow vest with ‘PRESS’ written on it in large letters. “One of the officers points that we have to head the other way, back towards where the tear gas is coming from.”
Burness and Hernandez continued to shout “Press! Press! Press!” to get the officers to allow them to pass through the open area, but police refused. In a show of force, one lifted what Burness described as a rifle used to shoot less-lethal projectiles, and pointed it directly at the journalists.
A cop just shouted at @EstebanHRZ and me to walk in other direction — toward an epic amount of tear gas. We shouted “press!” and Esteban is even wearing a neon press vest. Cop points weapon right at us. We were forced back into the chaos and we both took a ton of gas to the face.
— Alex Burness (@alex_burness) June 1, 2020
“There is no doubt in my mind that those officers knew we were press. We were 40 feet away from the guy, we’re shouting press, he’s looking directly at us, he knows what’s up, he still did that,” Burness said, calling the incident “a flagrant disregard for our press rights.”
The two retreated back toward the capitol lawn, where they were engulfed in a cloud of tear gas. Burness, wearing ski goggles and an N95 mask, said he couldn’t see at more than five percent for several minutes. “It was very intense, extremely unpleasant, and crucially, totally unnecessary,” he said. Reached via direct message on Twitter, Hernandez declined to comment.
Multiple law enforcement agencies were operating in the area at the time, Burness said, including the Colorado Army National Guard, Denver Police, the Colorado State Patrol and sheriffs’ departments from various counties across the state. Burness said he believes the officer who trained his gun at them was with the Colorado State Patrol.
The Tracker reached out to the Colorado State Patrol, which declined to comment on the incidents, saying they involved the Denver Police Department. A request for comment to the Denver Police Department was not immediately returned.
Burness said that while he has lingering bruises from being hit, “I’m much more shaken up by how our rights were disregarded.”
“Even though there certainly has been much more interest on Twitter and from people who care about me about me being shot at with these foam bullets, the other incident to me, from a press freedom perspective, is significantly more troubling,” Burness said.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Esteban Hernandez, a reporter for Denverite and Colorado Public Radio, and another journalist were aimed at with a crowd-control weapon by law enforcement while covering protests in Denver, Colorado, on the evening of May 31, 2020.
The protests were sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, for eight minutes and 46 seconds during an arrest in Minneapolis on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Hernandez ran into Denver Post reporter Alex Burness near the state capitol building, Burness told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. The lights around the capitol were off, creating an “uneasy” atmosphere, Burness said. A large crowd of protesters had amassed on the north side of the building. Police moved toward protesters, firing tear gas. Burness and Hernandez decided to leave the area, heading away from the tear gas toward the capitol’s south side.
There, they encountered a line of officers standing across a two-lane street. Burness saw an opening that would have allowed them to leave the area without crossing the police line. Burness said both journalists loudly identified themselves as members of the press and were wearing press credentials, and Hernandez wore a neon yellow vest with ‘PRESS’ written on it in large letters.
Burness said one of the officers told them to turn back the other way, where the tear gas was coming from. Burness and Hernandez continued to shout “Press! Press! Press!” to get the officers to allow them to pass through the open area, but police refused. In a show of force, one lifted what Burness described as a rifle used to shoot less-lethal projectiles, and pointed it directly at the journalists. Burness said he has no doubt the officers knew they were members of the press, calling the incident “a flagrant disregard for our press rights.”
The two retreated back towards the capitol lawn, where they were engulfed in a cloud of tear gas. Burness, wearing ski goggles and an N95 mask, said he couldn’t see at more than five percent for several minutes. “It was very intense, extremely unpleasant, and crucially, totally unnecessary,” he said. Both Hernandez and Burness tweeted about the incident. Reached via direct message on Twitter, Hernandez declined to comment.
While @alex_burness and I were trying to walk around the Capitol, we identified ourselves as press @DenverPolice still pointed rifles at us.
— Esteban L. Hernandez (@EstebanHRZ) June 1, 2020
Multiple law enforcement agencies were operating in the area at the time, Burness said, including the Colorado Army National Guard, Denver Police, the Colorado State Patrol and sheriffs’ departments from various counties across the state. Burness said he believes the officer who trained his gun at them was with the Colorado State Patrol.
The Tracker reached out to the Colorado State Patrol, which refused to comment on the incidents, saying they involved the Denver Police Department. A request for comment to the Denver Police Department was not immediately returned.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
At least two news vehicles were vandalized amid protests against police violence in Kansas City, Missouri, on May 31, 2020.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the U.S. since the end of May.
A news vehicle belonging to KMBC News 9 was vandalized during demonstrations downtown that night, according to social media posts by a reporter with KSHB 41 News. The car’s windows were broken, internal mechanisms reportedly tampered with and the exterior spray-painted with graffiti. KMBC didn’t respond to requests for comment from the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
.@kmbc car vandalized. pic.twitter.com/jvFY4xbV2g
— Megan Strickland (@StricklyMeg) June 1, 2020
A KSHB 41 News vehicle was also vandalized that night, and was set on fire. The Tracker has documented that case here.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Univision reporters Fernando Rentería and Alexander Zapata said they were fired on with what they believed to be pepper ball rounds by police while covering the arrest of a civilian protester in Las Vegas, Nevada, on May 31, 2020.
The protest that day was held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
Zapata and Rentería had been streaming live on Facebook as night fell on May 31, covering protests along the Strip. About an hour into their stream, the reporters can be seen making their way north on Las Vegas Boulevard when Zapata explains that tear gas had been fired on the crowd but that it was not very intense. Shortly thereafter, the reporters walked toward a group of officers from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. Zapata can be heard saying, “It looks like they are arresting a civilian.”
➡️ Equipo de noticias de Univision en Las Vegas recibe balas de gomas de parte de la policía en medio de las protestas por la muerte de #GeorgeFloyd. pic.twitter.com/zJV0YHXoa1
— Univision Noticias (@UniNoticias) June 1, 2020
In the video, reviewed by the Tracker, an officer can be seen moving toward the journalists. Several shots can be heard, after which Zapata can be heard groaning. He says on the livestream, “They have just shot us.”
Zapata then said to his audience, “Police officers from Las Vegas just shot us. Police officers from Las Vegas Police Department are attacking the press. I repeat, my partner, Fernando Rentería, and I were hit by the police.”
Rentería told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, “I was hit by pepper bullets on my abdomen and one of my elbows. It wasn’t very painful but it’s unexpected, so it’s frightening, and since I wasn’t the only one hit and I heard people around me screaming, it was a very tense moment.”
The LVMPD responded to requests for comment by emailing the Tracker two press releases. Neither addressed Zapata or Rentería specifically, or members of the media more broadly, nor did they address the use of particular munitions.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Two journalists with the Las Vegas Review-Journal were hit with crowd-control munitions while covering a protest in Las Vegas, Nevada, on May 31, 2020.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
The journalists, Shea Johnson and Blake Apgar, had recorded a roughly hour-long video following the demonstrations. Aside from some protesters yelling at the police, it was a very peaceful demonstration, Johnson told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. The mood of the protest then became more agitated as dusk to dark.
The journalists were walking with a group of protesters away from members of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department at about 8:45 p.m. when they were hit with pepper balls.
Officers moved the crowd aggressively, Johnson said. They warned demonstrators that failure to disperse would result in a misdemeanor charge. Officers moved the crowd south on Las Vegas Boulevard near Mandalay Bay. They moved the crowd at walking speed and then shot off the projectiles to move people faster, Johnson said.
Johnson described the incident as “jarring” but told the Tracker that he and Apgar were not targeted as journalists.
“We did not have the time to identify ourselves, and instead I think what we experienced was illustrative of what it was like to be an ordinary protester,” said Johnson, Las Vegas City Hall and Clark County reporter for the Review Journal.
Both Johnson and Apgar ended up in an apartment complex parking lot cornered by the police, unable to walk toward their vehicle. They continued to live tweet and eventually they were able to leave the scene, they said.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department did not immediately respond to the Tracker’s request for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Ryland Barton, the statehouse bureau chief for WFPL, was struck with pepper balls while covering protests in Louisville, Kentucky, on May 31, 2020.
The protests were sparked by the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and the March 13 death of Breonna Taylor in Louisville.
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear had deployed the National Guard to the city a day earlier, and Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer instituted a citywide curfew, to begin at 9 p.m., ahead of the May 31 protests, according to NPR affiliate WFPL. It was the first time the National Guard had patrolled the streets in Louisville since 1975.
Just after 7:30 p.m. Barton tweeted that police had surrounded three-fourths of Jefferson Square Park, setting up a perimeter from which officers shot tear gas at protesters. Barton tweeted that there were also flash-bang grenades and pepper balls deployed at the park. The crowd-control devices were deployed from the southwest corner of Liberty and Sixth streets as police moved forward, forcing protesters through the fog, according to WFPL.
In one tweet, Barton said he had been struck with pepper balls and gassed, and he described how police mocked him when he and his public radio colleague Jess Clark put their hands up.
Police just told @jess_m_clark and me not to put our hands up when we walked by, saying it looked "ridiculous" and that we wouldn't be targeted if we weren't doing anything violent. I got hit with pepper balls and tear gassed earlier, definitely wasnt doing anything violent.
— Ryland Barton (@RylandKY) June 1, 2020
Barton “was struck in the leg with at least one pepper ball. We were crossing a street blockaded by a line of police in riot gear and they fired pepper balls at us,” his colleague Clark, education reporter for WFPL, told the U.S. Press Freedom tracker in an email. Barton couldn’t be reached for comment.
“We were alone, not in a group... and I was carrying a boom mic — so it seems unlikely they didn't realize we were press,” Clark said.
Just after 10 p.m., an hour past curfew, Barton tweeted a picture that he said showed officers shooting crowd-control munitions. He also tweeted a video showing officers shooting pepper balls in the direction of the journalists, noting that both times the firing seemed to be without cause:
This group of police at 4th and Broadway. They just shot proper balls at @jess_m_clark and I for crossing the street. Super unclear why. She's carrying a giant boom microphone. pic.twitter.com/3lzdYaF0S6
— Ryland Barton (@RylandKY) June 1, 2020
Over the course of the night, dozens were arrested according to a police spokesperson.
The Louisville Metro Police Department didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
A Deutsche Welle news team was threatened and aimed at with weapons by Minnesota State Patrol troopers while documenting protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, after curfew went into effect on May 31, 2020.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
At 8:08 p.m., eight minutes after curfew — from which members of the media were specifically exempted — DW correspondent Stefan Simons and cameraman Maximilian Förg were standing near a fence running alongside Interstate 35W in Minneapolis. State police officers stood in a line on the highway, where two hours earlier a truck had plowed into a crowd of protesters.
As Simons began his live shot, several members of the Minnesota State Patrol, clad in tan riot gear, bounded up the hillside towards the journalists. “Hey, we’re press, guys, from D.C.,” Simons shouted. “We’re all press here.” Despite this, at least one officer in riot gear pointed his gun at him through the fence.
"Come on guys we have permission to be out here! Stop it!” Simons continued, as the officer continued to train his weapon at him. “Sir, the governor of Minnesota exempts press,” he said, referencing the curfew.
Simons and Förg cut their live shot short, got into their car, and drove away. Video of the encounter aired live on DW, and was later posted on the website.
Simons told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that just prior to the live shot, officers had fired off canisters of tear gas in their direction, followed by several rounds of projectiles. “We all took cover behind my car,” he said. Other members of the media were present in the vicinity, Simons said, but he did not know their names or outlets. When Simons and Förg drove away, the officers fired some sort of projectile at their vehicle, which pinged the door but did not damage it, Simons said.
A day prior, on May 30, police fired projectiles at Simons and his crew and threatened them with arrest. That incident was captured separately by the Tracker.
The attacks garnered the attention of German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, who told reporters at a press conference in Berlin on June 2 he would be reaching out to the U.S. government about the matter. Deutsche Welle is an international English-language news station funded by the German government.
"With regard to the incidents involving Deutsche Welle, of which we have also been made aware, we will contact U.S. authorities to find out more about the circumstances," Maas said. "We remain firmly committed: Journalists must be able to carry out their task, which is independent coverage of events, without endangering their safety."
"Democratic states under the rule of law have to meet the highest standards when it comes to protecting freedom of press," Maas said.
Simons, who has dual citizenship in the U.S. and Germany, characterized the treatment of the media in Minneapolis as “shocking.” “I have not actually ever seen the foreign minister of Germany having to take that kind of stance with an ally,” Simons said. “There is nobody who expects this from the United States.”
A request for comment emailed to the Minnesota State Patrol was not immediately returned.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Radio reporter Philippe Leblanc was pushed with a baton by law enforcement officers while covering protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, shortly after curfew went into effect on May 31, 2020.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
Leblanc, a radio correspondent for Radio-Canada and television correspondent for French CBC, was standing behind the Minneapolis Police Department’s Fifth Precinct in a group of other Canadian journalists and their security details. Several of the reporters had flak jackets labeled “PRESS” and most were holding cameras and or other equipment, Leblanc told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
Several Metro Transit buses with “not in service” lights on pulled up alongside the group and Minnesota State Patrol troopers disembarked, weapons drawn, and immediately began shouting at the assembled journalists to “Get back!” and “Move!” according to a video posted by Leblanc on Twitter.
Les policiers débarquent et bousculent les journalistes sur place... pic.twitter.com/8hxmyWjGEP
— Philippe Leblanc (@phil_leblancSRC) May 31, 2020
The journalists complied, moving back, but the officers wielding batons kept coming toward them, Leblanc told the Tracker. “They started shoving us out of the way even though we had clearly retreated,” Leblanc said. “I was pushed three or four times on the chest.”
Leblanc, who was holding a microphone and his press pass in one hand and his iPhone in the other, said it was clear they were members of the media, but the situation unfolded so quickly he said he did not even have the chance to yell that he was press, though others in the group did.
Leblanc said he was not injured and that he did not file a complaint with state police. “Had there been an injury it would have been dealt with differently,” he said.
A request for comment emailed to the Minnesota State Patrol was not immediately returned.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
CBS journalist Tim Horstman and his news crew were shot at with crowd-control munitions by law enforcement while documenting protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, after curfew went into effect on May 31, 2020.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
Shortly after the 8 p.m. curfew, Minnesota State Patrol officers aimed crowd-control weapons at a Deutsche Welle news crew near a fence running alongside Interstate 35W in Minneapolis. The crew cut their live shot short, got into their car, and drove away as the officers opened fire at the vehicle.
Horstman, a camera technician for CBS News, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was part of a news crew filming the protest from a nearby parking garage. He said the news crew was above the DW journalists when they were confronted by officers.
“We could hear them yelling that they were press,” Horstman said in a message on Twitter. “It was at that same time they [the law enforcement officers] were shooting at us in the garage above. We would peek over the ledge and they would shoot.”
When asked if the news crew was specifically targeted, Horstman said the members of the crew were the only ones on that level of the garage when officers opened fire with 40mm rubber bullet rounds. He also shared images of the news crew appearing to crouch behind the external walks and columns of the garage and of one of the rubber rounds.
According to Horstman, none of the CBS journalists were struck by the munitions.
State police had already cleared protesters off the highway when they turned their attention to the press, DW's Simons said.
A request for comment emailed to the Minnesota State Patrol was not immediately returned.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Journalists with CBS News take shelter in a parking garage in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 31, 2020, while covering demonstrations following the death of George Floyd.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest, shot / shot at",,,,, Broadcast photojournalist hit with pepper balls and tear gas during Tulsa protest,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/broadcast-photojournalist-hit-with-pepper-balls-and-tear-gas-during-tulsa-protest/,2021-10-18 20:53:43.269300+00:00,2022-03-10 17:20:42.855777+00:00,2022-03-10 17:20:42.794567+00:00,,Assault,,,,Jacob Aranda (KTUL ABC 8),,2020-05-31,False,Tulsa,Oklahoma (OK),36.15398,-95.99277,"Two journalists for KTUL, Tulsa, Oklahoma’s ABC affiliate station, were hit with pepper balls fired by police while covering protests against police violence on the night of May 31, 2020, according to social media and a news report.
The Tulsa protests were part of national demonstrations that followed the death of George Floyd, a Black man, at the hands of a white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. May 31 was also the 99th anniversary of what’s known as the Tulsa race massacre, when a racist white mob killed hundreds of Black residents in the then-thriving Black business community.
Photojournalist Jacob Aranda and reporter Ethan Hutchins were covering a standoff between police and protesters outside a gas station at the intersection of East 36th Street and South Peoria Avenue at around 10 p.m. Footage that streamed live on the station’s Facebook page shows people milling about near the gas station, with flashing police lights down the road in the distance.
“So something is happening here, we’re not exactly sure,” a female voice, presumably from the KTUL studio, says. “We do have three crews that are there.”
As popping noises erupt, some projectiles can be seen flying through the air, leaving smoke trails. “We see something beginning,” she says.
“Hey, guys, A.J, pull back,” said Hutchins on the broadcast. “Kim, oh, Kim, I just got shot, excuse me, with a pepper ball,” a likely reference to Kim Jackson, the weekend anchor at KTUL who had been speaking.
“Police officers have thrown a flash-bang, they have thrown a flash-bang, and my photographer and I, Jacob and I, have gotten hit with pepper balls,” said Hutchins, who declined to comment for this article. “The demonstrators have walked off now. We’ll toss it back to you real quick.”
“We are seeing a lot of commotion right now and a lot of confusion,” Jackson says.
A portion of the same broadcast later posted on the station’s Twitter account:
⚠️VIEWER WARNING: This was a live, uncensored event⚠️ Tulsa police fired pepper balls and tear gas into a crowd of protesters overnight at 36th and Peoria. Channel 8's @TylerButlerKTUL and @ehutchinsnews were live on air when it happened. pic.twitter.com/2r9zTbSiXS
— NewsChannel 8 | KTUL (@KTULNews) June 1, 2020
The footage changes to another reporter on the ground, Tyler Butler, in a mask, who says, “I see Ethan, he’s OK. They’re just catching their breath. As you can see, all that smoke there.”
“We saw a canister of tear gas that one of the protesters kicked backwards,” he said.
When contacted about this incident, Danny Bean of the Tulsa Police Department communications unit, described it as “a peaceful protest that escalated into an unlawful assembly” and that journalists were not targeted by police.
The police response was “to agitators in certain crowds throwing objects at police officers and private property being vandalized. When this begins to occur officers will take action to disperse the crowd, including the use of pepper balls in some cases,” Bean wrote in an email. “At no point was Ethan, or any other member of the media, targeted by TPD. Ethan and his cameraman were inside of the crowd that was being dispersed where TPD introduced pepper balls.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Freelance photojournalist Matthew Rodier was struck with a baton while documenting protests in Washington, D.C., on May 31, 2020, the third evening of widespread demonstrations in the nation’s capital after the death of George Floyd.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
Rodier, who frequently contributes to the Sipa USA agency, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker via email that at about 10:30 p.m. he’d found himself in the path of a line of advancing officers on H Street. “When they got really close I put my hands in the air and shouted ‘I’m a journalist’ multiple times,” Rodier recounted. He said an officer in front of him “spun me around and hit me with a baton in my posterior hard enough to drop me to the ground.” Rodier said he yelled, “I’m a journalist,” again and that the officer responded, “I don’t care. Get out of here.” A protester helped Rodier up.
Rodier was unclear what law enforcement agency the officers belonged to. Later that evening, an individual assaulted Rodier and broke his jaw. The Tracker captured that incident here.
D.C. is notable for the large number of different police forces that operate within its borders. Requests for comment from the Metropolitan Police Department and the U.S. Park Police were not returned.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Freelance videographer Roddy Hafiz was shot at with crowd-control munitions during a chaos-filled night of protests in Washington, D.C., on May 31, 2020, the third evening of widespread demonstrations in the nation’s capital after the death of George Floyd.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
Hafiz told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that shortly after 6 p.m. he had begun to document protesters next to Lafayette Square, near the White House. In a clip reviewed by the Tracker, camo-clad military police can be seen firing chemical agents into the crowd, which was then forced to retreat by a row of advancing U.S. Park Police officers mounted on horseback. Hafiz told the Tracker that as the crowd headed toward Constitution Avenue, officers fired one projectile at his feet and another at eye level, so close to his head that he could feel a rush of air pass him. He said that he identified himself to them as a journalist.
“I’m, like, ‘Hello, I’m media. You can see me holding a camera. Don’t point your weapons at me,’” Hafiz told the Tracker. “‘If you’re gonna shoot tear gas, obviously shoot it over me. Use whatever protocols you guys have been taught.’ I don’t think it’s to shoot at journalists point-blank, eye level.”
D.C. is notable for the large number of different police forces that operate within its borders. Requests for comment from the Metropolitan Police Department and the U.S. Park Police were not returned.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Voice of America journalist Jason Patinkin was shot at with crowd-control munitions while covering a chaos-filled night of protests in Washington, D.C., on May 31, 2020, the third evening of widespread demonstrations in the nation’s capital after the death of George Floyd.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
Patinkin said in an article published by VOA on June 4 that he’d been leaving protests near Lafayette Square around 11 p.m. with another news crew when he heard a loud bang and saw a flash-bang device land near their feet. He then said he saw an officer raise a weapon and fire in their direction. In footage of the incident posted by VOA, the projectile appears to ricochet off the ground. Patinkin told his employer that he felt something hit his flak jacket, near his left shoulder.
Patinkin told VOA that his press credentials were displayed and that it was unclear which agency the officers were with.
“I’ve covered lots of places where there’s been conflict and civil unrest. I’ve seen a lot of disproportionate response and I think that a lot of what the police around the White House have been doing certainly qualifies as both disproportionate and indiscriminate,” Patinkin told VOA in a later article.
VOA did not respond to further requests for comment on this incident as of press time.
D.C. is notable for the large number of different police forces that operate within its borders. Requests for comment from the Metropolitan Police Department and the U.S. Park Police were not returned.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Police brandished batons and forcibly moved three journalists for Voice of America’s Turkish service — after they identified themselves as members of the press — while they covered protests against police violence in Washington, D.C., on May 31, 2020, according to a VOA report.
Camera operator Tezcan Taskiran and reporters Mehtap Yilmaz and Uzeyir Yanar were reporting that Sunday night on demonstrations near St. John’s Episcopal Church in Lafayette Square, near the White House.
Yilmaz told VOA that at about 10:30 p.m., police officers at the scene raised batons and advanced on her, her colleagues and others standing in the area and ordered them to leave, despite the fact that Yilmaz’s colleagues were carrying video cameras and that the team identified themselves as journalists.
“There was a harsh intervention of the police against journalists during the protests. Although we showed our press cards, we were drastically removed from the protests in front of the White House,” Yilmaz told VOA.
A spokesperson for VOA declined to comment to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker on the incident. The agency also declined to make Taskiran, Yanar or Yilmaz available for interviews.
Yilmaz was one of several VOA journalists, some of whom have covered conflicts around the globe, who told the news service they were surprised by the violence they encountered at the hands of both police and demonstrators taking part in this year’s protests.
It isn’t clear from Yilmaz’s published account of the May 31 incident which law enforcement agency approached the news crew.
The same day that VOA journalists were forced from the area around St. John’s Church, fire was set to a nursery room in the basement of the church’s parish house. Firefighters extinguished the blaze, which didn’t spread to other parts of the building.
On June 1, St. John’s became the backdrop for a controversial photo op for President Donald Trump. National Guard troops used tear gas and pepper balls to clear protesters from the area before Trump posed for cameras while holding up a Bible.
Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Movement have been held across the country after a viral video showed a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Police brandished batons and forcibly moved three journalists for Voice of America’s Turkish service — after they identified themselves as members of the press — while they covered protests against police violence in Washington, D.C., on May 31, 2020, according to a VOA report.
Reporters Uzeyir Yanar and Mehtap Yilmaz and camera operator Tezcan Taskiran were reporting that Sunday night on demonstrations near St. John’s Episcopal Church in Lafayette Square, near the White House.
Yilmaz told VOA that at about 10:30 p.m., police officers at the scene raised batons and advanced on her, her colleagues and others standing in the area and ordered them to leave, despite the fact that Yilmaz’s colleagues were carrying video cameras and that the team identified themselves as journalists.
“There was a harsh intervention of the police against journalists during the protests. Although we showed our press cards, we were drastically removed from the protests in front of the White House,” Yilmaz told VOA.
A spokesperson for VOA declined to comment to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker on the incident. The agency also declined to make Yanar, Yilmaz or Taskiran available for interviews.
Yilmaz was one of several VOA journalists, some of whom have covered conflicts around the globe, who told the news service they were surprised by the violence they encountered at the hands of both police and demonstrators taking part in this year’s protests.
It isn’t clear from Yilmaz’s published account of the May 31 incident which law enforcement agency approached the news crew.
The same day that VOA journalists were forced from the area around St. John’s Church, fire was set to a nursery room in the basement of the church’s parish house. Firefighters extinguished the blaze, which didn’t spread to other parts of the building.
On June 1, St. John’s became the backdrop for a controversial photo op for President Donald Trump. National Guard troops used tear gas and pepper balls to clear protesters from the area before Trump posed for cameras while holding up a Bible.
Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Movement have been held across the country after a viral video showed a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
CBS News sound engineer John Marschitz and his news crew were shot at with crowd-control munitions by law enforcement while documenting protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, after curfew went into effect on May 31, 2020.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
Protesters were marching that day on the Interstate 35W Bridge in downtown Minneapolis, according to local CBS affiliate WCCO. Marschitz told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he noticed the protesters from the window of the Courtyard hotel where they were staying, and he and his team quickly gathered their equipment to film from the hotel’s parking garage. The team consisted of Marschitz, camera technician Tim Horstman, field director Michael Hopkins and logistics manager Kevin Ward. See the Tracker’s documentation of these incidents here.
“That’s where we started watching everything happen and there were press down below us yelling, ‘Press! Press!’ and [law enforcement] still kept firing at them,” Marschitz said, referring to members of a Deutsche Welle news crew who were shot at as they identified themselves as press, cut their live shot short and drove away. “We were up in the garage and when we went over to the little brick wall they would shoot up at us, even though we had the camera propped up over, if we looked over they would shoot at us.”
When asked if the CBS News crew was specifically targeted, Marschitz said they were the only ones on that level of the garage when officers opened fire with rubber bullets and marker rounds.
Both Marschitz and Horstman said none of the CBS journalists were struck by the munitions.
The Minnesota State Patrol did not respond to a request for comment.
Marschitz was also struck in the arm with a rubber bullet while documenting protests the night before.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Journalists with CBS News take shelter in a parking garage in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 31, 2020, while covering demonstrations following the death of George Floyd.
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The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
Protesters were marching that day on the Interstate 35W Bridge in downtown Minneapolis, according to local CBS affiliate WCCO. Sound engineer John Marschitz told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he noticed the protesters from the window of the Courtyard hotel where they were staying, and he and his team quickly gathered their equipment to film from the hotel’s parking garage. The team consisted of Ward, Marschitz, camera technician Tim Horstman and field director Michael Hopkins. See the Tracker’s documentation of these incidents here.
“That’s where we started watching everything happen and there were press down below us yelling, ‘Press! Press!’ and [law enforcement] still kept firing at them,” Marschitz said, referring to members of a Deutsche Welle news crew who were shot at as they identified themselves as press, cut their live shot short and drove away. “We were up in the garage and when we went over to the little brick wall they would shoot up at us, even though we had the camera propped up over, if we looked over they would shoot at us.”
When asked if the CBS News crew was specifically targeted, Marschitz said they were the only ones on that level of the garage when officers opened fire with rubber bullets and marker rounds.
Both Marschitz and Horstman said none of the CBS journalists were struck by the munitions.
Neither Ward nor the Minnesota State Patrol responded to requests for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
CBS News field director Michael Hopkins and his news crew were shot at with crowd-control munitions by law enforcement while documenting protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, after curfew went into effect on May 31, 2020.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
Protesters were marching that day on the Interstate 35W Bridge in downtown Minneapolis, according to local CBS affiliate WCCO. Sound engineer John Marschitz told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he noticed the protesters from the window of the Courtyard hotel where they were staying, and he and his team quickly gathered their equipment to film from the hotel’s parking garage. The team consisted of Hopkins, Marschitz, camera technician Tim Horstman and logistics manager Kevin Ward. See the Tracker’s documentation of these incidents here.
“That’s where we started watching everything happen and there were press down below us yelling, ‘Press! Press!’ and [law enforcement] still kept firing at them,” Marschitz said, referring to members of a Deutsche Welle news crew who were shot at as they identified themselves as press, cut their live shot short and drove away. “We were up in the garage and when we went over to the little brick wall they would shoot up at us, even though we had the camera propped up over, if we looked over they would shoot at us.”
When asked if the CBS News crew was specifically targeted, Marschitz said they were the only ones on that level of the garage when officers opened fire with rubber bullets and marker rounds.
Both Marschitz and Horstman said none of the CBS journalists were struck by the munitions.
Neither Hopkins nor the Minnesota State Patrol responded to requests for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Cory Elia, an editor at Village Portland and host of a KBOO podcast, was repeatedly shoved by police while covering protests in Portland, Oregon, on May 31, 2020, according to his lawsuit against the city and Mayor Ted Wheeler, among others.
Elia was covering one of the many protests that broke out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd, a Black man, by a white police officer in Minneapolis.
In Portland, protests over the death of Floyd began on May 29, prompting Wheeler to declare an 8 p.m. curfew that lasted three days.
On the night of May 31, protesters gathered near the Multnomah County Justice Center and marched toward Pioneer Courthouse despite the curfew, according to the Oregonian. Shortly after the 8 p.m. curfew took effect, the Portland police declared the protest an unlawful assembly and used tear gas and other crowd-control munitions to disperse the crowd.
Elia and his colleague Lesley McLam filed a civil lawsuit against the city, the state, and multiple law enforcement officers on July 8, citing multiple press freedom violations against the journalists. Elia declined to comment, citing an upcoming deposition.
According to the complaint, Elia and a journalist with weekly alternative newspaper Street Roots were reporting together downtown and were attempting to leave the area when a demonstrator ran past them. Immediately after, a flash-bang grenade exploded within feet of where the pair of journalists were standing and, while temporarily blinded and disoriented, five officers surrounded them.
“[The officers] threatened to arrest them if they did not move ‘NOW!’” the complaint said. “They held out their press passes and yelled ‘PRESS! PRESS!’ and reminded the police officers that press were exempt from the curfew order.”
According to the complaint, the officers deliberately pushed both journalists after they identified themselves, and caused Elia to stumble into his bike, injuring his ankle.
After the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon filed a class-action lawsuit at the end of June, the city agreed to a preliminary injunction to not to arrest or harm any journalists or legal observers of the protests or impede their work.
The Portland Police Bureau has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing ongoing litigation.
A student journalist at the University of Maryland was chased by police and maced three times while covering protests in Columbus, Ohio, in the early hours of May 30, 2020.
Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 have spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Student journalist Julia Lerner told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that at about 1 a.m. she was making her way toward her car after documenting protests near the courthouse in Columbus. Three or four people were on the sidewalk near her, but most protesters had dispersed, at least from that area.
Lerner told the Tracker that she had stopped on the sidewalk to put her camera away when she noticed a line of police officers up the block, including two on bicycles. The officers began shouting at those still present to leave the area.
“[The officers] started screaming. The woman next to me took off running in the other direction and I put my hands up — with my camera in my hand — and yelled, “I’m a journalist, I’m just trying to go to my car,” Lerner said.
She said that one of the bicycle officers responded, “It’s too fucking late to leave.”
The officer then came at her, Lerner said, and pepper sprayed her, primarily hitting her arms and camera as she held her hands in front of her face.
Lerner said the officer pepper sprayed her at least two more times as she attempted to run away, only letting up once Lerner rounded another street corner into an alleyway. She told the Tracker she hid in the alley for approximately 20 minutes before finally making her way to her car.
Lerner said that her camera appears to still be in working order.
“As journalists, we have the responsibility to expose violence and corruption within our systems. We have the responsibility to stand steadfast when threatened,” Lerner tweeted after the incident. “We can’t let cops chase us away.”
The Columbus Police Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting damage of equipment and multiple journalists arrested or struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas while covering related protests across the country. Find all of these cases here.
A Columbus, Ohio, police officer on a bike chased student journalist Julia Lerner and pepper sprayed her multiple times after she identified herself as press.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, chemical irritant, protest, student journalism",,,,, "KDKA-TV photojournalist attacked by protesters in Pittsburgh, camera smashed",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/kdka-tv-photojournalist-attacked-protesters-pittsburgh-camera-smashed/,2020-06-02 01:30:04.749144+00:00,2020-06-02 01:30:04.749144+00:00,2020-06-02 01:30:04.638572+00:00,,"Assault, Equipment Damage",,,camera: count of 1,Ian Smith (KDKA-TV),,2020-05-30,False,Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania (PA),40.44062,-79.99589,"Ian Smith, a photojournalist for CBS News affiliate KDKA-TV, was attacked by protesters while covering unrest in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on May 30, 2020.
Protests in Pittsburgh occurred as demonstrations that started in Minnesota on May 26 spread across the country. The protests were sparked by video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest. Floyd was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Smith, who has worked for KDKA-TV for 15 years, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was following groups of protesters near the PPG Paints Arena, a hockey arena, after an organized, peaceful demonstration ended.
He said he was near a police car that had been set on fire when multiple protesters yelled at him that he wasn’t allowed to film. As he started to move away to try to film from a different spot, he said he felt multiple people pull on his camera. After he lost his balance and fell to the ground, a group of people — he estimated between four and six — began punching and kicking him, while others were nearby. He said he heard them chant, “Kill him, kill him.”
Smith said his attackers took his camera and “smashed it into 1,000 pieces.”
Another group of protesters intervened, forming a wall around Smith to protect him, then helping him to outside the nearby arena where there was a medic, he said. Those demonstrators told him the attackers were not a part of their group. Smith said he found out later he was helped to a safer area by the CEO of the Pittsburgh Penguins, confirmed by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Smith was taken by ambulance to a hospital, evaluated and later released. He said he was struck several times in the head and sustained bruises and scrapes on his face, arms and legs.
I’m was attacked by protestors downtown by the arena. They stomped and kicked me. I’m bruised and bloody but alive. My camera was destroyed. Another group of protesters pulled me out and saved my life. Thank you! @KDKA pic.twitter.com/clyANKodth
— Ian Smith (@ismithKDKA) May 30, 2020
KDKA-TV reporter Paul Martino, who was covering the protests with Smith, wrote in a Facebook post that demonstrators threatened him as he tried to approach Smith during the attack. He was hospitalized after the incident with severe chest pains.
A spokesperson for the Pittsburgh Police Department said police were aware of the incident, and said the department does not discuss ongoing investigations.
Smith said he was grateful to the people who had stepped in to protect him.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting damage of equipment and multiple journalists arrested or struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas while covering related protests across the country. Find all of these cases here.
Photojournalist Ian Smith shows some of his wounds on Twitter after being attacked by protesters in Pittsburgh on May 30.
,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, "WCCO photojournalist shot with rubber bullet, arrested in Minneapolis",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/wcco-photojournalist-shot-rubber-bullet-arrested-minneapolis/,2020-06-02 01:48:31.653149+00:00,2022-03-23 22:49:14.971704+00:00,2022-03-23 22:49:14.893724+00:00,"(2020-07-22 13:20:00+00:00) City Attorney drops unlawful assembly, curfew charges from Minneapolis protests","Arrest/Criminal Charge, Assault",,,,Tom Aviles (WCCO-TV),,2020-05-30,False,Minneapolis,Minnesota (MN),44.97997,-93.26384,"WCCO photojournalist Tom Aviles was shot with a projectile and later arrested while covering the fifth night of protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 30, 2020.
Multiple days of protests in Minneapolis and across the nation were sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital. Thousands gathered around the convenience store where Floyd had been detained and at the police department’s Third Precinct building in the days that followed.
At approximately 8:45 p.m., Aviles was reporting at the intersection of Nicollet and E. Franklin avenues with WCCO producer Joan Gilbertson. In a video captured by Aviles, he is positioned to the side of their news vehicle when a line of Minnesota State Patrol troopers advanced down the street firing crowd control ammunition.
In the video, a shot is heard firing just before Aviles shouts in pain and the camera shakes. Aviles then moves off the street and into a nearby alley way and parking lot.
As Aviles repositions to film the advancing troopers, one officer breaks out from the line and approaches him, shouting “Get moving! Get gone! Go!”
Aviles can be heard identifying himself as a WCCO photojournalist and asks the trooper where he should move. He also identifies the vehicle that has moved down the road as belonging to the station.
“OK, OK, OK!” Aviles says as two additional officers make their way toward him. He begins to turn around and walk away from the officers and into the parking lot
“Joan! Joan! Get over here!” Aviles shouts to producer Gilbertson, who was presumably still in the car.
An officer then approaches Aviles from behind and tells him he’s under arrest, forcing him to the ground. Aviles complies and multiple times assures the officer that he’s not fighting.
Gilbertson told WCCO that a patrolman told her, “You’ve been warned, or the same thing will happen to you.”
She said she put her hands up and said, “Don’t shoot me, don’t shoot me.”
Aviles was released approximately two hours later, WCCO reported.
Photojournalist Tom is free, after being arrested and shot with a rubber bullet. This true blue, AMAZING journalist even managed to share a smile. #wcco pic.twitter.com/XrbnCKo3tb
— Susan-Elizabeth (@susanelizabethL) May 31, 2020
WCCO could not immediately be reached for comment.
At a news conference late that evening, Minnesota Commissioner of Corrections Paul Schnell said Aviles’ arrest was “regrettable,” CBS News reported. He added that it is difficult to identify journalists amidst the challenges of crowds, smoke devices and police tactics.
“We value and know the importance [of journalists],” Schnell said.
The Minnesota State Patrol was not immediately available for comment.
Multiple other reporters were arrested in Minneapolis that day, and a three-man CNN news crew was arrested by state troopers the day before, on May 29.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting damage of equipment and multiple journalists arrested or struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas while covering related protests across the country. Find all of these cases here.
An investigative reporter for 9News KUSA covering protests outside the state capitol in Denver, Colorado, was hit by a non-lethal round just after completing a live shot on the 10 p.m. news on May 30, 2020.
Jeremy Jojola, who works for Denver’s NBC affiliate, told the Committee to Protect Journalists he was wearing a 9News hat and standing next to his photographer down the hill from the state capitol after completing his live stand up when the incident occurred.
Jojola said he was looking down at his phone when he felt a “hard impact” on his back, hitting the backpack he was wearing. Jojola audibly groaned after being hit, which can be heard in a video of the incident he posted on YouTube. He then shouted, “I'm media! We're press! We're press! We're press! We're press! Don't shoot at us!”
“I knew what it was immediately, it was a projectile and it came from the capitol direction, it came from the hill,” he recounted. “I didn’t hear any warning.”
He then walked with photographer Austyn Knox up the hill towards the capitol, shouting “media coming through” and came upon a group of about 15 members of Colorado State Patrol, responsible for policing the state capitol, Jojola told CPJ. He asked to speak to a supervisor, and was able to speak with an officer he had previously interviewed. The officer, according to Jojola, said, “I made the call to fire upon you guys, you didn’t look like media.”
Jojola said he accepted him at his word and left, but on his way down, marveled at how well-lit the area he had been standing was. “I feel that they should have known we were press. We were [just] live on TV,” Jojola told CPJ.
Jojola tweeted out a photo of an orange, nonlethal round that he found in the area he was standing when he was hit.
I went back to where I was hit and found this. This may or may not be the round that hit me. But it’s right where I was standing. I’m clearly with a photographer and wearing a 9NEWS hat. pic.twitter.com/42BC8jrxLz
— Jeremy Jojola (@jeremyjojola) May 31, 2020
Sergeant Blake White, a public affairs officer for the Colorado State Patrol, said in an email to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the incident occurred while officers were trying to clear the area of protestors.
“There was a male, who was later identified as a member of the media, not responding to commands to clear the area,” he wrote in an email. “The male appeared to be rummaging through things, facing away, and wearing a backpack. There were no clear indications the male was a member of the media. A second male was next to him as well with no press markings either. One foam round was fired to gain compliance and struck the first male in the backpack.”
“[The supervisor] explained to the reporter there was no indication he was with the media and that the camera was not visible and was apologetic,” White wrote.
“We do not and will not target members of the media for capturing what is going on in the state and around the country, and we respect and believe in the freedom of the press,” White concluded.
Jojola told the Tracker via text that he did not hear any warning from the officers, and the shot was fired a minute and 30 seconds after he went off the air.
“These officers, if they were observant, would have seen me and a photographer. I was also standing in a lighted area.” He said the supervisor offered him an explanation, but did not apologize. He added that he is filing a records request for the Colorado State Patrol’s “less than lethal deployment policy.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred total incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd while in police custody. Find all of these cases here.
Jeremy Jojola posted on Twitter that he was fired upon with an object like this. "I was clearly with a photographer just after I went live with a large camera and light."
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest, shot / shot at",,,,, "Fox News photojournalist, crew chased from park while documenting DC protests",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/fox-news-crew-chased-park-while-documenting-dc-protests/,2020-06-02 12:08:39.044484+00:00,2021-10-19 20:11:59.403170+00:00,2021-10-19 20:11:59.339017+00:00,,"Assault, Equipment Damage",,,"camera: count of 1, external microphone: count of 1",Christian Galdabini (Fox News),,2020-05-30,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"Fox News photojournalist Christian Galdabini and his news crew were chased out of Washington, D.C.’s Lafayette Park by a mob on May 30, 2020.
Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 have spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Fox correspondent Leland Vittert told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he arrived with Galdabini and two Fox security officers to report on the protests near the White House at about 8:30 p.m. Galdabini did not respond to an email requesting comment.
The protest was “entirely peaceful” during the early evening, Vittert said, but grew more restless later into the night.
Around midnight, one protester wearing a black and white bandana kept approaching them, questioning which outlet they worked for and why they were there. An hour later, Vittert said he noticed that the protester had stopped recording them and was looking at his phone.
As photojournalist Galdabini told Fox, “Somehow he figured out that we were Fox News and decided that that should be announced.”
Vittert told the Tracker that shortly after, “A crowd of about 50 people surrounded us, a number of them stopped throwing things at the Secret Service [officers] and started beating on us.”
In footage captured by The Daily Caller, Vittert, Galdabini and their security officers can be seen making their way out of the park while numerous voices call out curses and shout “Fuck Fox News!”
Vittert told the Tracker that while they attempted to leave, individuals threw objects at them, grabbed their microphone and used it as a club against them. One of their security officers was punched in the face, and Vittert received more than one blow to his stomach.
The camera Galdabini was carrying was also broken when one of the individuals attempted to grab it. The crew eventually found refuge near a police cruiser outside the park, Vittert said.
“We were all pretty roughed up,” he said.
Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott denounced the assault in a statement published by the outlet.
“We strongly condemn these actions against FOX News Media reporting teams as well as all other reporters from any media outlets who are simply trying to do their jobs and report the news during an extraordinary time in our country’s history,” Scott said.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
On May 30, U.S. Secret Service uniformed division officers face demonstrators during a rally near the White House in Washington, D.C. A Fox News crew was assaulted, its equipment damaged.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, Freelance journalist struck with baton while covering LA protests,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/multiple-journalists-covering-protests-los-angeles-assaulted/,2020-06-02 12:49:03.502275+00:00,2021-09-29 17:31:28.802281+00:00,2021-09-29 17:31:28.752332+00:00,,Assault,,,,Lexis-Olivier Ray (Freelance),,2020-05-30,False,Los Angeles,California (CA),34.05223,-118.24368,"Freelance multimedia journalist Lexis-Olivier Ray was struck in the stomach with a baton while covering protests in Los Angeles, California, on May 30, 2020.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
Ray told the Committee to Protect Journalists that he was standing at the intersection of Fairfax Avenue and Third Street documenting the confrontation between protesters and Los Angeles Police Department officers on Saturday afternoon when an officer hit him. CPJ is a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
“Unprovoked and kind of out of nowhere, the police officer took the baton and jabbed it into my stomach, which sent me flying back a couple feet,” Ray said.
He posted a video of the encounter to his Twitter feed.
Here's a short clip of the @LAPDHQ officer jabbing me in the stomach with a baton, sending me flying back into a crowd of people. https://t.co/R3qUiBgZ5L pic.twitter.com/IIi9Yf9gOd
— Lexis-Olivier Ray (@ShotOn35mm) May 31, 2020
Ray said that prior to the attack he had identified himself as a journalist.
“I went out of my way to identify myself as a member of the press and kind of separate myself from protesters,” he said.
Ray, who had two cameras around his neck, told CPJ he was not wearing a press pass at the time, but doubted that would have helped under the circumstances. The blow “came out of nowhere. It wasn’t a situation where I was being asked to show credentials or anything.”
The pain from the injury grew throughout the day but had dissipated by the next morning, he said.
LAPD did not respond to an email requesting comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Lexis-Olivier Ray recorded this footage as he was hit in the stomach by a Los Angeles Police Department officer wielding a baton on Saturday, May 30.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, European Pressphoto Agency photojournalist arrested during Minneapolis protests,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/european-pressphoto-agency-photojournalist-arrested-during-minneapolis-protests/,2020-06-03 03:16:48.645734+00:00,2022-05-26 20:02:19.587475+00:00,2022-05-26 20:02:19.522086+00:00,"(2020-07-30 00:00:00+00:00) Freelance photojournalist joins ACLU siot following arrest while covering Minneapolis protest, (2022-02-08 12:03:00+00:00) Journalists reach settlement agreement with Minnesota State Patrol, rest of suit ongoing, (2020-07-22 11:37:00+00:00) Charges dropped against European Pressphoto Agency photojournalist arrested during Minneapolis protests","Arrest/Criminal Charge, Assault",,,,Tannen Maury (European Pressphoto Agency),,2020-05-30,False,Minneapolis,Minnesota (MN),44.97997,-93.26384,"A European Pressphoto Agency photojournalist was assaulted and later arrested alongside two other journalists while covering protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 30, 2020.
Multiple days of protests in Minneapolis and across the nation were sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents all arrests separately. Find arrests of journalists covering protests related to the death of George Floyd here.
Tannen Maury told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was documenting a peaceful protest when Minnesota State Patrol troopers began to enforce the 8 p.m. curfew, warning all those still present to disperse.
“Five minutes later, they started marching up the street, launching tear gas and I guess rubber bullets, and everything else they have, and I got hit in the back with a projectile,” Maury said.
He believes he was struck with a tear gas canister judging from the large, white residue mark on his shirt and bulletproof vest. Because of his protective gear, Maury said, he was uninjured and able to continue working.
At just after 9 p.m, Maury was walking with freelance photojournalists Stephen Maturen and Craig Lassig on Nicollet Avenue toward 28th Street where a “parade” of police cruisers was driving, according to Maturen.
Maturen told the Tracker that a police cruiser had stopped abruptly on their block and began shooting less-lethal rounds at the handful of people around them.
The three photojournalists identified themselves as members of the media, and were initially told to keep moving.
A moment later, Maturen said, someone made the call to arrest the journalists.
Sheriff’s deputies ordered all three to get on the ground face down with their hands out, and they complied.
Maury said they explained that they were journalists and exempt from the curfew. “They were gentle, they weren’t rough with us at all,” he said.
The photojournalists were taken to the Hennepin County Public Safety Facility in downtown Minneapolis and cited with breaking the city’s curfew order, a misdemeanor which is punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 or up to 90 days in jail. The curfew order specifically exempted members of the news media, however. They were in police custody for approximately two hours.
Maury confirmed that all of their belongings were returned to them upon their release.
Neither the Minneapolis State Patrol nor the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Department could immediately be reached for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting damage of equipment and multiple journalists arrested or struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas while covering related protests across the country. Find all of these cases here.
Freelance photojournalist Craig Lassig was arrested alongside two other journalists while covering protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 30, 2020.
Multiple days of protests in Minneapolis and across the nation were sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents all arrests separately. Find arrests of journalists covering protests related to the death of George Floyd here.
At just after 9 p.m., Lassig was walking with photojournalists Stephen Maturen and Tannen Maury on Nicollet Avenue toward 28th Street where a “parade” of police cruisers was driving, according to Maturen.
Maturen told the Tracker that a police cruiser had stopped abruptly on their block and began shooting less-lethal rounds at the handful of people around them.
The three photojournalists identified themselves as members of the media, and were initially told to keep moving.
A moment later, Maturen said, someone made the call to arrest the journalists.
Lassig told the Tracker that the arrest was uneventful.
“The cop that handled me was professional and was careful with my gear,” Lassig said.
Aside from the fact that there was no reason to detain the three of them, he said, they were treated well and only in police custody for approximately two hours.
The journalists were taken to the Hennepin County Public Safety Facility in downtown Minneapolis and cited with breaking the city’s curfew order, a misdemeanor which is punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 or up to 90 days in jail.The curfew order specifically exempted members of the news media, however.
Maturen told the Tracker that all of their belongings were returned to them upon their release.
Neither the Minneapolis State Patrol nor the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Department could immediately be reached for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting damage of equipment and multiple journalists arrested or struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas while covering related protests across the country. Find all of these cases here.
Freelance photojournalist Stephen Maturen was arrested alongside two other journalists while covering protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 30, 2020.
Multiple days of protests in Minneapolis and across the nation were sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents all arrests separately. Find arrests of journalists covering protests related to the death of George Floyd here.
Maturen told the Tracker that he had met up with fellow photojournalists at around 9 p.m. Approximately 10-15 minutes later, they were walking north on Nicollet Avenue toward 28th Street when they saw a “parade” of police cruisers driving to where the majority of protesters had scattered.
“[A police cruiser] stopped abruptly and a number of members of the Sheriff’s Department poured out shooting either markers or gas canisters at the handful of people on that block,” Maturen said.
Maturen — along with European Pressphoto Agency photojournalist Tannen Maurey and freelance photojournalist Craig Lassig — identified themselves as members of the media, and were initially told to keep moving.
“There was a moment where it seemed as though we would just be pushed out of that block, but then someone decided to call for us to be arrested,” Maturen said.
The photojournalists were all ordered to get on the ground face down with their hands out.
Maturen said that he was not injured in the course of the arrest and that things “were relatively smooth, all things considered.” He added, however, that when his hands were zip-tied he was still wearing his backpack, and officers cut its straps instead of redoing the ties.
Maturen, Lassig and Maurey were taken to the Hennepin County Public Safety Facility in downtown Minneapolis and cited with breaking the city’s curfew order, a misdemeanor which is punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 or up to 90 days in jail. The curfew order specifically exempted members of the news media, however.
They were in police custody for approximately two hours, and Maturen said that his belongings — including his damaged backpack and camera — were returned to him upon his release.
Neither the Minneapolis State Patrol nor the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Department could immediately be reached for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting damage of equipment and multiple journalists arrested or struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas while covering related protests across the country. Find all of these cases here.
Christopher Mathias, a senior reporter with HuffPost, was arrested by police while covering anti-racism protests in Brooklyn, New York, on May 30, 2020.
The protests in New York began as demonstrations spread across the country since May 26, sparked by a video of a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest. Floyd was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Mathias was covering protests in the Flatbush area on the night of May 30, where he told HuffPost that a dumpster and at least two police cars were set on fire when police began arresting people. Freelance journalist Phoebe Leila Barghouty posted photos on Twitter that appeared to show a New York City police officer restraining Mathias shortly before 11 p.m. and confirmed a short time later that it was Mathias who had been detained.
In an interview with The New York Times about the incident, Mathias said that a police officer ran into him, telling him to move out of the way. Mathias told the Times that he insulted the officer, who then turned around and hit him in the stomach with a baton. Mathias was then taken into custody.
Mathias was wearing a press badge at the time of his arrest, according to HuffPost and photographs of the incident. Other journalists who witnessed police taking him into custody told HuffPost that Mathias was clearly identifying himself as a journalist.
HuffPost reports that, according to Mathias’ wife, his phone was knocked from his hand during the encounter.
HuffPost condemned Mathias’ arrest on Twitter shortly after he was taken into custody and demanded he be released.
Mathias was released from police custody at around 1 a.m. on May 31. The Times reports that he was issued a summons.
Mathias did not return requests for comment about his arrest and HuffPost did not immediately reply to an inquiry seeking more details. The New York City Police Department did not reply to a request for more information about the incident.
Mathias posted on Twitter on May 31 that he was home after he had been taken into custody. He did not offer details about his arrest, but described it as “bogus.”
I'm home & overwhelmed by all your messages of love & support. Thank you.
— Christopher Mathias (@letsgomathias) May 31, 2020
I'll explain more about my arrest later but for now just know it was bogus, as were the arrests of all the brave New Yorkers protesting against a police force that routinely terrorizes this city.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting damage of equipment and multiple journalists arrested or struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas while covering related protests across the country. Find all of these cases here.
The arrest of HuffPost senior reporter Christopher Mathias during protests in New York on May 30, 2020, was captured by freelance journalist Phoebe Leila Barghouty.
",arrested and released,unknown,New York Police Department,2020-05-31,None,True,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, Freelance journalist struck in back by police while covering protests in Brooklyn,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/freelance-journalist-struck-back-police-while-covering-protests-brooklyn/,2020-06-03 03:51:35.918581+00:00,2020-06-03 03:51:35.918581+00:00,2020-06-03 03:51:35.859753+00:00,,Assault,,,,Phoebe Leila Barghouty (Freelance),,2020-05-30,False,New York,New York (NY),None,None,"NYPD officers struck freelance journalist Phoebe Leila Barghouty in the back while she was covering protests in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Flatbush on the night of May 30, 2020.
The protest was among the many demonstrations held in the city sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Barghouty tweeted a video at 10:44 p.m. showing a group of journalists and protesters following police orders to move out of the way and along a sidewalk, with text saying, “Here’s us being super chill before we got clocked in the back for no reason.”
After she stopped recording that video, “We got pushed by a shield. I felt it on my whole back and arms,” Barghouty told the Committee to Protect Journalists in a phone interview. She said she had “a lot of bruises” from the attack.
Barghouty said she repeatedly identified herself as a journalist during the attack, and was holding up her press pass.
She told CPJ that she did not believe police targeted her, but instead simply did not distinguish between protesters and members of the media.
Earlier that night, NYPD officers only retaliated against protesters who came close to them, she told CPJ, saying she did not know why police abruptly turned aggressive.
“We were scared of the trample effect. People were falling down and the police were walking over them,” Barghouty said, adding that she stayed out reporting for another hour after the attack.
Barghouty said the assault occurred after officers arrested HuffPost reporter Christopher Mathias; Barghouty tweeted photos of his arrest.
CPJ emailed the NYPD for comment, but did not receive an immediate response.
Freelance photojournalist Christopher Rusanowsky was arrested by Dallas police while on assignment for ZUMA Press documenting protests in the city on May 30, 2020.
Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 have spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Rusanowsky, 29, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was booked in Dallas County jail on a count of obstructing a highway or other passageway and was held overnight. He was released on bail the following day.
The count is a Class B misdemeanor in Texas, according to the Texas penal code. If convicted, he could face up to 180 days in jail, and a fine of up to $2,000.
Rusanowsky denies that he was obstructing a highway. He said he had been photographing a group of protesters as they blocked traffic on Interstate 35E.
He said he stepped across the highway guardrail and onto the shoulder to take photographs, taking care not to step into the lanes of traffic. Soon after he moved to a grassy area near the interstate to photograph protesters.
Rusanowsky said he began to take photographs of a police officer shooting nonlethal ammunition at a protester at close range when the officer began pointing and yelling at him. He said the officer told him, “You are going to jail too!”
In response, Rusanowsky said he held up his two cameras and showed the officer his ZUMA-issued press credentials. Rusanowsky said the officer replied, “Yeah, yeah. Press, press. You are going to jail.”
The officer then threw him to the ground, he said, where another officer handcuffed him.
He said an officer seized his cameras and four lenses. He later retrieved the items from police headquarters; he said they do not appear to be damaged.
He was booked into Dallas County jail at 11:38 p.m., according to booking records reviewed by U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, and was released after posting $300 bail the next day. He posted on Facebook about his release.
The experience has left him shaken, he said. “I’m terrified of cops right now,” he said.
“I don’t have training in hostile environment situations,” he said. “This makes me feel very vulnerable. But I believe in this job so much and I want to do this to give people voices.”
An emailed request for comment on Rusanowsky’s arrest to the Dallas Police Department was not immediately returned.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting damage of equipment and multiple journalists arrested or struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas while covering related protests across the country. Find all of these cases here.
Tom Fox, photographer for The Dallas Morning News, captured the arrest of photojournalist Christopher Rusanowsky while both were documenting protests on May 30, 2020, in Dallas, Texas.
",arrested and released,charges dropped,Dallas Police Department,2020-05-31,None,False,3:22-cv-01132,['ONGOING'],Civil,returned in full,False,law enforcement,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,blocking traffic: obstructing a highway or passageway,,, "NBC producer, group of journalists targeted in assault by state patrol",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/nbc-producer-group-journalists-targeted-assault-state-patrol/,2020-06-04 03:57:05.140721+00:00,2022-05-26 20:03:07.351735+00:00,2022-05-26 20:03:07.227850+00:00,"(2021-09-28 00:00:00+00:00) NBC journalist sues following arrest while covering Minneapolis protest, (2022-02-08 11:58:00+00:00) Journalists reach settlement agreement with Minnesota State Patrol, rest of suit ongoing","Assault, Equipment Damage",,,"camera lens: count of 1, UV lens: count of 1, external microphone: count of 1",Ed Ou (NBC News),,2020-05-30,False,Minneapolis,Minnesota (MN),44.97997,-93.26384,"Minnesota State Patrol fired tear gas, pepper spray, and concussion grenades at NBC journalist and producer Ed Ou and a group of other journalists in Minneapolis on May 30, 2020, Ou told the Committee to Protect Journalists via phone.
The journalists were covering ongoing protests in the city sparked by the alleged police killing of George Floyd, a black man, on May 25.
Ou told CPJ that the journalists were standing apart from the protesters in an indented section of a brick wall when troopers assaulted them. Ou said that he held up his press badge and screamed “Press!” but the patrol continued the assault.
"We were very explicit about saying we were press and we were nowhere close to any protesters or anyone else," Ou told CPJ. "They kept on throwing concussion grenades at us. They came up to us and maced me or pepper sprayed me on my camera and my face."
Ou, who was videotaping the protest, told CPJ that he was hit in the head. He said he couldn’t see the weapon or projectile as his eyes were blurred by tear gas and pepper spray. He said he stumbled past law enforcement officers asking for help, but none provided assistance. Eventually, a colleague found him, he said.
Ou told CPJ he later went to a hospital and received four stitches in his head.
Ou said that troopers damaged his equipment in the assault. He said the XLR connector between his microphone and camera was damaged, one of his lens filters was cracked, and a UV filter is no longer usable. He said that he can no longer safely use his microphone because pepper spray reached the microphone through the windsock. His gas mask, he added, is now unusable even with a new filter because of the large amount of pepper spray that entered it.
CPJ emailed Minnesota State Patrol for comment but did not receive an immediate reply. It also called the patrol’s press center but was unable to leave a message because the voicemail box was full.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting damage of equipment and multiple journalists arrested or struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas while covering related protests across the country. Find all of these cases here.
A video posted to Twitter by journalist Ed Ou shows Minnesota State Patrol troopers coming upon Ou and a group of journalists and spraying them with tear gas and pepper spray during protests on May 30 in Minneapolis.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,0:20-cv-01302,"['ONGOING', 'SETTLED']",Class Action,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, chemical irritant, protest, shot / shot at",,,,, Freelance journalist arrested amid Los Angeles protests,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/freelance-journalist-arrested-amid-los-angeles-protests/,2020-06-04 13:32:13.544709+00:00,2021-11-18 20:28:34.381874+00:00,2021-11-18 20:28:34.334760+00:00,,Arrest/Criminal Charge,,,,Oren Peleg (Freelance),,2020-05-30,False,Los Angeles,California (CA),34.05223,-118.24368,"Los Angeles police officers arrested freelance journalist Oren Peleg while he was covering protests in the city on May 30, 2020.
Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Peleg told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was reporting on protests in downtown Los Angeles that had been declared an unlawful assembly the day before.
At approximately 7:10 p.m., officers advanced on the crowd of approximately 20 protesters, blocking off all exits and forming a kettle. As police squeezed in on them, one of the protesters called out for everyone to sit down, at which point Peleg said he identified himself to police as a member of the press.
“They told me it was too late, that ‘you’re already here, you’re already part of this, we gave you an hour to disperse, so now central booking will take care of you,’” Peleg said.
He said that at no point did he hear officers give an order for the crowd to disperse.
Officers zip-tied Peleg along with the rest of the protesters and told him to sit down on a curb to await a city bus to come by to transfer all of them to Metropolitan Detention Center.
After approximately 30 minutes, the bus had still not arrived, Peleg said, and all of the arrestees were processed in the field. He provided an officer with his address, phone, email, license ID, social security number, and employer, and said police wrote his identifying information on an arrest card.
Peleg said he does not know whether charges for failure to disperse have been brought against him. He said an officer told him not to worry about the card, and that nothing would happen with it.
“When they released us, [the officers] said, ‘We’re releasing you now. If any are detained again you will be arrested and sent to jail,’” Peleg said.
The Los Angeles Police Department told the Tracker that it does not have any information about Peleg’s arrest at this time.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting damage of equipment and multiple journalists arrested or struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas while covering related protests across the country. Find all of these cases here.
On May 30, 2020, a police officer in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, struck Unicorn Riot journalist Chris Schiano’s phone with a baton while Schiano was covering an arrest.
Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 have spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
The incident occurred around 10 p.m. on the night of May 30, while Schiano was covering a group of police officers arresting a young black man. He had been live-streaming the protests for Unicorn Riot, a non-profit media collective based in known for its extensive and sympathetic coverage of street demonstrations.
Unicorn Riot later published a video on Twitter showing Schiano’s interaction with the police officers.
Philly police pin young black man to the ground with their knees, swat our field reporter with a baton for filming the scene.
— Unicorn Riot (@UR_Ninja) May 31, 2020
"Beat it."
"I'm a journalist, sir!"
"I don't care what you are. Beat it." pic.twitter.com/llguNcdTlx
As seen in the video, Schiano approached the officers, who had pinned the young man to the ground. As Schiano moved closer to document the man’s arrest, an officer appeared and waved his baton at Schiano.
Schiano identified himself as a journalist, and the officer said, “I don’t care what you are, beat it!” and struck his phone with his baton, bringing the video to an abrupt end.
Schiano said that, after he was forced to stop filming, one of the officers told him, “You’re not essential,” and suggested that he was in violation of Philadelphia’s 8 p.m. curfew. The curfew, which exempts “persons with essential duties,” is not supposed to apply to members of the media.
Schiano told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was wearing a press pass during the incident. He said the altercation was “fairly minor” and he did not suffer any injuries, but he was upset that the police stopped him from documenting an arrest.
“This seems fairly egregious if the First Amendment is supposed to be real,” he said.
Schiano said that Philadelphia police officers similarly attacked him with batons in 2016, while he was documenting protests around the Democratic National Convention, and in 2018, while he was documenting a demonstration outside of a federal prison.
“Cops here are quite proficient swatting phone cameras with those little metal batons,” he said. “It was clearly a motion they are used to making for the specific reason of not getting filmed.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred total incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd while in police custody. Find all of these cases here.
While filming an arrest during protests in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a police officer knocked the phone from Unicorn Riot journalist Chris Schiano’s hand with a baton, ending his recording.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,law enforcement,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, New York radio reporter assaulted after reporting live from looted liquor store,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/new-york-radio-reporter-assaulted-after-reporting-live-looted-liquor-store/,2020-06-07 04:06:44.836681+00:00,2020-06-07 04:06:44.836681+00:00,2020-06-07 04:06:44.765919+00:00,,Assault,,,,Darius Radzius (1010 WINS),,2020-05-30,False,New York,New York (NY),None,None,"Darius Radzius, a New York radio reporter, was attacked by an unknown assailant in Brooklyn, New York on May 30, 2020, shortly after finishing a live radio broadcast.
Radzius was covering the ongoing protests in Brooklyn for New York radio station 1010 WINS. Protests that began in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 26 spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
While Radzius was reporting alone, he told the Committee to Protect Journalists in a phone interview that he was near a group of reporters during the protests. The protest, one of many that took place across New York City on May 30, began at around 3 p.m. near Prospect Park and continued south to the Brooklyn neighborhood of Flatbush. Radzius characterized the protest as “largely peaceful” in a statement about the incident that he wrote for the police that he provided to CPJ. Radzius said in his interview and in the statement that he had a 1010 WINS microphone and people told him they liked the station and thanked him for reporting on the protest.
Radzius was carrying press credentials, but they were not displayed, he told CPJ. His 1010 WINS microphone flag was large and identified him clearly as media, he said.
According to Radzius’ statement to the police, a few hours into the protest, he followed a group of people who left the central location of the protest, thinking them to be protesters. The group and Radzius walked to College Wine and Liquors, a liquor store in Flatbush. Radzius witnessed a group of people loot the store, and filmed the entire incident on his cellphone for 30 seconds, before the store owner locked the door. Radzius tweeted a video clip of the looting.
Radzius called his editor at 1010 WINS to tell him about the looting and joined a live radio broadcast from the scene at 6:32 p.m. A few seconds after signing off, Radzius was approached by a woman who asked him who he was talking to, according to his statement. Radzius responded that he was talking to “all New Yorkers on the radio.” A few seconds later, Radzius says he heard a male voice shout, “Snitch.” Radzius was then struck from behind on the right side of his upper face.
Radzius does not know who hit him. A witness told him that the attacker was a man, and that he struck Radzius with an unidentified object.
After being hit, Radzius says he was “stunned.” He received medical assistance at the scene from a woman who identified herself as a nurse. He later went to the hospital. He sustained injuries to his face that required five stitches above his eye on the eyebrow. Radzius also has significant bruising around his right eye, and has injuries to his hands. He later tweeted photos of his injuries.
Radizus told CPJ that he thinks he was targeted for being a journalist. “What does a journalist do? They report on the news, and they didn’t like that I was reporting on the looting,” he said.
CPJ contacted the NYPD for comment and to ask if they are investigating the incident. They said there is a complaint report on file for assault and detectives are investigating.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred total incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd while in police custody. Find all of these cases here.
Freelance photographer Thomas Machowicz was shot with three rubber projectiles by Phoenix police, resulting in a gash on his scalp, a concussion, and a bruised lung, as he was photographing protests in the city on May 30, 2020.
The protests were sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, for eight minutes and 46 seconds during an arrest in Minneapolis on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Machowicz was taking photographs in front of the headquarters of the Phoenix Police Department at roughly 10:15 p.m. when protesters began to lob fireworks at police, and police responded by shooting tear gas, pepper balls, and projectiles into the crowd, Machowicz told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in an interview.
“I realized I was in a bad spot,” Machowicz said. As he ran away from the headquarters through a cloud of tear gas, camera in hand, police began shooting rubber projectiles in his direction. The first two projectiles hit Machowicz’s lower back and the side of his ribcage. In pain, he fell down. A few seconds later as he was lying on the ground, a third projectile hit him on the back of his head, ripping an inch-long gash into his scalp, he said.
Video of the assault was captured by ABC15 Arizona news and aired live on television.
“When I got hit in the head, I couldn’t make decisions anymore. I just curled up into the fetal position,” Machowicz said. A few seconds passed before a bystander picked Machowicz up under the arms and carried him to a safe distance from the protest.
After bystanders alerted police to his condition, Machowicz said police accompanied him for a block where he was told an ambulance would arrive. When it didn’t, police drove him to a fire station, where an ambulance took him to a hospital. The process took 30 minutes, he said, during which his head wound bled profusely.
At the hospital, Machowicz said he received four staples to close his head wound, and was diagnosed with a concussion and a bruised lung.
“I definitely have some trauma from it that’s still sinking in,” he said.
Machowicz recounted the incident in an interview with Melissa Blasius, the ABC15 Arizona journalist who captured the assault on camera.
Mercedes Fortune, a public information officer for the Phoenix Police Department, wrote in response to an emailed request for comment that people in the group were throwing rocks, bottles, incendiary devices and fireworks during the incident.
“Every attempt is made to identify the suspect(s) responsible for those actions unfortunately it is very difficult during these chaotic encounters. Several announcements were given to everyone to leave the area. … There is no sure way to control the actions of a large group of people who make a conscious decision to ignore the repeated announcements and direction by law enforcement officials.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred total incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd while in police custody. Find all of these cases here.
Rocks and fireworks were among the objects hurled at the headquarters of the Phoenix Police Department on May 30, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, chemical irritant, protest, shot / shot at",,,,, Freelance photojournalist hit in eye with projectile amid DC protest,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalists-covering-protests-hit-eye-leg-projectiles-fired-police/,2020-06-08 03:09:10.020317+00:00,2022-03-10 19:24:48.290379+00:00,2022-03-10 19:24:48.228622+00:00,,Assault,,,,Wil Sands (Freelance),,2020-05-30,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"Freelance photojournalist Wil Sands was struck with crowd-control munitions while covering protests in Washington, D.C., on May 30, 2020.
The protests were sparked by a video showing a Minneapolis, Minnesota, police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, for 7 minutes and 46 seconds during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Sands, who is based in Richmond, Virginia, was covering protests near the AFL-CIO building when tensions began rising around 11 p.m., he told the Committee to Protect Journalists, a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. Individuals had set some vehicles ablaze and Sands began planning how to leave the area. He was standing behind a light post looking at his cell phone when a flying object he suspects to have been a tear gas canister bounced off the light post before hitting him squarely in the face, on his right eye. The Tracker could not confirm the type of object he was hit with.
A street medic in the crowd quickly found him and put gauze over the wound, and told Sands he needed to go to the hospital. Sands walked to the police cordon and, after seeing his wound, they let him through. “I pulled off the gauze, their faces changed, and the commanding officer allowed me to pass through," Sands said.
He told CPJ that he believes the object that hit him was launched from an area where D.C. police officers had been standing. There were officers from multiple law enforcement agencies operating in the general area at the time, according to news reports. Sands, a member of Fractures Collective, was wearing a press pass at the time he was hit.
He wrote in a series of Instagram posts that he spent 16 hours in the emergency room, and suffered a partially torn retina and damaged cornea. He had surgery on his right eye on June 1.
"My retina was reattached, a silicone band was permanently inserted around my eyeball, and a bubble of gas was inflated behind the retina," he wrote. "It is unclear how much of my sight in my right eyes [sic] I will get back."
Alaina Gertz, a D.C. police spokeswoman, declined to comment on the incident that led to Sands’ injury.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Protesters near the White House in Washington, D.C., on May 30, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest, shot / shot at",,,,, "Independent journalist hit with projectile, shield while covering DC protests",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalist-hit-projectile-shield-while-covering-dc-protests/,2020-06-08 18:23:50.366538+00:00,2022-03-10 21:03:48.394222+00:00,2022-03-10 21:03:48.310309+00:00,,"Assault, Equipment Damage",,,"monopod: count of 1, mobile phone: count of 1, external microphone: count of 1",Jenn Dize (Status Coup),,2020-05-30,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"Journalist Jenn Dize said law enforcement officers shot her with a projectile and pushed her to the ground twice, causing her to lose her grip on her equipment, while covering protests for progressive independent outlet Status Coup in Washington, D.C., on May 30, 2020.
Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 have spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Dize, the co-founder of Status Coup, was livestreaming the protests near Lafayette Square park on YouTube, when someone lobbed an object at police. The livestream shows police firing at the crowd. Dize was shot in the right arm by a projectile; she believes it may have been a pepper ball, she told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. The projectile left her arm bruised with a red, raised welt. Dize, who was standing outside a crowd at the time, was wearing Status Coup press credentials and was carrying a monopod and microphone. "They had to have been aiming at me," she told the Tracker.
Based on the design of officers’ shields in the livestream, they appear to be with the United States Park Police. Park Police spokesman Sergeant Eduardo Delgado told the Tracker via email that this was the first he had heard of this incident; he did not provide comment on Dize’s claims.
Dize continued reporting. A few hours later, she said she was livestreaming a burning vehicle and interviewing onlookers when someone lobbed a firecracker at the feet of police. Dize started to leave, but stopped to help a protester who had fallen down.
Law enforcement officers advanced toward the crowd, and Dize said one of them knocked her down with his riot shield. Her monopod, phone, and microphone slipped from her fingers. She could see her phone a short distance away on the sidewalk.
“I didn’t want to make any sudden moves, so I asked the officers ‘Can I bend down and pick up my phone?’” she told the Tracker.
The officer who had initially knocked her down reacted by ramming her multiple times in the upper body with his shield, knocking her onto her right hip, she said.
"I will never forget the look on the cop's face who was attacking me," she said. “He did not care.”
Protesters intervened, grabbing her underneath her arms and helping her reach safety. “My hip is quite sore still, and all my equipment is lost,” she said. Her phone, which she could not locate, continued to livestream for 90 additional minutes. Status Coup edited a short video on YouTube including footage from Dize’s perspective as she was knocked down the first time.
The Tracker shared a screenshot from the video with Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia spokesperson Alaina Gertz, who confirmed that the officers depicted were part of its force. Gertz did not respond to a request for comment about Dize’s claims.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred total incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd while in police custody. Find all of these cases here.
This article has been updated to reflect that Dize was hit in the right arm with a projectile, not the left arm as originally reported.
U.S. Park Police and protesters gather near the White House on May 30, 2020, in Washington, D.C.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, chemical irritant, protest, shot / shot at",,,,, Phoenix television reporter hit by projectile; news van vandalized,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/phoenix-television-reporter-hit-projectile-news-van-vandalized/,2020-06-09 03:05:33.331964+00:00,2022-03-10 19:25:38.682995+00:00,2022-03-10 19:25:38.582210+00:00,,"Assault, Equipment Damage",,,vehicle: count of 1,Josh Sanders (12 News),,2020-05-30,False,Phoenix,Arizona (AZ),33.44838,-112.07404,"Phoenix television reporter Josh Sanders was hit in the thigh with a rubber projectile while reporting across from police headquarters on protests in the city on May 30, 2020. Sanders and his crew were unable to retrieve their news vehicle due to the protests, and found it vandalized the next morning.
The protests were sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, for 8 minutes and 46 seconds during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Sanders, a reporter for 12 News, Phoenix's NBC affiliate, was standing outside of Phoenix Police Department headquarters when police fired the projectile, hitting him in the thigh. In a live broadcast after the incident, he said the impact was “very painful” and that he didn’t know why police shot in his crew’s direction.
Later, he found another such projectile on the ground and posted the photo to Twitter.
This is a picture of what the rubber ball looks like that Phoenix Police fired in our direction earlier hitting me in the left thigh. #12News pic.twitter.com/uvsci1laop
— JOSH SANDERS (@JoshSandersTV) May 31, 2020
He also posted a picture of his thigh, with a large pink, red and purple bruise.
The aftermath of being hit by a Phoenix Police rubber ball night 3 of the protests. #12News pic.twitter.com/7K5q3Tp1WD
— JOSH SANDERS (@JoshSandersTV) May 31, 2020
Sanders did not immediately reply to an interview request from the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
Sanders wrote on Twitter that because of the protests his crew could not retrieve its 12 News car parked outside of Phoenix City Hall until the next morning. When 12 News retrieved it, it had been tagged in black paint with George Floyd’s name.
We had to leave one of our news cars outside of Phoenix City Hall last night due to the protests.
— JOSH SANDERS (@JoshSandersTV) May 31, 2020
This morning you can see the name George Floyd in graffiti sprayed on the side of the car. #12News pic.twitter.com/wjPCOhzyg0
In an emailed response to a request for comment, Phoenix Police Department spokeswoman Mercedes A. Fortune wrote that she has not briefed on that specific incident.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred total incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd while in police custody. Find all of these cases here.
Protesters march toward Phoenix Police Department headquarters on May 29, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest, shot / shot at",,,,, Journalist shoved by Denver police officer,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-shoved-denver-police-officer/,2020-06-09 03:46:49.944006+00:00,2022-03-10 22:05:41.791054+00:00,2022-03-10 22:05:41.732697+00:00,,Assault,,,,David Sachs (Denverite and Colorado Public Radio),,2020-05-30,False,Denver,Colorado (CO),39.73915,-104.9847,"A journalist said he was shoved by a police officer while covering protests in Denver, Colorado, on May 30, 2020.
The protests were sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, for 8 minutes and 46 seconds during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
David Sachs, who reports for Denverite and Colorado Public Radio, said he was covering protests outside of the Colorado Supreme Court when he was caught between a line of police officers and a crowd of protesters.
He told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that police advanced toward the crowd, yelling “Move! Move! Move!” Sachs, who had his bicycle with him, said he showed the officers his press credentials, shouting the names of the two outlets he works for. He said an officer then shoved him twice in the back, shouting “Move!”
Sachs picked up his bike and ran down a set of stairs leading to the street. “There was already gas or smoke there, but one or two fresh new canisters popped right in front of me,” he said. “I was choking. I couldn’t breathe for a good 20 or 30 seconds.”
Sachs tweeted about the experience once he reached safety.
Just got caught by courthouse on 14th and Lincoln. Police on one side, crowd on the other. Showed @DenverPolice my press badge and told them I was with Denverite/CPR and one officer shoved me twice. Only place to go was into the street where I got gassed.
— Dave Sachs (@DavidASachs) May 31, 2020
An emailed request for comment from the Denver Police was not immediately returned.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred total incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd while in police custody. Find all of these cases here.
Adam Gray, chief photojournalist for UK-based South West News Service, was pushed to the ground and arrested while covering protests in New York, New York, on May 30, 2020.
Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Gray told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he had been documenting protests all day, and was photographing demonstrations in and around Union Square in Manhattan at around 10:40 p.m.
When Gray reached the front of a crowd of protesters on 13th Street, he said officers started charging the crowd and arresting protesters in what he described as “pandemonium.”
“I’m photographing this happening and I turn and I see this big guy, this cop coming at me,” Gray said. As the officer pushed him to the ground, two of the three cameras he was carrying “smashed” to the ground off his shoulders. Gray noted that luckily the only damage to the equipment was a broken UV lens filter.
Two additional officers then came up and assisted the first in restraining Gray and arresting him, he said.
I now have more images of my arrest whilst photographing protests on Saturday from a NYC colleague. Three cameras hanging off me and a press card in a lanyard around my neck (clear and visible on the other side) @SWNS @TheSun @GreensladeR @KateEMcCann pic.twitter.com/uvoil0DdNT
— Adam Gray (@agrayphoto) June 5, 2020
“I have a lanyard that has my foreign press card in it around my neck,” Gray said. “They stood me up and another guy in white came up — I think he was a more senior officer — and I’m shouting at him as well that I’m foreign press, that I’m a photographer.”
Gray said they asked him whether his press pass was issued by the NYPD, and that he responded no, that it was a foreign press card issued by the US State Department. Gray told the Tracker that the officer said something to the effect of, “Alright, no no no, I’ll take him away.”
Officers then took Gray down the street and passed him off to another officer who was designated his arresting officer and was eventually listed on all of Gray’s arrest reports.
After being stripped of his equipment and re-cuffed, Gray waited on a prison transport bus with 50 to 60 others for half an hour until the rest of the seats were filled. He said he then waited an additional hour outside One Police Plaza due to the volume of arrestees that night.
“At this point, I feel like I’m just in the system and we’re going through with it, I’m being booked and that’s what’s happening. There’s nobody else there that I can speak to or remonstrate with,” Gray said.
After being processed, he was placed in a holding cell with 50-70 people crammed in shoulder-to-shoulder. Gray said that he still had a face mask in order to combat the spread of coronavirus, but most others did not.
Gray was released at around 9:30 a.m. — nearly 11 hours after his arrest — with a desk appearance ticket for unlawful assembly, a misdemeanor punishable by up to three months in jail and a $500 fine.
When asked for comment, an NYPD spokesperson directed the Tracker to the “30 minute mark” of a press briefing held by New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and Police Commissioner Dermot Shea on June 3.
Around that point in the recording, Shea says: “The only thing that I might add on the point of the press: We’re doing the best we can, the difficult situation. We 100 percent respect the rights of the press. Unfortunately we’ve had some people purporting to be press that are actually lying, if you can believe that. So sometimes these things take a second — maybe too long — to sort out.”
The Manhattan district attorney announced in a press release on June 5 that his office would not prosecute unlawful assembly or disorderly conduct arrests.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred total incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd while in police custody. Find all of these cases here.
British photojournalist Adam Gray is arrested near Union Square in New York City on May 30, 2020.
",arrested and released,charges dropped,New York Police Department,2020-05-31,None,True,1:21-cv-06610,['ONGOING'],Civil,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,rioting: unlawful assembly,,, MSNBC host struck by rubber bullet while covering protests in Minneapolis,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/police-target-dozens-journalists-covering-protests-minneapolis-tear-gas-pepper-spray-rubber-bullets/,2020-06-09 18:50:37.907873+00:00,2022-03-10 19:26:05.977912+00:00,2022-03-10 19:26:05.912445+00:00,,Assault,,,,Ali Velshi (MSNBC),,2020-05-30,False,Minneapolis,Minnesota (MN),44.97997,-93.26384,"MSNBC host Ali Velshi was struck by a rubber bullet and caught in tear gas while covering protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 30, 2020.
Protests began in Minnesota on May 26, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital. An 8 p.m. curfew was put into effect on May 30.
At about 8:40 p.m., a group of Minnesota state police and National Guard officers fired tear gas and rubber bullets at a group of protesters, which also hit several journalists covering the demonstrations.
Velshi was hit by a rubber bullet in his left shin and was affected by the tear gas, he told the Committee to Protect Journalists — a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker — in a phone interview. Velshi said it was not clear whether the tear gas and rubber bullets were fired by state police or National Guard officers.
Velshi said in an MSNBC broadcast that he did not have time to put on his mask when the tear gas was first released. After Velashi and his crew retreated from the police line, the host was then hit by the rubber bullet, he told CPJ.
More than three dozen journalists were assaulted, arrested or had equipment damaged while covering protests that night. The Minneapolis Police Department, Minnesota State Police, and Minnesota National Guard did not reply to emailed requests for comment about these incidents.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Freelance journalist Jonathan Ballew was pepper-sprayed at close range by a law enforcement officer on May 30, 2020, while covering protests in downtown Chicago. The assault occurred as he screamed “Press!” and held his press credential above his head.
The protests were sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, for eight minutes and 46 seconds during an arrest in Minneapolis on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Ballew, who freelances for The Daily Beast and Block Club Chicago, was walking on Grand Avenue in Chicago at 8 p.m. ahead of a police line when the attack occurred, he told the Committee to Protect Journalists, a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. Ballew said he was complying with officers’ orders to walk back when an officer in a dark green uniform and a protective mask started spraying pepper spray. As the officer aimed the can in Ballew’s direction, Ballew yelled, “Don’t shoot! I’m fucking press! I’m fucking press!”
Ballew captured the attack in a Twitter livestream.
— Jonathan Ballew (@JCB_Journo) May 31, 2020
“I remember making eye contact with [the officer] and then he directly sprayed me right in my face, even as I was screaming ‘Press, press, press!’” Ballew told CPJ.
On the livestream, Ballew narrated the event: “I just got pepper-sprayed by a cop. I’ve been holding my press pass up in his face. Told him I was press. Directly pepper-sprayed me.” Ballew then addressed other officers passing by: “You guys are pepper-spraying press? Come on. I’m holding my press pass. Your brother in blue there is spraying press.”
Ballew told CPJ he is a Marine veteran. He said that he has been trained to protect himself from pepper spray and tear gas, and was able to shield most of his face from being hit, taking much of the pepper spray onto his forearms. Ballew poured water onto his face and continued reporting that evening. But after showering, his arms “felt like someone actually set them on fire,” he said.
It’s unclear to which agency the officer with the pepper spray belonged. The Tracker reached out to the Chicago Police Department for help identifying the officer in Ballew’s livestream video, and for comment on the incident, but the request was not immediately returned.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred total incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd while in police custody. Find all of these cases here.
While covering protests in Chicago, Jonathan Ballew livestreamed the moment he was pepper sprayed.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,1:20-cv-03422,['SETTLED'],Civil,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, chemical irritant, protest",,,,, Unidentified man attacks Reuters photographer with crowbar during Minneapolis protests,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/unidentified-man-attacks-reuters-photographer-crowbar-during-minneapolis-protests/,2020-06-10 23:15:33.622563+00:00,2022-03-09 22:24:28.205690+00:00,2022-03-09 22:24:28.135844+00:00,,"Equipment Damage, Assault",,,camera: count of 1,Lucas Jackson (Reuters),,2020-05-30,False,Minneapolis,Minnesota (MN),44.97997,-93.26384,"An unidentified man wearing body armor broke Reuters photographer Lucas Jackson’s camera with a crowbar while he was covering protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 30, 2020.
Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 have spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Jackson described his attacker and posted a photo of his broken camera on Twitter:
Photo of the camera that a man with a crowbar hit when he attacked me while working in Minneapolis today. A man dressed as a “Medic” with body armor, keep your eyes out. pic.twitter.com/H4d6YXtK0K
— Lucas Jackson (@Lucas_Jackson_) May 31, 2020
In a statement given to the Committee to Protect Journalists through Reuters’ press office, Jackson said that the assailant was “a young white man wearing body armor emblazoned with a red medic cross.”
In the statement, Jackson said that the young man screamed “Get out of here!” before smashing Jackson’s camera with the crowbar. The statement did not say that Jackson was injured in the attack.
An unidentified man attacked Reuters photographer Lucas Jackson with a crowbar during protests in Minneapolis on May 30, damaging his camera.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, "Photojournalist, colleague, robbed at gunpoint after documenting Oakland protests",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-colleague-robbed-gunpoint-after-documenting-oakland-protests/,2020-06-11 15:22:09.774608+00:00,2022-03-10 21:36:42.730769+00:00,2022-03-10 21:36:42.616181+00:00,,"Equipment Damage, Assault",,,"camera: count of 1, camera lens: count of 1",Stephen Lam (Freelance),,2020-05-30,False,Oakland,California (CA),37.80437,-122.2708,"Freelance photojournalist Stephen Lam was assaulted and robbed at gunpoint by two men while covering protests in Oakland, California, in the early hours of May 30, 2020.
Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 have spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Lam and Getty photojournalist Justin Sullivan were walking back to their cars in downtown Oakland at around 12:30 a.m. after documenting the night’s protests.
Lam told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that they had just reached their cars when they were confronted by two men. One man focused on Lam, the other Sullivan.
“I turned around and there was another individual on me,” Lam said. “He had a hard time getting his gun out … He seemed to get impatient, and I told him to just give me a second, because all my cameras are clipped to my vest.”
At that moment, Sullivan’s assailant forced him to open the trunk of his car and Lam’s assailant tried to shove Lam inside the open trunk, Lam said.
Amid the chaos, one of Lam’s cameras fell into the trunk and out of clear view, which he believes is why the man forgot about it and only got away with one camera and lens.
Sullivan’s assailant took his two cameras with their lenses, as well as his backpack containing a laptop and his passport, Sullivan told the Tracker.
Lam added that earlier that night someone else had tried to steal his gear, but that man didn’t succeed.
“We were really lucky,” Lam said. “Obviously it sucks to lose the pictures but it could have been a lot worse for us.”
Sullivan said that they had alerted the police but had not been able to file a police report in the days following the robbery as police were occupied with a backlog of emergency calls.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred total incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd while in police custody. Find these cases here.
Photojournalist Stephen Lam was documenting Minneapolis protests late on May 29, 2020 — including the looting of this Target store — when he was robbed at gunpoint.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest, robbery",,,,, Getty photojournalist and colleague robbed at gunpoint after documenting Oakland protests,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/getty-photojournalist-and-colleague-robbed-gunpoint-after-documenting-oakland-protests/,2020-06-11 15:28:09.508079+00:00,2022-03-10 21:36:56.494606+00:00,2022-03-10 21:36:56.422149+00:00,,"Equipment Damage, Assault",,,"camera: count of 2, camera lens: count of 2, laptop: count of 1",Justin Sullivan (Getty Images),,2020-05-30,False,Oakland,California (CA),37.80437,-122.2708,"Getty photojournalist Justin Sullivan was robbed at gunpoint while covering protests in Oakland, California, in the early hours of May 30, 2020.
Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 have spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Sullivan told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he and his colleague, freelance photojournalist Stephen Lam, were walking back to their cars in downtown Oakland at around 12:30 a.m. after documenting the night’s protests and some looting at a nearby Target when two men approached them.
“We got to our cars — I got in my car, my other colleague was going to his car — and the one guy came around, blocked my door, put a gun to my chest, said, ‘Give me your cameras,’” Sullivan said.
He handed over his two cameras with their lenses to one of the men, who also took his backpack containing his laptop and passport.
The other man pushed Lam into the trunk of Sullivan’s car. He got out unharmed, but was robbed of his camera and lens.
“The big takeaway for both of us was that we were unharmed,” Sullivan said. “The thing that we were most upset about, to be honest, was that we had been shooting for a couple of hours and we had a lot of pictures that we lost. Just gone.”
Sullivan said that they had alerted the police but had not been able to file a police report in the days following the robbery as police were occupied with a backlog of emergency calls.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred total incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd while in police custody. Find these cases here.
Photojournalist Justin Sullivan — and a colleague who took this photograph — had been documenting the looting of this Target store and other protests in Minneapolis late on May 29, 2020, when they were robbed at gunpoint.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest, robbery",,,,, Journalist demands response as to why she was shot with projectile when her press gear was visible,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-demands-response-why-she-was-shot-projectile-when-her-press-gear-was-visible/,2020-06-11 17:07:05.460473+00:00,2022-03-10 19:26:24.565695+00:00,2022-03-10 19:26:24.497475+00:00,"(2021-11-16 00:00:00+00:00) Journalist settles suit against police department after she was shot with projectile, (2021-02-10 09:03:00+00:00) Journalist files suit against Caalifornia police department",Assault,,,,Sarah Belle Lin (Freelance),,2020-05-30,False,Oakland,California (CA),37.80437,-122.2708,"Independent journalist Sarah Belle Lin was shot with a less-lethal round by a law enforcement officer while documenting protests in Oakland, California, on May 30, 2020.
Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 have spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Lin told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she was documenting protests in downtown Oakland at around 11:30 p.m. A group of protesters confronted a line of officers who stood at a distance from them; the protesters complied when officers ordered them to disperse.
In a video by Lin posted to Twitter, a handful of demonstrators can be seen walking away from the law enforcement line. Suddenly — and after it appears many protesters had left the area — an officer shoots a crowd-control munition at Lin. She told the Tracker she believes the officers were with the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office.
“I’m a journalist! I’m a journalist!” Lin can be heard shouting in the video. “You just hit a fucking journalist!”
I was hit by the police by in the inner thighs. I am injured. I repeated my First Amendment rights. Oakland #GeorgeFloyd protest. pic.twitter.com/1Gm6Se1LQ8
— Sarah Belle Lin (@SarahBelleLin) May 31, 2020
“As I crossed the street to get a different vantage point, I was shot in my right inner thigh by a projectile,” Lin told the Tracker. “I instantly fell to the ground upon impact and yelled out that I am a journalist.”
Shortly after Lin had moved to the sidewalk to catch her breath and compose herself, she said the officers continued to shove her forward with their riot shields.
In a video posted to Twitter, she confronts the line of officers. She told the Tracker that she demanded to know the identity of the officer who had shot her and the decision behind it when both her press pass and DSLR camera were visible around her neck. The officers did not respond, she said.
“I’m not fully recovered but healing gradually and still documenting every night since,” Lin said.
A photo Lin posted 12 hours after the incident shows a large, multicolored bruise forming over much of her thigh.
Here is the bruise I got reporting at the Oakland George Floyd protest 12 hours after getting hit with a projectile by Contra Costa County police. I’m grateful for pals who are sending me Arnica and I so appreciate everyone who has reached out to me and offered words of support. pic.twitter.com/aIGzfDWOVM
— Sarah Belle Lin (@SarahBelleLin) May 31, 2020
The Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to request for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred total incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd while in police custody. Find all cases here.
Journalist Sarah Belle Lin said when she asked these officers for the identity of who shot her while her press credentials were visible that she did not receive any response.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,3:21-cv-01028,['SETTLED'],Civil,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest, shot / shot at",,,,, Police fire projectiles at NBC News correspondent during Louisville protests,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/police-fire-pepper-balls-and-rubber-bullets-news-crew-move-them-during-louisville-protests/,2020-06-11 23:01:24.810396+00:00,2022-03-10 21:04:16.748716+00:00,2022-03-10 21:04:16.682503+00:00,,Assault,,,,Cal Perry (NBC News),,2020-05-30,False,Louisville,Kentucky (KY),38.25424,-85.75941,"NBC News correspondent Cal Perry and producer Kailani Koenig were shot at with pepper balls while covering protests in Louisville, Kentucky, on May 30, 2020.
Protests in Louisville have centered around the deaths of Breonna Taylor, shot and killed inside her home by Louisville police in March, and the death of George Floyd while in the custody of Minneapolis police on May 25.
Perry told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the news team and their security guard were reporting from a bus stop with plexiglass barriers in downtown Louisville shortly after 8:30 p.m. when police began to disperse the crowd. Both news crew members were wearing press passes, Perry said.
“As the police moved, they just turned and started firing at the bus stop,” Perry said. “We took off running and then as we were running a kid right in front of me got hit with a rubber bullet, and I thought for sure that I was next.”
When they made it around the corner and out of the midst of the police advance, Koenig turned around and Perry noticed that her bag had been hit with pepper balls anywhere from six to 12 times. The Tracker documented Koenig’s assault here.
In a tweet posted the following day, Koenig’s backpack can be seen with numerous residue marks where it was struck by the less-lethal pepper ball rounds.
Producer @kailanikm backpack marked by the many spots pepper pellets hit as we were running away last night in #Louisville #MSNBC pic.twitter.com/ynQBuDjoQf
— Cal Perry (@CalNBC) May 31, 2020
Perry said that while Koenig’s bag had prevented her from being hit by any of the rounds, the security officer with them was struck in the center of his back with a rubber bullet, causing a large welt.
“There was no question: they were moving us along by firing the little pepper rounds and rubber bullets at us,” Perry said.
The Louisville Police Department did not immediately respond to request for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
People march past the city hall in Louisville, Kentucky on May 29, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, chemical irritant, protest, shot / shot at",,,,, KATV reporter assaulted on air amid Little Rock protests,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/katv-reporter-assaulted-air-amid-little-rock-protests/,2020-06-14 03:16:05.448354+00:00,2020-06-14 03:16:05.448354+00:00,2020-06-14 03:16:05.392856+00:00,,Assault,,,,Shelby Rose (KATV Channel 7),,2020-05-30,False,Little Rock,Arkansas (AR),34.74648,-92.28959,"Shelby Rose, a reporter with KATV Channel 7 News, was assaulted during a live broadcast while covering protests in Little Rock, Arkansas, on May 30, 2020.
Protests in Little Rock began as demonstrations erupted across the country, sparked by a video of a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest in Minnesota on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Rose was covering a protest near the Arkansas Capitol, where the crowd was “agitated,” she said. Some protesters had been clear that they were not happy the journalists were there, she said.
Rose was preparing for a live broadcast when a woman began screaming near her and in front of the camera. When the broadcast began, the photographer zoomed in on Rose, while the woman stood to her right, shouting at her and using profanities.
Video shows that as Rose tried to move away, the woman followed her, getting closer. As Rose directed the broadcast back to the anchor, the woman raised her arm and struck Rose over the head with an object.
This was the moment I got assaulted on live TV tonight. I cannot express my gratitude to the entire team behind the scenes with me. Journalists are here to inform, not be the enemy. https://t.co/XlkMkWxGdZ
— Shelby Rose (@KATVShelby) May 31, 2020
Rose said she didn’t see the object she was struck with but believes it was a water bottle because water sprayed around her. After she was hit, Rose said she ducked and ran away from the woman. The assault left her with an injury in her neck, for which she subsequently sought medical attention.
A spokesperson for the Little Rock Police Department said law enforcement was aware of the incident, but declined to comment because the investigation is ongoing.
Rose said she and four other members of the KATV team were clearly identified as press. She was wearing a shirt with the KATV News logo on it and carried a microphone also marked with the station’s logo. Before the broadcast in which Rose was hit, a different protester had confronted a member of the team, who was recording video on her phone, and repeatedly hit the phone out of her hand.
Rose previously covered the Dakota Access Pipeline protests in North Dakota in 2016, where, though she’d had a few tense interactions, she says she never experienced hostility like she did covering the George Floyd protests in Little Rock. “It’s incredible to see the switch of the mentality of the general public toward journalists from then until now,” she said.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting damage of equipment and multiple journalists arrested or struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas while covering related protests across the country. Find all of these cases here.
While reporting live from protests in Little Rock, Arkansas, an unidentified individual harassed and assaulted KATV Channel 7 reporter Shelby Rose.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, Photojournalist shot with rubber bullet while covering Baltimore protests,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-shot-rubber-bullet-while-covering-baltimore-protests/,2020-06-15 03:54:16.147144+00:00,2022-03-10 19:27:00.516692+00:00,2022-03-10 19:27:00.457246+00:00,,Assault,,,,Timothy Wolfer (Freelance),,2020-05-30,False,Baltimore,Maryland (MD),39.29038,-76.61219,"Freelance photojournalist Timothy Wolfer was tear-gassed and shot with a rubber bullet while covering a protest outside Baltimore City Hall on May 30, 2020.
Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Wolfer told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that at approximately 9:45 p.m. police started spraying tear gas at a crowd of around 150 people.
“Somebody had probably thrown something, because police had started to tear-gas back at protesters,” Wolfer said.
As he was running away from the gas, with his press ID clearly hanging from his neck, he says he was hit in the upper hip with a rubber bullet, which left a 5-inch bruise.
The Baltimore Police Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred total incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd while in police custody. Find all of these cases here
While documenting a protest in front of city hall in Baltimore, Maryland, freelance photojournalist Timothy Wolfer was hit with a rubber bullet and tear gassed.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,no,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, chemical irritant, protest, shot / shot at",,,,, Journalist hit with police baton while photographing protests in Philadelphia,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-hit-police-baton-while-photographing-protests-philadelphia/,2020-06-15 20:11:41.288033+00:00,2020-06-15 20:11:41.288033+00:00,2020-06-15 20:11:41.231932+00:00,,Assault,,,,Sam Trilling (Freelance),,2020-05-30,False,Philadelphia,Pennsylvania (PA),39.95233,-75.16379,"A Philadelphia police officer hit freelance photojournalist Sam Trilling with a baton while Trilling was covering protests in the city on May 30, 2020.
Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 have spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Trilling told the Committee to Protect Journalists that he was standing on a barricade taking pictures of the line between police and protesters when an officer struck him once with a baton across his abdomen.
Trilling’s injuries did not require medical attention, and he continued reporting, the journalist told CPJ. He said he was able to identify the officer who struck him, though had not yet filed a police report as of press time.
The Philadelphia Police Department declined to comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting damage of equipment and multiple journalists arrested or struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas while covering related protests across the country. Find all of these cases here.
Photojournalist Sam Trilling captured the moment before a Philadelphia police officer hit him with a baton during protests in the city on May 30, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, "Reporter on assignment for New York Times targeted by law enforcement with tear gas, foam projectiles at Dallas protest",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalists-dallas-targeted-law-enforcement-tear-gas-foam-projectiles/,2020-06-15 21:21:33.539095+00:00,2022-03-10 19:27:20.277045+00:00,2022-03-10 19:27:20.221316+00:00,,Assault,,,,Marina Trahan Martinez (The New York Times),,2020-05-30,False,Dallas,Texas (TX),32.78306,-96.80667,"Freelance reporter Marina Trahan Martinez was targeted with foam projectiles and tear gas fired by police while covering protests in downtown Dallas, Texas, on May 30, 2020.
The protests were sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, for 8 minutes and 46 seconds during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Trahan Martinez told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she was reporting on assignment for The New York Times wearing a black shirt emblazoned on the front and back with the word “PRESS” in white uppercase letters.
This is what I was wearing pic.twitter.com/0YPSUIK2lN
— marina trahan martinez (@HisGirlHildy) May 31, 2020
She was standing on a street corner at around 8 p.m. in downtown Dallas, filming demonstrators who were kneeling, when a group of two to three dozen police officers in riot gear approached.
When someone in the crowd lobbed a water bottle in the direction of the advancing officers, one of the officers issued a warning on his bullhorn to protesters: “Leave the area or you will be arrested.” Seconds later, the police sent canisters of tear gas into the crowd, causing protesters to scatter.
Trahan Martinez was filming the scene on her phone from a corner opposite the action, when the officers repeated their call to leave, this time in her direction. “I shouted, ‘I’m with the press. I’m media. I’m just working. I’m here doing my job,’” she recounted. When they responded with another command to clear the area, Trahan Martinez reiterated that she was a member of the press, in case they had not heard her.
“They screamed back, ‘It doesn’t matter,’” she said. Then they fired a canister of tear gas that landed a few feet behind her to her left.
“They started shooting at me,” she said, recounting that dark blue foam less-lethal projectiles fell at her feet. None of them hit her. Trahan Martinez walked away and took shelter in the patio of a closed restaurant until she was able to reach safety.
Trahan Martinez, who has worked as a reporter in Dallas for 20 years and has plenty of sources inside the Dallas Police Department, described the experience as a jarring one. “This particular unit did not care who I was or what I was doing there,” she said.
Reached by the Tracker, Warren Mitchell, a spokesman for the DPD, wrote in an email that it was “challenging” to provide comment about the incident without hearing the details from Trahan Martinez. Mitchell invited the reporter to make a complaint with the department.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Ethan Hyman, a photojournalist for the Raleigh News & Observer, was struck by a crowd-control munition while covering protests in Raleigh, North Carolina, on May 30, 2020.
The protest was among several demonstrations held across the country sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minnesota on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Hyman told the Committee to Protect Journalists — a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker — that he started to cover the protest in the city at around 5 p.m. After briefly returning to the newsroom to file, he went back to cover the protest at around 7. He witnessed confrontations between protesters and police, including officers from the Wake County Sheriff’s Department and the Raleigh Police Department.
Hyman says police used tear gas throughout the protest to disperse the crowd. Hyman saw protesters trying to throw canisters back at the police and putting cones over the tear gas to stop it from spreading.
At around 10:25, Hyman was shooting video when he was struck in the stomach by a projectile. He is still not exactly sure what struck him, although tweets sent by fellow News & Observer photojournalist Travis Long indicate it was a rubber bullet.
At the time he was struck, Hyman says, there were officers in riot gear firing tear gas from the steps of the courthouse in downtown Raleigh. He was not standing in the direct line of fire and estimates that police were 20 to 30 feet away from him at the time.
“It was not a very controlled situation,” said Hyman. “The police didn’t seem like they had control either.”
Hyman was wearing an N95 mask and goggles with a seal when he was struck. He says he doesn’t believe he was targeted for being a journalist. Hyman was wearing his press credentials around his neck, and they were visible when he was struck.
A tweet posted by Long shows the extent of Hyman’s injuries. The tweet, sent early in the morning of May 31, is captioned, “You’re going to feel that in the morning bud.”
The Raleigh Police Department did not immediately respond to CPJ’s request for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Tear gas canisters land as protesters walk by in Raleigh, North Carolina on May 30, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,no,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, chemical irritant, protest, shot / shot at",,,,, French videographer arrested with colleague for curfew violation in Minneapolis,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/french-videographer-arrested-colleague-curfew-violation-minneapolis/,2020-06-16 04:47:12.253121+00:00,2022-03-23 22:43:06.136966+00:00,2022-03-23 22:43:06.039890+00:00,(2020-08-13 17:55:00+00:00) Update: Charges dismissed against French videographer arrested while covering May protests,"Arrest/Criminal Charge, Assault, Equipment Damage",,,vehicle: count of 1,Mathieu Derrien (TF1),,2020-05-30,False,Minneapolis,Minnesota (MN),44.97997,-93.26384,"A French videographer was arrested for curfew violations in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 30, 2020, after police fired rubber projectiles at the car he was driving, damaging the windshield and sending small shards of glass inside the vehicle. The correspondent from his team was also arrested.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents all arrests separately.
Multiple days of protests in Minneapolis and across the nation were sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Mathieu Derrien, videographer for TF1, a major French television station, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in an interview that he was driving a rental car with his colleague, TF1 correspondent Amandine Atalaya, around Minneapolis just after 11:15 p.m. looking for people to interview when he made a turn off Lake Street.
A few seconds after making the turn, a foam projectile hit his windshield, damaging it and sending small shards of glass flying inside the car, he told the Tracker. The glass did not injure either journalist. Derrien quickly brought the car to a stop, as a few smaller projectiles—perhaps pepper balls—hit the windshield, leaving behind a white powder.
Officers then approached the car shouting for Derrien and Atalaya to get out and put their hands up, and they complied. “We immediately told them we were French journalists,” Derrien said. “They replied that they didn’t care and that there was a curfew in place.” The officers pointed their weapons toward the journalists, who showed them their press credentials issued by the U.S. Senate, but the officers were unmoved.
After securing their hands behind their backs using zip ties, the officers took them to a law enforcement facility across town, Derrien said, where they were fingerprinted and briefly placed in metal handcuffs. He received a citation for misdemeanor curfew violation, which is punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 or up to 90 days in jail.
Derrien said that he was unsure which agency the officers who arrested them were from. Emails sent to the Minnesota State Patrol and the Minneapolis Police Department inquiring about this matter were not returned as of press time.
Jeremy Zoss, a spokesperson for the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office, wrote in an email to the Tracker that Derrien was cited at the Hennepin County jail but the sheriff’s office was not the arresting agency. Upon review of the citation, Zoss said that the arresting agency was not listed, something he termed “unusual” and was likely a result of this being a mass arrest.
The arrest occurred despite the fact that members of the media were specifically exempt from Minnesota Governor Tim Walz’s executive order implementing the curfew.
Derrien and Atalaya were released around 2 a.m. and had to find their way back to their car without their cellphones, which were locked inside their vehicle with their gear. A protester who was released at the same time gave them a ride back to the general area where their car was. When they returned to the car, they discovered that one of the tires had been deflated.
In France, Derrien and Atalaya’s colleagues were “worried sick” when they were unavailable for the live shot they were supposed to do at midnight. “They called our phones many times, so when we got to the car, we had 15 or 20 missed calls each,” Derrien said. “They were starting to imagine the worst.”
Derrien later recounted what transpired to French daily newspaper Libération and tweeted out a photo of the car’s damaged windshield, writing that the situation had left them with “more fear than harm.”
A Minneapolis hier soir, à proximité d’un barrage, la police a tiré une balle en caoutchouc sur notre véhicule en marche côté conducteur, puis nous a arrêtés avec @AmandineAtalaya . Relâchés rapidement heureusement, plus de peur que de mal pic.twitter.com/hEZtkxyDDF
— Mathieu Derrien (@MatDerrien) May 31, 2020
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred total incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd while in police custody. Find these cases here.
While covering protests in Minneapolis for French publication TF1, Mathieu Derrien's rental car was hit with a rubber bullet shot by police. Derrien and a colleague were also arrested and charged with violating curfew.
",arrested and released,charges dropped,None,2020-05-31,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, chemical irritant, protest, shot / shot at",,curfew violation: breaking curfew order,,, "Police fire pepper balls at photographer in Buffalo, make grab for camera",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/police-fire-pepper-balls-photographer-buffalo-make-grab-camera/,2020-06-17 02:10:58.360968+00:00,2022-03-10 21:05:34.739518+00:00,2022-03-10 21:05:34.673922+00:00,,Assault,,,,Andrew Jasiura (Freelance),,2020-05-30,False,Buffalo,New York (NY),42.88645,-78.87837,"Police fired pepper balls at freelance photographer Andrew Jasiura and an officer tried to grab his camera while he was reporting on protests in Buffalo, New York, on May 30, 2020.
The demonstration in Buffalo’s Niagara Square was one of many such protests held in the days following the May 26 release of a video that showed a Minneapolis police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest. Floyd was later pronounced dead at the hospital.
Jasiura told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the protest was peaceful until a car drove through the crowd, who responded by dragging the driver from the vehicle. Police began to attempt to clear the square by firing nonlethal projectiles and advancing in a line. One officer asked Jasiura why he was taking pictures, and Jasiura said he pointed to his bright yellow vest that said “PRESS” in English and Cantonese (Jasiura had previously covered demonstrations in Hong Kong).
The photographer subsequently tried to come to the aid of a black man who had been hit with mace and pepper balls.
“He was just pouring mucus out of his face, out of his nose, his mouth, his eyes. His whole face was red,” Jasiura said. Jasiura tried to wash the protester’s eyes out with saline spray, at which point officers shot pepper balls at him, even though his press vest was clearly visible.
I saw one young man overheating and dripping mucus out of every hole in his head in response to the police tactics. I attempted to pull him back from the frontline when I was shot multiple times by police and told to leave him in their line of fire pic.twitter.com/09wnLAQ1Ss
— DrewJazzyPhoto (@PhotoJazzy) June 5, 2020
Jasiura said he approached one officer to try to explain that he was a photojournalist, but that officer fired more pepper balls at him.
“When I took pictures of his nameplate, he swiped up my camera to try to knock it out of my hands, and then shot me another 10-plus times in the legs,” Jasiura said. He caught a photo of the officer during the encounter.
Jasiura said his camera was not damaged and he did not suffer serious injuries beyond bruises to his leg. He said he is considering taking legal action against the Buffalo Police Department, but added that he does not want to be the center of the story.
The Buffalo Police Department did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting damage of equipment and multiple journalists arrested or struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas while covering related protests across the country. Find all of these cases here.
Freelance photojournalist Andrew Jasiura captured the moment a Buffalo police officer grabbed at his camera during an altercation in New York on May 30, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, chemical irritant, protest, shot / shot at",,,,, Camera equipment stolen from Chicago Tribune photographer during protests,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/camera-equipment-stolen-chicago-tribune-photographer-during-protests/,2020-06-17 13:14:39.863005+00:00,2022-03-10 21:37:16.976542+00:00,2022-03-10 21:37:16.899146+00:00,,"Equipment Damage, Assault",,,"camera: count of 2, camera lens: count of 2",Erin Hooley (Chicago Tribune),,2020-05-30,False,Chicago,Illinois (IL),41.85003,-87.65005,"A photographer for the Chicago Tribune was shoved and had her cameras stolen by two unidentified men while covering protests in downtown Chicago, Illinois, on the night of May 30, 2020.
The protests were sparked by a video showing a Minneapolis police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Tribune photographer Erin Hooley said she had been photographing protests and altercations between demonstrators and the police when looting broke out. While photographing the looting of a CVS at the intersection of South Wabash and East Monroe Street around 9 p.m., she said she overheard a woman yell, “Get that bitch’s cameras!” Suddenly, she said, two men shoved her to the sidewalk, grabbed the cameras she had strung around her neck and shoulder, and ran off. Hooley said she was bruised but otherwise uninjured in the attack.
Looters in #Chicago shoved me on the sidewalk and took my cameras tonight. Thanks guys. #ChicagoProtests #GeorgeFloyd #ChicagoScanner #riots2020 @chicagotribune
— Erin Hooley (@erinhooley) May 31, 2020
After picking up both herself and her press badge, Hooley said she walked down the street to see if the men had dropped the cameras but they were gone. She called her editor to report what had happened and then went home. Hooley said she saw police officers around the corner from where she was attacked but that they didn’t appear to be intervening to stop the looting.
Hooley said her cameras were owned by the Tribune company, which did not ask her to file a police report. The photographer said a Canon representative sent her loaner gear and that she returned to cover the protests in the following days.
According to the photojournalist, what bothered her most was the loss not of physical equipment, but rather several hours’ worth of photographs she had taken prior to the assault. Hooley said she had transferred about eight images to her editor while still in the streets, but that the rest were gone. “I was pretty angry about losing that stuff because it’s very historical,” she said. “It robbed me of being able to share this crazy time we are living in, and that’s very frustrating.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred total incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd while in police custody. Find all of these cases here.
Two Wisconsin reporters were caught up in tear gas clouds and pepper-sprayed by police while reporting on protests against police violence in Madison, Wisconsin, on May 30, 2020.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
Reporting for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Molly Beck and Lawrence Andrea were stationed near State Street, a central business district area, from around 6 p.m. until midnight. Beck estimates that tear gas was deployed by police six or seven times during that period, she told the Committee to Protect Journalists in a phone interview.
Tweets posted by Beck and Andrea that evening documented the use of both tear gas and pepper spray. Andrea tweeted videos around 10 p.m. that showed tear gas being deployed. Nearly two hours later, Andrea tweeted, “We are getting pepper sprayed.” At 1:20 a.m., Beck noted, “I can still taste it an hour later.”
Beck doesn’t believe that she and Andrea were targeted for being journalists. Instead, they were caught up in tightly packed crowds of protesters who were tear-gassed and pepper-sprayed.
“When the spraying started, we were hit with it, and then we started running away,” said Beck. “[The police] were walking down the line spraying and it got on us, in our mouth and eyes. It wasn’t point-blank in our face or anything like that.”
Beck told CPJ that she believes that the tear gas was deployed by Wisconsin State Patrol officers, while the pepper spray was deployed by Madison police. She added that the tear gas could have been deployed by a mix of state and city police.
Beck had press credentials hanging around her neck, but they were likely not visible to police.
“I would doubt that they saw that and immediately identified me as press,” she said.
Beck told CPJ that the pair stopped reporting after they were pepper-sprayed.
A Madison Police Department incident report published on May 31 about protests the previous day outlines the actions of some of the crowd, including damage to property and vehicles and attacks on police officers. The report states that “chemical agents were utilized [by Madison police] as officers attempted to move the crowd from the area.”
Joel DeSpain, public information officer for the Madison Police Department, told CPJ in an email that pepper spray is a “chemical agent” used by the Madison Police Department.
The Wisconsin State Police did not immediately respond to CPJ’s request for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred total incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd while in police custody. Find all of these cases here.
A French television correspondent was arrested for curfew violations in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 30, 2020, after police fired rubber projectiles at the car she was riding in, damaging the windshield and sending small shards of glass inside the vehicle. The videographer from her team was arrested at the same time.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents all arrests separately.
Multiple days of protests in Minneapolis and across the nation were sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Amandine Atalaya, a Washington-based correspondent for TF1, a major French television station, was riding in a rental car driven by her colleague, videographer Mathieu Derrien, in Minneapolis just after 11:15 p.m. when an officer fired a foam projectile at the windshield, damaging it and sending small shards of glass flying inside the car, Derrien told the Tracker in an interview.
Atalaya did not return an interview request as of press time.
Derrien quickly brought the car to a stop, as a few smaller projectiles—perhaps pepper balls—hit the car, leaving behind a white powder.
Officers then approached the car shouting for them to get out and put their hands up, and they complied. They immediately told officers they were French journalists, but the officers said they did not care and that they were in violation of the city’s curfew, Derrien said. The officers pointed their weapons toward the journalists, who showed them their press credentials, issued by the U.S. Senate, but the officers were unmoved.
After securing their hands behind their backs using zip ties, the officers took them to a law enforcement facility across town, Derrien said, where they were fingerprinted and briefly placed in metal handcuffs. She received a citation for misdemeanor curfew violation, which is punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 or up to 90 days in jail.
Derrien said that he was unsure which agency the officers who arrested them were from. Emails sent to the Minnesota State Patrol and the Minneapolis Police Department inquiring about this matter were not returned as of press time.
Jeremy Zoss, a spokesperson for the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office, wrote in an email to the Tracker that Derrien and Atalaya were cited at the Hennepin County jail, but the sheriff’s office was not the arresting agency. Upon review of the citation, Zoss said that the arresting agency was not listed, something he termed “unusual” and was likely a result of this being a mass arrest.
The arrests occurred despite the fact that members of the media were specifically exempt from Minnesota Governor Tim Walz’s executive order implementing the curfew.
Derrien and Atalaya were released around 2 a.m. and had to find their way back to their car without their cellphones, which were locked inside their vehicle with their gear. A protester who was released at the same time gave them a ride back to the general area where their car was. When they returned to the car, they discovered that one of the tires had been deflated.
In France, Derrien and Atalaya’s colleagues were very concerned when they were unavailable for the live shot they were supposed to do at midnight and called their phones multiple times in search of them, Derrien said.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting damage of equipment and multiple journalists arrested or struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas while covering related protests across the country. Find all of these cases here.
Keith Boykin, a freelance journalist and CNN political commentator, was arrested while covering a protest in Manhattan on May 30, 2020, despite identifying himself as a member of the press.
The protest was one of many demonstrations sparked by the May 26 release of a video showing a Minneapolis police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest the prior day. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Boykin, who was an aide to Bill Clinton during his presidency, was documenting the protest for his own Twitter feed, as he has done for past protests. On this afternoon, Black Lives Matter demonstrators had gathered at the Adam Clayton Powell Jr. State Office Building in Harlem and marched west, eventually making their way up an exit ramp and onto the West Side Highway. Boykin, who was on his bike, had moved ahead of the protesters in order to photograph them when he encountered a phalanx of New York Police Department officers heading toward the group. They said something to the effect of “Get out of the way,” Boykin told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. He identified himself as a member of the media, and the officers walked by him, then turned around and arrested him.
“I said, ‘Why? I’m with the press.’ They said it doesn’t matter,” Boykin said, adding that he had a press ID with him but never got the chance to show it to the officers.
So here’s what happened today. The NYPD arrested me at 96th Street and West Side Highway while I was taking photos and video to post to Twitter. I told the police I was with the Press, they walked by me and then turned around and arrested me.
— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) May 31, 2020
According to Boykin, officers placed zip ties tightly around his wrists and dropped his phone on the ground, cracking its screen. He was carried back to a police van, where they removed his face mask to photograph him, then placed him in the back of the vehicle, which was so hot that Boykin said he worried he would pass out, something he has a history of doing in high temperatures.
“Even being in the back of the van was traumatizing, because I thought of Freddie Gray and how he died,” said Boykin, who is black, referencing a black man who died in Baltimore police custody in 2015. “The whole experience was totally outrageous.”
After an hour in the van, Boykin said he was placed on a prisoner transport bus with other arrestees and brought to NYPD headquarters in lower Manhattan, where he was processed and placed in a cell with 34 other prisoners for several hours. Very few of them had face masks, Boykin said, and he worried that these conditions risked exposing them to the coronavirus.
“I was in that cell for four hours, never told what was going on, never given an opportunity to make a phone call,” Boykin told the Tracker, adding that he also wasn’t read his Miranda rights during the arrest. He was released at 9:30 p.m., six hours after his arrest, and given a summons to appear in court in September on misdemeanour charges of disorderly conduct and obstructing traffic.
“Mind you, I wasn’t blocking the highway—the police and the protesters were blocking the highway,” Boykin later told CNN’s Don Lemon. “I was in between the two of them, documenting what was happening.”
After that CNN appearance, Boykin told the Tracker that he was contacted by the New York City mayor’s office, which apologized to him for his treatment. He has also filed a complaint with the attorney general’s office. But to date, the charges have not been dropped, and he is prepared to fight them in court. He said the NYPD also failed to give him his ID back with the rest of his possessions following his release, and he needs to figure out a way to retrieve that.
The NYPD did not immediately return a request for comment.
“I thought it was completely unbelievable and unacceptable,” said Boykin of the experience. “This was a clear violation of my First Amendment rights.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred total incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd while in police custody. Find all of these cases here.
New York Police Department officers are photographed by Keith Boykin shortly before he was taken into custody.
",arrested and released,charges dropped,New York Police Department,None,None,True,1:21-cv-01362,['ONGOING'],Civil,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,"blocking traffic: walking on the highway, obstruction: disorderly conduct",,, Minneapolis news crew held at gunpoint by one man then menaced with crowbar by another,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/minneapolis-news-crew-held-gunpoint-one-man-then-menaced-crowbar-another/,2020-06-22 17:44:35.829005+00:00,2021-10-14 15:08:13.272498+00:00,2021-10-14 15:08:13.228895+00:00,,Assault,,,,A.J. Lagoe (KARE 11),,2020-05-30,False,Minneapolis,Minnesota (MN),44.97997,-93.26384,"In the span of two minutes on May 30, 2020, a news crew from NBC-affiliate KARE 11 that was covering protests and unrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, was held up at gunpoint by one man, and threatened by another man wielding a crowbar.
Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 have spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Investigative journalist A.J. Lagoe and photojournalist Devin Krinke had just driven into central Minneapolis from St. Paul after hearing that there might be "something going on" under the highway underpass of Interstate 35 West around 9 p.m., Lagoe told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. He said there were not many police in the vicinity and several people in the area expressed unhappiness at seeing reporters around.
A man in the crowd approached Lagoe and started asking him about the bulletproof vest he was wearing, Lagoe told the Tracker in an interview. “He kept saying he wanted it,” Lagoe said. Eventually, the man produced a semiautomatic handgun and demanded the vest.
Lagoe was holding his cell phone on the tripod at the time and Krinke was standing a few feet away, holding his camera. “We clearly identified ourselves as press, but that didn’t help the situation at all, it only inflamed it,” Lagoe said.
As Lagoe tried to talk his way out of the situation, a man brandishing a crowbar approached him and Krinke, Lagoe recounted. The man, who was dressed in black body armor decorated with a red medic cross, menanced them with his crowbar while shouting, “Give us all your stuff,” before running off and swinging his crowbar at someone else in the area, Lagoe recounted.
This provided enough of a distraction to enable Lagoe and Krinke to back away from both men, and round the corner and quickly head back to their car, Lagoe said. They drove a few blocks away and set up to do a live shot, and the man with the crowbar drove by them, swearing at them through an open window.
Afterward, Krinke tweeted about the experience:
@AJInvestigates and I were threatened at gun point at 2nd ave S and East Lake St. Young man even swung crow bar at AJ. He then swung at another photojournalist and destroyed his camera. Journalist friends please avoid this area. @kare11 @wcco @fox9 @efrostee @KSTP pic.twitter.com/HcnvevsINg
— devinphoto (@devphotoK11) May 31, 2020
That same evening, the crowbar-wielding man struck the camera of Lucas Jackson, a Reuters photographer, breaking it. Lagoe later retweeted a video of the man striking Jackson’s camera:
This is guy who swung crowbar at me & @devphotokare11 https://t.co/8DcxaRdZ2K
— A.J. Lagoe (@AJInvestigates) May 31, 2020
That instance of equipment damage is catalogued here, in a separate post on the Tracker.
Lagoe told the Tracker that they did not file a police report about either assailant.
The Tracker emailed the Minneapolis Police Department for comment about whether anyone has been arrested in these incidents of alleged assault, or if police reports had been filed regarding these matters. The request was not answered as of press time.
Mike Max, a reporter for WCCO, a CBS affiliate station based in the city, was reporting live a few blocks from the Fifth Precinct police headquarters when he reported that a man wielding a crowbar or cane tried to assault WCCO cameraman Chris Cruz. Max also said the man assaulted another photographer, whom he didn’t identify. Neither Max nor WCCO responded to requests for comment as of press time.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Protesters in Minneapolis on May 30, 2020.
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The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
Dan Lampariello, a reporter for Fox45 WBFF, and cameraman J. Thomas Fisher were standing in front of the police line outside Baltimore City Hall around 10 p.m. when a group of individuals on the other side of the line demanded they move back. “Some in the crowd began getting angry with us,” Lampariello says in a voice-over of tape filmed at the scene.
A few minutes later, the situation devolved further, and Lampariello and Fisher were forced to retreat a few blocks from City Hall. “Do not touch the camera,” Lampariello said on the video as individuals push him and Fisher.
Ray Strickland, a reporter for WMAR 2 News, Baltimore’s ABC affiliate, captured the incident on video and posted it to Twitter.
Protesters in #Baltimore just chased a camera crew away from city hall #BaltimoreProtest #GeorgeFloydProtest. It’s tense out here for sure. @WMAR2News pic.twitter.com/Rei7hL8nLP
— Ray Strickland (@realraystrick) May 31, 2020
About an hour later, the crew was chased again, and someone punched Fisher in the face, according to the WBFF report. A live unit was stolen out of his backpack, along with a microphone. Fisher’s assault and damage to the news equipment are documented here.
Early the next morning, Lampariello tweeted about the experience:
TWICE tonight myself and photojournalist @jthomasfisher were chased and assaulted by a group of people while covering the protest outside of #Baltimore City Hall. We had equipment stolen & destroyed. Scary and tense moments. I’m just thankful we’re both OK. https://t.co/fp7JbQu8ke
— Dan Lampariello (@DanFox45) May 31, 2020
Lampariello, Fisher and the WBFF newsroom did not respond to requests for comment.
“Last night, a FOX45 news crew reporting from the Baltimore demonstrations outside of City Hall was attacked and chased away by a group of protesters who resorted to violence,”
Scott Livingston, senior vice president of news for the Sinclair Broadcast Group, the station’s parent company, wrote the Baltimore Sun in an email. “Despite this incident, we remain undeterred, and our incredible journalists will continue to fulfill their duties and report live from the protests.”
On June 8, a Baltimore pastor was arrested in connection with the incident and charged with five counts, including second-degree assault, robbery and theft under $25,000, according to the Baltimore Sun.
According to a police report the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker obtained from the Baltimore Police Department, the station was able to recover the live unit using its GPS tracker.
“Our station will always support the Constitutional right to protest, a fundamental pillar of our democracy. At the same time, we also recognize the necessity of a free press, something that is more important now than ever before,” Bill Fanshawe, senior vice president of WBFF, told the Sun in a statement. “We ask that protesters recognize the important service that journalists everywhere provide, and should not be targets of anger and frustration.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Freelance photojournalist Brian Norberto was struck several times by crowd-control munitions fired by police in Tucson, Arizona, on May 30, 2020.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
Norberto told the Arizona Daily Star he was livestreaming the protests on Facebook when he was struck several times by nonlethal rounds fired by police that evening.
“When I got hit directly, I was continuing what I did before, getting between the crowd and the police,” Norberto said. “It’s hard to say that police were directly targeting the media, but at the same time that night I could feel a difference from the night before.”
More details about this incident were not available as of press time, as Norberto had not responded to multiple interview requests.
Tucson Police Department did not respond to a request for comment on this incident.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Journalist Juanita Ceballos’ camera was hit by a pepper ball while she covered protests against police violence in Louisville, Kentucky, on May 30, 2020.
Ceballos, a producer and cameraperson for VICE News, was filming with a colleague near Jefferson Square in downtown Louisville for several hours when police officers declared the demonstration an unlawful assembly and ordered protesters to disperse, she told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. Crowds of protesters were marching in response to the March 13 killing by Louisville police of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman, and the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police on Memorial Day.
At 8:25 p.m., while filming a line of police officers advancing toward a protester, Ceballos’ camera was hit by a pepper ball, she said, adding she was filming from the corner at a removed distance. After reviewing the footage of the hit to her camera — which wasn’t permanently damaged — she said she couldn’t be sure whether or not she had been targeted.
“I always make an intentional effort to look officers in the eye. If I have to move I will move,” she said. This time she hadn’t done so, she said, because she felt she was “far enough away that I was not in their way.”
Ceballos said she expected that her equipment and the press identification she was wearing made her clearly identifiable as a journalist. The night before, a reporter and photojournalist from Louisville TV station WAVE 3 were hit by pepper balls fired by police.
The Louisville Metro Police Department didn’t respond to a call and email from the Tracker requesting comment. Following the WAVE 3 incident, an LMPD official said officers have orders to not shoot pepper balls at members of the media.
Ceballos said that after the hit she felt threatened, not knowing whether the attack had been directed toward her or not. The journalist said she stopped filming for nearly half an hour, until she had cleaned the pepper powder off her lens, changed her N95 and gas masks and stopped coughing.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering Black Lives Matter protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Photographer Max Gersh was shoved by police with batons while covering protests in Louisville, Kentucky, on May 30, 2020.
The Associated Press reported that recent protests in Louisville have centered around the deaths of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, both of whom were Black. Taylor was shot eight times in her Louisville home in mid-March by narcotics police who broke down her door. Floyd died on May 25, after a white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, kneeled on his neck for several minutes during an arrest. Video of Floyd’s death has sparked protests across the country.
Gersh, a photographer with the Commercial Appeal, a daily newspaper in Memphis, Tennessee, had been sent to Louisville to help with the Louisville Courier-Journal’s coverage of protests in the city (both papers are part of the Gannett newspaper chain). At around 11:50 p.m., Gersh and a group of reporters from the Courier-Journal and other outlets were walking down an empty block near the Fourth Street Live Entertainment district when a flank of police officers came marching down the street, occupying the total width of the block, Gersh told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. Gersh was wearing a neon reflective vest that said “Press” and had his press ID around his neck on a lanyard.
Gersh said that he and the other reporters backed up against a building to stay out of the way but were told by the officers to “get moving” and clear the area. The journalists began to leave, with the officers moving behind them.
Suddenly, Gersh told the Tracker, the officers began to jog, forcing the journalists in front of them to break into a run. Gersh, slowed down by his heavy photography equipment, was falling somewhat behind the rest of the journalists when he said several officers began shoving him with batons and telling him to move faster. Gersh said he told the officers, “You don’t need to shove me,” but they kept pushing him along.
Side note: Cops straight shoved @pd_cameraman twice with their batons while we ran. https://t.co/FJDniuHC0X
— Natalie Neysa Alund (@nataliealund) May 31, 2020
When the journalists reached the corner, they turned to move into another intersection, where the group of officers eventually arrived. Gersh said no reason was given as to why they needed to clear the empty street.
Gersh continued to cover the protests. The following night, while taking photographs of law enforcement, he said a police officer yelled at him unprovoked, “You guys are just as bad as the protesters.”
“We’re just doing our jobs,” he replied.
The Louisville Police Department did not respond to requests for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
While covering May 30, 2020, protests in Kentucky, photojournalist Max Gersh documents Louisville Metro Police Department officers clearing the street, including media.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, Photojournalist struck with projectile during LA protests,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-struck-projectile-during-la-protests/,2020-06-29 22:42:29.819130+00:00,2022-03-10 19:30:33.756219+00:00,2022-03-10 19:30:33.691961+00:00,,Assault,,,,Kyle Grillot (Reuters),,2020-05-30,False,Los Angeles,California (CA),34.05223,-118.24368,"While on assignment for Reuters, freelance photojournalist Kyle Grillot was struck by an unknown crowd control munition when Los Angeles police officers fired projectiles at demonstrators during protests on May 30, 2020.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
Grillot was documenting protests in Los Angeles as they continued past the city’s 8 p.m. curfew. Grillot told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was at the intersection of Hope Street and Olympic Boulevard, preparing to document the police advance toward protesters in the area.
“I positioned myself safely on a corner and held up my LAPD press badge,” Grillot said.
As officers opened fire on the demonstrators with crowd control munitions, Grillot said he realized that his position was actually putting him in danger and moved behind an electrical box.
“That’s when I felt it hit my thigh,” he said, adding that he believes it was a rubber bullet that struck him. “I ran around the corner and continued to take photos, continuing to try to make my press badge as visible as possible.”
Grillot told the Tracker that beyond a bit of bruising, he was not seriously injured and none of his equipment was damaged. While he does not believe he was deliberately targeted, Grillot said that the officers were firing indiscriminately.
“I’m left wondering what I could have done to make it any more apparent that I was working press,” he said.
The Los Angeles Police Department did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Photojournalist Kyle Grillot was hit with a projectile fired by a Los Angeles police officer the day he captured this image. Grillot was on assignment for Reuters to cover protests in the city.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest, shot / shot at",,,,, "Yahoo News correspondent hit in Washington, D.C.’s Lafayette Park",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/yahoo-news-correspondent-hit-in-washington-dcs-lafayette-park/,2020-06-30 02:35:19.094148+00:00,2022-02-16 16:33:43.302385+00:00,2022-02-16 16:33:43.241042+00:00,,Assault,,,,Hunter Walker (Yahoo News),,2020-05-30,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"An individual at a protest hit a White House correspondent in Washington, D.C.’s Lafayette Park in the early morning hours of May 30, 2020, interrupting footage the journalist was streaming live from his phone to Periscope.
In his livestream, Yahoo News correspondent Hunter Walker narrated the scene around him on the evening of May 29 and into the early morning of May 30: “The situation has become extremely heated in the last few minutes. Again, this is Yahoo News White House Correspondent Hunter Walker. We are in front of the White House along Pennsylvania Avenue, where protesters have taken down some of the barricades and are just repeatedly clashing with Secret Service and U.S. Park Police who have plastic riot shields and riot helmets,” Walker said on the livestream, before his phone was knocked out of his hand, cutting off the livestream.
In the video, an unidentified individual verbally accosts Walker, telling the reporter to go away and accusing him of saying racist comments. Walker identified himself as a journalist and asked the individual, “What racist things did I say?" before the video cuts out.
Walker was able to recover his phone and resume live streaming. “After a brief interruption, someone hit me and threw my phone — one of the protesters here — I am back live in front of the White House,” he said in a subsequent clip posted to Periscope. “I’m doing fine, guys, I’m doing great, no worries.”
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering Black Lives Matter protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
An officer brandished a weapon at two public radio reporters in Minneapolis, Minnesota, even after they identified themselves as press, just after midnight on May 30, 2020.
Protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
American Public Media reporters Madeleine Baran and Samara Freemark had spent much of the evening covering the protests outside the Minneapolis Police Department’s Fifth Precinct when they decided to head back to their car and go home, Freemark told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in an interview.
As they attempted to cross Nicollet Avenue, a formation of law enforcement officers appeared, blocking them from crossing the street.
Freemark described the situation as initially being calm, but suddenly “there was a switch that flipped.” An officer suddenly appeared next to Freemark and Baran and shoved a weapon inches from their faces while shouting, “Get the fuck out of here,” Freemark recounted. She said she was not sure exactly what type of weapon it was, but that it did not resemble a pistol and seemed designed to fire crowd control ammunition.
In a tweet recounting the experience, Baran wrote, “A Minneapolis police officer pointed a weapon at me at @sfreemark’s heads, while we were standing on Nicollet and 32nd covering the protests.”
“I yelled that I’m a journalist. He did not lower his weapon, so we ran. Calling it a night,” she wrote.
A Minneapolis police officer pointed a weapon at me at @sfreemark’s heads, while we were standing on Nicollet and 32nd covering the protests. I yelled that I’m a journalist. He did not lower his weapon, so we ran. Calling it a night.
— Madeleine Baran (@madeleinebaran) May 30, 2020
Freemark and Baran were unable to reach their car and had to walk home, Freemark said. An interview request sent to Baran was not immediately returned.
Minneapolis was under an 8 p.m. curfew that evening, but journalists were expressly exempt from it.
Freemark said that the police line they encountered included officers from multiple agencies, and she was unsure which agency the officer who pointed the weapon was from.
An email sent to the Minneapolis Police Department inquiring about this incident was not returned as of press time. Bruce Gordon, director of communications for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, replied that before he could comment he would need to know if the incident in question involved a State Patrol trooper.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Minnesota State Patrol officers clear an area near the Minneapolis Police Department's Fifth Precinct on May 30, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, Rubber bullets crack windshield on FOX 9 new vehicle,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/rubber-bullets-crack-windshield-fox-9-new-vehicle/,2020-07-02 17:09:47.553872+00:00,2021-10-14 15:36:50.483185+00:00,2021-10-14 15:36:50.442681+00:00,,Equipment Damage,,,vehicle: count of 1,,,2020-05-30,False,Minneapolis,Minnesota (MN),44.97997,-93.26384,"A vehicle used by FOX 9, the Minneapolis-St. Paul Fox affiliate, was hit with two rubber bullets, which cracked its windshield, on May 30, 2020, in Minneapolis, according to tweets from two network reporters, Dawn Mitchell and Amy Hockert.
The incident occurred as the crew was reporting about ongoing protests in Minneapolis relating to the May 25 death of George Floyd, a Black man, in Minneapolis police custody.
Hockert tweeted around 9:30 p.m. that two rubber bullets hit the car and that everyone was OK.
Please go home, they mean business, our crew just got two rubber bullets to the car. They are OK. And they are allowed to be there. pic.twitter.com/1lAPlp3XWC
— Amy Hockert (@AmyHockert) May 31, 2020
Mitchell tweeted that the Minneapolis Police Department fired the bullets. The two reporters appeared not to be with the crew at the scene.
Hockert could not be reached for comment via email. Christina Palladino, a FOX 9 reporter who was part of the crew in the car, according to Mitchell’s tweet, could not be reached via email. In a tweet about the incident, Palladino wrote “we are all good!”
FOX 9 did not return CPJ’s voicemail requesting comment.
The MPD did not return CPJ’s emailed request for comment.
Secret Service agents and U.S. Park Police chased two journalists out of Washington, D.C.’s Lafayette Park in the early morning hours of May 30, 2020, minutes after the journalists were caught in a cloud of pepper spray, video footage of the incident shows.
At 3:22 a.m, officers in riot gear with the Secret Service and the U.S. Park Police sprayed pepper spray toward a crowd of protesters as they attempted to clear the park across from the White House, according to the video streamed live on Periscope by Yahoo News White House Correspondent Hunter Walker. Some of it wafted over to the side of the park where journalists were standing.
“After several hours of standoff here, this was the moment that the Secret Service and U.S. Park Police decided to advance,” Walker said, narrating the unfolding scene to his viewers on the livestream. “So they’re now pushing this crowd through the park.” Walker said he was holding up his White House “hard pass,” press credentials that allow him to enter the White House, to show he was a member of the media.
He said he inhaled some of the pepper spray through his N95 mask, leading to the sensation of “a little fire in the back of my throat,” he said. “I only got the smallest edge of that. They’re spraying more. They’re saying 'out of the park or you will be sprayed’”
The officers then rushed toward the crowd. “All of us reporters are here on the side, the police are just running forward into the crowd,” he said, coughing. “I am holding my hard pass in the air.”
A few officers then turned their attention to Walker, running towards him with their shields out, the video shows. “Press, guys, press. Press. OK. Press, press. Hard pass. Press. OK. Press. I’m press,” Walker shouts. Walker was chased out of the park, and turned off his livestream as an officer continued to come towards him, even as the reporter continued to wave his pass.
In a Yahoo News story he published later that day, he described the incident and said officers from both the Secret Service and Park Police forced identified members of the press out of the park across from the White House, shouting: “Get the f*** out of the park!”
Mike Balsamo, who covers the Justice Department and federal law enforcement for The Associated Press, also was present as the officers chased reporters out of the park.
US Park Police just told the crowd, including credentialed reporters to “get the fuck out of the park right now” as fellow officers sprayed a crowd of protesters with pepper spray
— Mike Balsamo (@MikeBalsamo1) May 30, 2020
Neither the Secret Service nor the U.S. Park Police provided comment on the incident in response to an e-mailed request.
A few hours earlier, Walker was hit by an individual, which interrupted his livestream.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25, 2020. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering Black Lives Matter protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Just after Minneapolis’ curfew went into effect on May 30, 2020, a correspondent and cameraman for Turkey’s state-run English-language news channel were hit by projectiles fired by police.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
Lionel Donovan, a Washington-based correspondent for TRT World, said he had set up for a live shot outside the Minneapolis Police Department’s Fifth Precinct just after the city’s 8 p.m. curfew went into effect, near some peaceful protesters staging a sit-in at an intersection. Journalists were specifically exempt from the curfew by Governor Tim Walz’s order.
“The curfew came and it was like a button got hit,” Donovan told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in an interview.
According to Donovan, the police advanced down the street and began to fire off tear gas and flash bangs to disperse the crowd. One of the tear gas canisters hit cameraman Barbaros Sayilgan’s foot during Donovan’s live shot.
Sayilgan could not be reached for comment, but Donovan said he helped the cameraman and a producer off to safety, then went back into the street to film more footage himself. Donovan was filming on his phone, he said, when a blue foam round struck him in the inside of his left thigh, breaking the skin.
“It felt like someone took a baseball bat and set it on fire and hit me in the leg,” he told the Tracker.
Donovan was wearing a helmet and flak jacket, both emblazoned with “PRESS” in white uppercase letters. He said he was not close to the crowd when he was hit.
“It definitely made us very jittery for the rest of the deployment because then we just didn’t trust the police in any way, shape or form to help us with anything,” he said.
Requests for comment sent to the Minnesota State Patrol and the Minneapolis Police Department were not immediately returned.
On June 1, Donovan tweeted a video in which he displayed the wound on his leg:
When you hear journalists talk about getting fired on by police, this is one of the things we’re getting hit with. It felt like I got hit with a baseball bat... pic.twitter.com/Xp4ZSYalvE
— Lionel Donovan, III (@LionelDonovan3) June 1, 2020
Fahrettin Altun, Turkey’s communications director, brought up the attack on the crew in a June 3 phone call with David Satterfield, the U.S. ambassador to Turkey, according to an article published in the Daily Sabah, a Turkish newspaper.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Minnesota State Patrol officers move toward protesters gathered near the police department’s Fifth Precinct on May 30, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest, shot / shot at",,,,, Photojournalist shot at with foam rounds while covering Minneapolis protests,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/despite-identifying-press-multiple-journalists-shot-projectiles-minneapolis-law-enforcement/,2020-07-06 21:52:28.843664+00:00,2022-03-10 19:32:40.012577+00:00,2022-03-10 19:32:39.952605+00:00,,Assault,,,,Adam Bettcher (Reuters),,2020-05-30,False,Minneapolis,Minnesota (MN),44.97997,-93.26384,"Freelance photojournalist Adam Bettcher said State Patrol troopers fired foam rounds at him while he was covering protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 30, 2020.
A curfew was in effect following protests sparked by a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
Bettcher, who was on assignment for Reuters, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that State Patrol troopers fired at him at around 11 p.m. near the Fifth Precinct.
Bettcher said he was holding up his press credentials and shining a flashlight at himself as he approached a police line, yelling out, “I’m press! I’m press.” Bettcher said he was wearing body armor and a denim shirt that had an embroidered patch that said “PRESS” on his chest. He said he told the troopers he was trying to reach his car and they yelled at him to “go home!”
Bettcher replied that he was trying to get home and asked them how he could reach his car, and they shouted at him to use Google Maps, he recounted. Seconds later, one of the officers fired a projectile that whizzed by his head, he said. “I heard it hit the wall behind me,” he said. At this, he left the area. “I didn’t go back to see what they shot at me, but it was a foam baton round from the sound of it.”
A request for comment about this incident sent to the Minnesota State Patrol and the Minneapolis Police Department were not returned.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
A Minneapolis police officer clears a cameraman from near the department’s Fifth Precinct on May 30, 2020. Photojournalist Adam Bettcher, who captured this image, was shot at with a projectile after he identified as press.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest, shot / shot at",,,,, Journalist assaulted while covering protests in Reno,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-assaulted-while-covering-protests-reno/,2020-07-09 16:44:25.871776+00:00,2022-03-10 22:06:14.979740+00:00,2022-03-10 22:06:14.909906+00:00,(2020-08-05 06:40:00+00:00) Reno police issue warrants in battery of journalist who was covering protests,Assault,,,,Don Dike-Anukam (This is Reno),,2020-05-30,False,Reno,Nevada (NV),39.52963,-119.8138,"Don Dike-Anukam, a student political writer for the news website This Is Reno, was assaulted by several people while reporting on a protest against police violence on May 30, 2020, he told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
The protest was held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
Dike-Anukam and several other colleagues contributing to This Is Reno were reporting on a small crowd gathered outside City Hall as evening drew close. The crowd had splintered from a rally of hundreds of Black Lives Matter protesters who had marched through downtown Reno, Nevada, that day, according to the Reno Gazette Journal.
The mood at City Hall had darkened as Dike-Anukam began to livestream on Facebook at around 7 p.m. Dike-Anukam’s livestream and other videos from the scene show people breaking the windows and entrance of the building. At one point, a chair is thrown from the inside of the building, shattering a window. An alarm wails as a Nevada flag smolders.
Suddenly someone yells, “We got the gavel!” Dike-Anukam approaches a person in a white bandana and baseball cap. “Where did that come from? Where did that come from? Did you go in the chambers?” Dike-Anukam tries to ask in the livestream.
“Turn that shit off,” the gavel holder says. He pushes away Dike-Anukam’s phone before walking away.
Two other people immediately confront Dike-Anukam. The livestream is largely unintelligible, but it appears to show a woman covering her face with blue fabric shouting expletives at Dike-Anukam as a man in an NBA All-Star sweatshirt stands by her side.
Dike-Anukam told the Tracker he believes the woman called him “Reno” because she saw his This Is Reno press badge hanging from his neck.
Suddenly, the camera is knocked to the ground. Another video posted to Facebook shows a fourth person, in black, who was originally standing next to the person with the gavel, backtrack toward Dike-Anukam. He swipes at Dike-Anukam’s camera before walking away through the crowd.
Dike-Anukam picks up his still-streaming camera and tries to walk away. But the woman and the man in the NBA sweatshirt follow him. Off camera, she warns Dike-Anukam, “You’re still gonna get jumped.”
“I don’t care. I don’t care. The First Amendment wins,” Dike-Anukam responds in the livestream.
Then, chaos breaks loose on the livestream in a garbled, 30-second mess of shouting as the feed goes black.
Dike-Anukam said he wasn’t certain if the woman was warning or threatening him, he told the Tracker. But he knew the crowd had grown increasingly aggressive toward the press. Earlier, he had watched protesters attempt to block a cameraman from the local NBC affiliate, KRNV, from filming the defacing of an American flag at police headquarters.
Dike-Anukam explained to the Tracker he felt “a strong feeling, a sense of duty and conviction” to continue reporting.
Ty O’Neil, a freelance photographer on assignment for This Is Reno, told the Tracker he was standing on a nearby ledge trying to photograph the crowd when he saw someone punch Dike-Anukam in the back of the head. In the chaos of the moment, O’Neil said he didn’t know who threw the punch, but a review of his photographs that day showed the man in the NBA sweatshirt making a fist right before Dike-Anukam was hit.
O’Neil ran toward his colleague as several people punched and kicked Dike-Anukam, who had fallen to the ground. Video shows the woman with a blue head covering joining the fray after Dike-Anukam was punched.
Dike-Anukam tried to protect his face, his vital organs and his phone, which contained all his footage, as best he could, he told the Tracker. As he was curled into a ball, shielding himself against multiple assailants punching, kicking and pulling at him, Dike-Anukam heard someone urge the others to go for his camera.
Lucia Starbuck, another This Is Reno contributor and reporter for NPR affiliate KUNR, filmed the assault. Her video appears to show some protesters attempting to stop the attack. Someone in a black sweatshirt throws the woman who had accosted Dike-Anukam to the ground.
O’Neil jumped into the melee to try to save Dike-Anukam.
“I shoved a bunch of people out of the way, and I grabbed Don’s shoulders and he looked up at me,” said O’Neil, his voice cracking. “He had these giant eyes of fear, and that’s definitely the thing that kind of stuck with me, how awful to see him like that was.”
Dike-Anukam said: “Had Ty not jumped in there and separated the crowd and pulled me out, I wouldn’t have made it … I would’ve sustained significant physical damage.”
“I grabbed him under the arm on his left side and I picked him up. And I just started running,” O’Neil said. “There were so many people around us. Just punches and kicks and, you know, chaos.”
Then the tear gas came.
It isn’t clear if the police, who up until this point had been conspicuously absent from City Hall, fired tear gas in an attempt to stop the assault or whether they coincidentally engaged the crowd at the same moment.
The Reno Police Department didn’t respond to multiple inquiries seeking comment.
Everyone — the journalists, those who were attacking them and those who were trying to save them — all fled from the cloud of gas.
“I just was recovering from getting my ass kicked, in a daze, and now all of a sudden I’m choking on this vile thing that’s got in my eyes,” Dike-Anukam said. “Everything hurts. My head is throbbing at this point. I’m wondering, am I bleeding?”
Despite the assault — and losing his glasses as a result — Dike-Anukam continued to report well into the night, as officials declared the gathering an unlawful assembly and imposed a curfew.
The following day, Dike-Anukam was diagnosed with a minor concussion, he told the Tracker. As of June 22, he was still feeling the effects of the assault and planned to return to receive follow-up care, he said.
O’Neil said he didn’t feel some of the blows from the crowd as his adrenaline surged. The next day, he discovered a bruise on his chest, but he didn’t know what caused it.
Dike-Anukam told the Tracker he filed a police report about the assault. On June 18, the Reno Police Department said it had identified the woman with a blue head covering and the man in the NBA sweatshirt as suspects in the assault and asked the public to help identify them.
Police chief and acting city manager Jason Soto said that the department was reviewing video and media reports to make arrests for crimes committed during the protest, according to This Is Reno. He denounced the assault on Dike-Anukam, saying the journalist was a “personal friend of mine through the media, and it breaks my heart that he was injured.”
In a personal account of the attack for the National Press Club, Dike-Anukam wrote that his heart, too, was broken by the events of May 30. He noted the irony of a Black journalist being assaulted while covering a protest in response to the killing of Floyd, an unarmed Black man.
But the assault didn’t blunt his dedication to journalism. “I am not deterred, scared, or less in love with this profession,” he wrote.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
This Is Reno reporter Don Dike-Anukam, center, with hat and white gloves, films just before being assaulted by multiple individuals on May 30, 2020 near City Hall in Reno, Nevada.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, chemical irritant, protest",,,,, "Police pepper spray, shove journalist covering anti-police brutality demonstrations in Brooklyn",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/police-pepper-spray-shove-journalist-covering-anti-police-brutality-demonstrations-brooklyn/,2020-07-09 18:49:47.868302+00:00,2022-03-10 22:06:34.451503+00:00,2022-03-10 22:06:34.389501+00:00,,Assault,,,,Nick Pinto (Gothamist),,2020-05-30,False,New York,New York (NY),None,None,"Freelance journalist Nick Pinto was pushed to the ground by a New York City Police officer after clearly identifying himself as a member of the press during a chaotic night of protests in the Brooklyn borough of New York City on May 30, 2020.
The protests were part of the many demonstrations held across the country after the May 26 video release of a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd during an arrest the previous day. Floyd, a black man, was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Pinto, who was covering the protests for New York outlet Gothamist, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the Saturday evening protest in the Flatbush neighborhood was “the most mayhem I've seen on the streets of New York City ever.”
By the time Pinto arrived in the late afternoon, tensions between the protesters and police in riot gear were at a fever pitch. The two sides were facing off in the street, Pinto said, when the New York Police Department pushed the crowd north up Bedford Avenue. Some protesters were throwing objects at the officers, including plastic and glass bottles, but also more dangerous projectiles, Pinto said.
“I saw fire extinguishers, bricks, chunks of concrete the size of footballs; I saw a cop take a giant chunk of brick and concrete in the neck and go down and I feel certain that that cop is not OK,” Pinto told the Tracker. “The police would respond by pepper-spraying indiscriminately, charging into the crowd with bats, busting people up, making some really hard arrests, dragging them back while the crowd chants ‘shame!’ And then they would reset and do it all again. This lasted for eight hours.”
When the crowd came across any police vehicles that had been left unattended, they would vandalize them and set them on fire, Pinto said. Other anti-police partisans climbed on the roof of gas stations to throw objects at officers in an environment that Pinto compared to “urban combat.”
When the moving conflict reached the intersection of Bedford and Church avenues, the police broke up the crowd into smaller groups that the officers pursued. During this time, Pinto was hit in the back of the neck by pepper spray, which he said felt like a “very strong Tiger Balm.” Later, Pinto would inadvertently touch the back of his neck and then his eyes, resulting in a much more painful burning sensation.
The journalist, who was wearing a press pass around his neck, told the Tracker that he was not specifically targeted by the pepper spray, but soon had a more direct encounter with an officer. Pinto was on the sidewalk on Church Avenue moving away from the line of police officers who repeatedly told him to move. He said he displayed his credentials and identified himself as a member of the media.
“I was not moving fast enough for their satisfaction. And it was a challenge to their authority,” Pinto said. One officer “locked eyes on me, came at me, pushed me, knocked me to the ground. It tore open my pants and bloodied both my knees.”
“I got back up, and I was like, ‘Hey, I'm press, I'm doing my job. I understand you're doing your job, but, just respect what I'm doing,’” Pinto continued. The officer replied, “‘No, you have to respect what I'm doing.’ And I asked for his badge number and he gave it to me. I asked for his name and he gave it to me. But I was rattled enough that I was unable to read the name that I wrote—my hand was shaking.”
Pinto was not detained or charged with any crime. In a separate incident the night of June 4 in Brooklyn, Pinto said he was shoved to the ground by officers during a scrum with protesters. Pinto told the Tracker that he is unsure whether he’ll file a complaint with the NYPD about the officer’s behavior on May 30 or about the incident a few nights later.
“I'm trying to decide whether I particularly feel like talking to the police about the police,” he said. “But I may yet do so.”
The NYPD did not respond to a request for comment about the incident.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
A New York City police officer uses pepper spray on protesters during a demonstration in the borough of Brooklyn on May 30, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, chemical irritant, protest",,,,, Photojournalist struck repeatedly with pepper balls while covering La Mesa protest,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-struck-repeatedly-pepper-balls-while-covering-la-mesa-protest/,2020-07-10 17:33:53.253264+00:00,2022-03-10 21:07:10.022806+00:00,2022-03-10 21:07:09.964702+00:00,,Assault,,,,Henri Migala (East County Magazine),,2020-05-30,False,La Mesa,California (CA),32.76783,-117.02308,"East County Magazine photojournalist Henri Migala was shot with pepper balls on two occasions while covering protests in La Mesa, California, on May 30, 2020.
Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 have spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Migala told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was photographing demonstrations near the La Mesa police station at around 6:20 p.m., having received word that officers had begun using tear gas on demonstrators.
In an account for the magazine, Migala wrote that when he reached the station, the standoff between police and protesters was well underway. The tear gas in the air caused his eyes to burn. Migala worked his way toward the south side of the station and crossed the street to distance himself from the protesters.
“I was wearing a bright yellow safety vest with my ‘MEDIA’ badge on the front,” Migala wrote. “I stood alone, away from any of the protesters so that I wouldn’t be mistaken for one of them. But despite standing there, alone, for about 20 minutes, I was shot with a pepper spray paintball in the leg.”
Migala told the Tracker that the pepper ball hit his right thigh, leaving a large amount of the chemical irritant powder on his leg.
Police continued to engage with protesters over the next hour, he said, firing various crowd control munitions to disperse the demonstrators.
“I had been there for so long that my back started hurting,” Migala said. “So, I sat on the curb in front of the postal office across the street from the police station, pretty far from the main demonstrators.”
As he sat there, police suddenly fired pepper balls at him again, striking him an additional two to four times, he said.
“One of the pellets exploded and a bunch of the powder went into my nose, my mouth and in my eyes,” he said. “I was instantly incapacitated.”
Migala said a couple of young women were able to lead him to safety. One woman held his camera, glasses and hat as the other rinsed out his eyes for at least five minutes.
He added that the powder was still covering his respirator mask, face, clothes and beard when he got to his car, and caused him significant difficulty breathing. The following day, some powder residue still covered his camera, and when he attempted to brush it off, his eyes watered and became irritated.
“Just molecules of that stuff is enough to irritate your eyes with burning pain,” he said.
Migala told the Tracker and wrote about a second journalist who was also struck with a projectile — believed to have been a rubber bullet — while covering the protests that day. The Tracker was unable to identify the journalist as of press time.
East County Magazine Editor Miriam Raftery told the Tracker that they don’t know for sure that Migala was intentionally targeted. ”It seems to me they should have been able to see that he was media,” she said.
The La Mesa Police Department did not respond to phone requests for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd while in police custody. Find all of these cases here.
From right, photojournalist Henri Migala in a reflective vest and media credentials while covering a May 30, 2020, protest in La Mesa, California, his leg after a pepper ball hit that day, and his camera covered in residue.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, chemical irritant, protest, shot / shot at",,,,, Two news vehicles damaged during Reno protests,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/two-news-vehicles-damaged-during-reno-protests/,2020-07-21 21:28:45.094527+00:00,2020-07-21 21:28:45.094527+00:00,2020-07-21 21:28:44.996307+00:00,,Equipment Damage,,,"vehicle: count of 1, vehicle: count of 1",,,2020-05-30,False,Reno,Nevada (NV),39.52963,-119.8138,"Unknown individuals damaged two vehicles belonging to ABC affiliate KOLO as the channel’s journalists reported on protests in Reno, Nevada, on May 30, 2020, the channel’s news director told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
Hundreds of Black Lives Matter protesters marched through downtown Reno, according to the Reno Gazette Journal. But police intervened with tear gas after a splinter group began to damage City Hall shortly after 7 p.m. Officials declared the gathering an unlawful assembly and imposed a curfew.
KOLO News Director Stanton Tang told the Tracker that unknown individuals attempted but failed to overturn one of the station’s news vehicles. The vehicle’s windshield and rear window were shattered.
Videos submitted to KOLO’s user content page show the vehicle parked a couple blocks from City Hall. One video shows someone repeatedly hit the side of the car before another person body-slams the front of it amid cheers. Another shows someone jump on the hood and repeatedly stomp on the windshield. A third shows a group of people attempt, but fail, to tip the car over.
Tang said another vehicle suffered multiple dents and a shattered side window. He said a rock was found inside the car.
Tang said he believed both vehicles were targeted because they were news vehicles.
A photo provided to the Tracker by photojournalist Ty O’Neil, who was on assignment for This Is Reno, shows a white vehicle with large KOLO branding on the side with a shattered front left window. O’Neil told the Tracker he took the photo a few blocks from City Hall on Mill Street.
The station filed a police report about the incidents, but no suspects had been identified, Tang said.
The Reno Police Department did not respond to requests for comment.
Police chief and acting city manager Jason Soto said that the department was reviewing video and media reports to make arrests for crimes committed during the protests, according to This Is Reno.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
The window of a KOLO news vehicle was shattered in Reno, Nevada, on May 30, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,KOLO-TV,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, Two Live 5 News news vehicles damaged in one night in Charleston,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/two-live-5-news-news-vehicles-damaged-one-night-charleston/,2020-07-28 03:49:23.978600+00:00,2022-03-11 17:04:57.933282+00:00,2022-03-11 17:04:57.858583+00:00,,"Assault, Equipment Damage",,,vehicle: count of 2,Abbey O'Brien (Live 5 News),,2020-05-30,False,Charleston,South Carolina (SC),32.77657,-79.93092,"A group of people hit and threw a rock into a stopped Live 5 News car carrying three journalists covering a demonstration against police violence in Charleston, South Carolina, on May 30, 2020.
The protest was held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
The car carrying reporter Abbey O’Brien, reporter Rob Way and producer Allyson Cook was driving through a crowd to get to safety because downtown Charleston was becoming violent, O’Brien said.
“We were in a Live 5 News car obviously designated as our station,” O’Brien told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. “People started banging on our windows and flicking us off.”
Demonstrations had started peacefully but turned violent as the night wore on, she said.
“Once it got dark, it turned into rioting; that was definitely not as many people,” O’Brien said. “I truly believe that it was just two different groups of people.”
While they were stopped at an intersection, members of the crowd began to bang on the windows of the car and then a rock was thrown through the back window. No one was injured.
At the time, the journalists weren’t sure whether it was a rock, tear-gas canister or an explosive, so once they got to safety, they all exited the car.
“We all jumped out and realized it was just a brick,” O’Brien said. “So, no one was hurt, which is good, but it was really scary.”
Now that we’re safe... here’s a look at what just happened to our @Live5News car. Someone threw this large rock while we were driving down King St. Very scary #chsnews #scnews pic.twitter.com/0r1Fq77nZ7
— Abbey O'Brien (@abbeyobrien) May 31, 2020
They continued to report throughout the night and made sure they didn’t leave anything valuable in the car. O’Brien said that, in a separate incident, people smashed out the front, driver’s side window of a different, unoccupied Live 5 truck. Both the car and the truck were out of commission for a few days, she said.
The windows in our @Live5News car busted in as #protesters move up king street. They are using bricks dug up to also smash windows #Charleston pic.twitter.com/zyrXyU1omv
— Lillian Donahue (@LillianDonahue) May 31, 2020
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Sally Ayhan, a reporter for TRT World — a Turkish state-owned, English-language broadcaster — said she was struck in the chest and leg by rubber bullets fired by law-enforcement officers while she covered a protest near the White House on May 30, 2020.
Protests that began in Minneapolis on May 26 have spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
In a report for TRT, Ayhan said that as she and her cameraman walked through the streets of Washington, D.C., they saw cars, including a police car, smoldering and heard tear-gas canisters and firecrackers going off.
“The rest of the protesters came, saying that they were being chased by police with fire crackers and gas canisters and rubber pellets,” she said.
Ayhan, who didn’t respond to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker’s request for comment, added she didn’t see protesters struck by the projectiles, though she herself was hit several times. It wasn’t clear which law-enforcement agency’s officers fired the rounds.
She said in her report that she was first hit in the back of the leg. “Then as I turned around trying to figure out how the police were dealing with protesters, I was hit in the chest, which hurt incredibly for a few moments,” Ayhan added.
Ayhan tweeted that she was struck while reporting in front of the White House, and that it appeared to be a tactic police were using “to keep protestors from breaking through the barricades.”
I was shot twice tonight by rubber bullets while reporting in front of the White House. Just one of the strategies police are using to keep protestors from breaking through the barricades. #GeorgeFloydProtests pic.twitter.com/JQtXF1e0Ku
— Sally Ayhan (@Sally_Ayhan) May 31, 2020
Neither the Secret Service nor the D.C. Metro Police Department responded to emailed requests for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd. Find all of these cases here.
A Secret Service agent is seen behind a barricade as demonstrators rally near the White House in Washington, D.C. on May 30, 2020
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest, shot / shot at",,,,, Photojournalist’s credentials stolen during DC protests,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalists-credentials-stolen-during-dc-protests/,2020-08-05 18:16:53.529990+00:00,2022-03-11 15:06:22.824558+00:00,2022-03-11 15:06:22.752385+00:00,,"Assault, Equipment Damage",,,press pass: count of 1,Matthew Rodier (Freelance),,2020-05-30,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"Matthew Rodier, a freelance photojournalist who was covering protests in Washington, D.C., had his National Press Photographers Association credentials stolen on May 30, 2020 by an individual who said that his photos were “getting people killed.”
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
Rodier, who frequently contributes to the Sipa USA agency, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he’d been covering events near the White House on the evening of May 30, when he was approached by a woman who asked him to stop taking photos.
“She said, ‘Your pictures are getting people killed,’” Rodier recounted. “I asked how and she responded, ‘Look what happened in Ferguson,’” seemingly a reference to speculation that a number of individuals connected to 2014 protests in Ferguson, Missouri, had died suspiciously.
During current protests, calls for photojournalists to blur the faces of people they photograph at demonstrations, or to not publish images that show identifying features, has inspired a debate among journalists.
Rodier said he told the woman “that it’s both my First Amendment right and my job to take the pictures.” He said that she responded violently: “She ripped the press pass from the lanyard around my neck and threw it into the crowd.”
Rodier, who continued to document that evening without his NPPA lanyard, was also the subject of multiple assaults while covering protests the following day in D.C. The Tracker captured those incidents here and here. Several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country are documented by the Tracker here.
Jonathan Mayorca, a journalist and co-owner of video news outlet The Convo Couch, was arrested by Los Angeles police while filming a demonstration on May 30, 2020.
The protest was part of Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality demonstrations across the country. The protests were sparked by the release of a video showing a white Minneapolis police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest. Floyd was later pronounced dead in a hospital.
Mayorca told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he arrived at the protest in the Fairfax area of Beverly Boulevard at around 3:30 p.m. along with two crew members, including his sister, Fiorella. Mayorca immediately began to livestream the demonstration. Video shows protesters gathering, holding signs, facing off with a line of police officers and then walking with their hands up and chanting.
The protesters moved west down Beverly Boulevard, and Mayorca and his crew followed. At around 4 p.m the protesters went down an alley near Beverly Boulevard and North Fairfax Avenue because the police had blocked off all other streets, Mayorca said. Officers with the Los Angeles Police Department then blocked all exits, or kettled the protesters in the alley. Mayorca and his crew were prevented from leaving.
Mayorca said he told the police he was a member of the press, but they ignored him. Mayorca was wearing a press badge on a lanyard hanging from his neck.
“We told them multiple times, ‘we’re press, we’re press’,” he said.
Protesters and Mayorca and his crew knelt on the ground in the alley as police officers watched them from a “line in front and behind us,” he said.
“One protester was crying hysterically,” Mayorca told the Tracker. “She threw up.”
Soon after being kettled, LAPD officers moved into the alley. Mayorca did not hear a dispersal order and was not given an opportunity to leave before he was arrested, according to a class-action lawsuit Mayorca joined against the LAPD for alleged federal and state constitutional rights violations. Mayorca’s video of the incident does not appear to pick up an audible warning from police.
Officers grabbed Mayorca, pushed him to the ground, and arrested him, he said. The officers’ actions broke the microphone attachment for his camera.
“It was the height of aggressiveness,” Mayorca said.
According to Mayorca, an officer said his camera equipment was broken before his interaction with police.
The police used zip-tie handcuffs to detain him.
Here’s the quick clip of us getting arrested as the cops lied and kettled the people into an alley. People were asking where to go & the cops led them to more cops. They refused to let us go even though we had badges and told them. pic.twitter.com/nfYvTl561J
— Fiorella Isabel🌹🔥 (@Fiorella_im) June 1, 2020
“The police put me against a wall and searched me,” Mayorca said.
The police brought Mayorca to the Van Nuys police station, where he was held for about two hours and then released, he said. Mayorca said he repeatedly complained about the tightness of his zip-tie handcuffs, but the police ignored him.
“It cut off my circulation a bit,” Mayorca said. “It was uncomfortably tight.”
He was issued a citation for failure to obey a lawful order, a misdemeanor.
Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer said in June that he would use a “non-punitive approach” to resolve the cases of peaceful protesters outside the court system.
Jorge Gonzalez, a civil rights lawyer who's part of the team representing protesters, said the city has tentatively agreed to dismiss the charges if protesters complete an online course on the First Amendment. Gonzalez told the Tracker Aug. 3 that he is rejecting the city’s condition and awaiting the city’s response.
However, Rob Wilcox, a spokesman for City Attorney Feuer, said protesters will be invited to a voluntary, virtual conversation about policing, bias, and inequity organized with the help of local cultural, academic and criminal justice institutions.
Mayorca is a plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit against the LAPD for allegedly violating protesters’ constitutional rights to peacefully assemble and protest, using excessive force, and holding protesters in unlawful conditions of confinement. When reached for comment, LAPD spokesperson Officer Norma Eisenman said the “department does not comment on pending complaints.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd while in police custody. Find all of these cases here.
Two journalists who’d been reporting for the Detroit Free Press had weapons brandished at them by law enforcement officials while covering protests in the city on May 30, 2020, they told the Committee to Protect Journalists.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
Detroit Free Press reporter M.L. Elrick, who’d been reporting that evening with a group of Free Press journalists, told the Committee to Protect Journalists that at around midnight, a police officer pointed a nonlethal rifle at him. Elrick was standing on a street with Free Press reporters Branden Hunter and David Jesse, several other reporters and unidentified people in civilian clothes. Elrick was wearing a press badge, khakis and sneakers, according to photographs of the evening and the incident.
Elrick said that he “explained to the cop who [he] was and nothing happened.”
Immediately following this incident, police used tear gas to disperse protesters as well as a rubber bullet gun, but Elrick said he did not feel like it was aimed at the reporters.
“There was tear gas everywhere, so some people got it in their eyes,” Elrick told CPJ about that evening. “There [were] a lot of people going out there without proper regalia,” which, in Elrick’s opinion, made it difficult to distinguish journalists from protesters.
The Free Press did not respond to an email requesting comment as of press time.
When contacted by CPJ, the Detroit Police Department’s voicemail box was full. The department did not respond to CPJ’s emailed request for comment as of press time. CPJ is a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Free Press education reporter David Jesse said he was targeted with tear gas and rubber bullets by law enforcement while covering protests in downtown Detroit, Michigan, on May 30, 2020.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
Jesse told the Committee to Protect Journalists — a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker — that around midnight on May 30th an officer threw tear gas toward the group of journalists he’d been standing with and that someone began to fire rubber bullets. Jesse wasn’t hit but felt the incident was targeted.
“I had my iPhone out in one hand, taking a picture of what’s going on, and in my other hand, I have [my] media credential out, you know, showing the media credential,” Jesse said, adding that the journalists were screaming, “Media!”
“It was very clear who we were,” he said. “We were all taking pictures. … It was very clearly aimed at us and getting us off the streets. There’s no doubt they were shooting right at us.”
Jesse told CPJ that he didn’t feel like any other deployments of tear gas were aimed at the journalists. “They were tear-gassing protesters and the cloud just sort of travels,” he said.
Several other Free Press colleagues were caught up in tear-gas and rubber-bullet fire that evening. No one was injured, and there are differing opinions as to whether the journalists were targeted. The Free Press did not respond to an emailed request for comment as of press time.
When contacted by CPJ, the Detroit Police Department’s voicemail box was full. The department did not respond to CPJ’s emailed request for comment as of press time.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Radio journalist Sean Greene was punched in the eye by an unknown individual who also stole a smartphone the reporter was using to cover a demonstration in Wilmington, Delaware, on May 30, 2020.
The protest was held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the U.S. since late May.
Greene told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that protests he has covered in Wilmington and Dover, Delaware, for radio station WDEL were mostly free of violence and destruction of property, but some individuals took advantage of the May 30 demonstration in Wilmington to break into retail stores and steal merchandise.
Greene used his company-issued iPhone to broadcast the scene to Facebook Live. He was wearing a construction vest and had press credentials attached to a lanyard hanging from his neck.
At about 6 p.m. Greene was filming a person trying to break a storefront window when an unknown individual punched him in the eye.
“I hear someone scream ‘snitch!’ and the next thing I know someone has punched me,” Greene said. The individual also stole the iPhone and fled.
Greene said he didn’t get a good look at the assailant.
Greene said three Wilmington police officers standing nearby saw the assault but took no action. He didn’t seek medical attention and reported the incident to the police.
A Wilmington police spokesman didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Greene said some protesters saw the incident and helped him.
“To the protesters who made sure I was OK and offered me water, thank you,” Greene tweeted following the incident. “To the police officers who saw me take a punch and did nothing, I'm disappointed.”
Greene said he has since covered two additional protests from WDEL without incident.
Mike Phillips, a colleague of Greene’s at WDEL, also had a company-issued iPhone stolen while covering the May 30 protest but wasn’t otherwise harmed. Phillips reported the theft of the two iPhones to the Wilmington Police Department.
A police spokesman declined to comment on Phillips’ report.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
A news crew with Phoenix’s 3TV and CBS 5 was rushed by a crowd, and their security guard injured, while the journalists broadcast live from protests in Scottsdale, Arizona on May 30, 2020.
Demonstrations in Phoenix and Scottsdale began in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the U.S. since late May.
Reporter Max Gorden and a videographer went to Scottsdale Fashion Square, a large shopping mall, in response to a tip that protesters planned to gather there around 10 p.m.
The crowd grew to several hundred as demonstrators began marching down the blocks around the mall, Gorden told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. As protesters returned to the march’s starting point, some people started smashing store windows and spray-painting walls, he said.
At that point, Gorden suggested to his producers to throw the live broadcast to him. When the light on the camera turned on, Gorden said, his group became a target.
As he was getting ready to go live, someone began pushing a sign toward the camera shot.
Security guard Jesse Torrez, a private security contractor the station hired to accompany news crews during the protests, told the Tracker that when the camera light turned on, several people rushed toward the cameraman, with one individual holding a sign moving toward Gorden. Torrez put his hand out to stop the person with the sign. As he was holding that person back, someone else struck him over the head with a hard object. Torrez believes it may have been a metal pipe.
Gorden saw a scuffle out of the corner of his eye. When he looked to see what had happened, he saw Torrez bleeding from his head. Both Torrez and his partner were carrying firearms, and they put their hands on their weapons. The crowd eventually dispersed.
After safely getting out of the area, Torrez went to the hospital to seek medical attention. He had four staples put into the laceration on his head, and had to go to a concussion clinic for two months, he said. For a month after the attack, Torrez said he couldn’t drive because his equilibrium was off as a result of the head injury.
A Scottsdale Police Department spokesperson confirmed that the incident has been reported and that police have an open investigation for aggravated assault. However, no suspects have been identified and no arrests have been made.
Gorden doesn’t believe that he and his colleagues were targeted because they were journalists. He said tensions were running high that night, and when the sign was pushed out of the way, they escalated.
“Anything could spark violence in that situation,” Gorden said. “In that moment, windows were being broken out, there was kind of this fervor that sort of really, really escalated throughout the crowd.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Journalist Fiorella Isabel Mayorca, co-owner of video news outlet The Convo Couch, was kettled and arrested by police on May 30, 2020, while covering a Black Lives Matter protest in Los Angeles.
The Los Angeles protest was part of Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality demonstrations around the country. The protests kicked off after the release of a video showing a white Minneapolis police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest. Floyd was later pronounced dead in a hospital.
Mayorca arrived at the protest at Beverly Boulevard in the Fairfax neighborhood of Los Angeles around 3:30 p.m. with two crew members, including her brother Jonathan. She and Jonathan began to film the demonstrations. Mayorca’s footage shows demonstrators on the boulevard chanting, holding signs, facing off with a line of police officers and then walking with their hands up.
When the demonstrators started to move west on Beverly Boulevard, Mayorca followed and continued filming. At about 4 p.m., protesters headed down an alleyway near Beverly Boulevard and North Fairfax Avenue. The Los Angeles Police Department had blocked off all other streets and directed protesters in the direction of the alleyway verbally and with their hands, Mayorca said. The police then kettled the demonstrators in the alley, blocking off exits and trapping protesters.
“They started to kettle people and we thought we should be OK because we’re press,” Mayorca said.
Mayorca wore a press badge that hung from a lanyard around her neck. She and her brother told police officers they were press, but they were ignored, she said.
Soon, Los Angeles police rushed in. Video of the police entering the alleyway reviewed by the Tracker does not appear to pick up an audible warning from police. Officers began arresting protesters and journalists, including Mayorca and her brother.
Mayorca was put in handcuffs and then pushed up against a wall by a police officer, she said.
“[A woman officer was] seriously groping me. She went in my underwear. They were acting like we were hiding drugs,” she told the Tracker.
Officers placed zip-tie handcuffs on Mayorca. She said they felt extremely tight.
“The worst part of it was the wrists,” Mayorca said. “The way they placed it, it was like our wrists were going in different directions, not a normal position. It hurt.”
After spending about an hour in a police wagon, she and her brother were taken to the Van Nuys police station in Los Angeles, where she said she was held for about two hours and then released.
Mayorca was given a citation for failure to obey a lawful order, a misdemeanor charge.
The Tracker asked the LAPD to comment on Mayorca’s arrest, including allegations that she was groped while detained by police.
In response, the department referred the Tracker to a statement published in June.
“The Los Angeles Police Department continues to investigate allegations of misconduct, violations of Department policy, and excessive force during the recent civil unrest,” the statement reads. “The Department has assigned 40 investigators to this effort and we will look into every complaint thoroughly and hold every officer accountable for their actions.”
In June, Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer said his office would be resolving the cases of peaceful protesters arrested during recent Black Lives Matter protests in a “non-punitive” way.
Jorge Gonzalez, a civil rights attorney who’s part of a team representing protesters arrested during the recent demonstrations, said the Los Angeles City Attorney has tentatively agreed to dismiss the charges, on the condition that protesters complete an online course on the First Amendment. Gonzalez said Aug. 3 that the team is rejecting the city’s condition and awaiting the city’s response.
Rob Wilcox, a spokesman for City Attorney Feuer, told the Tracker protesters will be invited to a voluntary, virtual conversation about policing, bias, and inequity organized with the help of local cultural, academic and criminal justice institutions.
Mayorca’s brother Jonathan is a named plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit against the LAPD for allegedly violating protesters’ constitutional rights to peacefully assemble and protest, using excessive force, and holding protesters in unlawful conditions of confinement. When reached for comment, LAPD spokesperson Officer Norma Eisenman said the “department does not comment on pending complaints.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd while in police custody. Find all of these cases here.
Nolan Cramer, a journalism student interning for the Toledo City Paper, said he was targeted with tear gas by law enforcement while covering protests in Toledo, Ohio, on May 30, 2020.
The protest was held in response to a video showing a Minneapolis police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, for more than eight minutes during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital. The incident sparked anti-police brutality and Black Lives Matter demonstrations across the country.
Cramer told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was photographing near the corner of East Woodruff and Franklin Avenues as Toledo Police Department officers worked to disperse protesters in the street at around 5:45 p.m.
“I had my camera out, my press credentials displayed and was clearly identifiable as press,” he said. “That is when a TPD officer deployed and threw a tear gas canister in my direction.”
Cramer said that the officer deliberately targeted him and Toledo Blade editor Nolan Rosenkrans, who was standing next to them, despite both of them wearing visible press passes. Both journalists were caught in the cloud of tear gas.
“Luckily, neither of us were physically injured and our equipment was not damaged,” Cramer said. “I was very fortunate that all I had to deal with was being tear gassed. So many journalists around the country are experiencing way worse.”
Rosenkrans told the Tracker that he had not felt targeted with tear gas that day, but noted that he did not know what Nolan had experienced or seen.
Reflecting on the incidents that day, Cramer told the Tracker, “What is even worse is knowing my incident was not isolated. I witnessed multiple journalists either have less lethal force used on them or be threatened with less lethal weapons.”
“In my opinion, it seemed like Toledo police officers did not care whether someone was a protester or a member of the press; their main concern was dispersing everyone in sight.”
Lt. Kellie Lenhardt, who commands the Toledo Police Public Information Section, told the Tracker over email that the department did not receive complaints from Cramer or other journalists that day.
Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz said during a press conference on June 22 that there was an investigation into officers’ conduct during the protests. Kapszukiewicz also announced that officers will no longer be permitted to wear military-style camouflage.
On July 22, Toledo police announced that three officers were disciplined for misconduct during the May 30 protests. One officer received a written reprimand while the other two were suspended and given last chance warnings, meaning they could be fired following another infraction.
“Police legitimacy cannot improve if departments fail at policing their own,” Police Chief George Kral said in a press release announcing the disciplinary measures. “I will ensure that officers are held accountable when their actions are found to violate department policies, and I will always support the hundreds of officers that positively represent Toledo Police.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
As an intern for the [Ohio] Toldeo City Paper, Nolan Cramer said he was photographing during the early evening of May 30, 2020 when a Toldeo police officer threw a tear gas canister in his direction.
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The protests in Los Angeles were sparked by a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Demonstrations against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
Sanchez told the Tracker he arrived at Pan Pacific Park at around 1 p.m. to document a Black Lives Matter protest. A couple thousand people had congregated at the park, he said. Protesters then marched through the city’s Fairfax District.
Sanchez said he first encountered law enforcement, who represented the Los Angeles Police and Los Angeles County Sheriff’s departments, between 3 and 5 p.m. A police vehicle had been lit on fire near the intersection of Fairfax Avenue and Third Street. Law enforcement formed a line to prevent protesters from moving west, creating a tense stand-off, Sanchez said.
Sanchez, who was wearing his press badge, wanted to cross the police line to document what the protests looked like from the other side. But when he approached the line to cross, a Los Angeles Police officer wearing dark blue or black riot gear shoved him back with a baton, Sanchez said.
“I said multiple times, ‘I’m press,’ and after I ID’d as press, they did relax a bit, but they did not allow me to cross their line,” Sanchez told the Tracker.
His second encounter with law enforcement came around 5:30 or 6 p.m., he said. By then, the police had closed down streets to move protesters toward La Brea Avenue, east of Fairfax. Sanchez had decided to go home, but he noticed another stand-off between law enforcement and protesters near Beverly Boulevard and Stanley Avenue. He stopped to take photos of the confrontation.
After bottles were thrown at law enforcement, the police fired tear gas canisters to disperse the crowd. Sanchez said city police officers and county sheriffs were present when the tear gas was shot.
“You hear pops, then you see canisters, and you see a cloud of smoke,” Sanchez said. “At that point I couldn’t see anymore. It went full on to my face.”
Protesters assisted Sanchez by pouring milk in his eyes, which provides some temporary relief from the burning feeling caused by exposure to tear gas. Sanchez, who goes by his nickname, Chava, rather than Jose Salvador, tweeted his appreciation to protesters for their help.
So thankful for all the folks who helped me after the police started shooting tear gas into the protest. pic.twitter.com/bkamzDom52
— Jose Salvador (@chavatweets1) May 31, 2020
After law enforcement fired a second volley of tear gas, Sanchez left the demonstration.
In a statement responding to the Tracker’s inquiries, Los Angeles Police Department spokesperson Norma Eisenman said, “We do not comment on pending complaints.” The Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department did not respond to the Tracker’s request for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Los Angeles law enforcement fires crowd-control munition during a May 30 demonstration against police brutality.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,no,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, chemical irritant, protest",,,,, Radio journalist shot with projectile during Pittsburgh protest,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/radio-journalist-shot-projectile-during-pittsburgh-protest/,2020-08-12 18:59:21.628492+00:00,2022-03-10 19:34:45.401479+00:00,2022-03-10 19:34:45.334982+00:00,,Assault,,,,Bill O’Driscoll (90.5 WESA),,2020-05-30,False,Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania (PA),40.44062,-79.99589,"Bill O’Driscoll, a reporter for the local public-radio station 90.5 WESA, was struck by a projectile fired by police while covering protests in Pittsburgh on May 30, 2020.
Protests that began in Minneapolis on May 26 had spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
O’Driscoll told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that May 30 was the first big day of protests in Pittsburgh, with demonstrations beginning downtown around 2 p.m. He took over for a colleague covering the protests for WESA at around 5 p.m.
“In a familiar pattern now, the protest had started quite peacefully: Protesters were blocking the streets, marching, chanting, blocking the streets, etc.,” he said. “After a couple of hours, there was an incident where an unoccupied police car was set on fire. A second car was then set on fire in the same area. The protest at that point was called off by the organizers.”
While most of the protesters dispersed, O’Driscoll said up to 200 people remained on downtown streets. He found a splinter group of protesters and followed them as they marched.
When the group turned on to Smithfield Street — which cuts through the middle of downtown — they encountered a police blockade manned by officers clad in riot gear.
“The police had decided at that point to stop the protest, or, in other words, to initiate a confrontation with the remaining protesters,” he said.
O’Driscoll said that around 6:30 p.m. he was standing behind the front line of protesters and was at least 30 to 40 yards away from the police. Officers had begun firing tear gas and crowd-control munitions, though he said he wasn’t sure what type of projectiles they were using.
“I had my back turned — not intentionally, that was just the way I was facing when I knocked out a tweet about what was going on — and I just felt this impact on my left buttocks, and it felt like I’d been hit by a baseball pretty hard at short range,” O’Driscoll said. “Then I realized immediately that it had been something that had been fired, and then I started to run off down the street in the opposite direction until I could figure out what was going on.”
And your humble reporter was just hit in the left buttocks by what I think was a rubber bullet. That stang @905wesa
— Bill O'Driscoll (@ODriscoll1bill) May 30, 2020
O’Driscoll told the Tracker that he didn’t know if he was targeted. While he said officers couldn’t have seen the press credentials around his neck because of the way he was standing, he was carrying a large, noticeable microphone.
“I had been on that particular scene for a while at that point, and within sight of the police, so it’s also possible that they could have identified me and if they were targeting me they probably would have seen who I was at that point,” he said.
The Pittsburgh police didn’t respond to a request for comment.
At a press conference that evening, Pittsburgh Police Chief Scott Schubert said “white males dressed in anarchist attire” had hijacked what had been a peaceful protest. Schubert didn’t discuss police use of crowd-control munitions.
While the projectile left a large bruise, O’Driscoll said it didn’t hamper his ability to work and he covered a subsequent protest as well.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd while in police custody. Find all of these cases here.
George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020, ignited a sweeping assembly of protesters across the United States — and the globe — in a staggering, monthslong outcry for police reform and racial justice. In many moments peaceful, in many others bracingly violent, journalists of all stripes took to documenting these demonstrations. At times, to do the job meant to expose oneself to the effects of riot-control agents, to face harassment from individuals or law enforcement officials, to fear for your safety or have your reporting interrupted. Below is a geographically-organized roundup of such examples from around the U.S. in May.
A full accounting of incidents in which members of the press were assaulted, arrested or had their equipment damaged while covering these protests can be found here. To learn more about how the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents and categorizes violations of press freedom, visit pressfreedomtracker.us.
In Oakland, California
Many people clutching their eyes, nose running, one man bent over vomiting. Literally hard to breath
— Mario Koran (@MarioKoran) May 30, 2020
not my most dignified moment
— Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez (@FitzTheReporter) May 30, 2020
but hey, thanks random demonstrator for the baking soda and water#oaklandprotests #GeorgeFloydprotest pic.twitter.com/eitXljHuYn
Breaking: #Oakland police fire tear gas at #GeorgeFloyd protesters after series of small explosions. Crowd runs. I got gassed, as did many other media. Not fun. Burning eyes, hacking cough. Been at least 17 years since I managed not to avoid the gas at a protest pic.twitter.com/T1a0Aizkch
— SovernNation (@SovernNation) May 30, 2020
In a tweet sent just after midnight, Sovern reported: “Not one person in the #GeorgeFloyd protest crowd tonight in #Oakland was hostile to me in any way. No one refused an interview or a photo, no one swore at me, and several came to my aid after I got tear gassed.” The next morning, he added: “It was a really rough night for a lot of the media working bravely to do their best to cover a chaotic situation. Some got hit with rubber bullets. Many of us got gassed. And some good people were plain ripped off.”
It was a really rough night for a lot of the media working bravely to do their best to cover a chaotic situation. Some got hit with rubber bullets. Many of us got gassed. And some good people were plain ripped off. https://t.co/EDAAKLpKDO
— SovernNation (@SovernNation) May 30, 2020
In San Jose, California
OK. Just got tear gassed for the first time in my career.
— scott budman (@scottbudman) May 30, 2020
Time to go. pic.twitter.com/0iLniP8YLf
In Oakland, California, on May 29, 2020, a demonstrator kicks a canister of tear gas.
In Louisville, Kentucky
Shortly before going live, police threw tear gas w/o warning. I got separated and ran out of instinct. I couldn’t breathe or see. A group of #Louisvilleprotest protesters stopped to help me and poured baking soda solution in my eyes so I could see again. Thank you. @WDRBNews pic.twitter.com/PNDQwzQF6B
— Sara Sidery (@SaraSideryWDRB) May 31, 2020
In Atlanta, Georgia
Hi, just checking in. I was recording in the front line where just a few dozen protestors stood arms locked in front of police with riot gear. They were chanting but not violent. Cops came from 3 directions & closed around us in intersection. threw tear gas & maze. pic.twitter.com/E1cSlQWIrN
— Julieta Martinelli (@ItsJMartinelli) May 30, 2020
May 30, 2020
In Seattle, Washington
Plumes of tear gas on Pine near Westlake #SeattleProtest pic.twitter.com/z2Pl7EtRF1
— nathalie graham (@gramsofgnats) May 30, 2020
As I explained on air, our security guard felt that the public was in danger. He took the AR 15 from the rioter and disabled it. We called 911 and waited to hand it over and continue our reporting. Protesters surrounded us, calling us police. (1/2) https://t.co/q9jypdxfco
— Brandi Kruse (@BrandiKruse) May 31, 2020
On June 18, the Seattle Police Department issued subpoenas to five area news outlets, requesting all video footage and photographs taken on May 30 from 3:30 to 5 p.m. within a four-block radius. The Tracker has documented that case, and its evolution, here.
In Beverly Hills, California
"We're getting hit by tear gas!" Live coverage from field reporters from @ABC7 in Los Angeles as protests rage through the luxury stores of Rodeo Drive.
— Good Morning America (@GMA) May 31, 2020
LIVE UPATES: https://t.co/xJQvixJr2S pic.twitter.com/xw9ZO9yFYN
In Reno, Nevada
.@ThisIsReno reporter @dondikeanukam got beat up. Tear gas released and the crowd scattered pic.twitter.com/YxTTezxTgS
— Lucia Starbuck (@luciastarbuck) May 31, 2020
Don Dike-Anukam, a political reporter for This Is Reno, was also assaulted by individuals while reporting that day, a case the Tracker has documented here.
In Las Vegas, Nevada
Seeing a lot of protestors helping one another, spraying water into each other’s eyes, after tear gas was deployed near 6th St.
— Rio Lacanlale (@riolacanlale) May 31, 2020
Cannon, who’d continued to livestream from his balcony perch during this time, told the Tracker: “I wasn't targeted with tear gas. Law enforcement didn’t know I was up there. I didn’t even look like a journalist because all I had was my phone.” At around 11:15, Lacanlale, who’d joined up with Cannon at this point, tweeted, “While standing on the sidewalk, Metro officers began shooting pepper bullets at us.” (She later noted that she’d not been hit.) “Nearly all the protesters had left,” Cannon told the Tracker. “There was no tear gas. We were nearly a block away. I don’t think they knew we were journalists. Rio has no gear. I only had my phone. I did have my credentials on my belt, but there was no way they could see that far in the dark.” The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, Lacanlale and the Las Vegas Review-Journal did not respond to the Tracker’s requests for comment.
Paired up with @kmcannonphoto now. While standing on the sidewalk, Metro officers began shooting pepper bullets at us.
— Rio Lacanlale (@riolacanlale) May 31, 2020
In Kansas City, Missouri
My photographer @iamDSMITH86, field producer @ScottWinkler41 and I have been hit by tear gas. We had to move. We are okay. @41actionnews
— McKenzie Nelson (@McKenzieMNelson) May 31, 2020
In Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota
I'm with @ByLizSawyer and 2 Kurdish journalists and 1 Japanese journalist near 5th precinct. Cops told us to go home. When we said we were press one said "Your cards are bullshit" #GeorgeFloyd
— Chao Xiong (@ChaoStrib) May 31, 2020
St. Paul Police also told media to go home tonight. I showed my press badge and was told “doesn’t matter” https://t.co/FRx06R6G0M
— Mara Klecker (@MaraKlecker) May 31, 2020
گاز انبری به همه خبرنگار ها حمله کردن #JusticeForGeorge #Minneapolis #PROTESTING pic.twitter.com/HEex0ajiLI
— Hossein Fatemi (@hosseinfatemii) May 31, 2020
In an interview with BBC Persian the following day, Fatemi shared another video, of individuals helping to rinse out his eyes following the release of a chemical irritant.
حسین فاطمی، عکاس خبری و عضو آژانس پانوس پیکچرز، در ایالت مینه سوتای آمریکا، کانون اصلی درگیریهای اخیر مشغول ضبط تصاویر درگیریهاست و از تجربهاش در این زمینه میگوید pic.twitter.com/6c0jPcZnfw
— BBC NEWS فارسی (@bbcpersian) May 31, 2020
Gaz lacrymogène pour @RadioCanadaInfo pic.twitter.com/PmZo3WNQ0K
— Raphaël Grand (@raphaelgrand) May 31, 2020
One of these groups came to my and several other journalists aid when we were tear gassed yesterday. I’m incredibly thankful for them. Thanks too @scottsphoto. Amid continued protests 'sick and tired' group of friends teams up to provide medical help https://t.co/k4LZ3jx9dt pic.twitter.com/4tOrddeiZu
— Anthony Soufflé (@AnthonySouffle) May 31, 2020
In Fort Wayne, Indiana
Had to put the phone down to catch my breath. Please lift us up in prayer. Tear gas in NO JOKE. 💔 pic.twitter.com/r6l7CExWDX
— Brianna Dahlquist (@bridahlquist) May 30, 2020
In Columbus, Ohio
Harris was struck by a projectile fired by police the following day while covering protests in Louisville, Kentucky, a case the Tracker has documented here.
Our photographer @KRobPhoto and I got pepper sprayed pic.twitter.com/OIc0WviqOH
— Lucas Sullivan (@DispatchSully) May 30, 2020
In Nashville, Tennessee
In Raleigh, North Carolina
Group of riot police fired this tear gas dump directly at my feet. Larger crowd and property damage was happening a block down the road, and ZERO ruckus from protesters in my area at time. These officers have seen me all day and know I'm a journalist. Ihave a press pass on. pic.twitter.com/BUmKkrTbCh
— Charlie McGee (@bycharliemcgee) May 31, 2020
In New York, New York
In Denver, Colorado
Covering Denver protests tonight. Standing next to the police with a crowd of photographers. One of their chemical bombs rolled back and a cop kicked it sideways right into us. Took it full on to the face, but I’m ok now. I’ll tweet camera photos tomorrow. Stay safe everyone. pic.twitter.com/u5TzAfXJI8
— Lindsay Fendt (@LEFendt) May 31, 2020
In Austin, Texas
I had been following this protest all morning and it had remained peaceful up until this moment.
— Kacey Bowen (@KaceyonFox7) June 1, 2020
Thankful for the protestors who poured solution into my photographer and I eyes so we were able to keep reporting. https://t.co/1sqy59SvIa
In Dallas, Texas
Went into downtown Dallas to cover the protest. They were happening just a few blocks away from my new apartment. Here’s the images I captured. It was peaceful for the majority of my journey, but turned intense and somewhat violent towards the end. @NBCLX pic.twitter.com/qDGTD7rVBY
— Tabitha Lipkin (@TabithaLipkin) May 31, 2020
In Cincinnati, Ohio
Cops yelled at us as we filmed, told us to “get the f***k out of here” and came toward us, I yelled that we were with the media, we’re told we needed “more visible” marking. I have my press badge in my hand
— Sarah Brookbank (@SarahBrookbank) June 1, 2020
In Washington, D.C.
As they move the protestors down H street, police fired a combination of tear gas and flash bangs. We took a little bit of the gas. Protestors stopped to help us breathe and clear our eyes out. @wusa9
— Matt Gregory (@MattGregoryNews) May 31, 2020
Struggling a bit after tear gas was thrown directly at me tonight during #DCProtests pic.twitter.com/tV7CWzEefh
— Shelby Talcott (@ShelbyTalcott) May 31, 2020
In Wilmington, North Carolina
A final update and personal message from me this evening.
— Emily Featherston - WECT (@EmilyWECT) June 1, 2020
Lots to work through and digest. We will be back in the morning with all the details. pic.twitter.com/GUejW3hqKy
In Richmond, Virginia
Here’s how it’s going down tonight. Police seem to be swarming vehicles and arresting those out past curfew. I attempted to get out of my car to shoot video and was approached by officers with guns pulled and was told to get on the ground. Here’s part one. @NBC12 pic.twitter.com/jFJ71kdBvy
— Olivia Ugino (@OliviaNBC12) June 1, 2020
Protesters in Denver on May 31, 2020.
Information in this roundup was gathered from published social media and news reports as well as interviews where noted. To read similar incidents from other days of national protests also in this category, go here.
Associated Press photojournalist John Minchillo reports during a night of demonstrations in Minneapolis on May 30, 2020.
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Protesters took to the streets of Wilmington and cities across the United States following the death of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man who died after a Minneapolis, Minnesota, police officer kneeled on his neck for almost nine minutes during a May 25 arrest.
Phillips had been reporting on demonstrations on May 30 for radio station WDEL alongside fellow correspondent Sean Greene.
Phillips told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the protests had been mostly peaceful throughout the day but that during the evening hours he observed some individuals smashing storefront windows and stealing merchandise.
Phillips said that Greene had been broadcasting via Facebook Live with an iPhone at around 6 p.m. when an unknown individual punched him and stole the device.
Phillips said that at the time of Greene’s assault, which the Tracker is documenting here, he had also been broadcasting to Facebook Live. In Phillips’ video, individuals can be seen removing items from a building, which Phillips can be heard describing as “the looting of a store” in downtown Wilmington.
During Phillips’ broadcast, an unknown individual wrenched the phone from his hands and made off with the device. Phillips’ phone continued to record video after it was taken from him, and an individual can be heard laughing as they run away from the scene.
“It was disheartening that I couldn’t keep doing my job that night,” Phillips said.
Phillips later reported the theft of the phones to Wilmington police on behalf of WDEL. As of press time, Phillips said that neither his nor Greene’s phone had been recovered and no arrests had been made in connection with the alleged thefts.
Aside from incidents on May 30, Phillips said WDEL reporters haven’t faced altercations during subsequent coverage of the demonstrations.
“We have covered plenty of stuff since then and have had no incidents whatsoever,” Phillips said.
Though Greene was injured in the field, Phillips said he hasn’t feared for his safety while covering the Wilmington protests.
“Despite what happened to Sean, I didn’t feel unsafe,” Phillips said. “It was more of a crime of opportunity, if you want to call it that.”
A spokesperson for the Wilmington Police Department declined to comment on the incident or confirm whether there was a continuing investigation into Phillips’ report, citing restrictions on releasing such information under Delaware’s Victims’ Bill of Rights.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
A van for television network WGN News was vandalized by unidentified individuals during protests in Chicago, Illinois, on May 30, 2020.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the U.S. since the end of May.
A spokesperson for WGN said the van was in Chicago’s downtown near the Wrigley Building when the incident occurred. “Our truck was parked seemingly out of harm’s way—but then the protests spread to that area,” spokesperson Gary Weitman told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in an email. “No specific groups were involved—one person started spray-painting, and then others joined in."
Weitman said no crew member was hurt in the incident, but declined to elaborate on details of the incident’s timing or location.
Mark Guarino, the Chicago correspondent for the Washington Post, told the Tracker that he saw the van, which had been covered in graffiti and crude language, driving north on Michigan Avenue in downtown Chicago at around 6:30 p.m. on May 30. A few minutes later he posted an image of the van to Twitter.
Chicago's very own @WGNNews pic.twitter.com/AUrfsju2LR
— Mark Guarino (@markguarino) May 30, 2020
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
The WGN news van as seen on Michigan Avenue in Chicago on May 30, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,WGN 9 News,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, VICE Media reporter arrested while covering Minneapolis protests,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/vice-media-reporter-arrested-while-covering-minneapolis-protests/,2020-08-18 17:57:05.972781+00:00,2021-11-18 20:06:02.916752+00:00,2021-11-18 20:06:02.841716+00:00,(2020-08-11 22:02:00+00:00) Charges dropped against VICE Media reporter arrested while covering Minneapolis protests,Arrest/Criminal Charge,,,,Alzo Slade (VICE News),,2020-05-30,False,Minneapolis,Minnesota (MN),44.97997,-93.26384,"Alzo Slade, a reporter for VICE Media, and three colleagues were detained and fingerprinted by police on May 30 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, for being out after curfew while covering ongoing protests, according to Slade.
The protests were held in response to the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died in Minneapolis on May 25. During an arrest, a white Minneapolis Police officer kneeled on Floyd’s neck and ignored Floyd’s pleas that he could not breathe. Floyd was later pronounced dead in a hospital.
Slade told the Committee to Protect Journalists that he was reporting on protests in downtown Minneapolis with three other VICE journalists when they encountered a long line of police in riot gear forming a wall to block the street. Slade said that the police began spraying tear gas and pepper spray. He realized that the crew — producers and camera operators Jika Gonzalez, Elis Rua, and Dave Mayer — needed to turn away to put on the gas masks they were carrying.
“We didn’t go into a peaceful protest wearing gas masks and flak jackets because visually that just says that you’re expecting trouble and that you’re looking for trouble,” Slade said.
The journalist said that he and his colleagues ducked into an alleyway and turned around to see that riot police had followed them.
“We immediately announced that we’re press, but they told us to get down on the ground,” Slade said. “We comply 100 percent. We get down on the ground and as a police officer walks toward us, I hold my credentials up and I say ‘I’m press, we’re press, sir!’,” Slade said.
A police officer then proceeded to use zip ties to secure Slade’s hands behind his back while his gas mask was still on, he said. The other crew members also had their hands zip tied behind their back.
“It is important to note that in this crew, there are four people and three of us are Black men,” Slade said.
Slade said that the officer, a Minnesota State Trooper, then asked to see his credentials. He managed to show the officer, despite having his hands tied behind his back. The journalist said he was then passed to another officer who placed Slade and his crew into a wagon in the middle of the street that was still thick with teargas and pepper spray. Police removed his gas mask while Gonzalez was sent to another part of the police wagon with other women.
“One of the crew asks for masks; they tell us we’re going to get masks when we get down to the station,” Slade said. Instead, he said, they sat in the van for about 25 minutes.
At the station, Slade said they waited for officers to figure out their case number before each crew member was fingerprinted.
“They gave us [each] a citation and VICE’s attorney immediately contacted the state of Minnesota and filed grievances,” Slade said. “The state of Minnesota assured us that [the citations] would not go on our record and that [they] would be dropped.”
About a week later, Slade and the other VICE crew members received a notification in the mail with a court date, Slade said. The notice said failure to appear would result in a bench warrant.
The Commissioner for the Department of Corrections has since confirmed to VICE that the dismissals are forthcoming, according to a VICE spokesperson, who corresponded with CPJ via email.
According to news reports, the media was exempt from curfew the night the VICE crew was arrested.
“What added insult to injury is that we lost a night of coverage,” Slade said. “We were not able to cover the protests that night. We were not able to cover the aggression by law enforcement that night, so that’s really what kind of stung just as much.”
The Minneapolis Police and Minnesota State Patrol did not respond to CPJ’s emailed request for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Minneapolis law enforcement officers and protesters are seen amid tear gas on May 30, 2020.
",arrested and released,charges dropped,Minnesota State Patrol,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,curfew violation: breaking curfew order,,, "Police push, fire projectiles at journalists on assignment for New York Times",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalists-say-police-pushed-one-over-wall-fired-projectiles-them-minneapolis/,2020-08-21 13:57:45.751152+00:00,2022-03-10 19:35:05.525509+00:00,2022-03-10 19:35:05.463320+00:00,,Assault,,,,Mike Shum (The New York Times),,2020-05-30,False,Minneapolis,Minnesota (MN),44.97997,-93.26384,"Police officers shoved, threatened and shot projectiles at two freelance journalists while they reported for the New York Times on protests in Minneapolis on May 30, 2020, according to interviews with the journalists and videos of the incidents.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the U.S. since the end of May.
Journalists Mike Shum and Katie G. Nelson told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that they were reporting in the Fifth Precinct of Minneapolis for the Times as an 8 p.m. curfew came into effect.
As seen in a video from local ABC affiliate KSTP, a line of state police formed to the south of the station on Nicollet Avenue. “Please disperse or you will be arrested,” a loudspeaker blares. Within seconds of the warning, the police appear to use flash bang grenades and tear gas. They then begin to advance.
The video shows a line of State Patrol troopers, in maroon pants and helmets, and what appear to be Department of Natural Resources conservation officers in green pants and helmets approaching a group of journalists huddled on the side of the street. As previously reported by the Tracker, State Patrol troopers pepper sprayed the group at close range as the journalists identified themselves as press.
Nelson and Shum had gas masks, but a third person working with them didn’t, Nelson said, so she escorted this person to safety as Shum stayed to film.
Shum and the other journalists fled from the advancing police. Several journalists attempted to turn west off Nicollet Avenue on West 31st Street, but found themselves trapped in an alcove on the corner of a building with no exit. They could either go back into the tear-gas clouded street or try to climb over a wall, Nelson said.
NBC journalist and producer Ed Ou filmed inside the alcove, his head bleeding from an unknown weapon or projectile and his vision blurred by tear gas and pepper spray, he told the Tracker.
Ou’s video shows several journalists climbing over the wall as Shum rounds the corner, several officers right behind him. The officers appear to be wearing green and tan DNR uniforms. As Shum attempts to scale the wall with his large camera, an officer pushes him from behind.
Shum said he heard the officer order him to “get the fuck out of here,” before shoving him. “I was pushed hard enough where I sort of lost control and fell on my shoulder and arm,” he said.
He added he rolled through the fall and suffered superficial injuries as he tried to protect his camera and body.
L.A. Times photographer Carolyn Cole wrote in an account of the incident that an officer also “lifted me up onto the wall and I fell to the other side.” Cole, who said she suffered cornea damage from the State Patrol pepper spraying her at close range, was helped to the hospital by local residents.
DNR spokesman Chris Niskanen said the department respects the freedom of the press but “disagrees with [the Tracker’s] characterization of events.” He didn’t specify why. Niskanen added he couldn’t comment further on the incident because it “may be subject to ongoing litigation initiated against the State of Minnesota by multiple media members.”
Nelson and Shum have joined a lawsuit seeking class-action status filed by the ACLU of Minnesota against Minneapolis and state officials concerning the treatment of journalists covering the Floyd protests.
The Department of Public Safety, which oversees the State Patrol, didn’t respond to the Tracker’s emailed list of questions. In a May 31 press conference, the Chief of the State Patrol, Col. Matt Langer, praised the law-enforcement effort during a dangerous and unpredictable night while also saying: “We are never perfect.”
Shum reunited with Nelson and they continued to report on the dispersal of protesters near the Fifth Precinct police station. About an hour later, the team was filming a couple of people approaching a police line with their hands up near a Kmart a few blocks from where Shum was shoved, Nelson said. A Minneapolis Police officer about fifty feet away pointed a projectile launcher at them, Nelson said.
Nelson said she yelled that they were press, adding there was no question they looked like journalists given their large cameras, ballistic helmets and protective vests.
In a video filmed shortly after that Nelson provided to the Tracker, Minneapolis police officers in a line start ordering people to move. Nelson can be heard warning Shum, “Mike, Mike, Mike, they’re gonna push us. Keep shooting Mike.”
Minneapolis police spokesman John Elder told the Tracker he couldn’t comment on the incident. He added that “every use of force by the MPD is under investigation internally.”
Late into the night, Nelson and Shum were driving a couple of blocks off Lake Street on their way to 38th and Chicago, where protesters had created a memorial on the site of Floyd’s killing.
Nelson turned the car onto a road blocked by a police checkpoint, the journalists told the Tracker. Nelson said the police shined a bright light at them. Blinded, she slowed the car down. Nelson said she yelled that they were press through the open windows of the car.
Nelson said the police yelled “Go home” and “We don’t care” in response.
Nelson pulled a U-turn and drove away as the journalists heard the pinging of projectiles hitting her car. They said they believe the car was hit with pepper balls.
At around the same time, unidentified law-enforcement officers fired projectiles at the car of a television crew for France’s TF1 and arrested them, the Tracker previously reported.
It isn’t clear which law enforcement agency fired the projectiles at Nelson’s car. Protesters, journalists and even law-enforcement officials have had difficulty at times identifying specific officers during the protests. More than a dozen different agencies joined the law-enforcement effort in Minnesota, often wearing similar looking uniforms.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Freelance journalist Mike Shum looks back as a police line advances in Minneapolis’ Fifth Precinct shortly before police push him over a wall on May 30, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest, shot / shot at",,,,, "Syracuse police shove photojournalist to ground, damaging his camera equipment",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/syracuse-police-shove-photojournalist-ground-damaging-his-camera-equipment/,2020-08-27 14:44:11.998249+00:00,2020-08-27 14:44:11.998249+00:00,2020-08-27 14:44:11.925003+00:00,,"Assault, Equipment Damage",,,camera lens: count of 2,Dennis Nett (Syracuse Post-Standard),,2020-05-30,False,Syracuse,New York (NY),43.04812,-76.14742,"A photojournalist with Syracuse.com and the Post-Standard newspaper was shoved to the ground by a police officer while covering protests in Syracuse, New York, on May 30, 2020, video of the incident shows. The journalist suffered scrapes and bruises and two of his camera lenses were broken.
The protest was held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
News photographer Dennis Nett was covering the protests in downtown Syracuse on the night of May 30 with two other photographers and two reporters. John Lammers, senior director of content at Advance Media New York, the parent company for the news outlets, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. At 9:37 p.m., a group of riot police moved to clear the area in front of the Public Safety Building on South State Street of protestors who had broken windows at police headquarters and the nearby criminal courts building, syracuse.com reported.
In a video of the incident recorded by Nett’s camera, the line of officers are seen advancing yelling “move back, get back.” One officer is seen gesturing at Nett and then breaking away from the line of officers, charging towards the journalist, and knocking him to the ground. In a separate video of the incident, Nett can be seen stumbling and then falling over from the assault. The photographer suffered cuts and bruises to his elbow and hip, syracuse.com reported. Lammers told the Tracker that two of Nett’s lenses were damaged from the fall, but that “Dennis kept working with a busted lens and a skinned up elbow and hip.” One of the lenses has been repaired and another isn’t yet repaired due to a Nikon parts shortage, a representative from syracuse.com/The Post-Standard told the Tracker on Aug. 26.
Nett was wearing a press identification card around his neck and had cameras slung from both shoulders, syracuse.com reported. A witness to the incident, Clifford Ryans, told the outlet that he was clearly identifiable as a journalist. “They couldn’t say they didn’t know he was a reporter because he had all the cameras on his person and he was taking a picture as they did it,” Ryans told syracuse.com.
Nett didn’t respond to emails seeking comment.
After conducting a review of the incident, Syracuse Police Chief Kenton Buckner said the officer, whom he identified as Sgt. Todd Cramer, had acted with “reasonable and necessary” force and wouldn’t be disciplined, syracuse.com reported on June 12.
In a video of a press conference posted by syracuse.com, Buckner is shown saying that Nett “didn’t comply with the instructions that we clearly gave him and that put him in harm’s way.” According to the report by syracuse.com, Nett told police in an interview about the incident that he “recalled hearing commands from officers a few seconds before he was shoved…[and] was preparing to move.” Buckner said Cramer “did not know, at that moment, that Nett was a journalist,” according to the website’s report.
Tim Kennedy, president of Advance Media New York, said in a statement that the company was disappointed with the announcement. “Dennis Nett was working in the public service and posed no threat to police. He didn’t deserve to get shoved to the ground, in a way that was neither necessary nor reasonable.”
Lammers told the Tracker there have been no further developments related to the incident.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Law-enforcement officers punctured the tires of news crews and journalists as they reported on multiple days of protests in Minneapolis, according to news reports and an interview with the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the U.S. since the end of May.
According to Mother Jones, officers punctured the tires of all vehicles in a Kmart parking lot on May 30 and again on a highway overpass on May 31 after those areas briefly turned into police staging grounds.
At least three journalists and one news team — Andrew Kimmel of AuraNexus; freelance photojournalist Philip Montgomery; Lucas Jackson, a staff photographer for Reuters at the time; and a Radio-Canada news crew that included reporter Philippe Leblanc — reported returning to their respective vehicles after covering protests near the Fifth Precinct to find the tires slashed. Kimmel reported that four CNN vehicles also had their tires slashed.
This tow truck driver has been here all day. He later told me four @CNN vehicles had their tires slashed here as well. There was an entire row of press vehicles that all had to be towed. pic.twitter.com/LG40yxlrde
— Andrew Kimmel (@andrewkimmel) May 31, 2020
Jackson told the Tracker that while he and Montgomery were walking away from their parked cars that evening, police officers from the nearby Fifth Precinct shone flashlights on the photographers. Both put their hands in the air and identified themselves as members of the media, Jackson said. When they returned to their cars in the early hours of May 30, their tires had been punctured. They drove to a nearby parking lot, where they changed Montgomery’s tire (Montgomery did not respond to emailed requests for comment as of press time). Jackson, who didn’t have a spare tire, drove his vehicle to his hotel and called a tow truck the next day.
While he didn’t witness the incident, Jackson told the Tracker he believed officers were responsible because they had been the only people in the area when the photographers had parked their vehicles. Additionally, he said, on several occasions over the following days he had seen officers engaging in similar acts. When police officers “left their precincts to expand their security perimeters, they would puncture vehicle tires” along the way, he said. Spokespeople for both the Minneapolis Police Department and the City of Minneapolis declined to comment, telling the Tracker that the “incident is part of ongoing litigation.”
WCCO reporter Jeff Wagner tweeted about the tire slashings that night, noting in a follow up tweet that he couldn’t confirm whether law enforcement was responsible for the damage.
“If I tried walking up to the officers to ask, I would have been shot at w/ tear gas or a rubber bullet,” he wrote. “They were yelling at us to leave the premises.”
The Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. More than 30 press freedom aggressions in Minneapolis and St. Paul affecting 60 journalists have been documented since May 26. You can read them here.
Luke Mogelson, who was on assignment for the New Yorker magazine, told the Tracker that he parked his car on the shoulder of the South Washington Avenue overpass spanning I-35W in downtown Minneapolis on his way to cover protests at the nearby U.S. Bank Stadium on May 31. Other cars were parked in the same fashion, he said.
Many protesters dispersed at the arrival of an 8 p.m. curfew, but others marched to I-35W in the direction of Mogelson’s car, he said. Protesters “found themselves suddenly trapped: in both directions, a few hundred feet away, a wall of police obstructed the highway,” Mogelson wrote in an account in the New Yorker.
Video published by Canada’s Global News shows officers from at least three agencies deploying on the far end of the South Washington Avenue overpass as a crowd runs away. After officers form a perimeter on the block, several puncture the tires of a red car and then Mogelson’s silver rental car. The other cars that were parked near Mogelson’s car had apparently left before the video was filmed after curfew, he said.
Lt. Andy Knotz, a spokesperson for the Anoka County Sheriff, told the Star Tribune that Anoka County deputies punctured the tires on May 31 under orders of the state-led Multi-Agency Command Center, which was coordinating the law enforcement response to the protests.
Minnesota Department of Public Safety spokesperson Bruce Gordon told the Star Tribune that piercing tires was “not a typical tactic,” but “vehicles were being used as dangerous weapons and inhibited our ability to clear areas and keep areas safe where violent protesters were occurring.”
In a June 9 press release, the sheriff’s office said the order was given to deflate the tires of the “illegally abandoned vehicles” for the safety of law enforcement and protesters in the area, adding they “could have been used as deadly mobile weapons as seen on previous days.”
“That argument doesn’t really hold water,” Mogelson told the Tracker, explaining that his vehicle couldn’t have been a threat because it was surrounded by so many law enforcement officers in every direction.
Earlier that afternoon, a tanker truck drove through thousands of protesters marching on I-35W less than half a mile from where Mogelson parked his car, according to news reports. The driver was arrested and released pending investigation.
In the Global News video, Anoka County deputies wearing dark brown pants with a stripe puncture the tires with the assistance of another wearing a full camouflage uniform.
Lt. Knotz of the sheriff’s office told the Tracker he was uncertain which law enforcement agency’s officer was clad in the camouflage uniform. Gordon of the Department of Public Safety didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Capt. Melanie Nelson, a spokesperson for the Minnesota National Guard, told the Tracker it wasn’t involved in the incident. A couple of days before the tire slashing, the Minnesota National Guard tweeted that “not everyone you see in camouflage” is a guardsman.
Mogelson told the Tracker he approached law enforcement officers from several local and state agencies, identified his car to them, and asked them not to tow it. He said he believed in retrospect that his tires were already punctured, but he didn’t realize it at the time. When he returned later to retrieve his car, he said a couple of officers laughed when he learned all four of his tires were punctured.
Mogelson left his vehicle and found a ride to continue reporting at a memorial for George Floyd, he said. The protesters he had followed were corralled at a gas station near the highway, he said. Police across the country have been using a maneuver called kettling to hem in crowds at demonstrations. About 150 protesters in Minneapolis that day were arrested, according to Mogelson’s New Yorker article and other news reports.
Mogelson later filed a report with Minneapolis police to make an insurance claim, he said.
Mogelson said he didn’t want to focus too much attention on the car. “It seems pretty clear they did not know it was my car when they slashed the tires,” he said. “A lot of journalists that were there in Minneapolis were physically abused, harassed and attacked.”
Information in this roundup was gathered from published social media and news reports as well as interviews where noted.
Minneapolis police slash a car’s tires on Washington Avenue by the I-35W highway on-ramp during demonstrations on May 31, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,Media,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, Reporter struck with pepper balls during live broadcast on Omaha protests,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-struck-pepper-balls-during-live-broadcast-omaha-protests/,2020-09-02 15:29:42.560303+00:00,2022-03-10 19:35:26.007198+00:00,2022-03-10 19:35:25.945752+00:00,,Assault,,,,Jessika Eidson (KMTV 3 News Now),,2020-05-30,False,Omaha,Nebraska (NE),41.25626,-95.94043,"Jessika Eidson, a reporter for CBS-affiliate KMTV, was hit by projectiles fired by police while reporting live on protests in Omaha, Nebraska, on May 30, 2020, according to footage of the incident.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the U.S. since the end of May.
Eidson was reporting on the second night of protests in Omaha, which had moved as the night progressed from 72nd and Dodge Streets to downtown, according to Eidson’s tweets and other news reports.
Shortly before 10:30 p.m., Eidson tweeted protesters had gathered near the police headquarters, where she observed tear gas and fireworks.
Eidson then went live on air to report from the scene near Howard and South 12th Streets. In a video of the incident, Eidson says her crew got a “very painful” whiff of tear gas earlier. She reports she just saw a man throw something at police, just as a bang from a firecracker can be heard. The video feed cuts to a view of the city.
Almost immediately Eidson exclaims, “OK, we gotta go though! I just got hit!” Eidson tweeted that Omaha Police shot at her and her colleague with pepper balls.
It isn’t clear whether Eidson’s crew was targeted by police. “We were several feet away from any officer or protester,” Eidson tweeted. “We had a large tripod, camera and bright light showing we were doing a newscast when I was directly struck twice.”
At a press conference earlier that night, Chief of Police Todd Schmaderer said police deployed tear gas and pepper balls after the protest was declared an unlawful assembly. Lt. Sherie Thomas, a spokesperson for the Omaha Police Department, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the department was conducting an ongoing review of the protests, but didn’t comment specifically about the incident.
Eidson and KMTV didn’t respond to the Tracker’s requests for comment.
In a video update from her home an hour after the incident, Eidson says she and her cameraman were both safe, but she had a large welt on her leg where she was hit.
“I’m doing OK. I have little bit of a cough right now,” she says in the video. “I think I'm going to go inside and maybe drink some milk and see if that helps.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering Black Lives Matter protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
The offices of INDY Week, The News & Observer, and ABC11 in downtown Raleigh, N.C. were damaged during protests in the city on May 30, 2020.
Alternative weekly newspaper INDY Week reported extensive damage to its newsroom, while ABC11 and The News & Observer newspaper both had windows smashed as protests stretched late into the night.
The protests in Raleigh echoed demonstrations across the country sparked by a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
The newsrooms in Raleigh were damaged late in the first major day of protesting in the city. Demonstrations had been peaceful through the day, but late in the evening, after police began using tear gas to disperse crowds, a small group of people began destroying property in the city’s downtown.
INDY Week Raleigh news editor Leigh Tauss told U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she had returned to the office while covering the protests to wash her face off and get some water, after she had been caught up in tear gas. She was in the back of the ground-floor office near the water cooler, shortly before 10 p.m., when she heard the window shatter, she said.
She sank down to the floor and called her editor, before she moved out toward the front of the office and saw a brick had been thrown through the window, she said. She posted about the damage on Twitter.
Tauss said she tried to leave the office then, but when she stepped outside, there was more tear gas in the street so she came back inside. She was in the hallway when she heard someone enter the office and ducked into the basement to hide. After waiting for a few minutes, she got a text from another journalist who was outside and who told her it was clear for her to leave. She posted on Twitter at that point that it appeared that someone had tried to take water, but no computers were missing.
Later that night, according to Tauss, somebody entered the office and caused more extensive damage. Large windows were entirely smashed. Couches in the office were set on fire, setting off the sprinkler system. While other equipment was damaged by the water, her desktop computer went missing, she said.
I’m devastated. We are a progressive newspaper. Last night I was inside when the first brick was thrown #Raleigh pic.twitter.com/MJvPdscyqf
— Leigh Tauss (@LeighTauss) May 31, 2020
The three offices were just some of many businesses damaged in the city. According to an article in the News & Observer, “nearly every” business in Raleigh’s downtown area was damaged overnight.
A spokesperson for the Raleigh Police Department said police were aware of damage to INDY Week and the News & Observer. There haven’t been any arrests related to the incidents, according to the department.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
INDY Week Raleigh news editor Leigh Tauss was washing off tear gas in the North Carolina newsroom when the vandalizing began. “I’m devastated,” she said the next day posting the damage — burned furniture, water damage and stolen equipment.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,INDY Week,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, "Journalist says was knocked to the ground, kicked while covering L.A. demonstrations",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-says-was-knocked-ground-kicked-while-covering-l-demonstrations/,2020-09-18 16:52:20.992070+00:00,2020-09-18 16:52:20.992070+00:00,2020-09-18 16:52:20.922874+00:00,,Assault,,,,Henry Scott (WEHOville),,2020-05-30,False,Los Angeles,California (CA),34.05223,-118.24368,"A Los Angeles police officer shoved and kicked the writer and publisher of West Hollywood news outlet WEHOville while he covered a local protest against police violence on May 30, 2020, according to the journalist and the outlet’s reporting of events.
WEHOville’s Henry Scott told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that on that Saturday afternoon he was walking south on La Cienega Boulevard in West Hollywood at the intersection with Beverly Boulevard. As protesters moved east down Beverly Boulevard he walked along with them.
Scott told the Tracker he took notes and photographs as he followed the crowd toward a parking lot on Third Street west of Fairfax Avenue where demonstrators were holding signs and chanting.
“On the street, a police car had been set on fire,” Scott said. “A line of police officers wearing riot helmets and carrying batons and rubber bullet rifles stood at the edge of the parking lot watching the demonstrators, who were peaceful.”
Officers with the Los Angeles Police Department began advancing toward the protesters. Scott told the Tracker that he wasn’t wearing any press credentials, but identified himself as a journalist when they drew close. He also asked an officer — whose helmet identified him as Rodriguez — whether they were moving people out of the parking lot and why. Scott said he hadn’t heard a dispersal order.
Scott said the officer didn’t answer but suddenly knocked him to the ground and kicked him in the ribs on his left side. Scott had been taking video of that officer and others shoving demonstrators and shooting rubber bullets at their feet earlier that afternoon, he said.
Two others — multimedia journalist Lexis-Olivier Ray and visual journalist Chava Sanchez — also reported being assaulted by LAPD officers in the same intersection while covering afternoon clashes between demonstrators and police.
The LAPD didn’t respond to requests for comment.
“It took me six weeks to completely recover from that assault,” Scott told the Tracker, “which for the first few weeks left me in pain that required taking anti-pain medication and made it nearly impossible for me to bend over and very difficult to get out of bed.”
Scott said that he didn’t seek medical treatment because of concerns about catching COVID-19.
The protest in L.A. was held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the U.S. since the end of May.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering these demonstrations across the country. Find these incidents here.
Jika González, a producer for VICE Media, and three colleagues were arrested on May 30 in Minneapolis, for being out after curfew while covering ongoing protests.
The protests were held in response to the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died in Minneapolis on May 25. During an arrest, a white Minneapolis Police officer kneeled on Floyd’s neck and ignored Floyd’s pleas that he could not breathe. Floyd was later pronounced dead in a hospital.
González told the Committee to Protect Journalists, a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, that she was reporting on protests in downtown Minneapolis with VICE film crew members Alzo Slade, Ellis Rua, and Dave Mayers. The crew was following protesters when police began forming a line to block the protest’s progression, González said.
“We stayed to get a few shots of police forming the line, and then the first thing of [an irritant] was launched,” said González, who referred to police when she meant Minnesota State Troopers. The crew ducked into a side alley off of the main avenue, the journalist said.
“We were thinking that police had established that line and were going to stay there because this march was very peaceful,” González said. Law enforcement then came around the corner and started yelling at the journalists to get on the ground, and they complied, she said.
González said she could see Slade and Mayer but Rua was behind her. Her colleagues were lying on the ground. González said she was kneeling on the ground with her hands up. Her mask was on halfway.
González said that an officer approached Slade, who said they were press. The state trooper glanced at his press badge before taking him away.
Troopers took Mayer and then González to a holding vehicle that was partitioned by gender. González was held with a woman who was not a journalist, she said. Rua was then brought to the other side of the vehicle to join Mayer and Slade.
The detention took place near Nicollet and Franklin Avenues in downtown Minneapolis, according to the citation that was later issued. The Tracker documents all arrests separately.
González said her hands were ziptied. A trooper removed her gas mask and ignored her request for a medical mask, she said.
Troopers put the journalists' equipment — including several cameras and microphones — into bags and took them along with the journalists to the precinct. Troopers also confiscated the crew’s cell phones, González said.
“There was no way protesters would be carrying all of those cameras,” González said.
When they got to the precinct, law enforcement deliberated over what citation they should use to process the journalists, according to González. At no point was the team read their Miranda rights, the journalist noted.
González said she again requested a surgical mask and was given one by police.
Eventually, the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office charged the journalists with violating curfew, according to the citation viewed by CPJ.
As the police were walking González out of the precinct, she said one of the officers mentioned thinking that they weren’t supposed to arrest “you guys,” meaning journalists. González said another officer responded, “Well, now you can put it on your resume.”
The crew’s equipment, including their cellphones, was returned during their release and no footage was deleted, González said.
According to news reports, the media was exempt from curfew the night the VICE crew was arrested.
About a week after the arrest, González received via mail a court summons from the Hennepin County District Court for October 26, according to a copy of the summons that was seen by CPJ.
A VICE spokesperson told CPJ that the Commissioner for the Department of Corrections has said the charges will be dropped.
But as of late September, González told CPJ that she had not yet received any notification of dropped charges.
Ellis Rua, a camera operator for VICE Media, and three colleagues were arrested on May 30, 2020, in Minneapolis for being out after curfew while covering ongoing protests, Rua told the Committee to Protect Journalists.
The protests were held in response to the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died in Minneapolis on May 25. During an arrest, a white Minneapolis Police officer kneeled on Floyd’s neck and ignored Floyd’s pleas that he could not breathe. Floyd was later pronounced dead in a hospital.
Rua said that he and the VICE crew — Alzo Slade, Jika González, and Dave Mayers — were spending time with protesters at a food distribution center when they decided to follow a protest that was starting up so they could get B-roll.
Police appeared in front of the group of protesters and the journalists, obstructing their way forward, and began firing tear gas, Rua said. Law enforcement emerged from vehicles labeled as belonging to Minnesota State Troopers. They were wearing riot gear that also identified them as state troopers, according to Mayers.
When law enforcement started firing tear gas, Rua suggested the crew find a corner to put on their gas masks. Rua didn’t think the state troopers would arrest journalists with press passes. But the troopers approached the journalists and told them to get on the ground, Rua said. The group complied.
One of the officers said he would need to speak to his commander. The officer spoke with someone by phone, and then told the journalists that they were under arrest, Rua said.
“I was quite surprised,” Rua said. “We did identify ourselves as press, but they still proceeded to arrest us.”
The detention took place near Nicollet and Franklin Avenues in downtown Minneapolis, according to the citation that was later issued.
Rua was carrying a gas mask with canisters, a helmet, and a camera. The rest of the crew had other equipment including two Sony Fs7 cameras and multiple lenses, according to Rua.
Initially law enforcement used plastic ties to secure the wrists of all four crew members, Rua said. First Slade, then Mayers, and then González were walked to a police vehicle, while Rua was left waiting in the side street for what he said felt like 15 to 30 minutes before he was also brought to the vehicle.
The journalists were then taken to a police building where the plastic zip ties were replaced with metal handcuffs and they were fingerprinted, Rua said. The journalists were not allowed to make a phone call or read their Miranda rights at any point during their detention, Rua said.
Each of the journalists was given a citation for breaking curfew from the Hennepin County Sheriff's Department, the journalist said. They were expected to appear in court in late October.
Eventually, Rua and Mayers were notified that the charges against them have been dropped. As of late September, Slade and González were still waiting for a similar notification.
Dave Mayers, a producer for VICE Media, and three colleagues were arrested on May 30, 2020, in Minneapolis for being out after curfew while covering ongoing protests.
The protests were held in response to the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died in Minneapolis on May 25. During an arrest, a white Minneapolis Police officer kneeled on Floyd’s neck and ignored Floyd’s pleas that he could not breathe. Floyd was later pronounced dead in a hospital.
Mayers told the Committee to Protect Journalists, a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, that he was reporting on protesters in downtown Minneapolis with three VICE journalists — Alzo Slade, Jika González, and Ellis Rua — prior to their arrests.
The journalists were following a protest at about 8:10 p.m. when several state troopers pulled up in front of them, Mayers said. “They pop out of their cars and they have state trooper body armor on and tear gas launchers and stuff. They cut the protest off from being able to head downtown.”
Mayers said that he and González, a VICE producer, were filming the line of officers when the troopers started firing tear gas toward the crowd.
“It was unprovoked,” Mayers said. “It was a very peaceful protest and didn’t seem like it was going to be confrontational in any way and it turned confrontational very, very quickly. It was the police that ratcheted it up.”
Mayers said he heard a state trooper tell a colleague to get one of the protesters just before the troopers shot tear gas.
Mayers said he saw a yellow tear gas canister hit a person who was standing in front of a correspondent from another network. Once the crew decided that the state troopers were shooting tear gas indiscriminately, they ran down a narrow side street and put on their masks. Yellow and white gas swirled in the air. Mayers said he saw the troopers advancing from the main street.
“One of the police looks down [the side street] at us and points a gun at us and says, ‘Get down, get down, get down,’” said Mayers, who used police interchangeably with state troopers and other law enforcement. Slade’s microphone was still on. Mayers was wearing an earpiece that connected to the microphone and was able to hear Slade clearly.
“At this moment, I was terrified,” Mayers said, noting that the crew included three Black men and González, who’s Latina.
As the state troopers approached, the crew yelled that they were members of the press. The state troopers looked at Slade’s VICE-issued press pass, handcuffed him with zip ties and took him to a police van, Mayers said.
“They looked at my ID and I asked, ‘What are we being arrested for?’” Mayers said. “They didn’t really answer, and did the same thing.” The state troopers handcuffed Mayers with zip ties too.
“We shouldn’t have looked like anything other than press,” Mayers said. “We had tens of thousands of dollars of camera equipment on us.”
The detention took place near Nicollet and Franklin Avenues in downtown Minneapolis, according to the citation that was later issued.
Police took Mayers’ camera, put it in a plastic bag, removed his gas mask, and led him into the police van next to Slade, Mayers said. The van, he said, was in the middle of a street where tear gas had just been released. Mayers and Slade were both coughing from the gas that hung in the air.
They waited in the van for about an hour before moving, Mayers said. The van was partitioned with Rua, a VICE camera operator, later joining Slade and Mayers. González was on the other side of the van with a woman who was not a journalist, Mayers said.
The journalists were transported to the Hennepin County Jail. Their gear was brought there in plastic bags, Mayers said. They waited in the police vehicle while the police determined their charges. Law enforcement included officers from Hennepin and a second county, the journalist said.
Police then took the journalists out of the vehicle and into the jail where each crew member was fingerprinted and photographed, Mayers said. While they were fingerprinted, their plastic zip ties were replaced with metal cuffs, Mayers said.
The journalist said he didn’t see any other people being processed aside from the VICE crew and the woman who was arrested with them though there were about 50 police in the facility, Mayers said.
Each member of the VICE crew was charged with violating curfew, according to the journalists.
After about four hours, the journalists were released and their equipment was returned without damage, Mayers said. The crew walked back to their hotel because their vehicle was in the opposite direction, he said.
Mayers said that a VICE lawyer told the crew their charges would be dismissed. Weeks later, the crew members received a court summons in the mail.
The journalist received a letter dated August 4, 2020, from the Deputy City Attorney for the City of Minneapolis stating that the charges were dismissed, a copy of which was seen by CPJ.
A reporter for the Fayetteville Observer said he was hit, knocked unconscious and kicked while he and a colleague livestreamed the looting of stores in a North Carolina shopping mall on the night of May 30, 2020.
A group of people broke into the Cross Creek Mall about six miles west of downtown Fayetteville following protests earlier that day against police violence in the city’s downtown. Demonstrations had erupted nationwide days before, following the killing of George Floyd, a Black man, while he was in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25.
Paul Woolverton, a senior state reporter for the Observer, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he headed downtown to start reporting on the protests at around 7 p.m. This was shortly after people had set fire to the Market House, a historic downtown Fayetteville building that was once the site of a market for enslaved people.
Woolverton said the Market House was still burning when he arrived downtown, where he saw people acting aggressively toward TV camera people nearby. He said he wore press credentials in full view on a lanyard around his neck, and that he was carrying a notebook, pens, cell phone and selfie stick. While downtown, he ran into colleague Melody Brown-Peyton, and the two decided to stick together. Downtown Fayetteville would later be closed to all traffic, so the pair drove in Brown-Peyton’s car to the Cross Creek Mall, where they heard that looting was taking place. They stopped at Woolverton’s home on the way to get his camera.
Woolverton and Brown-Peyton parked across the street from the mall and walked over to it. They saw a group of white men with pickup trucks and long guns, and saw people running out of a J.C. Penney store with dresses and other merchandise.
“It was kind of ‘Mad Max’-looking,” Woolverton said.
Woolverton was struck and knocked unconscious just after 11 p.m.. by an unknown male assailant, Brown-Peyton told the Fayetteville Observer. He was livestreaming on Facebook at the time and video from the scene cuts off a few seconds before he was hit. Woolverton said he was trying to be careful about raising the phone because he was aware that it would attract attention. He remembers hearing the man who attacked him say “Don’t be taking no pictures,” before he grabbed Woolverton’s selfie stick and phone.
“My memory is him grabbing at my cell phone, me yelling at him, struggling with him upright,” Woolverton said. “My next memory is waking up and a police officer next to me.”
Brown-Peyton told him the attacker got into a pickup truck and drove away. She also told Woolverton that he was lying down with his eyes rolling back.
“I have no memory of the conversation,” Woolverton said. “I didn’t know my phone number, I didn't know why I was at the mall or how I got there.”
Brown-Peyton contacted Woolverton’s editor and his girlfriend, and they went to the hospital. Brown-Peyton told Woolverton the assailant was struggling to get hold of Woolverton’s camera, but he couldn’t because of the strap. The attacker also kicked Woolverton when he was unconscious on the ground. Woolverton’s camera bag was ripped and his camera was slightly scuffed.
On the morning of May 31, 2020, Woolverton tweeted: “Got a knot on my head, scrapes, bruises from head to foot and a concussion. The looters at Cross Creek Mall didn’t like that I was shooting video (see their activities on the @fayobserver Facebook page). I am told I was kicked and punched but don’t remember that.”
Woolverton filed a police report after the incident, but police didn’t identify the suspect. The Fayetteville Police Department didn’t respond to a request for updates on the case.
Woolverton said he didn’t know whether he had been targeted for being a journalist. “I think he just saw a guy with a camera.”
He told the Observer that this was the first time anyone had attacked him while he was doing his job in 30 years as a journalist, and that he felt lucky his colleague was by his side.
“I was trying to be situationally aware, but it came really fast out of the blue. A big lesson is don't go alone,” Woolverton said. “Thank God Melody was there.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering these protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
In North Carolina, Fayetteville Observer senior reporter Paul Woolverton was knocked unconscious while livestreaming looters on May 30, 2020. He was treated for a concussion and other injuries.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, "Photojournalist tackled, colleague assaulted, while covering protests in New York",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-tackled-colleague-assaulted-while-covering-protests-new-york/,2020-10-12 18:36:12.517442+00:00,2020-10-12 18:42:28.408960+00:00,2020-10-12 18:42:28.339490+00:00,,Assault,,,,Jack Diamond (WHEC NBC 10),,2020-05-30,False,Rochester,New York (NY),43.15478,-77.61556,"Unknown individuals physically assaulted two journalists covering protests on May 30, 2020 in Rochester, New York, allegedly tackling one of the correspondents to the ground.
Jack Diamond, a photojournalist for News10NBC in Rochester, was covering a demonstration alongside his colleague, reporter Andrew Hyman, at about 5 p.m. in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Park.
The rally attracted hundreds of attendees and was mostly peaceful, Hyman told News10NBC for its report on the assault on him and Diamond.
A group of police at the scene began firing tear gas and rubber bullets at the crowd. Thereafter, Hyman said an individual approached him, asking him questions about his support for the Black Lives Matter movement, recording the exchange with a smartphone.
Hyman told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the inquisition attracted the attention of five or six men passing nearby. One of the men snatched Hyman’s earpiece, which was connected to a smartphone he was using to cover the demonstrations. Then the others began shoving him. The Tracker has documented Hyman’s assault and the damage to his equipment here.
“I was just out of it,” Hyman told the Tracker, noting that his assailants were all wearing masks. “I couldn’t see their faces.”
As the reporter tried to flee from the scuffle, he looked back and saw that some individuals had tackled Diamond and took him off his feet.
But then two or three other individuals who were not involved with the tackle helped the photojournalist to his feet and he was able to escape without injuries or damage to his equipment, Hyman said.
“In the parking lot across from the Public Safety Building, News10NBC Photojournalist Jack Diamond and I were both grabbed by a group,” Hyman told News10NBC. “I had my earpiece taken, and Jack was tackled. We were not hurt, just shaken up.
Hyman told the Tracker that neither journalist sought medical attention following the attack. He said that the Rochester Police Department contacted him about the incident but as of his Aug. 18 interview with the Tracker he had not received additional information about possible charges against the assailants.
Diamond and the Rochester Police Department did not respond to requests for comment.
A TV reporter and photojournalist with the Rochester, New York, NBC affiliate were assaulted by unknown men while covering a protest on May 30, 2020.
Reporter Andrew Hyman told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was covering the protests for News10NBC in Rochester alongside station photographer Jack Diamond when the incident occurred.
Hyman said that a man approached him, took out a phone and began recording while asking the reporter questions about his support for the Black Lives Matter movement.
Hyman said he declined to provide direct answers to the queries, which appeared to agitate the individual.
“I was just trying to be an unbiased journalist,” he said.
At that point, several other individuals approached Hyman. One of the individuals grabbed an earpiece that Hyman had plugged into a smartphone to broadcast coverage of the demonstrations to Facebook Live, Hyman said. He said he didn’t get a good look at the person who took the earpiece.
Hyman said five or six men — all wearing masks — spotted the exchange and approached his location. A scuffle ensued. Hyman said the men pushed him a few times but he managed to flee the area without injury.
The reporter said he looked back and noticed that Diamond was not with him. Diamond had been tackled to the ground. Other individuals at the scene helped the cameraman to his feet, Hyman said. The Tracker has documented Diamond’s assault here.
After regrouping with Diamond, the two NBC10 journalists continued coverage of the protest and broadcast their reporting to Facebook Live.
Neither sought medical attention. Hyman did not report the loss of his equipment to police. He said that police reached out to him after NBC10 posted video of the incident online and told him they “wanted to look into” the attack.
Hyman said he gave police raw footage that shows the person who made the initial contact with him, but he had not received any updates from authorities as of press time.
The Rochester Police Department did not respond to a request for comment on Hyman’s case.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Lucas Jackson, a staff photographer for Reuters at the time, was hit by law enforcement with a pepper ball while covering protests against police violence in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 30, 2020.
Jackson told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he and other photojournalists had been documenting people throwing firecrackers at the Minneapolis Police Department’s Fifth Precinct and breaking into nearby local businesses on the night of May 29 and into the morning of May 30. At roughly 1 a.m. on May 30, he said, officers began to fire tear gas at protesters who had gathered in the street outside a Wells Fargo bank on Nicollet Avenue.
As the photographers were taking pictures of the crowd dispersing, Jackson said, officers started to fire less lethal weapons at their group. Jackson was hit with a large-caliber rubber bullet on the rear end, leaving a “massive” bruise, he said. Photographer Philip Montgomery was hit in the chest, Jackson said, as were other journalists in their group. Montgomery did not respond to emails seeking comment on the incident.
Jackson and the group left the scene and walked back to their cars, only to find that their tires had been punctured, an incident the Tracker has documented here.
Spokespeople for both the Minneapolis Police Department and the City of Minneapolis declined to comment, telling the Tracker in separate emails that the “incident is part of ongoing litigation.”
Jackson told the Tracker that he and his fellow photographers had been standing on the sidewalk, off to the side from the protesters, when the police started to fire the less lethal weapons. “We were all carrying cameras and wearing helmets, so it was fairly obvious we were not generic protesters,” he said.
In addition to his photographic equipment and helmet, Jackson said he was wearing his press credential and a gas mask, and that other journalists in the group were wearing vests that said “press” in big letters. “I don’t know if we were specifically targeted, but they knew that we weren’t protesters and they still shot at us,” Jackson said. “It’s the only place I’ve been where I’ve had the police specifically aim at me with their less lethal stuff.”
Protests against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May. They were sparked by a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering these protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
A window on the door of the Indianapolis Star was shattered during protests against police violence in Indianapolis, Indiana, on May 30, 2020.
At 10:23 p.m., Indianapolis Star investigative reporter Ryan Martin posted on Twitter that the front door of the Star’s newsroom had been broken. The damage to the newspaper’s office in downtown Indianapolis came as violence and damage to other city businesses was reported.
— Ryan Martin (@ryanmartin) May 31, 2020
The protests, sparked by the police killing of George Floyd, a Black man, in Minneapolis on May 25, had been peaceful during the day, but tension grew in the evening, the Star reported. At around 9 p.m., police declared the remaining protest an unlawful assembly and told demonstrators to disperse. Soon after, the Star reported, police began using tear gas.
In a tweet at 9:49 p.m., Martin wrote that it was “getting really tense down here,” and mentioned broken glass and shouting.
Less than an hour later, he posted that the door window had been broken. “Chaotic stuff happening outside,” he wrote. A photo he shared on Twitter showed that the pane of glass had been smashed, scattering shards throughout the entryway.
Martin told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in an email that someone had spray-painted the wall outside near the damaged door. He didn’t know how the window had been broken.
The intent of the damage was unclear. “To the average person, that door and wall could be mistaken for an entrance to Circle Centre Mall; not a newsroom entrance,” Martin wrote.
Indianapolis Star Senior News Director Ginger Rough didn’t respond to requests for additional comment. The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department didn’t respond to an inquiry about the damage.
Protests against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
The Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering these protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
A photojournalist was assaulted while assisting a Fox 13 News crew during protests in Salt Lake City, Utah, on May 30, 2020.
Fox 13 correspondent Sydney Glenn wrote on Twitter that she, her unnamed colleague and a photojournalist from another station were assessing damage to a Fox 13 news vehicle when a crowd attacked the two photojournalists. The Tracker has documented the assault of the Fox News 13 photojournalist and damage to the outlet’s vehicle here.
This. Is. Unacceptable. Tonight a group of protestors attacked my co-worker.. a very talented photojournalist as we were assessing the damage to our @fox13 news car after it was smashed. A kind photojournalist from another station was helping and attacked as well. pic.twitter.com/ic3bDOOBle
— Sydney Glenn (@SydneyGlennTV) May 31, 2020
Glenn did not respond to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker’s calls or emails requesting comment. When emailed for comment, Fox 13 News Director Marc Sternfield said, “At the request of those involved, we are not releasing additional information about the incident.”
The Salt Lake Tribune reported that the group Utah Against Police Brutality had organized a car caravan protest, but that individuals took to the streets when there were not enough vehicles to fit all the demonstrators.
Following looting and vandalism, Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall announced an 8 p.m. curfew. Salt Lake City Police Department officers were joined by police from 13 cities and up to 200 National Guardsmen.
Detective Greg Wilking of the SLCPD confirmed to the Tracker that two photojournalists were “roughed up.”
“There were so many things happening that day that we didn’t even break the incident with the journalists down into a separate report,” he added.
The SLCPD did not respond to the Tracker’s requests for additional information about the incident or whether arrests were made in connection with the assault or vehicle damage.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
A photojournalist for Fox 13 News was attacked while covering protests in Salt Lake City, Utah, on May 30, 2020.
Fox 13 correspondent Sydney Glenn wrote on Twitter that she, her unnamed colleague and a photojournalist from another station were assessing damage to the Fox 13 news vehicle when a crowd attacked the two photojournalists. She also shared an image of her colleague, who appeared to have abrasions on his right arm and calf.
This. Is. Unacceptable. Tonight a group of protestors attacked my co-worker.. a very talented photojournalist as we were assessing the damage to our @fox13 news car after it was smashed. A kind photojournalist from another station was helping and attacked as well. pic.twitter.com/ic3bDOOBle
— Sydney Glenn (@SydneyGlennTV) May 31, 2020
In the image posted by Glenn, the van appears to have a shattered windshield. It is unclear what, if any, injuries the second photojournalist sustained, which the Tracker has documented here.
Glenn did not respond to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker’s calls or emails requesting comment. When emailed for comment, Fox 13 News Director Marc Sternfield said, “At the request of those involved, we are not releasing additional information about the incident.”
The Salt Lake Tribune reported that the group Utah Against Police Brutality had organized a car caravan protest, but individuals took to the streets when there were not enough vehicles to fit all the demonstrators.
Following looting and vandalism, Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall announced an 8 p.m. curfew. Salt Lake City Police Department (SLCPD) officers were joined by police from 13 cities and up to 200 National Guardsmen.
Detective Greg Wilking of the Salt Lake City Police Department confirmed to the Tracker that the two photojournalists were “roughed up.”
“There were so many things happening that day that we didn’t even break the incident with the journalists down into a separate report,” he added.
The SLCPD did not respond to the Tracker’s requests for additional information about the incident or whether arrests were made in connection with the assault or vehicle damage.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Independent journalist Tina-Desiree Berg was pushed by a law enforcement officer and her car window was shot out by rubber bullets fired by police while she was covering a protest in Los Angeles on May 30, 2020.
The protest in Los Angeles began as demonstrations erupted across the country, sparked by a video of a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man. Floyd was pronounced dead at the hospital. Protests against police brutality and for racial justice have continued across the country.
Berg was on assignment for Status Coup, which describes itself as a progressive media company, and was on her way to cover a protest on Fairfax Avenue in Los Angeles. She told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in an interview that when she and a photographer parked the car, she got out and was confronted by a member of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. She said she showed her press credentials and the officer left.
Minutes later, another member of the sheriff’s department confronted her, she said. Again, she showed her press credentials, but she said the law enforcement officer did not back off. According to Berg, he pushed her, backing her toward the street where a line of law enforcement vehicles were driving by. She said she feared she would be run over.
As she was covering the protest, she said that law enforcement began deploying tear gas. She said that she was in close proximity to a canister fired by police which landed near her and another journalist, neither of whom were standing near protesters. She was disoriented and having trouble breathing, and protesters helped her to leave the area and recover from the gas.
Around 6:30 p.m., she began to leave the area in her car, Berg said. Body camera footage she later acquired from the Los Angeles Police Department showed officers had formed a line across a broad street and started firing crowd control munitions, like rubber bullets.
Cars were stuck in traffic and could not leave the area. Berg said that she put her head out of the window and asked the police where they were supposed to go.
She said that an officer looked at her, then fired shots at her vehicle.
The rubber bullets shattered the glass of her rear window, leaving large holes, and left dents in the body of her car, photos show.
The cops just shot out by back window. And it was completely unnecessary. This after tear gas, being ribbed by a bully stick and other atrocities. And I had my press credentials visible. Coverage of today to follow on @StatusCoup. #laprotest #GeorgeFloyd pic.twitter.com/pSdLtSIAXq
— Notorious Lefty-Desiree McLefty Face (@TinaDesireeBerg) May 31, 2020
A spokesperson for the LAPD said the department was not aware of the incident and that the department does not deploy tear gas. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department did not respond to a request for comment.
Berg said that she has communicated with the National Lawyers Guild of Los Angeles about joining a class action lawsuit about police conduct during the protests.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering these protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
While covering a May 30, 2020, protest in Los Angeles, independent journalist Tina-Desiree Berg says law enforcement pushed her and later shattered the window of her car with rubber bullets.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, chemical irritant, protest, shot / shot at",,,,, Video journalist hit in head with projectile during DC protests,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/video-journalist-hit-head-projectile-during-dc-protests/,2020-12-04 20:37:59.843180+00:00,2022-03-10 21:14:11.643076+00:00,2022-03-10 21:14:11.587467+00:00,,Assault,,,,Ford Fischer (Zenger),,2020-05-30,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"Ford Fischer, co-founder and editor-in-chief of News2Share, was struck with crowd control munitions twice while on assignment for digital wire service Zenger covering protests in Washington, D.C., on May 30, 2020.
The Washington protests were part of a surge of demonstrations across the country, sparked by the May 25 death of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis.
Fisher, whose video news service focuses on "the latest on politics and activism,” told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was watching a “stand-off” between riot officers and protesters in front of the White House in Lafayette Park. He said some demonstrators threw objects at police and ignited fireworks, and officers pushed back and shot crowd control munitions.
“At one point during that chaos I did get a sharp sting into my gut, and I was able to feel that it was a pepper ball because it releases a pepper-spray equivalent around it,” Fischer said. “But that was far enough from my face that it didn’t have the sort of blinding effect that being maced or taking a pepper ball closer to the face would have, so I essentially ignored it.”
At around 11:45 p.m., Fischer said that fireworks set off by a protester landed somewhere between where he was standing and the officers.
“I made a remark into my stream, jokingly, to the effect of, ‘Sorry, a firework blew up next to my head,’ and I was saying that because it was probably extremely loud to people watching,” Fischer said. That clip can be viewed here. The scene is then relatively quiet, until “about 20 seconds later, there was a pepper round that was shot and that hit my right shoulder,” Fischer said.
Fischer said that the round exploded close enough to his face that he felt the chemical irritant powder, which he said left him blinded for several minutes. He posted an image of the abrasion on his shoulder on Facebook.
Throughout the night, Fischer said, he heard a “rat-tat-tat-tat-tat” of officers firing off multiple rounds of pepper balls. When he was struck the second time, he said that he could hear only one shot fired. Because of that, he believes he was targeted: “I don’t think anybody could have focused in on me and seen anything other than a journalist.” Fischer said he was wearing his Congressional and White House press passes around his neck and carrying a “studio-sized” video camera.
“There was somebody who very quickly came to my aid and poured water in my eyes,” Fischer said. “And I was still kind of struggling as I walked north-bound away from it.”
“Because I was still in residual pain and shaken up from that, I ended up leaving that protest pretty early,” Fischer said. “Once there was a safe way to exit, I did so.”
In Fischer’s footage from that night, some law enforcement officers appear to be carrying shields labeled with “military police” and “U.S. Park Police,” but it was not immediately clear to which agency the officers shooting belonged. Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department did not respond to an emailed request for comment.
The following night, Fischer was struck in the forehead with a rubber bullet and detained by police. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented those incidents here.
Photojournalist Ringo Chiu, a member of the National Press Photographers Association, was struck with a rubber bullet and had his camera damaged while documenting protests in the Fairfax District of Los Angeles, California, on May 30, 2020.
The protests in Los Angeles were sparked by a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Demonstrations against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
In a post initially to Facebook and later shared with the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, Chiu wrote that officers fired a rubber bullet that would have struck him in the upper body had it not been for his camera, which took the brunt of the hit. The lens hood of his Leica Q camera was damaged, as seen in photos posted to his social media accounts.
My Leica Q was hit by a rubber bullet fired by LAPD in a protest last month. Not working anymore 😭😭😭 #leicaq #leica #leicala #leicaphotojournalism #leicalove #protest #blacklivesmatters
— Ringo Chiu (@ringochiu) June 21, 2020
📸 https://t.co/5G5YvhfQad via https://t.co/tFiRvDN0df pic.twitter.com/0TtnqwOSXm
Chiu told the Tracker that he was also struck on his inner left thigh with a second rubber bullet fired by law enforcement.
CBSLA reported that both Los Angeles Police Department officers and L.A. County Sheriff’s deputies were at the scene in tactical gear. Neither agency responded to requests for comment as of press time.
Chiu was also assaulted by individuals while documenting the protest, which the Tracker has documented here.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented hundreds of incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country in 2020. Find these incidents here.
Photojournalist Ringo Chiu, a member of the National Press Photographers Association, said he was kicked by individuals while documenting protests in the Fairfax District of Los Angeles, California, on May 30, 2020.
The protests in Los Angeles were sparked by a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Demonstrations against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
Chiu posted multiple photos of bruises on his left leg and damage to his camera on Facebook the following day, with the caption, “Rubber bullet fired by LAPD and kicked by a protester…”
The Tracker documented the assault and equipment damage from the rubber bullets here.
Chiu told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker via email: “I am not sure whether or not I was targeted when I was kicked by the protesters during the chaos of the protest. They were attacking a police vehicle and most likely did not want me photographing them in the act.”
The Los Angeles Times reported that multiple vehicles belonging to the Los Angeles Police Department were vandalized and at least two were set on fire during the protests on May 30.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented hundreds of incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country in 2020. Find these incidents here.
KATV News reporter Shelby Rose said she and several colleagues were hit with tear gas deployed by police while they covered protests in Little Rock, Arkansas, on May 30, 2020.
The demonstrations in Little Rock were among many anti-racism protests across the country that were sparked by the May 25 killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, as well as other deaths of Black people at the hands of police.
Rose was covering the protests in downtown Little Rock as tensions escalated between police and protesters. According to the Arkansas Democrat Gazette, Arkansas State Police used tear gas multiple times that night to disperse protesters who gathered in the city’s downtown.
Rose said she and four other KATV journalists were first hit with tear gas when they stood near a small group of protesters, shortly after the Arkansas State Police arrived. One journalist, digital reporter Paige Cushman, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she had seen police using tear gas indiscriminately in a different area shortly before the news team was hit with it, and said she didn’t believe the news team had been targeted.
Rose said there were a handful of protesters near where she was standing with her colleagues, preparing for a live broadcast. She and members of her team were clearly identified as journalists. They were wearing polos with the KATV news logo and carrying camera equipment, including a powerful light used to shoot video, she said.
“There was no warning for tear gas,” she said. “They shot it right at us.”
In a live broadcast shot immediately after tear gas was used, Rose walked along a sidewalk, with protesters visible nearby, describing the effects. “My eyes are currently burning right now,” she said.
In a clip from a Facebook Live video recorded by a colleague, Rose and other members of the team kneel on the ground, as someone helps her pour water in her eyes.
Rose said she believes police intentionally fired tear gas toward her. “It was obvious who we were, and we were standing right next to them.”
Arkansas State Police spokesman Bill Sadler said in an email that the incident hadn’t been reported to the agency. He said police wouldn’t have fired on reporters standing near the police line, because the officers wouldn’t have deployed tear gas on themselves. “I assure you no tear gas was directed at any state troopers or reporters.”
He also said police always issue a loud warning to disperse before using tear gas. Rose said she heard no announcement from police before the tear gas was deployed.
About 15 minutes later, Rose was standing on a corner on Martin Luther King Drive with no protesters near her when a tear gas canister landed near her, she said.
Video reviewed by the Tracker that was shot as Rose was broadcasting live shows a line of police carrying riot shields, blocking a street. A tear gas canister appears to be shot from the line of police, alight and trailed by a shower of sparks. As she reported on the scene, Rose initially called the canisters “fireworks,” before she realized they were tear gas.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Pete Freedman, the co-founder and editor of the Dallas alternative news site Central Track, was hit with a flash-bang grenade while he was reporting on a protest in the Texas city on May 30, 2020.
The protest against police brutality and racial injustice in Dallas was one of many held across the country in response to a video of the police killing of George Floyd during an arrest in Minneapolis on May 25.
Demonstrators gathered outside City Hall in Dallas early in the afternoon and briefly marched through downtown, The Dallas Morning News reported. When the protest returned to the plaza, confrontations escalated with police, and law enforcement used tear gas and flash bangs on the crowd.
Freedman told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he started livestreaming the demonstration from around 3 or 4 p.m. He said tensions between protesters and police were high, with protesters shouting their frustrations at police, and police shouting instructions at the demonstrators. At one point, he said, a SWAT team arrived in armored trucks, shouting at protesters to move back onto the plaza from the street, and deploying tear gas on the crowd.
Freedman said he was trying to get to the other side of City Hall around the east side of the building, but the police would only allow people to leave by going around the west side. He said he was walking with a crowd of people against the building while police fired flash-bang grenades and tear gas toward them.
In a video posted on Instagram, Freedman can be seen walking with protesters as police move the group toward the City Hall building.
“They are literally putting our backs up against the wall here,” he says.
At the 33:30 mark, Freedman’s camera is pointing out to the empty plaza in front of the building, when a canister can be seen passing by before an orange flash in the lower right side of the frame. Freedman told the Tracker that was when the device hit him in the leg and exploded.
“There's no avoiding it,” he said. “It skirts right into my path and it happens to, like, explode right as it hits like my shin.”
Freedman said he was wearing a press badge, including his photo, outlet and the words “press” and “media,” on a lanyard. He said he didn’t believe he was targeted because he was a journalist. He said that the use of crowd-control devices seemed indiscriminate.
“The scary thing to me was that there was no regard for who anybody was,” he said.
A spokesperson for the Dallas Police Department told the Tracker they couldn’t find any record of the incident.
The explosion shocked him, he said. When he looked down a little while later, he said he saw he was bleeding. The device left him with a bruise and a cut, altogether the size of a baseball. He said the wound wasn’t very deep and he was able to follow the protests for the next eight hours without treating it, but it took about a month to fully heal.
Freedman said that he has covered many protests in Dallas in the past, but after he was hit with the flash-bang grenade, he was more alert about how to identify himself as a journalist. A few days later, he said he bought a vest marked “PRESS.”
“Covering the rest of the summer I think I was much more aware of maybe having to better identify myself,” he said.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Independent photojournalist Nick Stern said he was shot by police with crowd-control projectiles twice while covering a protest in Los Angeles, California on May 30, 2020.
The L.A. protest was one of many held across the country in response to a video showing the police killing of George Floyd during an arrest in Minneapolis on May 25. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
The demonstration that began in the city’s Fairfax District started out peaceful, but tensions escalated later in the day as police cars were set on fire and law enforcement used tear gas and rubber bullets on protesters, according to LAist.
Stern, whose work has been published by the Daily Mail and other publications, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he followed the protest from Pan Pacific Park as the crowd moved through the neighborhood, coming to a halt at the intersection of Third Street and Fairfax Avenue around 2:30 p.m. When a line of police formed to block the route along Third Street, Stern said he was among the protesters, at the front of the crowd.
The police would occasionally shout “move back” and use batons to push the crowd of protesters back.
Stern said an officer was very aggressive with him, even though he was displaying press credentials and holding two professional cameras. He said the officers prodded him repeatedly in the ribs with a baton. Frustrated, Stern moved within the crowd of protesters to another area, but a second officer started jabbing him with a baton, he said.
The Los Angeles Police Department didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Stern said he moved again to another area within the protest group and displayed his press credentials to an officer who led him through the skirmish line, away from the crowd.
Stern said he was standing about 10 feet behind the line of police. He said he brought his camera up to his face to start taking photographs of a group of officers carrying crowd-control weapons as they walked under a cloud of smoke billowing from a police car that had been set on fire.
“As I started taking the picture I realized that one of the cops has got his 40-millimeter gun actually pointing straight at me,” Stern said.
Stern told the Tracker he used his other hand to grab his press credentials, which were hanging from his neck on a lanyard, and held it up by the side of his face. He said he also shouted out that he was a journalist.
Then the officer fired, shooting Stern on his right thigh with a 40-millimeter crowd-dispersal round, Stern told the Tracker.
Stern said he wasn’t near any protesters when he was shot. He said he was the only civilian on that side of the police line and other officers were at least two yards away from him.
About half an hour later, Stern said that he was standing talking with another journalist on the police side of the skirmish line when another round grazed his left knee. He said he didn’t see where the projectile came from, but he said both he and the other journalist were clearly identifiable as members of the press.
Stern said he believed he was targeted because he was a journalist. In addition to shouting out that he was a journalist and showing his press credentials, he said he was carrying two large Nikon cameras.
“It's clear that I was not a protester,” Stern said. “I see no other reason why I was targeted. I was not chanting, not acting aggressively.
Stern said the shot on his right thigh was intensely painful. He had a bruise and said he had difficulty walking for about a week because it was painful to put pressure on that leg.
Los Angeles Times photographer Luis Sinco said his camera was struck by a rubber bullet, which also bruised his arm, while he was covering a protest in Los Angeles on May 30, 2020.
Sinco was covering one of hundreds of protests against racial injustice and police brutality that were held across the country in response to the killing of George Floyd during an arrest in Minneapolis on May 25.
Peaceful protests were held across the city earlier in the day on May 30, but by afternoon, people began looting and vandalizing property in some parts of the city, the LAist reported. Later that day, Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency, and a curfew was imposed from 8 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. the following morning in LA and the surrounding area.
Sinco told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in an email that he was covering a protest that night in downtown Los Angeles. Demonstrators were confronting police, and some people threw objects toward law enforcement, according to Sinco. Police began moving in a line formation toward the group of protesters, where Sinco was positioned, and two officers shot less-lethal projectiles, a category that includes rubber bullets, toward the demonstrators.
Sinco said that he was lowering his camera from his eye, holding it near his stomach, when a rubber bullet hit it. He said he could feel the impact of the projectile on the camera. The rubber bullet then ricocheted off and hit him near his elbow on the inner bicep of his left arm, he said.
The projectile ripped through metal alloys of the body of the Canon 1DX camera, according to Sinco. A photograph he posted on Twitter shows a hole on the top of the camera exposing the interior of the device.
Check this out. Rubber bullet fired by #LAPD gashes by camera instead of my face during #GeorgeFloydprotest in LA. pic.twitter.com/aTh46j2DZa
— luis sinco (@luissinco) May 30, 2020
Sinco said he tried to use the camera after it was hit, but it no longer worked.
Sinco believes he was likely hit because he was with the group of demonstrators that police were firing on. He said he does not think he was targeted because he was a journalist.
Sinco said he was wearing a press credential around his neck. The situation was chaotic, he said, and he did not identify himself verbally to police or protesters as a journalist.
The camera was substantially damaged and needed to be repaired, Sinco said. He said he had a bruise for several days where the rubber bullet ricocheted into his arm, but it was not very painful.
“The camera took most of the force, I think,” he said.
The damage to Sinco’s camera was referenced in a resolution the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors adopted on June 9 affirming the rights of journalists to report without interference from law enforcement.
Los Angeles Police Department did not respond to a request for comment
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting damage of equipment and multiple journalists arrested or struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas while covering related protests across the country. Find all of these cases here.
Documentary filmmaker Christopher Frierson was pepper-sprayed in the face by police while he filmed a protest in the Brooklyn borough of New York on May 30, 2020.
The protest was among the many demonstrations that broke out in response to police violence and in support of Black Lives Matter following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Frierson, whose work includes the award-winning documentary “The King” and the forthcoming “Don’t Try to Understand,” said in an interview with Democracy Now that the May 30 protest in Brooklyn had been peaceful until a woman threw a water bottle toward police from the group he was filming. He said that police began running toward the group spraying liquid at people, including him.
The Tracker couldn’t reach Frierson for comment.
Video Frierson recorded shows an officer in a helmet and face shield approaching and directing a stream of liquid in the direction of the camera from several feet away. The camera points toward the ground and Frierson can be heard groaning. He told Democracy Now that it was the second most painful experience in his life.
“I think that it’s more than the pain,” he said in the interview. “It’s just not knowing what’s happening all of a sudden, because you’re robbed of your sight. You’re robbed of your senses.”
Frierson kept the camera rolling after he was sprayed. Shortly after, voices can be heard around him asking if he had been sprayed and helping to treat him. Someone pours a liquid into his eyes and on his face, explaining that it will reduce the stinging, and wiping his face and nose.
“They got me right in the face, I saw it happening,” Frierson says in the video.
Frierson was incapacitated, unable to see, for more than 10 minutes after he was sprayed, according to The Guardian.
The Guardian reported that Frierson was clearly displaying a press badge at the time he was sprayed.
“I’d assumed they wouldn’t do anything to me because I was press and I had a camera in my arms, but I found out that I was wrong,” Frierson told the Guardian.
The New York City Police Department did not respond to a request for comment.
A KMTV 3 News Now car was found vandalized in the early morning hours of May 30, 2020, while the reporter was covering protests against police violence in Omaha, Nebraska.
Reporters from KMTV 3 News Now, a CBS-affiliate station, were documenting protests that began across the U.S. in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25.
According to the Omaha World-Herald, thousands of protesters gathered at 72nd and Dodge, one of Omaha’s busiest intersections on May 29th. Deputy Chief Ken Kanger said that there was generally no violence and harm, according to the World-Herald, but as of 10:30 p.m. Lt. Sherie Thomas said the demonstration was no longer peaceful.
KMTV-TV 3 News Now News Director Geoffrey Roth told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the news vehicle was parked about 3 blocks away from the protests as a safety precaution. Roth said a reporter returned to the car shortly after midnight on the 30th to find it spray painted with profanity and what appeared to be gang symbols, but there was no other damage.
“The vandalizing of our news vehicle was only a small part of what happened to our reporters in the field that evening,” he said. “Two were shoved to the ground by police officers while covering the protest that night and another was threatened with arrest.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Brad Svenson, a Minnesota-based journalist who runs the social media outlet Watchdog Citizen News, said he was hit with a crowd-control round fired by a Minnesota State Patrol trooper while covering a protest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 30, 2020.
Months of protests in Minneapolis and across the nation were sparked by the May 25 death of George Floyd, a Black man, while in police custody. Svenson, who videos and live-streams protests, told the Tracker he was covering a protest near the intersection of Nicollet Avenue and Lake Street in Minneapolis.
He said he was in a parking lot near an apartment complex and saw other journalists who had apparently been hit by crowd-control munitions. As a line of law enforcement officers was coming up the street, Svenson said he and another member of the press went over to see if the other journalists were OK.
Svenson said he was holding up his press badge, a card he made that had his photograph and the word “PRESS” in large letters, to the officers as they advanced. He said he saw that the officers were holding weapons, so he shouted out “press” to identify himself and turned around and started walking away.
As he was walking, he said, a Minnesota State Patrol trooper shot him with a bean-bag round, a crowd-control projectile consisting of a fabric bag filled with lead shot. The round hit him in the back just below his left armpit.
Svenson said the impact was painful and it hurt to breathe after he was hit, but he didn’t think it broke a rib. He said he was able to continue to cover protests for the next several weeks. Svenson said he has been in treatment for PTSD after covering protests in 2020, and believes that being shot with the munition was “the catalyst.”
Svenson believes he was targeted for being a journalist.
MSP didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Johnathen Duran, content editor at Colorado-based Yellow Scene Magazine, said he was shot with pepper balls and hit with tear gas while livestreaming from a Black Lives Matter protest in Denver on May 30, 2020.
“I was shot in the arm and foot with pepper balls,” Duran, who writes under the name De La Vaca, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. “This was at approximately 5:40-6 p.m.,” he said, adding that police officers used chemical agents including smoke bombs and pepper balls, as well as flash-bang grenades, on protesters in a dirt lot adjacent to the city’s Civic Center Station.
“I was on the far sidewalk, taking photographs while wearing a press badge,” he said. “I was subsequently hit with tear gas twice, once on the Capitol lawn, and the second time of which forced me to leave the protest to recover.”
Duran shared images with the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker of bruising on his arms, which he said were caused by the pepper balls.
A Denver Police Force spokesperson said the department didn’t have a record of the incident. However, the spokesperson said the department had undertaken a review of its response to the large-scale demonstrations in the city following the killing of George Floyd, some of which escalated into violence.
The department reviewed the use and tracking of “less-than-lethal” munitions, the processes for documenting use of force during protests, the use of body cameras and improving dispersal orders, among other issues.
Fox News correspondent Leland Vittert and his new crew were chased out of Washington, D.C.’s Lafayette Park by a mob of people on May 30, 2020.
Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 have spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Vittert told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he arrived with photojournalist Christian Galdabini and two Fox security officers to report on the protests near the White House at about 8:30 p.m.
The protest was “entirely peaceful” during the early evening, Vittert said, but grew more restless later into the night.
Around midnight, one protester wearing a black and white bandana kept approaching them, questioning which outlet they worked for and why they were there.
“Typically when that happens in the field it’s not really a good sign,” Vittert said. “My answer typically is to demure and move on and not really address anything.”
An hour later, Vittert said he noticed that the protester had stopped recording them and was looking at his phone.
As photojournalist Galdabini told Fox, “Somehow he figured out that we were Fox News and decided that that should be announced.”
Vittert told the Tracker that soon after, “A crowd of about 50 people surrounded us, a number of them stopped throwing things at the Secret Service [officers] and started beating on us.”
In footage captured by The Daily Caller, Vittert, Galdabini and their security officers can be seen making their way out of the park while numerous voices call out curses and shout “Fuck Fox News!”
Vittert told the Tracker that while they attempted to leave, individuals threw objects at them, grabbed their microphone and used it as a club against them. One of the security officers was punched in the face, and Vittert received more than one blow to his stomach.
A Fox camera was also broken when one of the individuals attempted to grab it. Galdabini’s assault and damage to the news equipment is documented here.
“What was different here was we became the prey,” Vittert said. “We weren’t reporting on an event, the attack on us was the event. And that was a very big difference.”
The crew eventually found refuge near a police cruiser outside the park, Vittert said.
“We were all pretty roughed up, to the point of — you woke up the next morning pretty damn sore,” he said.
Vittert said that another news crew reporting in the park that night later found Fox’s microphone and returned it.
Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott denounced the assault in a statement published by the outlet.
“We strongly condemn these actions against FOX News Media reporting teams as well as all other reporters from any media outlets who are simply trying to do their jobs and report the news during an extraordinary time in our country’s history,” Scott said.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
A group of individuals chased a Baltimore, Maryland, news crew away from a protest outside City Hall on the evening of May 30, 2020. Later that evening, the journalists were assaulted and robbed.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
J. Thomas Fisher, a cameraman for Fox45 WBFF, and reporter Dan Lampariello were standing in front of the police line outside Baltimore City Hall around 10 p.m. when a group of individuals on the other side of the line demanded they move back. “Some in the crowd began getting angry with us,” Lampariello says in a voice-over of tape filmed at the scene.
A few minutes later, the situation devolved further, and Lampariello and Fisher were forced to retreat a few blocks from City Hall. “Do not touch the camera,” Lampariello said on the video as individuals push him and Fisher.
Ray Strickland, a reporter for WMAR 2 News, Baltimore’s ABC affiliate, captured the incident on video and posted it to Twitter.
Protesters in #Baltimore just chased a camera crew away from city hall #BaltimoreProtest #GeorgeFloydProtest. It’s tense out here for sure. @WMAR2News pic.twitter.com/Rei7hL8nLP
— Ray Strickland (@realraystrick) May 31, 2020
About an hour later, the crew was chased again, and someone punched Fisher in the face, according to the WBFF report. A live unit was stolen out of his backpack, along with a microphone. Lampariello’s assault is documented here.
Early the next morning, Lampariello tweeted about the experience:
TWICE tonight myself and photojournalist @jthomasfisher were chased and assaulted by a group of people while covering the protest outside of #Baltimore City Hall. We had equipment stolen & destroyed. Scary and tense moments. I’m just thankful we’re both OK. https://t.co/fp7JbQu8ke
— Dan Lampariello (@DanFox45) May 31, 2020
Lampariello, Fisher and the WBFF newsroom did not respond to requests for comment.
“Last night, a FOX45 news crew reporting from the Baltimore demonstrations outside of City Hall was attacked and chased away by a group of protesters who resorted to violence,” Scott Livingston, senior vice president of news for the Sinclair Broadcast Group, the station’s parent company, wrote the Baltimore Sun in an email. “Despite this incident, we remain undeterred, and our incredible journalists will continue to fulfill their duties and report live from the protests.”
On June 8, a Baltimore pastor was arrested in connection with the incident and charged with five counts, including second-degree assault, robbery and theft under $25,000, according to the Baltimore Sun.
According to a police report the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker obtained from the Baltimore Police Department, the station was able to recover the live unit using its GPS tracker.
“Our station will always support the Constitutional right to protest, a fundamental pillar of our democracy. At the same time, we also recognize the necessity of a free press, something that is more important now than ever before,” Bill Fanshawe, senior vice president of WBFF, told the Sun in a statement. “We ask that protesters recognize the important service that journalists everywhere provide, and should not be targets of anger and frustration.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Free Press reporter J.C. Reindl said he was pepper-sprayed by law enforcement while covering protests in downtown Detroit, Michigan, on May 30, 2020.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
Reindl told the Committee to Protect Journalists — a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker — that on May 30, the protests had shifted in tone from when he’d begun reporting earlier in the afternoon. At around 10:30 p.m., Reindl said he was “trying to get closer to the action” for a tweet to document the escalating scene before he was sprayed.
Last thing I saw before I got sprayed. I was even holding up “media” badge pic.twitter.com/XGNN32dl1v
— JC Reindl (@jcreindl) May 31, 2020
“[An officer] began to pepper-spray some of the demonstrators and I began trying to photograph this because I was surprised. The protesters ran away and I kind of thought, I’m so far away there’s no way he’s going to come after me,” Reindl told CPJ. “Then [the officer] started coming at me and I held up my press badge and still had the phone going. I naively thought that I’m so far away he’s definitely not going to pepper-spray me, but he did.”
Reindl, who was wearing contact lenses and a cloth mask at the time of the incident, left the protests after being sprayed, but decided not to seek medical attention. Reindl also told CPJ that he did not file a police complaint because “[he] did not want to be a little whiner.”
After the incident, Reindl tweeted, “Last thing I saw before I got sprayed. I was even holding up ‘media’ badge." The accompanying image shows a law enforcement official in a gas mask. In the shadow he casts on the pavement below, a canister and line of spray can also be seen aimed in the direction of another shadow, presumably that cast by Reindl.
Last thing I saw before I got sprayed. I was even holding up “media” badge pic.twitter.com/XGNN32dl1v
— JC Reindl (@jcreindl) May 31, 2020
When contacted by CPJ, the Detroit Police Department’s voicemail box was full. The department did not respond to CPJ’s emailed request for comment as of press time.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Two Dallas Morning News reporters said a Texas state trooper rolled a can of tear gas at them while they covered protests in downtown Dallas on May 30, 2020.
The protests were sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, for 8 minutes and 46 seconds during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
On May 30th, Dallas Morning News reporters Jesus Jiménez and Corbett Smith were documenting police efforts to clear out protesters from outside of their newspaper’s office.
Smith told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the incident happened just after 8 p.m., when a state trooper, who was standing 20 to 25 yards away, made eye contact with Smith as the pair stood on South Harwood Street near the The Dallas Morning News headquarters.
“There's a state trooper who turns and looks right at me,” Smith said, “and pulled the pin on the gas.” The trooper rolled the canister toward Jiménez and Smith, but the canister “kind of skittered off to the west underneath a car that was 10 feet away.” The pair was able to quickly retreat, avoiding being enveloped by the gas.
There was no one standing between the journalists and the trooper at the time he rolled the canister at them, Smith said.
Both Jiménez and Smith said they were clearly identifiable as members of the media. “I feel like they could easily distinguish us as press,” Jiménez said. “We had our press passes on, our notebooks out and we were standing right in front of our office.”
Smith identified the officer as a state trooper, part of the Texas Department of Public Safety, based on the shield he was carrying. The Tracker documented Smith’s assault here.
In response to a request for comment, a spokesperson from the Texas DPS wrote in an email that the department “does not have a record of any of our personnel deploying a gas canister in the area of the Dallas Morning News offices in Dallas on the evening of May 30, 2020.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
This article was updated to reflect comment from the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Two Dallas Morning News reporters said a Texas state trooper rolled a can of tear gas at them while they covered protests in downtown Dallas, Texas, on May 30, 2020.
The protests were sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, for 8 minutes and 46 seconds during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
On May 30th, Dallas Morning News reporters Corbett Smith and Jesus Jiménez were documenting police efforts to clear out protesters from outside of their newspaper’s office.
Smith told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the incident happened just after 8 p.m., when a state trooper, who was standing 20 to 25 yards away, made eye contact with Smith as the pair stood on South Harwood Street near the The Dallas Morning News headquarters.
“There's a state trooper who turns and looks right at me,” Smith said, “and pulled the pin on the gas.” The trooper rolled the canister toward Smith and Jiménez, but the canister “kind of skittered off to the west underneath a car that was 10 feet away.” The pair was able to quickly retreat, avoiding being enveloped by the gas.
There was no one standing between the journalists and the trooper at the time he rolled the canister at them, Smith said.
Both Smith and Jiménez said they were clearly identifiable as members of the media. The Tracker documented Jiménez's assault here.
“It was very clear who I was and what I was doing,” Smith said. “I never thought that I would have an officer do something like that.”
Smith identified the officer as a state trooper, part of the Texas Department of Public Safety, based on the shield he was carrying.
In response to a request for comment, a spokesperson from the Texas DPS wrote in an email that the department “does not have a record of any of our personnel deploying a gas canister in the area of the Dallas Morning News offices in Dallas on the evening of May 30, 2020.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
This article was updated to reflect comment from the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Mikko Marttinen, a reporter for Finnish outlet Ilta-Sanomat, was struck in the face with a crowd-control munition while covering protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 29, 2020.
Multiple days of protests in Minneapolis and across the nation were sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital. On the fourth night of protests, the National Guard was called in to disperse crowds and enforce the 8 p.m. curfew in place that evening.
At approximately 11:30 p.m., Minneapolis Police officers near the department’s Fifth Precinct began indiscriminately firing projectiles and tear gas to disperse the crowd, Marttinen told the Committee to Protect Journalists. CPJ is a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
One of the rubber bullets ricocheted off the ground and struck him in the face. Marttinen said his glasses, which were broken by the projectiles, saved his eye.
“I only got a few scratches on my eyelid and around my eye,” Marttinen said. “So I was pretty OK.”
Marttinen eventually met up with other foreign correspondents in an alley, including an Australian news team sheltering with its security team.
The Minneapolis Police Department did not respond to multiple phone and emailed requests for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Jenn Schreiter, a reporter for the nonprofit media collective Unicorn Riot, was threatened and shoved by a state patrol officer while covering the fourth night of protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in the early hours of May 30, 2020.
Protests in Minneapolis and across the nation were sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Schreiter told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker over text that she and her colleague Niko Georgiades were interviewing a local businessman just after 3 a.m. on the 30th when Minnesota State Patrol officers in riot gear and carrying assault rifles approached them and shouted, “Get inside or go to jail!”
“We hurried into the restaurant and one officer shoved me with his baton then slammed the door,” Schreiter said.
Clip from our stream earlier shows when Minnesota state police in riot gear & SWAT w assault rifles pushed UR off an empty street, threatening our reporters w arrest. At the time were were interviewing Louis Hunter about his restaurant, Trio Plant Based, which he's been guarding. pic.twitter.com/bSnnks4Vxg
— Unicorn Riot (@UR_Ninja) May 30, 2020
Schrieter told the Tracker that both she and Georgiades have been reporting each night with their press badges visible and helmets branded with Unicorn Riot.
The journalists remained inside the restaurant until the state patrol officers had left the intersection of Lake Street and Lyndale Avenue. The Minnesota State Patrol did not respond to an emailed request for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Two journalists who’d been reporting for the Detroit Free Press had weapons brandished at them by law enforcement officials while covering protests in the city on May 30, 2020, they told the Committee to Protect Journalists.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
Detroit Free Press reporter Branden Hunter, who’s no longer with the newspaper, told CPJ in an interview that he’d been reporting on May 30 with a group of Free Press reporters. At about 11:30 p.m., as he was standing near a handful of his colleagues and trying to see through a haze of tear gas, a police officer approached him with a rubber bullet gun and told him to leave, according to a tweet from Hunter’s twitter account and his interview with CPJ. CPJ is a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
“I put my press pass up and immediately stopped what I was doing,” Hunter told CPJ.
Hunter, who is Black, said he felt the officer was “100 percent” going after him because of his race.
In a Facebook Live hosted by the International Center for Journalists on June 5, Hunter said he’d been wearing streetwear that evening, including a Black Panther jacket, and that, aside from his press badge, he “fit the description of the protesters.”
According to both Hunter and a video of the incident on his Twitter account that was viewed by CPJ, a tear gas canister rolled toward the journalists from another direction immediately after the officer had stepped away from him.
M.L. Elrick, who’d also been reporting that evening with a group of Free Press journalists, also had an officer aim a crowd-control weapon at him later that night. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented his assault here.
The Free Press did not respond to an email requesting comment as of press time.
When contacted by CPJ, the Detroit Police Department’s voicemail box was full. The department did not respond to CPJ’s emailed request for comment as of press time.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Cerise Castle, a reporter for Santa Monica NPR affiliate KCRW, was struck with a rubber bullet while covering protests in Los Angeles, California, on May 30, 2020.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
In a statement emailed to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, Castle said that at around 6:45 p.m., she was photographing a group of LAPD officers in riot gear who had just arrived at Beverly Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue in the back of an open truck.
“As I was snapping photos, the police descended from their vehicle and began pointing rifles at the crowd. People started to run, I held my ground and continued to take pictures,” she wrote. “This is when the shooting started, without warning or prior order to disperse. I screamed after the first gunshot, then pulled myself together and began yelling PRESS and removed my lanyard from my neck, and held it above my head.”
LAPD just shot me and protestors gathered at Beverly & Fairfax with rubber bullets. I was holding my press badge above my head. pic.twitter.com/9YCXq3rUvc
— Cerise Castle (@cerisecastle) May 30, 2020
The rubber bullet that hit her arm above the elbow crease was fired by an officer with whom she had just locked eyes with, she said. As she ran away, she sprained her ankle and is currently on crutches.
LAPD did not respond to an email requesting comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Jintak Han, a photographer and reporter for the Daily Bruin, UCLA’s student newspaper, was shot at by law enforcement while covering protests in Los Angeles, California, on May 30, 2020.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
Han told the Committee to Protect Journalists — a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker — that he was wrapping up an afternoon reporting on the protests and trying to cross Beverly Boulevard to head back to his car around 7:15 p.m. when he found himself facing a police line that was clearing protestors block-by-block.
Han said he was readily identifiable as a journalist, wearing a press pass, as well as a white helmet and a vest emblazoned with “PRESS,” and carrying three cameras.
Despite this, he said, an officer aimed his weapon at him, prompting Han to raise both hands in the air. He moved into an opening, and soon was standing “some distance away” from a group of four protestors who were shielding themselves behind a mattress when officers opened fire. “The rubber bullets fell short and hit the ground near my feet before I hid behind the mattress,” he told CPJ.
.@LAPD fired rubber bullets at me despite me:
— Jintak Han (한진탁) (@jintakhan) May 31, 2020
1. Wearing my press helmet
2. Wearing my press vest
3. Wearing my press pass
4. Telling them I’m press
Thankfully they missed. pic.twitter.com/jyLRF1Wt81
LAPD did not respond to an email requesting comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Samuel Braslow, a reporter for Los Angeles Magazine, was struck by a crowd-control munition while covering protests in Los Angeles, California, on May 30, 2020.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
Samuel Braslow, a reporter for Los Angeles Magazine, tweeted that was covering protests outside CBS Studios when his leg was grazed by a projectile fired by police, breaking the skin.
Grazed by a rubber bullet while covering protests in Los Angeles. Police opened fire on protesters who hand their hands up outside CBS gate. pic.twitter.com/sAiG5q7193
— Samuel Braslow (@SamBraslow) May 31, 2020
Braslow, who did not immediately return a request for comment, wrote in subsequent tweets that he was "doing fine."
The Los Angeles Police Department did not respond to an email requesting comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
NBC News producer Kailani Koenig and correspondent Cal Perry were shot at with pepper balls while covering protests in Louisville, Kentucky, on May 30, 2020.
Protests in Louisville have centered around the deaths of Breonna Taylor, shot and killed inside her home by Louisville police in March, and the death of George Floyd while in the custody of Minneapolis police on May 25.
Perry told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the news team and their security guard were reporting from a bus stop with plexiglass barriers in downtown Louisville shortly after 8:30 p.m. when police began to disperse the crowd. Both news crew members were wearing press passes, Perry said.
The news team took off running, Perry said, and when they made it around the corner and out of the way of the police advance, Koenig turned around and Perry noticed that her bag had been hit with pepper balls anywhere from six to 12 times.
In a tweet posted the following day, Koenig’s backpack can be seen with numerous residue marks where it was struck by the less-lethal pepper ball rounds.
Producer @kailanikm backpack marked by the many spots pepper pellets hit as we were running away last night in #Louisville #MSNBC pic.twitter.com/ynQBuDjoQf
— Cal Perry (@CalNBC) May 31, 2020
Perry said that while Koenig’s bag had prevented her from being hit by any of the rounds, the security officer with them was struck in the center of his back with a rubber bullet, causing a large welt.
“There was no question: they were moving us along by firing the little pepper rounds and rubber bullets at us,” Perry said. The Tracker documented Perry’s assault here.
The Louisville Police Department did not immediately respond to request for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Andrew Buncombe, the chief U.S. correspondent for the British Independent newspaper, was struck by crowd-control munitions and caught in tear gas while covering protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 30, 2020.
Protests began in Minnesota on May 26, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital. An 8 p.m. curfew was put into effect on May 30.
At about 8:40 p.m., a group of Minnesota state police and National Guard officers fired tear gas and rubber bullets at a group of protesters, which also hit several journalists covering the demonstrations.
Buncombe told the Committee to Protect Journalists — a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker — that he and several other reporters were trying to retreat from the area where police were advancing on protesters when police fired a non-lethal round that hit his backpack, leaving a white powder behind. He posted a photo of the backpack to Twitter.
Independent’s backpack also hit despite holding press credential high in air pic.twitter.com/f64VnT4eUs
— Andrew Buncombe (@AndrewBuncombe) May 31, 2020
After journalists separated themselves from the crowd, police released more tear gas in their direction, despite journalists repeatedly showing their press credentials and saying they were press, Buncombe said.
More than three dozen journalists were assaulted, arrested or had equipment damaged while covering protests that night. The Minneapolis Police Department, Minnesota State Police, and Minnesota National Guard did not reply to emailed requests for comment about these incidents.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Los Angeles Times photographer Carolyn Cole was one of more than a dozen journalists fired at with crowd-control munitions and pepper spray while covering protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 30, 2020.
Protests began in Minnesota on May 26, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Half an hour after the 8 p.m. curfew began, Minnesota State Patrol officers fired pepper spray and rubber bullets at a group of at least 20 journalists including Cole, according to Cole’s account of the incident in the LA Times.
Cole wrote that many of the journalists were wearing clearly marked press vests, and that another journalist loudly identified the group as journalists. Cole wrote that an officer came very close to the group and fired pepper spray, and that she “could feel the full force of the pepper spray go into my left ear and eye.”
Cole wrote that a local resident helped her get to a hospital for assistance after being pepper-sprayed.
More than three dozen journalists were assaulted, arrested or had equipment damaged while covering protests that night. The Minneapolis Police Department, Minnesota State Police, and Minnesota National Guard did not reply to emailed requests for comment about these incidents.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Minneapolis Star-Tribune reporter Chris Serres was struck by a rubber bullet and caught in tear gas while covering protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 30, 2020.
Protests began in Minnesota on May 26, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Serres wrote on Twitter that Minneapolis police tear gassed him and shot him in the groin with a rubber bullet while he was covering the protests, despite waving his press badge.
“I was twice ordered at gunpoint by Minneapolis police to hit the ground, warned that if I moved ‘an inch’ I’d be shot,” Serres wrote.
Regarding police behavior last night, I was twice ordered at gunpoint by Minneapolis police to hit the ground, warned that if I moved "an inch" I'd be shot. This after being teargassed and hit in groin area by rubber bullet. Waiving a Star Tribune press badge made no difference. pic.twitter.com/pfBm7ubzOg
— Chris Serres (@ChrisSerres) May 31, 2020
More than three dozen journalists were assaulted, arrested or had equipment damaged while covering protests that night. The Minneapolis Police Department, Minnesota State Police, and Minnesota National Guard did not reply to emailed requests for comment about these incidents.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
A member of a CBS news crew was struck with a rubber bullet while covering protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 30, 2020.
Protests began in Minnesota on May 26, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Shortly after the 8 p.m. curfew began, police fired a rubber bullet that hit John Marschitz, a CBS sound engineer, in the arm, according to tweets from CBS correspondent Michael George.
“We were not standing within 500 feet of any protesters at the time, and we had credentials displayed and cameras out,” George wrote.
This is the moment Minneapolis Police fired on our CBS News crew with rubber bullets. As you can see, no protesters anywhere near us- we all were wearing credentials and had cameras out. Our sound engineer was hit in the arm. #cbsnews pic.twitter.com/UAy7HYhGnL
— Michael George (@MikeGeorgeCBS) May 31, 2020
Marschitz told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the news crew had retreated down the street and into the parking lot where the team's car was parked after police began deploying tear gas into the crowd. The protesters kept moving in the opposite direction, and were several hundred feet away when officers began shooting crowd-control munitions at the news crew.
"My colleagues and I were fired upon without warning and [were] clearly identifiable as journalists," Marschitz said. "We were no threat to law enforcement and in no way impeding them from doing their job. Then they just began firing rubber bullets at us."
One of the rounds struck Marschitz in the arm; a second round struck a light on one of the team's cameras, but did not damage the equipment.
When asked whether he felt police targeted the crew, Marschitz said, "I don't think they cared, they just shot at us."
Marschitz told the Tracker in November 2021 that his arm still hurts where he was struck more than 17 months later.
More than three dozen journalists were assaulted, arrested or had equipment damaged while covering protests that night. The Minneapolis Police Department, Minnesota State Police, and Minnesota National Guard did not reply to emailed requests for comment about these incidents.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Editor's Note: This article has been updated to reflect comment from John Marschitz received via email on June 15, 2020, and via call on Nov. 8, 2021.
Reuters producer Julio-César Chávez was struck with multiple crowd-control munitions while covering protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 30, 2020.
Protests began in Minnesota on May 26, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Shortly after an 8 p.m. curfew began on the 30th, police fired rubber bullets that hit Chávez in his neck and left arm, according to an account of the event published by Reuters and a tweet from Chávez.
Tonight I was shot in the arm and the back of my neck with rubber bullets in the middle of covering the Minneapolis protests. My security advisor was shot in the face; his gas mask protected him.
— Julio-César Chávez (@JulioCesrChavez) May 31, 2020
Here’s what happened: https://t.co/fwwVLAxFIY
Here’s what it looks like: pic.twitter.com/UwSBqpHv5N
“A police officer that I’m filming turns around points his rubber-bullet rifle straight at me,” Chávez told Reuters. According to the Reuters report, minutes later Chávez and Reuters security advisor Rodney Seward were both struck with crowd-control munitions as they took shelter at a nearby gas station.
Seward yelled that he had been hit in the face by a rubber bullet, and was later treated by a medic for a deep gash under his left eye, according to Reuters.
Chávez was holding cameras and had a press pass around his neck; Seward was wearing a bulletproof vest labeled “press,” according to their employer.
“We strongly object to police firing rubber bullets at our crew in Minneapolis and are addressing the situation with the authorities,” a Reuters spokesperson told the wire service. “It was clear that both our reporter and security advisor were members of the press and not a threat to public order. Journalists must be allowed to report the news without fear of harassment or harm.”
More than three dozen journalists were assaulted, arrested or had equipment damaged while covering protests that night. The Minneapolis Police Department, Minnesota State Police, and Minnesota National Guard did not reply to emailed requests for comment about these incidents.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
A photographer runs amid tear gas during demonstrations in Minneapolis on May 30, 2020.
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Protests began in Minnesota on May 26, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
At about 11 p.m., police pushed Vice News reporter Michael Anthony Adams to the ground and pepper-sprayed him while he was identifying himself as press and displaying his credentials, as seen in a series of videos shot by Adams. Vice News producer Roberto Daza witnessed the incident and confirmed events to the Committee to Protect Journalists, a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
Police just raided the gas station we were sheltering at. After shouting press multiple times and raising my press card in the air, I was thrown to the ground. Then another cop came up and peppered sprayed me in the face while I was being held down. pic.twitter.com/23EkZIMAFC
— Michael Anthony Adams (@MichaelAdams317) May 31, 2020
The Vice News team, including Adams, Daza, co-producer Amel Guettatfi and cameraperson Daniel Vergara, were filming a report about police and state troopers storming a local business as its owners were trying to protect the property from looters, Daza told CPJ.
Daza said that, several hours earlier in the evening, state troopers fired a non-lethal round that struck him in the back.
More than three dozen journalists were assaulted, arrested or had equipment damaged while covering protests that night. The Minneapolis Police Department, Minnesota State Police, and Minnesota National Guard did not reply to emailed requests for comment about these incidents.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Mikhail Turgiev, a correspondent with the Russian news agency RIA, was targeted with pepper spray while covering protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 30, 2020.
Protests began in Minnesota on May 26, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Turgiev told the Committee to Protect Journalists — a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker — that police pepper-sprayed at about 11 p.m. after he had taken refuge in a Vice News crew’s vehicle.
Turgiev said he told the officer he was a member of the press and showed his State Department-issued press credentials, and then an officer pepper-sprayed him, according to a video from the Russian government-funded channel Sputnik. The journalist was able to turn his head and the spray only got into his right eye, he said in that video.
“There’s no explanation of why they used this kind of force,” Turgiev told Sputnik.
More than three dozen journalists were assaulted, arrested or had equipment damaged while covering protests that night. The Minneapolis Police Department, Minnesota State Police, and Minnesota National Guard did not reply to emailed requests for comment about these incidents.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Los Angeles Times correspondent Molly Hennessy-Fiske was one of more than a dozen journalists fired at with crowd-control munitions and pepper spray while covering protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 30, 2020.
Protests began in Minnesota on May 26, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Half an hour after the 8 p.m. curfew began, Minnesota state patrol officers fired pepper spray and rubber bullets at a group of at least 20 journalists including Hennessy-Fiske and LA Times photographer Carolyn Cole, according to Cole’s account of the incident in the LA Times and social media posts by the journalists.
You can hear me and @Carolyn_Cole attacked in this video; see me scaling a wall at the end. I stand corrected: @MnDPS_MSP did shout something at us: "Move!" Hence, I replied "Where do we go?" Thanks @ryanraiche #MinneapolisUprising #Minneapolis https://t.co/1fT36u03kZ
— Molly Hennessy-Fiske (@mollyhf) June 3, 2020
Cole wrote that many of the journalists were wearing clearly marked press vests, and that Hennessy-Fiske loudly identified the group as journalists.
More than three dozen journalists were assaulted, arrested or had equipment damaged while covering protests that night. The Minneapolis Police Department, Minnesota State Police, and Minnesota National Guard did not reply to emailed requests for comment about these incidents.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Vice News producer Roberto Daza was struck with a crowd-control munition while covering protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 30, 2020.
Protests began in Minnesota on May 26, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Daza told the Committee to Protect Journalists — a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker — that in the early evening state troopers fired a less-lethal round that struck him in the back.
More than three dozen journalists were assaulted, arrested or had equipment damaged while covering protests that night. The Minneapolis Police Department, Minnesota State Police, and Minnesota National Guard did not reply to emailed requests for comment about these incidents.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Police attacked dozens of journalists with rubber bullets, tear gas, and pepper spray on May 30, 2020, during protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Protests began in Minnesota on May 26, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Half an hour after an 8 p.m. curfew began on the 30th, Minnesota State Patrol Officers fired pepper spray and rubber bullets at a group of at least 20 journalists including KSTP-TV investigative television reporter Ryan Raiche, according to social media posts by the journalists.
“Myself, photographer, and producer just made it back to the car. We were with a group of media and thought we were in a safe spot,” Raiche wrote on Twitter. “We kept saying we’re media. Police tear gassed and pepper sprayed the entire group. Everyone ran. It was insane. It happened so fast.”
Myself, photographer, and producer just made it back to the car. We were with a group of media and thought we were in a safe spot. We kept saying we’re media. Police tear gassed and pepper sprayed the entire group. Everyone ran. It was insane. It happened so fast. pic.twitter.com/Wl3Fzzlsnw
— Ryan Raiche (@ryanraiche) May 31, 2020
More than three dozen journalists were assaulted, arrested or had equipment damaged while covering protests that night. The Minneapolis Police Department, Minnesota State Police, and Minnesota National Guard did not reply to emailed requests for comment about these incidents.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Police attacked dozens of journalists with rubber bullets, tear gas, and pepper spray on May 30, 2020, during protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Protests began in Minnesota on May 26, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Half an hour after an 8 p.m. curfew began on the 30th, Minnesota state patrol officers fired pepper spray and rubber bullets at a group of at least 20 journalists including independent photographer Sait Serkan Gurbuz.
Gurbuz told the Committee to Protect Journalists — a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker — that he was covering the protests as a contributor to Zuma Press.
Gurbuz said police pepper sprayed him while he was holding his credentials and saying “journalist” as loudly as he could. Gurbuz said that he was wearing a respirator when police used pepper spray, but his hands and right ear burned for a day after the event.
More than three dozen journalists were assaulted, arrested or had equipment damaged while covering protests that night. The Minneapolis Police Department, Minnesota State Police, and Minnesota National Guard did not reply to emailed requests for comment about these incidents.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Police attacked dozens of journalists with rubber bullets, tear gas, and pepper spray on May 30, 2020, during protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Protests began in Minnesota on May 26, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Minneapolis police fired projectiles at Deutsche Welle reporter Stefan Simons and his camera operator, according to a tweet from the news agency.
A DW reporter and his camera operator have been shot at with projectiles by Minneapolis police and threatened with arrest while covering the protests sparked by the death of George Floyd. pic.twitter.com/SFKMv5SFW6
— DW News (@dwnews) May 31, 2020
“A DW reporter and his camera operator have been shot at with projectiles by Minneapolis police and threatened with arrest while covering the protests sparked by the death of George Floyd,” the network tweeted.
More than three dozen journalists were assaulted, arrested or had equipment damaged while covering protests that night. The Minneapolis Police Department, Minnesota State Police, and Minnesota National Guard did not reply to emailed requests for comment about these incidents.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Police attacked dozens of journalists with rubber bullets, tear gas, and pepper spray on May 30, 2020, during protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Protests began in Minnesota on May 26, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
On May 30, police fired a rubber bullet that hit Canadian Broadcasting Corporation correspondent Susan Ormiston in her shoulder, and fired an unidentified canister that hit her in the buttocks, she said in a report for the broadcaster.
#GeorgeFloyd Protests: CBC in Minneapolis#BREAKING The curfew is in effect but protesters are still out so police started tear gas and rubber bullets at them.
— Natasha Fatah (@NatashaFatah) May 31, 2020
People have been hit including our colleague, CBC Senior Correspondent Susan Ormiston. pic.twitter.com/N8XcXaAyHH
“For the last 10 minutes we have seen a very robust police response,” Ormiston said in her report. “Police came out, they pushed the crowd back, they were firing canister after canister of tear gas and we were right in the middle of it. They were firing rubber bullets: a bullet hit me in the shoulder.”
Ormiston said that police opened fire on her and her CBC team while they were in a parking lot filming officers’ actions.
“The thing is we were in that parking lot all by ourselves with two other people behind us, everybody else was cleared out and they fired at us,” Ormiston said. “We clearly had our television camera visible, so they were definitely taking an aggressive action to move everybody out including us.”
More than three dozen journalists were assaulted, arrested or had equipment damaged while covering protests that night. The Minneapolis Police Department, Minnesota State Police, and Minnesota National Guard did not reply to emailed requests for comment about these incidents.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Police officers shoved, threatened and shot projectiles at two freelance journalists while they reported for the New York Times on protests in Minneapolis on May 30, 2020, according to interviews with the journalists and videos of the incidents.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the U.S. since the end of May.
Journalists Katie G. Nelson and Mike Shum told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that they were reporting in the Fifth Precinct of Minneapolis for the Times as an 8 p.m. curfew came into effect.
As seen in a video from local ABC affiliate KSTP, a line of state police formed to the south of the station on Nicollet Avenue. “Please disperse or you will be arrested,” a loudspeaker blares. Within seconds of the warning, the police appear to use flash bang grenades and tear gas. They then begin to advance.
The video shows a line of State Patrol troopers, in maroon pants and helmets, and what appear to be Department of Natural Resources conservation officers in green pants and helmets approaching a group of journalists huddled on the side of the street. As previously reported by the Tracker, State Patrol troopers pepper sprayed the group at close range as the journalists identified themselves as press.
Nelson and Shum had gas masks, but a third person working with them didn’t, Nelson said, so she escorted this person to safety as Shum stayed to film.
Shum reunited with Nelson and they continued to report on the dispersal of protesters near the Fifth Precinct police station. About an hour later, the team was filming a couple of people approaching a police line with their hands up near a Kmart a few blocks from where Shum was shoved, Nelson said. A Minneapolis Police officer about fifty feet away pointed a projectile launcher at them, Nelson said.
Nelson said she yelled that they were press, adding there was no question they looked like journalists given their large cameras, ballistic helmets and protective vests.
In a video filmed shortly after that Nelson provided to the Tracker, Minneapolis police officers in a line start ordering people to move. Nelson can be heard warning Shum, “Mike, Mike, Mike, they’re gonna push us. Keep shooting Mike.”
Minneapolis police spokesman John Elder told the Tracker he couldn’t comment on the incident. He added that “every use of force by the MPD is under investigation internally.”
Late into the night, Nelson and Shum were driving a couple of blocks off Lake Street on their way to 38th and Chicago, where protesters had created a memorial on the site of Floyd’s killing.
Nelson turned the car onto a road blocked by a police checkpoint, the journalists told the Tracker. Nelson said the police shined a bright light at them. Blinded, she slowed the car down. Nelson said she yelled that they were press through the open windows of the car.
Nelson said the police yelled “Go home” and “We don’t care” in response.
Nelson pulled a U-turn and drove away as the journalists heard the pinging of projectiles hitting her car. They said they believe the car was hit with pepper balls.
“I start coughing and it’s really hard to see. My eyes are watering. It felt very close to tear gas,” Nelson said. “I was just like, we gotta get out of here.”
At around the same time, unidentified law-enforcement officers fired projectiles at the car of a television crew for France’s TF1 and arrested them, the Tracker previously reported.
It isn’t clear which law enforcement agency fired the projectiles at Nelson’s car. Protesters, journalists and even law-enforcement officials have had difficulty at times identifying specific officers during the protests. More than a dozen different agencies joined the law-enforcement effort in Minnesota, often wearing similar looking uniforms.
Nelson’s car wasn’t damaged and the journalists were uninjured. However, Nelson told the Tracker on Aug. 13 that a doctor diagnosed recurring eye inflammation as a result of tear gas exposure.
DNR spokesman Chris Niskanen said the department respects the freedom of the press but “disagrees with [the Tracker’s] characterization of events.” He didn’t specify why. Niskanen added he couldn’t comment further on the incident because it “may be subject to ongoing litigation initiated against the State of Minnesota by multiple media members.”
Nelson and Shum have joined a lawsuit seeking class-action status filed by the ACLU of Minnesota against Minneapolis and state officials concerning the treatment of journalists covering the Floyd protests.
The Department of Public Safety, which oversees the State Patrol, didn’t respond to the Tracker’s emailed list of questions. In a May 31 press conference, the Chief of the State Patrol, Col. Matt Langer, praised the law-enforcement effort during a dangerous and unpredictable night while also saying: “We are never perfect.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Nelson told the Tracker this Minneapolis police officer pointed a projectile launcher directly at her and her reporting partner, Mike Shum, on May 30, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,0:20-cv-01302,"['ONGOING', 'SETTLED']",Class Action,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, chemical irritant, protest, shot / shot at",,,,, "Minneapolis news crew held at gunpoint, menaced with crowbar",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/minneapolis-news-crew-held-at-gunpoint-menaced-with-crowbar/,2021-10-14 15:10:58.986068+00:00,2021-10-14 15:10:58.986068+00:00,2021-10-14 15:10:58.939066+00:00,,Assault,,,,Devin Krinke (KARE 11),,2020-05-30,False,Minneapolis,Minnesota (MN),44.97997,-93.26384,"In the span of two minutes on May 30, 2020, a news crew from NBC-affiliate KARE 11 that was covering protests and unrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, was held up at gunpoint by one man, and threatened by another man wielding a crowbar.
Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 have spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Photojournalist Devin Krinke and investigative journalist A.J. Lagoe had just driven into central Minneapolis from St. Paul after hearing that there might be "something going on" under the highway underpass of Interstate 35 West around 9 p.m., Lagoe told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. He said there were not many police in the vicinity and several people in the area expressed unhappiness at seeing reporters around.
A man in the crowd approached Lagoe and started asking him about the bulletproof vest he was wearing, Lagoe told the Tracker in an interview. “He kept saying he wanted it,” Lagoe said. Eventually, the man produced a semiautomatic handgun and demanded the vest.
Lagoe was holding his cell phone on the tripod at the time and Krinke was standing a few feet away, holding his camera. “We clearly identified ourselves as press, but that didn’t help the situation at all, it only inflamed it,” Lagoe said.
As Lagoe tried to talk his way out of the situation, a man brandishing a crowbar approached him and Krinke, Lagoe recounted. The man, who was dressed in black body armor decorated with a red medic cross, menanced them with his crowbar while shouting, “Give us all your stuff,” before running off and swinging his crowbar at someone else in the area, Lagoe recounted.
This provided enough of a distraction to enable Lagoe and Krinke to back away from both men, and round the corner and quickly head back to their car, Lagoe said. They drove a few blocks away and set up to do a live shot, and the man with the crowbar drove by them, swearing at them through an open window.
Afterward, Krinke tweeted about the experience:
@AJInvestigates and I were threatened at gun point at 2nd ave S and East Lake St. Young man even swung crow bar at AJ. He then swung at another photojournalist and destroyed his camera. Journalist friends please avoid this area. @kare11 @wcco @fox9 @efrostee @KSTP pic.twitter.com/HcnvevsINg
— devinphoto (@devphotoK11) May 31, 2020
That same evening, the crowbar-wielding man struck the camera of Lucas Jackson, a Reuters photographer, breaking it. Lagoe later retweeted a video of the man striking Jackson’s camera:
This is guy who swung crowbar at me & @devphotokare11 https://t.co/8DcxaRdZ2K
— A.J. Lagoe (@AJInvestigates) May 31, 2020
That instance of equipment damage is catalogued here, in a separate post on the Tracker.
Lagoe told the Tracker that they did not file a police report about either assailant.
The Tracker emailed the Minneapolis Police Department for comment about whether anyone has been arrested in these incidents of alleged assault, or if police reports had been filed regarding these matters. The request was not answered as of press time.
Mike Max, a reporter for WCCO, a CBS affiliate station based in the city, was reporting live a few blocks from the Fifth Precinct police headquarters when he reported that a man wielding a crowbar or cane tried to assault WCCO cameraman Chris Cruz. Max also said the man assaulted another photographer, whom he didn’t identify. Neither Max nor WCCO responded to requests for comment as of press time.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Just after Minneapolis’ curfew went into effect on May 30, 2020, a correspondent and cameraman for Turkey’s state-run English-language news channel were hit by projectiles fired by police.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
Lionel Donovan, a Washington-based correspondent for TRT World, said he had set up for a live shot outside the Minneapolis Police Department’s Fifth Precinct just after the city’s 8 p.m. curfew went into effect, near some peaceful protesters staging a sit-in at an intersection. Journalists were specifically exempt from the curfew by Governor Tim Walz’s order.
“The curfew came and it was like a button got hit,” Donovan told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in an interview.
According to Donovan, the police advanced down the street and began to fire off tear gas and flash-bang grenades to disperse the crowd. One of the tear gas canisters hit cameraman Barbaros Sayilgan’s foot during Donovan’s live shot.
Sayilgan could not be reached for comment, but Donovan said he helped the cameraman and a producer off to safety, then went back into the street to film more footage himself. Donovan was filming on his phone, he said, when a blue foam round struck him in the inside of his left thigh, breaking the skin.
Requests for comment sent to the Minnesota State Patrol and the Minneapolis Police Department were not immediately returned.
Fahrettin Altun, Turkey’s communications director, brought up the attack on the crew in a June 3 phone call with David Satterfield, the U.S. ambassador to Turkey, according to an article published in the Daily Sabah, a Turkish newspaper.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
While covering the fifth night of protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, three Swiss journalists were shot at with crowd-control munitions shortly after the 8 p.m. curfew went into effect on May 30, 2020.
Journalists were specifically exempt from the curfew by Gov. Tim Walz’s order. The curfew followed protests in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
Shortly after 8:30 p.m. in Minneapolis, officers fired foam rounds at the journalists after they held up their press passes and yelled that they were members of the media.
Massimiliano Herber, the Washington-based television correspondent for RSI (Radiotelevisione svizzera), an Italian-language channel of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation, told the Tracker in an interview that he and videographer Jean-Pascal Azaïs had been reporting on protests downtown with Gaspard Kühn, a Washington-based correspondent for RTS (Radio Télévision Suisse), the public broadcaster’s French-language channel. Neither Azaïs nor Kühn could be reached for comment.
Police had begun to throw tear gas and shoot foam rounds at protesters, according to Herber. Some of the tear gas wafted toward the Swiss journalists, stinging their eyes.
As the journalists attempted to reach their car, he said, they found police lines on either end of the block, preventing them from moving.
Standing in the middle of the road, the journalists held up their press passes issued by the U.S. Congress and shouted, “Media! Media! Press!” toward the police and asked if they could pass by to reach their car. Azaïs was holding a small video camera. They had taken a couple steps forward, Herber said, when the officers told them to “back up”. The officers then began to shoot at the journalists, firing off four or five foam rounds, all of which missed the journalists, Herber said.
They were able to flee to the safety of a nearby parking lot, but when they tried to move, the officers again opened fire, firing two to three foam rounds, Herber said. Eventually, with the help of a local resident, they found a safe route back to their car.
The officers in the area were from the Minneapolis Police Department and the Minnesota State Patrol, Herber said, but he was not sure who fired the rounds.
The broadcaster filed a complaint about the matter with the U.S. Embassy in Switzerland on June 1, Herber said.
Requests for comment on these incidents sent to the Minnesota State Patrol and the Minneapolis Police Department were not returned.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
While covering the fifth night of protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, three Swiss journalists were shot at with crowd-control munitions shortly after the 8 p.m. curfew went into effect on May 30, 2020.
Journalists were specifically exempt from the curfew by Gov. Tim Walz’s order. The curfew followed protests in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
Shortly after 8:30 p.m. in Minneapolis, officers fired foam rounds at the journalists after they held up their press passes and yelled that they were members of the media.
Massimiliano Herber, the Washington-based television correspondent for RSI (Radiotelevisione svizzera), an Italian-language channel of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation, told the Tracker in an interview that he and videographer Jean-Pascal Azaïs had been reporting on protests downtown with Gaspard Kühn, a Washington-based correspondent for RTS (Radio Télévision Suisse), the public broadcaster’s French-language channel. Neither Azaïs nor Kühn could be reached for comment.
Police had begun to throw tear gas and shoot foam rounds at protesters, according to Herber. Some of the tear gas wafted toward the Swiss journalists, stinging their eyes.
As the journalists attempted to reach their car, he said, they found police lines on either end of the block, preventing them from moving.
Standing in the middle of the road, the journalists held up their press passes issued by the U.S. Congress and shouted, “Media! Media! Press!” toward the police and asked if they could pass by to reach their car. Azaïs was holding a small video camera. They had taken a couple steps forward, Herber said, when the officers told them to “back up”. The officers then began to shoot at the journalists, firing off four or five foam rounds, all of which missed the journalists, Herber said.
They were able to flee to the safety of a nearby parking lot, but when they tried to move, the officers again opened fire, firing two to three foam rounds, Herber said. Eventually, with the help of a local resident, they found a safe route back to their car.
The officers in the area were from the Minneapolis Police Department and the Minnesota State Patrol, Herber said, but he was not sure who fired the rounds.
The broadcaster filed a complaint about the matter with the U.S. Embassy in Switzerland on June 1, Herber said.
Requests for comment on these incidents sent to the Minnesota State Patrol and the Minneapolis Police Department were not returned.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
While covering the fifth night of protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, three Swiss journalists were shot at with crowd-control munitions shortly after the 8 p.m. curfew went into effect on May 30, 2020.
Journalists were specifically exempt from the curfew by Gov. Tim Walz’s order. The curfew followed protests in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
Shortly after 8:30 p.m. in Minneapolis, officers fired foam rounds at the journalists after they held up their press passes and yelled that they were members of the media.
Massimiliano Herber, the Washington-based television correspondent for RSI (Radiotelevisione svizzera), an Italian-language channel of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation, told the Tracker in an interview that he and videographer Jean-Pascal Azaïs had been reporting on protests downtown with Gaspard Kühn, a Washington-based correspondent for RTS (Radio Télévision Suisse), the public broadcaster’s French-language channel. Neither Azaïs nor Kühn could be reached for comment.
Police had begun to throw tear gas and shoot foam rounds at protesters, according to Herber. Some of the tear gas wafted toward the Swiss journalists, stinging their eyes.
As the journalists attempted to reach their car, he said, they found police lines on either end of the block, preventing them from moving.
Standing in the middle of the road, the journalists held up their press passes issued by the U.S. Congress and shouted, “Media! Media! Press!” toward the police and asked if they could pass by to reach their car. Azaïs was holding a small video camera. They had taken a couple steps forward, Herber said, when the officers told them to “back up”. The officers then began to shoot at the journalists, firing off four or five foam rounds, all of which missed the journalists, Herber said.
They were able to flee to the safety of a nearby parking lot, but when they tried to move, the officers again opened fire, firing two to three foam rounds, Herber said. Eventually, with the help of a local resident, they found a safe route back to their car.
The officers in the area were from the Minneapolis Police Department and the Minnesota State Patrol, Herber said, but he was not sure who fired the rounds.
The broadcaster filed a complaint about the matter with the U.S. Embassy in Switzerland on June 1, Herber said.
Requests for comment on these incidents sent to the Minnesota State Patrol and the Minneapolis Police Department were not returned.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Brad Simmons, a photojournalist for North Carolina station WRAL-TV, was struck with a crowd-control munition while covering protests in Raleigh, North Carolina, on May 30, 2020.
The protest was among several demonstrations held across the country sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minnesota on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Simmons told the Committee to Protect Journalists — a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker — that he was shooting video at the protest in Raleigh, which he said was “peaceful” until around 7:30 p.m., when it began to escalate.
“There was tear gas, people running. People started being a little bit more combative when law enforcement showed up,” Simmons says.
Simmons witnessed protesters throwing bottles and garbage can lids, as well as breaking windows and storefronts. At around 10:20 p.m., he was struck in the left knee by a rubber bullet. He assumes it was fired by police. Simmons estimates he was about 75 feet from police when he was struck. At the time he was struck, he saw many officers in riot gear.
Simmons doesn’t believe he was targeted for being a member of the media and thinks he was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.
The Raleigh Police Department did not immediately respond to CPJ’s request for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
The offices of ABC11, INDY Week and The News & Observer in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina, were damaged during protests in the city on May 30, 2020.
Alternative weekly newspaper INDY Week reported extensive damage to its newsroom, while ABC11 and The News & Observer newspaper both had windows smashed as protests stretched late into the night.
The protests in Raleigh echoed demonstrations across the country sparked by a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
The newsrooms in Raleigh were damaged late in the first major day of protesting in the city. Demonstrations had been peaceful through the day, but late in the evening, after police began using tear gas to disperse crowds, a small group of people began destroying property in the city’s downtown.
A reporter for ABC11, Bridget Condon, posted videos on Twitter showing windows smashed out on the station’s street-level studio. Fragments of glass littered the sidewalk outside.
— Bridget Condon (@BridgetABC11) May 31, 2020
ABC11 didn’t respond to requests for comment about the damage.
The three offices were just some of many businesses damaged in the city. According to an article in the News & Observer, “nearly every” business in Raleigh’s downtown area was damaged overnight.
A spokesperson for the Raleigh Police Department said police were aware of damage to INDY Week and the News & Observer. There haven’t been any arrests related to the incidents, according to the department.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
The offices of The News & Observer, INDY Week and ABC11 in downtown Raleigh, N.C. were damaged during protests in the city on May 30, 2020.
Alternative weekly newspaper INDY Week reported extensive damage to its newsroom, while ABC11 and The News & Observer newspaper both had windows smashed as protests stretched late into the night.
The protests in Raleigh echoed demonstrations across the country sparked by a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
The newsrooms in Raleigh were damaged late in the first major day of protesting in the city. Demonstrations had been peaceful through the day, but late in the evening, after police began using tear gas to disperse crowds, a small group of people began destroying property in the city’s downtown.
At The News & Observer, business reporter Aaron Sánchez-Guerra saw windows at the entrance to the offices being smashed by a small group of people who broke off from a larger group that had been destroying property and looting in the area.
Sánchez-Guerra told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he recognized one of the individuals as a protester whom he had interviewed a short time earlier. He said that he shouted at the group to stop, that they were journalists. The protester appeared to recognize him, and they left.
The newspaper didn’t appear to be targeted, but was just one of many businesses that were impacted that night, according to members of the publication’s staff. Many nearby restaurants sustained damage and were looted, Sánchez-Guerra said. “We were just another open target.”
Two windows at The News & Observer were damaged during the protest, according to Betsy Womble, executive assistant to the publisher and president of the paper. The damage was reported to police, but there have been no developments with the report, she said.
The three offices were just some of many businesses damaged in the city. According to an article in the News & Observer, “nearly every” business in Raleigh’s downtown area was damaged overnight.
A spokesperson for the Raleigh Police Department said police were aware of damage to INDY Week and the News & Observer. There haven’t been any arrests related to the incidents, according to the department.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Blade photojournalist Kurt Steiss was struck with crowd-control munitions while covering protests in Toledo, Ohio, on May 30, 2020.
The protest was held in response to a video showing a Minneapolis police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, for more than eight minutes during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital. The incident sparked anti-police brutality and Black Lives Matter demonstrations across the country.
Steiss reported on Twitter he was fired upon by police while documenting the police advance from the Lucas County Courthouse toward the police headquarters that afternoon. In a series of tweets, he recounted being struck multiple times with pepper balls, which left a welt on his arm.
Been hit a few times as police advanced their line between the Lucas County Courthouse and the Safety Building (TPD HQ). Heading in to edit and file. @AmyEVoigt is taking over for now on photo. pic.twitter.com/vitIM4ZNkQ
— Kurt Steiss ⚔️ (@kurtsteiss) May 31, 2020
Steiss, who did not respond to an emailed request for comment, was also struck on the forehead.
“Ironically there isn’t much of a mark there (compared to my arm), but I can still feel soreness on my head while my arm feels fine,” he wrote.
Lt. Kellie Lenhardt, who commands the Toledo Police Public Information Section, told the Tracker over email that the department did not receive complaints from Steiss or other journalists that day.
Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz said during a press conference on June 22 that there was an investigation into officers’ conduct during the protests. Kapszukiewicz also announced that officers will no longer be permitted to wear military-style camouflage.
On July 22, Toledo police announced that three officers were disciplined for misconduct during the May 30 protests. One officer received a written reprimand while the other two were suspended and given last chance warnings, meaning they could be fired following another infraction.
“Police legitimacy cannot improve if departments fail at policing their own,” Police Chief George Kral said in a press release announcing the disciplinary measures. “I will ensure that officers are held accountable when their actions are found to violate department policies, and I will always support the hundreds of officers that positively represent Toledo Police.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Toledo Blade editor Nolan Rosenkrans said he was caught in tear gas and shot at with crowd-control munitions by law enforcement while covering protests in Toledo, Ohio, on May 30, 2020.
The protest was held in response to a video showing a Minneapolis police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, for more than eight minutes during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital. The incident sparked anti-police brutality and Black Lives Matter demonstrations across the country.
Nolan Cramer, a journalism student interning for the Toledo City Paper, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was photographing near the corner of East Woodruff and Franklin Avenues as Toledo Police Department officers worked to disperse protesters in the street at around 5:45 p.m.
Cramer said that an officer deliberately threw a tear gas canister at him and Toledo Blade editor Nolan Rosenkrans, who was standing next to them, despite both of them wearing visible press passes. Both journalists were caught in the cloud of tear gas.
Rosenkrans told the Tracker that he had not felt targeted with tear gas that day, but noted that he did not know what Nolan had experienced or seen.
“What police did do was shoot pepper spray balls when I crossed some arbitrary line toward them,” he said.
Rosenkrans tweeted shortly after 6:30 p.m. that he had also been shot at with a “paintball gun” by an officer who knew he was a reporter.
Just was shot at with a paintball gun by a cop who knows I’m a reporter. He’s wearing fatigues.
— Nolan_Rosenkrans⚔️ (@NolanRosenkrans) May 30, 2020
He told the Tracker that he had continued documenting the protest and speaking with protesters and police as the march continued down Franklin Avenue to where it becomes 17th Street.
“[The police] knew I was a journalist. The camo team was near me for several miles and I had been talking to them from the street for quite some time,” he said. “I can’t say I was targeted because I was a journalist, but I can’t say for sure.”
Lieutenant Kellie Lenhardt, who commands the Toledo Police Public Information Section, told the Tracker over email that the department did not receive complaints from Rosenkrans or other journalists that day.
Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz said during a press conference on June 22 that there was an investigation into officers’ conduct during the protests. Kapszukiewicz also announced that officers will no longer be permitted to wear military-style camouflage.
On July 22, Toledo police announced that three officers were disciplined for misconduct during the May 30 protests. One officer received a written reprimand while the other two were suspended and given last chance warnings, meaning they could be fired following another infraction.
“Police legitimacy cannot improve if departments fail at policing their own,” Police Chief George Kral said in a press release announcing the disciplinary measures. “I will ensure that officers are held accountable when their actions are found to violate department policies, and I will always support the hundreds of officers that positively represent Toledo Police.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Eric Rosenwald, a freelance video journalist, was struck with crowd-control munitions while documenting protests in Tucson, Arizona, on May 30, 2020.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
Rosenwald told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he had been photographing a group of 10 to 20 individuals who had begun violently engaging with police. They had erected a makeshift structure in the middle of the road that they were sheltering behind as they threw rocks and water bottles toward a line of officers some 100 yards away. Nearby, someone had set a dumpster on fire.
Rosenwald said he was moving around, photographing other individuals who were throwing rocks from behind a building, when police began to advance toward the makeshift structure. When they advanced, Rosenwald found himself standing very close to the protesters.
“My backpack got hit as I was moving away,” he said.
He was identifiable as a journalist, carrying his cameras as well as a backpack adorned with “PRESS” patches, but does not feel as though he was targeted. “I was so close to the people who were constructing these barrier structures to throw rocks from, that I had no sense I was being targeted.”
Rosenwald did not suffer any injuries from the pepper balls, nor was his equipment damaged.
Tucson Police Department did not respond to a request for comment on this incident.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
HuffPost editor Philip Lewis was struck by a crowd-control munition while covering protests in Washington, D.C., on May 30, 2020.
The protests were sparked by a video showing a Minneapolis, Minnesota, police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, for 7 minutes and 46 seconds during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Lewis told the Committee to Protect Journalists — a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker — he was covering the protests near the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute when vandals began breaking out the windows of the building.
Police began releasing tear gas and setting off flash-bang grenades to disperse the crowd, Lewis said, and so he decided it was time to leave the area. As he tried to leave, he said he was struck by a small object in the left leg at around 11:35 p.m. “It was definitely a stinging pain,” he said.
Lewis did not recover the projectile after it hit him, but said he believed it to be a rubber bullet, due to the size of the mark it left and the fact that he had seen one on the ground earlier in the day. The Tracker could not confirm the type of projectile he was hit with.
Lewis tweeted about the incident a few minutes later:
Just got shot in the leg with rubber bullets. Not great!
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) May 31, 2020
Lewis, who was wearing press credentials at the time, did not believe he was the intended target. The projectile left behind a slight red bruise several days later, he said.
Kristen Metzger, a D.C. police spokeswoman, wrote in an email to the Tracker that the Metropolitan Police Department has not “deployed rubber bullets during the demonstrations.” In a follow-up email, she confirmed that the department “may deploy … when necessary,” pepper spray, sting ball grenades that expel tiny rubber balls at high velocity and tear gas.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Peter Norton, photojournalist and founder of the production company RumJungle, was shot at with crowd-control munitions while covering protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 30, 2020.
Protests began in Minnesota on May 26, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
According to CBS News sound engineer John Marschitz, Norton had been hired to assist a CBS crew that was covering the demonstrations. Shortly after the 8 p.m. curfew began, police began shooting rubber bullets and other crowd-control munitions at the crew.
Marschitz told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the news crew had retreated down the street and into the parking lot where the team's car was parked after police began deploying tear gas into the crowd. The protesters kept moving in the opposite direction, and were several hundred feet away when officers began shooting crowd-control munitions at the news crew.
"My colleagues and I were fired upon without warning and [were] clearly identifiable as journalists," Marschitz said. "We were no threat to law enforcement and in no way impeding them from doing their job. Then they just began firing rubber bullets at us."
One of the rounds struck Marschitz in the arm; a second round struck a light on Norton’s camera, but did not damage the equipment. Norton could not be reached for comment as of press time.
When asked whether he felt police targeted the crew, Marschitz said, "I don't think they cared, they just shot at us."
More than three dozen journalists were assaulted, arrested or had equipment damaged while covering protests that night. The Minneapolis Police Department, Minnesota State Police and Minnesota National Guard did not reply to emailed requests for comment about these incidents.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
CBS News correspondent Michael George and his news crew were shot at with crowd-control munitions while covering protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 30, 2020.
Protests began in Minnesota on May 26, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Shortly after the 8 p.m. curfew began, police began shooting rubber bullets and other crowd-control munitions at the crew, according to tweets posted by George.
Sound engineer John Marschitz told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the news crew had retreated down the street and into the parking lot where the team's car was parked after police began deploying tear gas into the crowd. The protesters kept moving in the opposite direction, and were several hundred feet away when officers began shooting crowd-control munitions at the news crew.
“We were not standing within 500 feet of any protesters at the time, and we had credentials displayed and cameras out,” George wrote.
This is the moment Minneapolis Police fired on our CBS News crew with rubber bullets. As you can see, no protesters anywhere near us- we all were wearing credentials and had cameras out. Our sound engineer was hit in the arm. #cbsnews pic.twitter.com/UAy7HYhGnL
— Michael George (@MikeGeorgeCBS) May 31, 2020
George did not respond to a message requesting comment.
One of the rounds struck Marschitz in the arm; a second round struck a light on RumJungle photojournalist Peter Norton’s camera, but did not damage the equipment.
When asked whether he felt police targeted the crew, Marschitz said, "I don't think they cared, they just shot at us."
More than three dozen journalists were assaulted, arrested or had equipment damaged while covering protests that night. The Minneapolis Police Department, Minnesota State Police and Minnesota National Guard did not reply to emailed requests for comment about these incidents.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
A group of people hit and threw a rock into a stopped Live 5 News car carrying three journalists covering a demonstration against police violence in Charleston, South Carolina, on May 30, 2020.
The protest was held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
The car carrying reporter Rob Way, reporter Abbey O’Brien and producer Allyson Cook was driving through a crowd to get to safety because downtown Charleston was becoming violent, O’Brien said.
“We were in a Live 5 News car obviously designated as our station,” O’Brien told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. “People started banging on our windows and flicking us off.”
Demonstrations had started peacefully but turned violent as the night wore on, she said.
“Once it got dark, it turned into rioting; that was definitely not as many people,” O’Brien said. “I truly believe that it was just two different groups of people.”
While they were stopped at an intersection, members of the crowd began to bang on the windows of the car and then a rock was thrown through the back window. No one was injured.
At the time, the journalists weren’t sure whether it was a rock, tear-gas canister or an explosive, so once they got to safety, they all exited the car.
“We all jumped out and realized it was just a brick,” O’Brien said. “So, no one was hurt, which is good, but it was really scary.”
Now that we’re safe... here’s a look at what just happened to our @Live5News car. Someone threw this large rock while we were driving down King St. Very scary #chsnews #scnews pic.twitter.com/0r1Fq77nZ7
— Abbey O'Brien (@abbeyobrien) May 31, 2020
They continued to report throughout the night and made sure they didn’t leave anything valuable in the car. O’Brien said that, in a separate incident, people smashed out the front, driver’s side window of a different, unoccupied Live 5 truck. Both the car and the truck were out of commission for a few days, she said.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
A group of people hit and threw a rock into a stopped Live 5 News car carrying three journalists covering a demonstration against police violence in Charleston, South Carolina, on May 30, 2020.
The protest was held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
The car carrying producer Allyson Cook and reporters Rob Way and Abbey O’Brien was driving through a crowd to get to safety because downtown Charleston was becoming violent, O’Brien said.
“We were in a Live 5 News car obviously designated as our station,” O’Brien told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. “People started banging on our windows and flicking us off.”
Demonstrations had started peacefully but turned violent as the night wore on, she said.
“Once it got dark, it turned into rioting; that was definitely not as many people,” O’Brien said. “I truly believe that it was just two different groups of people.”
While they were stopped at an intersection, members of the crowd began to bang on the windows of the car and then a rock was thrown through the back window. No one was injured.
At the time, the journalists weren’t sure whether it was a rock, tear-gas canister or an explosive, so once they got to safety, they all exited the car.
“We all jumped out and realized it was just a brick,” O’Brien said. “So, no one was hurt, which is good, but it was really scary.”
Now that we’re safe... here’s a look at what just happened to our @Live5News car. Someone threw this large rock while we were driving down King St. Very scary #chsnews #scnews pic.twitter.com/0r1Fq77nZ7
— Abbey O'Brien (@abbeyobrien) May 31, 2020
They continued to report throughout the night and made sure they didn’t leave anything valuable in the car. O’Brien said that, in a separate incident, people smashed out the front, driver’s side window of a different, unoccupied Live 5 truck. Both the car and the truck were out of commission for a few days, she said.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
CNN correspondent Omar Jimenez was arrested with two other members of his CNN news crew while covering protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in the early morning of May 29, 2020.
Protests in Minneapolis and across the nation were sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital. Thousands gathered around the convenience store where Floyd had been detained and at the police department’s Third Precinct building in the days that followed.
At least five journalists were hit with crowd control ammunition while covering the Minneapolis protests on May 26 and May 27 as police officers launched tear gas, stun grenades and less lethal ammunition into the crowd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering these protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Just after 5 a.m. on May 29, CNN correspondent Omar Jimenez was reporting live a few blocks from the Third Precinct, which had been set on fire by protesters the night before, CNN reported.
In the live footage, Minnesota State Patrol troopers can be seen approaching the news crew and asking them to move.
Jimenez calmly shows the officers his CNN identification and is heard telling the troopers, “We can move back to where you’d like. We are live on the air at the moment.”
Soon after, two officers in riot gear approached Jimenez and told him he was under arrest. The officers did not appear to respond to the reporter’s questions about why he was being taken into custody.
CNN’s camera continued to film as Jimenez was cuffed and led away from his crew. Shortly after, other officers detained photojournalist Leonel Mendez and producer Bill Kirkos as well. The crew’s camera — which was still rolling — was also seized by the troopers.
Soon after the arrests, CNN posted a statement on Twitter condemning the arrests as a violation of the journalists’ First Amendment Rights and demanding that the news crew be released.
A CNN reporter & his production team were arrested this morning in Minneapolis for doing their jobs, despite identifying themselves - a clear violation of their First Amendment rights. The authorities in Minnesota, incl. the Governor, must release the 3 CNN employees immediately.
— CNN Communications (@CNNPR) May 29, 2020
The three journalists were released from the Hennepin County Public Safety facility in downtown Minneapolis at around 6:40 a.m., CNN reported.
In an on-air recounting of events after his release, Jimenez said, “As far as the people who were leading me away — there was no animosity there, they weren’t violent with me. We were having a conversation about how crazy this week has been for every part of the city.”
The local chapters of the Society of Professional Journalists and the National Association of Black Journalists released a joint statement condemning the arrests.
The statement reads, in part: “Police, State Patrol and other law enforcement officers should be well aware of the importance of the media whose job it is to document and report on breaking news for the benefit of the general public. We implore the responding parties to alert their officers on the rights of the press and the necessity of their presence as they continue to report on the current unrest.”
Freedom of the Press Foundation, the Committee to Protect Journalists and other press advocacy groups also released statements condemning the arrests.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz apologized for the arrests during a press conference a few hours after the journalists were released, stating that it should not have happened.
“This one is on me and I own it,” Walz said. “I am a teacher by trade and I have spent my time as governor highlighting the need to be as transparent as possible and to have the media here: I failed you last night in that.”
Walz added that ensuring that there is a safe place for journalists to report during such incidents is vital, and that the arrest of journalists can increase fear in affected communities.
“We will continue to strive to make sure that that accessibility is maintained,” Walz added. “The protection and security and safety of the journalists covering this is a top priority, not because it’s a nice thing to do, because it’s a key component of how we fix this.”
Neither CNN nor the Minnesota State Patrol responded to multiple emailed requests for comment about the incident.
This incident was updated on July 22, 2020, to separate each crew member's arrest into its own accounting. Find all arrests here.
CNN correspondent Omar Jimenez is arrested while reporting live from protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The mayor later apologized for the arrest of Jimenez and two other members of the CNN crew.
",detained and released without being processed,not charged,Minnesota State Patrol,2020-05-29,2020-05-29,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, News crew struck by pepper balls on live TV while documenting Louisville protests,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/news-crew-struck-pepper-balls-live-tv-while-documenting-louisville-protests/,2020-05-31 03:14:54.045126+00:00,2022-03-10 21:22:10.010112+00:00,2022-03-10 21:22:09.949614+00:00,,Assault,,,,Kaitlin Rust (WAVE 3),,2020-05-29,False,Louisville,Kentucky (KY),38.25424,-85.75941,"A WAVE 3 News crew was shot at with pepper balls by a Louisville Metro Police Department officer while broadcasting live on May 29, 2020, during protests in Louisville, Kentucky.
The Associated Press reported that protests in Louisville have centered around the deaths of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, both of whom were Black. Taylor was shot eight times in her Louisville home in mid-March by narcotics police who broke down her door. Floyd died on May 25, after a white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, knelt on his neck for eight minutes during an arrest. Video of Floyd’s death has sparked protests across the country.
WAVE 3 reporter Kaitlin Rust was reporting live at around 9:45 p.m. on May 29 when an officer walked into the frame and turned toward Rust and photojournalist James Dobson.
In the video, Rust can be heard screaming, “I’m getting shot!”
Rust then adds that the officer was firing “pepper bullets” directly at her and Dobson. The Louisville Courier Journal reported that pepper balls are essentially paintballs filled with a powdered form of pepper spray.
WAVE 3 reported that both journalists were struck by the ammunition and suffered minor injuries. The Tracker has documented Dobson’s assault here.
The station’s general manager, Ken Selvaggi, said in a statement, “We strongly condemn the actions of the LMPD officer who tonight repeatedly fired at and hit our reporter and cameraman, both of whom were courageously and lawfully covering breaking news in their community.”
“There is simply no justification for the Louisville police to wantonly open fire, even with pepper balls, on any journalists under any circumstances,” Selvaggi added.
LMPD spokesperson Jessie Halladay told the Courier Journal that the department would investigate the video after the protests were resolved and investigate or discipline as necessary. Halladay also apologized for the incident.
“[It’s] not our intention to target or subject the media as they try to cover this,” Halladay said.
WAVE 3 reported that during the same night of protests, one of its news vans was vandalized.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
In this screenshot from WAVE 3, reporter Kaitlin Rust reacts to being targeted with projectiles while covering a protest in Louisville, Kentucky, on May 29, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, chemical irritant, protest, shot / shot at",,,,, WAVE3 News vehicle vandalized in Louisville amid protests,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/two-news-vehicles-vandalized-louisville-amid-protests/,2020-05-31 03:08:29.756790+00:00,2021-09-27 18:58:26.799095+00:00,2021-09-27 18:58:26.757790+00:00,,Equipment Damage,,,vehicle: count of 1,,,2020-05-29,False,Louisville,Kentucky (KY),38.25424,-85.75941,"A news vehicle belonging to local broadcast station WAVE3 News was vandalized on May 29, 2020, during protests in Louisville, Kentucky, according to the station.
The Associated Press reported that protests in Louisville have centered around the deaths of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, both of whom were Black. Taylor was shot eight times in her Louisville home in mid-March by narcotics police who broke down her door. Floyd died on May 25, after a white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, knelt on his neck for eight minutes during an arrest. Video of Floyd’s death has sparked protests across the country.
WAVE 3 reported that amid the protests on May 29, one of the station’s news vehicles was found vandalized in the downtown area as the crowd intensified.
The station did not immediately respond to requests for additional information or comment.
During the protests that night, two WAVE 3 journalists, a reporter and cameraman, were also deliberately shot at with pepper balls by a Louisville Metro Police Department officer.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Kentucky State Troopers and protesters face off in Louisville on May 29, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,WAVE 3,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, Photojournalist covering Denver protests hit by multiple pepper balls,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-covering-denver-protests-hit-multiple-pepper-balls/,2020-05-31 03:32:23.183559+00:00,2022-03-10 21:24:54.543237+00:00,2022-03-10 21:24:54.470300+00:00,,"Assault, Equipment Damage",,,,Jan Czernik (KMGH-TV),,2020-05-29,False,Denver,Colorado (CO),39.73915,-104.9847,"Jan Czernik, a photojournalist for Denver 7 News, was struck four times by pepper balls fired by police while covering protests in Denver, Colorado, on May 29, 2020. The reporter accompanying him, Adi Guajardo, said she avoided being hit.
The camera Czernik was holding was also hit, damaging the lens.
Guajardo tweeted about the experience, initially identifying the projectiles as paintballs:
Police just fired off paintballs and tear gas.
— adigtv (@AdiGTV) May 30, 2020
Our photographer got hit four time and our camera got hit.
Luckily, I ducked and avoided getting struck.#denverprotests @DenverChannel pic.twitter.com/8KstNp39HS
This incident occurred during the second night of protests in Denver over the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after a Minneapolis Police officer knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes on May 25. Related protests have spread to cities across the nation.
According to a Denver 7 News story about the protests, police fired pepper balls and pepper spray into a crowd of protestors gathered near where Guajardo and Czernik were standing.
"Earlier today one of our photographers got hit by paintballs four times, including on the camera,” Guajardo later said on air. “We believe it might have been either tear gas or pepper spray balls but at one point my entire face was burning so I know what some of these people are experiencing.”
Later in the evening, Guajardo was filming a live shot, answering the anchor’s questions about Czernik being hit by pepper balls, a group of officers wielding pepper ball guns approached her, forcing her and her crew to retreat. “Where do you guys want us to go? Why are you pushing us back right now? Can we get some answers as to why you’re pushing us back at this moment?” she asks the officers, camera still rolling. “Where are the crowds supposed to go? You keep pushing them back. Where do people protest peacefully?” One of the officers shouted “move back” in reply.
Adi then tells the anchor, “So they’re asking us to move back but they’re not giving us answers. If people want to protest, where do you protest?”
Guajardo declined comment to the Tracker, citing guidance from Denver 7 management.
A request for comment sent to the Denver Police Department was not returned as of press time.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting damage of equipment and multiple journalists arrested or struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas while covering related protests across the country. Find all of these cases here.
Hart Van Denburg, visuals editor for Colorado Public Radio, was struck on the face with a tear gas canister fired by Denver police while covering protests in the city on May 29, 2020.
Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 have spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
During the protests, police fired a tear gas canister that hit Van Denburg on the chin. He posted a selfie to Twitter that night documenting his bruised chin, and expressing gratitude to those who shared milk with him to dampen the effect of the tear gas.
Tear gas canister on the chin. Ok. Thanks to volunteers with the milk. pic.twitter.com/K0mgHXQC6o
— Hart W. Van Denburg (@hartoutwest) May 30, 2020
Details regarding precisely where in Denver the incident occurred were not immediately available, and Van Denburg — who covered the protests again the following day — did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Requests for comment on this incident sent to the Denver Police Department were not immediately returned.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Protesters gather in Denver, Colorado, on May 28, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, chemical irritant, protest, shot / shot at",,,,, Reporter assaulted live on air at Phoenix protest,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-assaulted-live-air-phoenix-protest/,2020-05-31 19:45:48.002016+00:00,2022-04-04 18:09:47.939618+00:00,2022-04-04 18:09:47.865409+00:00,,Assault,,,,Briana Whitney (AZ Family),,2020-05-29,False,Phoenix,Arizona (AZ),33.44838,-112.07404,"Briana Whitney, a correspondent for CBS 5 & 3 TV in Phoenix, Arizona, was assaulted live on air by a man who grabbed her and shouted obscenities while she was covering protests outside of the Phoenix Police Department headquarters on May 29, 2020.
Whitney was in the middle of a live broadcast when a man runs into her shot, tackling her while grabbing her microphone and screaming “Fuck her right in the pussy!” He then runs off.
Whitney stays on her feet and quickly says, “I'm so sorry you guys, I did not see that coming. I’m so sorry. We're doing the best we can to keep everything appropriate here,” she says, before returning to her description of the scene in front of headquarters.
Early the next morning, she tweeted out a video of the attack, writing, “I feel violated, and this was terrifying. Let us do our jobs. We are trying our very best.”
THIS IS NOT OKAY.
— Briana Whitney (@BrianaWhitney) May 30, 2020
This is the moment I was intentionally tackled by this man while I was on air trying to report what was happening during the protest at Phoenix PD headquarters. I feel violated, and this was terrifying.
Let us do our jobs. We are trying our very best #azfamily pic.twitter.com/bHXwbnDVPB
Tommy Thompson, a spokesman for the Phoenix Police Department, said in an email that the incident had been reported to the department and remains under investigation, and that no arrest had yet been made.
An interview request sent to Whitney was not immediately returned.
This incident occurred as Whitney covered Phoenix protests over the death of George Floyd, a black man who died on May 25 after a Minneapolis Police officer knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes. Related protests have spread to cities across the nation.
A similar assault, where the assailant shouted identical obscenities to a female broadcaster, occurred in Illinois on May 23.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting damage of equipment and multiple journalists arrested or struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas while covering related protests across the country. Find all of these cases here.
Arizona reporter Briana Whitney was assaulted during a live news shot by a man shouting obscenities.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest, sexual assault",,,,, Freelance photojournalist permanently blinded during Minneapolis protests,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/freelance-photojournalist-permanently-blinded-others-assaulted-during-minneapolis-protests/,2020-05-31 19:50:26.203685+00:00,2022-05-26 19:58:15.118627+00:00,2022-05-26 19:58:15.022450+00:00,"(2020-06-10 12:33:00+00:00) Photojournalist Linda Tirado sues City of Minneapolis, police for excessive force, (2022-03-18 10:57:00+00:00) Journalists subpoenaed in connection with ongoing excessive use of force lawsuit, (2022-05-26 15:57:00+00:00) City of Minneapolis settles lawsuit with journalist blinded in one eye amid 2020 protests","Assault, Equipment Damage",,,camera: count of 1,Linda Tirado (Freelance),,2020-05-29,False,Minneapolis,Minnesota (MN),44.97997,-93.26384,"Freelance writer and photographer Linda Tirado was struck with multiple crowd-control munitions while covering the fourth night of protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 29, 2020.
Protests in Minneapolis and across the nation were sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Tirado told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she was reporting near the Third Precinct around midnight on the 29th when she was struck by a tracker round, judging from the green residue on her backpack.
A second round that she believes was a rubber bullet then struck the side of her head and her left eye.
“I got hit. My goggles broke, and I felt the blood and there was gas so I just closed my eyes, held up my hands and started yelling, ‘I’m press, I’m press!’” Tirado said.
Tirado said that a group of protestors took her to a nearby van and transported her to the hospital.
Hey folks, took a tracer found to the face (I think, given my backpack) and am headed into surgery to see if we can save my left eye
— Linda Tirado (@KillerMartinis) May 30, 2020
Am wisely not gonna be on Twitter while I’m on morphine
Stay safe folks pic.twitter.com/apZOyGrcBO
Tirado later tweeted that she is permanently blind in her left eye.
The Minneapolis Police Department did not respond to an email requesting comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
A Minneapolis Police Department officer fires a less-lethal round during continued demonstrations on May 29, 2020, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,0:20-cv-01338,['SETTLED'],Civil,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest, shot / shot at",,,,, Chief photographer at WLKY news crews attacked by individuals in Louisville,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/separate-wlky-news-crews-attacked-protesters-louisville/,2020-05-31 23:55:11.576255+00:00,2021-09-27 19:50:27.840268+00:00,2021-09-27 19:50:27.798667+00:00,,Assault,,,,Paul Ahmann (WLKY News),,2020-05-29,False,Louisville,Kentucky (KY),38.25424,-85.75941,"Paul Ahmann, chief photographer for local broadcast station WLKY, was assaulted by individuals while covering protests in downtown Louisville, Kentucky, on May 29, 2020. At least four other WLKY journalists were also attacked and two WLKY news vehicles vandalized that night. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented those incidents here.
Protests in Louisville have centered around the deaths of Breonna Taylor, shot and killed inside her home by Louisville police in March, and the death of George Floyd while in the custody of Minneapolis police on May 25.
Ahmann was knocked over and beaten by a mob of people, suffering a concussion that sent him to the emergency room, according to a pair of tweets from WLKY anchor Julie Dolan.
Shaky video of the attack was livestreamed on Facebook. In the footage, Ahmann lays on the ground as the crowd takes photos and videos of him, while at least one man visibly tries to hold the crowd back.
WLKY correspondent Deni Kamper was also attacked, but reported in a tweet that she was “ok,” writing, “A lot of people helped us tonight and I’m so grateful.”
Kamper and Ahmann did not immediately respond to an emailed interview request.
Their news vehicle was also vandalized and later set on fire, and another WLKY news vehicle was vandalized that night. At least one other WLKY news crew was also attacked. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documented all May 29 WLKY incidents here.
The Tracker documents journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Tear gas is deployed into a Louisville, Kentucky, crowd on May 29, 2020. At least two WLKY news crews reported being assaulted by individuals during protests that evening and two station vehicles were damaged.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, News vehicle reported vandalized in Los Angeles amid protests,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/news-vehicle-reported-vandalized-los-angeles-amid-protests/,2020-06-01 00:18:34.848353+00:00,2020-06-01 00:18:34.848353+00:00,2020-06-01 00:18:34.791546+00:00,,Equipment Damage,,,vehicle: count of 1,,,2020-05-29,False,Los Angeles,California (CA),34.05223,-118.24368,"An ABC7 News vehicle was reported vandalized by protesters on May 29, 2020, during protests in Los Angeles, California.
Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 have spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
An ABC7 news vehicle was found vandalized at around 6:30 p.m. on May 29, according to a tweet posted by FOX 11 Los Angeles reporter Bill Melugin.
Our colleague’s vehicle at @ABC7 just got tagged by protesters. pic.twitter.com/89VfOrcrp0
— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) May 30, 2020
ABC7 could not immediately be reached for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting damage of equipment and multiple journalists arrested or struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas while covering related protests across the country. Find all of these cases here.
A WSB-TV news vehicle was vandalized on May 29, 2020, during protests in Atlanta, Georgia.
Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 have spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
WSB reporter Matt Johnson tweeted around midnight on May 29 that someone had just thrown a rock through the back window of the news vehicle.
Someone just threw a rock through a @wsbtv vehicle. pic.twitter.com/U64XQxiL4T
— Matt Johnson (@MattWSB) May 30, 2020
Johnson told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the vehicle was unmarked, but had a satellite dish on top that may have made it a target.
“A photographer and I were next to the car when someone threw a rock at it from behind,” Johnson said. “We heard some people saying, ‘No, don’t do that, they’re just trying to make a living’ after the first rock was thrown.”
Shortly after, another rock was thrown at the front window of the vehicle.
Johnson told the Tracker that soon after, a separate group of people made a semi-circle around the news crew and began cursing and threatening them for reporting fake news. He tweeted a video of the group of at least a dozen individuals.
In the video, multiple individuals can be heard harassing the journalists, calling them “fake-ass news,” flipping them off and telling them to “keep it real” and tell the people what is really going on.
“Eventually they cleared out when we just stood there and took it,” Johnson said.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting damage of equipment and multiple journalists arrested or struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas while covering related protests across the country. Find all of these cases here.
This article has been updated to reflect comment from Matt Johnson.
Ellen Schmidt, a photojournalist on staff at the Las Vegas Review-Journal, and Bridget Bennett, a freelance photographer working for Agence France-Presse, were arrested on May 29, 2020, in Las Vegas, Nevada. The journalists were covering protests that broke out in response to the killing of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
A video posted on Twitter shows a group of Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officers shoving and grabbing Schmidt, and throwing Bennett to the ground, before arresting the women.
Thank you for the update! Is this you being arrested last night? pic.twitter.com/7IJhg8AZ6M
— Las Vegas Locally 🌴 (@LasVegasLocally) May 30, 2020
While Schmidt was being arrested, an LVMPD officer took possession of her camera. She later clarified on Twitter that the LVMPD officer only turned her camera off and did not look through or delete any of the pictures that she had taken or the protest.
Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo later told the Nevada Independent that Schmidt and Bennett had ignored LVMPD officers’ orders to disperse and did not identify themselves as members of the media. But in an interview with the Review-Journal, Schmidt said that she and Bennett had in fact repeatedly identified themselves as a member of the press and were wearing their press badges at the time that they were arrested.
“It is appalling that Las Vegas police officers, who have nothing to do with what happened in Minnesota, would so forcefully take into custody two people who were obviously working photojournalists and posed no threat to law enforcement or public safety,” Review-Journal executive editor Glenn Cook said in a statement. “They never should have been touched, let alone arrested and then booked into jail.”
Schmidt and Bennett were each charged with “failure to disperse,” a misdemeanor. Although people charged with “failure to disperse” are supposed to be released immediately, rather than being held in jail on bail, both Schmidt and Bennett were held in jail overnight and only released on the morning of May 30.
Las Vegas Chief Justice of the Peace Suzan Bacum told the Review-Journal that the two journalists should not have been held overnight in jail and blamed the situation on a miscommunication between the police and the court system.
“These people should have never been held on these misdemeanors,” she said. “It’s a travesty.”
Richard Karpel, executive director of the Nevada Press Association, condemned the arrests in a statement:
“The press serve a vital, constitutionally protected role during moments of national strife and civil disobedience,” he said. “Journalists put themselves at risk to inform citizens about protestors’ grievances and their actions, and to observe whether law enforcement personnel are operating within the bounds of the law. The arrest of journalists working in a public forum at a highly newsworthy event is absolutely unacceptable."
Ellen Schmidt, a photojournalist on staff at the Las Vegas Review-Journal, and Bridget Bennett, a freelance photographer working for Agence France-Presse, were arrested on May 29, 2020, in Las Vegas, Nevada. The journalists were covering protests that broke out in response to the killing of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
A video posted on Twitter shows a group of Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officers shoving and grabbing Schmidt, and throwing Bennett to the ground, before arresting the women.
Thank you for the update! Is this you being arrested last night? pic.twitter.com/7IJhg8AZ6M
— Las Vegas Locally 🌴 (@LasVegasLocally) May 30, 2020
Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo later told the Nevada Independent that Schmidt and Bennett had ignored LVMPD officers’ orders to disperse and did not identify themselves as members of the media. But in an interview with the Review-Journal, Schmidt said that she and Bennett had in fact repeatedly identified themselves as a member of the press and were wearing their press badges at the time that they were arrested.
“It is appalling that Las Vegas police officers, who have nothing to do with what happened in Minnesota, would so forcefully take into custody two people who were obviously working photojournalists and posed no threat to law enforcement or public safety,” Review-Journal executive editor Glenn Cook said in a statement. “They never should have been touched, let alone arrested and then booked into jail.”
Schmidt and Bennett were each charged with “failure to disperse,” a misdemeanor. Although people charged with “failure to disperse” are supposed to be released immediately, rather than being held in jail on bail, both Schmidt and Bennett were held in jail overnight and only released on the morning of May 30.
Las Vegas Chief Justice of the Peace Suzan Bacum told the Review-Journal that the two journalists should not have been held overnight in jail and blamed the situation on a miscommunication between the police and the court system.
“These people should have never been held on these misdemeanors,” she said. “It’s a travesty.”
Richard Karpel, executive director of the Nevada Press Association, condemned the arrests in a statement:
“The press serve a vital, constitutionally protected role during moments of national strife and civil disobedience,” he said. “Journalists put themselves at risk to inform citizens about protestors’ grievances and their actions, and to observe whether law enforcement personnel are operating within the bounds of the law. The arrest of journalists working in a public forum at a highly newsworthy event is absolutely unacceptable."
An unknown man sprayed pepper spray at a CBS4 Denver news crew that was covering the protests on the streets of Colorado’s capital on May 29, 2020.
This incident occurred during the second night of protests in Denver over the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died after a Minneapolis Police officer knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes on May 25. Related protests have spread to cities across the nation.
Reporter Jamie Leary and photojournalist Rob McClure were both “OK” after the attack, according to a tweet from CBS producer Dago Cordova, who shared video footage of the incident.
During our special #CBSNDenver coverage of #JusticeForGeorge protests, a man went up to @JamieALeary & @RobCBS4 and sprayed them with pepper spray. He did this after he did it to fellow local journalists. Jamie & Rob are okay @CBSDenver pic.twitter.com/k76tZsoHXq
— Dago Cordova (@dago_deportes) May 30, 2020
The crew was set up directly across from the Colorado Capitol along Lincoln Avenue. In the video, an unidentified young man in a colorful striped shirt, black baseball cap and black balaclava holding a canister of pepper spray walks by the journalists, who are filming live, then doubles back and sprays the crew with pepper spray. “Hey hey hey, Are you kidding me?” Leary says as the attack is underway.
Leary told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that both she and McClure were able to avoid a direct hit from the pepper spray because they had just watched the man pepper spray another camera crew nearby. They were watching him carefully, she explained. “He walked by us and then did an about-face,” Leary said.
McClure’s camera was lightly sprayed, but was not damaged. The Tracker documented his assault here.
The identity of the other camera crew attacked was not immediately available.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
A CBS News producer shared video of a man directly pepper-spraying the CBS4 Denver news crew while they were filming on May 29, 2020.
Denver police shot projectiles at Madeleine Kelly, a freelance photojournalist, while she was covering protests in the city on May 29, 2020.
Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 have spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Just before midnight, police shot a rubber bullet and pepper balls that hit Kelly, a freelancer and member of the International Association of Press Photographers, while she was on the lawn of the Colorado State Capitol, she told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in a phone interview.
Kelly said she was photographing police officers in riot gear as they knocked down, pepper-sprayed, and shot pepper balls at a protester. When officers saw her taking photographs, she said they yelled at her to move.
She complied and started walking away with her hands up, when an officer standing about ten feet away fired a rubber bullet that hit the back of her left thigh, she said. Kelly then began to run away, and officers shot her three times with pepper balls, one landing on her buttocks, one on her shoulder, and one on her backpack.
She was wearing press credentials from IAPP as well as a vest emblazoned with the word PRESS, she said.
Kelly reported the incident to the Denver Police but did not receive any response, she said.
"I'm covered with bruises," she said. The rubber bullet left behind a "big meaty bruise. And the pepper balls left a mark."
Kelly said she believed police targeted her as a member of the media, and felt "a little trepidation" when donning her press vest to cover subsequent days of protests. "I didn't think that the U.S. police would be doing the same thing that the Hong Kong police did," she said.
Requests for comment sent to the Denver Police Department were not immediately returned.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred total incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd while in police custody. Find all of these cases here.
Protesters gather at the state capitol in Denver, Colorado on May 28, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, chemical irritant, protest, shot / shot at",,,,, "Journalist assaulted, camera lost while documenting New York City protests",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-assaulted-camera-lost-while-documenting-new-york-city-protests/,2020-06-10 03:23:40.969331+00:00,2020-06-10 03:23:40.969331+00:00,2020-06-10 03:23:40.893696+00:00,,"Assault, Equipment Damage",,,camera: count of 1,Sue Brisk (Freelance),,2020-05-29,False,New York,New York (NY),None,None,"NYPD officers injured freelance journalist Sue Brisk and allegedly seized her camera while she was covering protests in New York City on May 29, 2020.
Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 have spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Brisk told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she was photographing demonstrations at 42nd Street in Times Square in the evening of May 29 with her NYPD-issued press pass clearly displayed.
“I watched the police beat people with billy clubs and then they threw a woman up against a pole right in front of me,” Brisk said. “After that it’s a blur, kind of.”
Brisk said that, before she knew what was happening, her head was slammed to the ground and she found herself pinned under at least three NYPD officers, and said her camera strap had wrapped around a bicycle handle and was choking her.
“Protesters were pleading with the police to please let go of me because they said I was an old lady and that I guess it looked very violent, what had happened,” Brisk said. She noted that she is short, lightweight and has silver-gray hair. Protesters pleaded with the NYPD riot officers to let her up and out of the way, Brisk told the Tracker.
She said a protester intervened and pulled her to the opposite sidewalk. Brisk then realized that one of her cameras was missing.
Brisk said she believes police took possession of the camera, and said everyone who had been in the vicinity was soon arrested.
“I’ve lost camera equipment which is essential to the job that I do,” she added. “I did nothing wrong.”
Brisk told the Tracker that she did not go to a hospital out of concern over potential exposure to the coronavirus. Instead, she said she worked through the night documenting the protests in order to stay awake in case she had a concussion.
When asked for comment, an NYPD spokesperson directed the Tracker to the “30 minute mark” of a press briefing held by New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and Police Commissioner Dermot Shea on June 3.
Around that point in the recording, Shea says: “The only thing that I might add on the point of the press: We’re doing the best we can, the difficult situation. We 100 percent respect the rights of the press. Unfortunately we’ve had some people purporting to be press that are actually lying, if you can believe that. So sometimes these things take a second — maybe too long — to sort out.”
Brisk told the Tracker that she is still trying to figure out how to retrieve her camera.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred total incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd while in police custody. Find all of these cases here.
A news crew with CBS Channel 11 covering protests in Dallas was forced to scatter when a police officer tossed an activated canister of tear gas at two journalists as they were about to go live on air on May 29, 2020.
Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 have spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Reporter Steve Pickett and photojournalist Bret Kelly were stationed in downtown Dallas covering protests. At around 10:15 p.m., they were getting ready to begin their live shot. Typically, the station would have alerted them both, but they had only one working earpiece so Pickett told Kelly aloud, Kelly told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
Kelly believes that a Dallas police officer standing 10 feet away overheard him, because as soon as they went live, the officer threw a tear gas canister right at their feet.
"We got gassed pretty hard and took flight a little bit," Kelly said. The Tracker has documented Kelly’s assault here.
Pickett can be seen on CBS 11 video struggling to breathe and find a way out of the area where the gas was deployed. "I’m trying to get out of the tear gas, this is killing us," Pickett says to the studio journalist as his eyes visibly water and he stumbles his way out of the cloud. He tells his colleague that earlier that night he was also threatened with arrest.
An interview request sent to Pickett was not immediately returned.
Kelly wrote about the experience on Twitter the next day, saying “ ... I was nowhere near any protesters. Definitely a conscious decision by that officer.”
An emailed request for comment sent to the Dallas Police Department about the incident was not returned.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
CBS 11 reporter Steve Pickett wipes tears from his eyes after an officer targeted his Dallas news crew just prior to starting a live broadcast on May 29, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, chemical irritant, protest",,,,, WPTA journalist hit with tear gas canister while covering Indiana protest,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/wpta-journalist-hit-tear-gas-canister-while-covering-indiana-protest/,2020-06-15 02:08:04.603037+00:00,2022-03-10 19:48:56.764099+00:00,2022-03-10 19:48:56.707150+00:00,,Assault,,,,Karli VanCleave (WPTA News),,2020-05-29,False,Fort Wayne,Indiana (IN),41.1306,-85.12886,"Karli VanCleave, a journalist with WPTA ABC 21, was struck by a tear gas canister fired by police while she was covering protests in Fort Wayne, Indiana, on May 29, 2020.
Protests in Fort Wayne began as demonstrations erupted across the country, sparked by a video of a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest in Minnesota on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a hospital.
VanCleave covered the protests in downtown Fort Wayne for several hours. In the evening, as protesters gathered in the street, she said police formed a barricade to keep them from the courthouse lawn. The tension between protesters and police went on for several hours, VanCleave said, and police used tear gas several times.
VanCleave was part of a group of five journalists with WPTA covering the protests. They had been standing near the police, who were aware the journalists were there, she said. VanCleave and her colleagues were wearing bright red shirts and jackets with the station’s logo. She was carrying equipment, including a camera marked with ABC 21’s letters.
As protesters and police faced off, without a warning, police began shooting canisters off in every direction, VanCleave said. She began to run and lost the rest of her team.
She saw one of the canisters, billowing smoke and looking “like a firework,” coming straight toward her face. VanCleave said she turned to duck, and the canister hit her in the back. She couldn’t breathe and had to hunch over. She was also carrying a large camera and a microphone, which made it “impossible” to run, she said.
VanCleave’s coworker, Kayla Crandall, posted on Twitter that VanCleave had been struck with a canister while covering the protest.
The blow from the canister left VanCleave feeling sore the next day. Being close to the tear gas was worse, she said, because she couldn’t breathe or see and her skin felt as though it was burning everywhere.
VanCleave did not report the incident to police. Though the news organization has been in touch with police about other issues from the protests, she did not believe her experience had been reported.
Sergeant Brian Walker, the regional public information officer for the Indiana State Police, said in an email that he had looked into the claim, but there was nothing to comment on and confirmed there was no documentation of it.
VanCleave said police did not give warnings before using tear gas. For both protesters and the press, it was not clear what people were supposed to do to avoid exposure. “We would inch closer and closer so we could get the best shots, and still thinking that we were OK for a little bit to not get tear-gassed,” VanCleave said. “But then it would just happen out of nowhere, it seemed like almost every time.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting damage of equipment and multiple journalists arrested or struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas while covering related protests across the country. Find these cases here.
Journalist Karli VanCleave covering protests in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, chemical irritant, protest, shot / shot at",,,,, Individuals in crowd accost newspaper reporter covering protests in Tucson,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/individuals-crowd-accost-newspaper-reporter-covering-protests-tucson/,2020-06-22 02:46:04.327534+00:00,2020-06-22 02:46:04.327534+00:00,2020-06-22 02:46:04.258913+00:00,,Assault,,,,Caitlin Schmidt (Arizona Daily Star),,2020-05-29,False,Phoenix,Arizona (AZ),33.44838,-112.07404,"While covering protests in Tucson on the evening of May 29, 2020, Caitlin Schmidt, a sports reporter with the Arizona Daily Star, was accosted by individuals in the crowd who hit her arm and threw her phone.
The protests were sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, for 8 minutes and 46 seconds during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Schmidt arrived outside the police station in downtown Tucson at 10 p.m. to document the protest, attended by several hundred people.
She began filming the scene on her phone to send to her editor to post on social media, when three members of the crowd wearing medical masks approached her and began yelling at her, Schmidt told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
One shouted at her, “When you put our faces on TV, it gets us killed,” according to Schmidt’s recounting. She responded, “I'm not putting you on TV, I’m just doing my job,” and continued to film.
Another one hit her arm very hard, causing her phone to slip out of her grasp. The first person, who had been yelling, scooped up Schmidt’s phone and threw it some 20 feet away, nearly hitting someone. The phone was not damaged, and a coworker was able to retrieve it for her.
“The next day I had a pretty large bruise on my arm,” she said, as well as some “fairly significant swelling.”
Schmidt was wearing press credentials around her neck, which caught the eye of the individuals who accosted her. They took photos of it and threatened to find her later. “If you use our faces, we’re going to come find you,” Schmidt recounted one said.
She was standing within six feet of the police line at the time, as well as close to some TV cameramen from another outlet, and the incident was caught on the TV camera's live stream, she said. Schmidt said she did not “move or react” until the three left her alone.
An hour later, one of the same people found Schmidt in the crowd again and began yelling at her. That encounter was captured by freelance photojournalist Eric Rosenwald, who posted it on Facebook. "Announce your privilege! Announce your privilege! You won't, because you're part of the problem, and that's why you got your shit tossed," the person yelled. Schmidt again remained silent until the person walked away.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred total incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd while in police custody. Find all of these cases here.
An individual harasses Arizona Daily Star reporter Caitlin Schmidt about an hour after she was assaulted while reporting from a protest in Tuscon on May 29, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, "CNN reporter hit with a projectile, tear-gassed during live coverage of Minneapolis protest",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cnn-reporter-hit-projectile-tear-gassed-during-live-coverage-minneapolis-protest/,2020-06-22 14:00:32.627732+00:00,2022-03-10 19:49:14.053055+00:00,2022-03-10 19:49:13.991655+00:00,,Assault,,,,Miguel Marquez (CNN),,2020-05-29,False,Minneapolis,Minnesota (MN),44.97997,-93.26384,"Miguel Marquez, a national correspondent for CNN, was hit with a projectile and tear-gassed on live TV while reporting from protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, for Cuomo Prime Time on May 29, 2020.
The protests were part of several days of demonstrations that began in response to a video of a white police officer in Minneapolis kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest. Floyd was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Marquez was covering protests near the Fifth Precinct headquarters where demonstrators refused to comply with warnings from law enforcement and the National Guard that they were breaking curfew and would be removed, Marquez reported. “That’s when things got very, very intense here,” he said in a video of the incident.
Marquez went on to say that protesters were firing bottle rockets and fireworks at the precinct, while law enforcement was responding with tear gas and flash-bang grenades. At one point in the video, the CNN reporter lets out an exclamation after being struck with a canister or a rock, and host Chris Cuomo advises him and his crew to retreat from the action.
While describing the action in front of him — which included protesters “using the fireworks as weapons” — Marquez wound up in the line of tear gas, telling his cameraperson to “watch yourself” as they moved away. In the video, he can be heard coughing.
“That’s a healthy dose,” he said, before continuing to report. ““They fired a hell of a volley of tear gas into the crowd to get them out,” he said.
A CNN spokesperson declined to make Marquez available for an interview, noting that he had not specifically been targeted by tear gas but was merely “in the area where the tear gas was being shot.”
A Minneapolis police department spokesperson did not respond immediately to a question about why tear gas was deployed or the type of projectile that struck Marquez.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred total incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd while in police custody. Find these incidents here.
Demonstrators chant outside the Fifth Precinct on May 29, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,unknown,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, chemical irritant, protest, shot / shot at",,,,, Individuals at protest in Tucson target journalist with repeated physical attacks,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/individuals-protest-tucson-target-journalist-repeated-physical-attacks/,2020-06-24 03:17:09.266840+00:00,2021-04-28 20:38:04.396568+00:00,2021-04-28 20:38:04.343523+00:00,"(2021-01-08 15:31:00+00:00) Individual charged with assault, robbery of Tucson journalist during May 2020 protest and pays restitutions","Assault, Equipment Damage",,,external microphone: count of 1,Eric Rosenwald (Freelance),,2020-05-29,False,Tucson,Arizona (AZ),32.22174,-110.92648,"Individuals assaulted a freelance video journalist at a protest that devolved into violence in downtown Tucson, Arizona, on the evening of May 29, 2020.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
Eric Rosenwald was capturing footage of police and protesters outside the main police station in downtown Tucson around 10:30 p.m. when individuals in the crowd began to criticize him for filming them, claiming he was “with the police,” he told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in an interview.
Rosenwald, who was wearing a yellow safety vest adorned with a reflective patch that read “PRESS” and carrying a still camera, was clearly identifiable as a member of the media.
Rosenwald was first attacked by a young man in a blue baseball cap, who began to throw punches at him. The police line was about 20 yards away, and when officers noticed what was happening, they fired pepper balls at the ground near the attacker’s feet, affording Rosenwald the opportunity to escape, according to Rosenwald and video he furnished the Tracker of the encounter. He was not hit by any of the pepper balls nor did he inhale any of the powder they give off on impact.
Less than a minute later, an individual came up to Rosenwald and started screaming at him.
“You’re fucking antagonizing us right now. You’re fucking antagonizing us right now. This is a protest and we’re protesting you, motherfucker,” that individual said, according to video footage.
As this verbal attack continued, Rosenwald said he was pushed to the ground by a scrum of five people, who kicked him in the head, legs and torso before he was able to find his footing again.
Rosenwald’s iPhone, attached to a recording rig, slipped out of his hand during this attack, and someone stole the microphone that had been attached to it, he said. He recovered his phone and continued to film as he walked backward away from his attackers. The Arizona Daily Star posted video on its website of that attack in progress, captured from another angle by a journalist standing across the street.
About 30 minutes later, Rosenwald was attacked and pushed over again. During the course of the evening, he estimated he was punched or kicked 10 times, including three blows to the head that left him with large bruises and two black eyes. “I never left. I kept covering it,” Rosenwald said. “I think they realized I wasn’t going to go anywhere.”
One of his attackers later found him in the crowd and gloated about the newly forming bruises on his face. “Look at his dumbass face. Yeah, you got fucked up. Guess who hit you? Me, you punk-ass bitch,” one attacker gloated. Rosenwald posted video of that encounter to his Instagram feed.
Rosenwald said that the attacks were unexpected, given that he was on a well-lit street next to the police station and near plenty of other journalists. He said that his attackers seemed to range in age from 18 to 25.
“What really scared me, in some ways worse than the physical part, was the complete ignorance as to what the First Amendment means,” Rosenwald said. “That was frightening to me as a journalist.”
Rosenwald’s bruises lingered for more than two weeks, but he did not suffer any long-term injuries from the attacks. He filed a report with the Tucson Police Department on June 6 but said he has yet to hear back. A request for comment emailed to the department was not immediately returned.
One of the individuals who attacked Rosenwald also accosted a reporter for the Arizona Daily Star, Caitlin Schmidt, and threw her cellphone. That incident is documented here.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred total incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering Black Lives Matter protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Joel Marklund, a photojournalist with the Scandanavian photo agency Bildbyrån, was hit by pepper spray and involved in an altercation with New York City Police that damaged his camera and left him bruised while covering protests in the borough of Brooklyn on May 29, 2020.
The protest at Barclays Center was one of many demonstrations sparked across the country by the May 26 release of a video showing a white Minneapolis police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd during an arrest the prior day. Floyd, a Black man, was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Marklund, who has been covering the protests since they began, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that this particularly large gathering numbered in the hundreds or thousands. Police contained the protest by using portable fencing. Around 7:15 p.m., as tensions between protesters and police intensified, officers picked up the fencing and used it to push the crowd back. They also began to “go wild” with the pepper spray, Marklund said, and some of it landed on him.
Goggles and a facemask protected Marklund from the worst effects of the spray. But he said the spray also hit his exposed neck and arms, leaving him with a burning sensation that lasted for five or six hours. Marklund was wearing press credentials around his neck, but said that he wasn’t targeted for being a journalist. “They didn't look to see if it was press or someone else,” he said of the officers.
Around 8:30 p.m. during the same protest, a police officer swung his baton near Marklund to force the crowd back. In the scrum, the photographer was struck by something — probably the baton, but he could not say for sure — that left a bruise the size of his hand on his stomach, he told the Tracker. Something also made contact with the lens and body of his camera. Marklund anticipated costly repairs to his camera but expected his insurance to cover most of the expense.
“The police were very, very aggressive,” Marklund told the Tracker. “They’ve been shoving me and other media every single night. It's been very intense, but we haven't been close to what I see other photographers and media have experienced in other cities where they’ve been shot at [with projectiles]. But it's definitely been an aggressive atmosphere where it doesn't really matter if you're press or not.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Photojournalist Joel Marklund, who captured this image, said he was pepper sprayed, hit with a baton and had his camera broken while documenting protests in the Brooklyn borough of New York City on May 29, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,no,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, chemical irritant, protest",,,,, San Jose journalist hit with rubber bullet in back during live coverage of protest,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/san-jose-journalist-hit-rubber-bullet-back-during-live-coverage-protest/,2020-07-14 17:19:51.500695+00:00,2022-03-10 19:49:31.383757+00:00,2022-03-10 19:49:31.324831+00:00,,Assault,,,,Len Ramirez (KPIX 5),,2020-05-29,False,San Jose,California (CA),37.33939,-121.89496,"Len Ramirez, a news reporter for KPIX 5 News, was shot in the back with a rubber bullet on May 29, 2020 while covering a protest in downtown San Jose, Calif.
The protest was part of a wave of Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality demonstrations across the country sparked by the release of a video showing a white Minneapolis police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest. Floyd was later pronounced dead in a hospital. The officer has been charged with second-degree murder. Three other officers who were present face felony charges.
Ramirez was covering a crowd of protesters at San Jose City Hall when they were confronted by a police line. Officers declared the protest an illegal assembly.
Ramirez was live on the air for the Bay Area CBS affiliate with a camera person, who had a backpack transmitter. Ramirez was wearing a camera and holding a microphone labelled with the Channel 5 logo.
Officers began firing rubber bullets into the crowd and deploying flash-bang grenades.
“I pulled back and was actually walking back and out of the area when I got shot,” Ramirez told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. “I was wearing a white shirt, it left a black mark on the back and left a small bruise.” Ramirez was live on air at the time. In the clip from the broadcast he says, “Whoa, I just got hit with something.”
The next day Ramirez tweeted: “Thanks to all for your concerns. I was shot in the back with a rubber bullet that left a bruise and mark on my shirt. I am fine. I was hit while reporting live on @KPIXtv during last night’s protest in downtown San Jose. I knew there were risks in being in the middle of that.” The tweet included an image of the black mark on the back of his shirt.
Thanks to all for your concerns. I was shot in the back with a rubber bullet that left a bruise and mark on my shirt. I am fine. I was hit while reporting live on @KPIXtv during last night’s protest in downtown San Jose. I knew there were risks in being in the middle of that. pic.twitter.com/4UsUVDH8Qi
— Len Ramirez (@lenKPIX) May 31, 2020
A photo provided to the Tracker shows bruising in the same area on his back. SJPD and KPIX 5 News owner CBS have yet to comment on this incident.
On June 4, KCBS Radio reported that San Jose leaders were “questioning the use of aggressive police tactics and are re-evaluating how they police protests.”
“I knew that there were risks involved in covering riots because I’ve covered several over the past 36 years that I’ve been a TV reporter,” Ramirez told the Tracker, “this is the most danger that I’ve felt in covering riots or police activity.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
CNN photojournalist Leonel Mendez was arrested with two other members of a CNN news crew while covering protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in the early morning of May 29, 2020.
Protests in Minneapolis and across the nation were sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a local hospital. Thousands gathered around the convenience store where Floyd had been detained and at the police department’s Third Precinct building in the days that followed.
At least five journalists were hit with crowd control ammunition while covering the Minneapolis protests on May 26 and May 27 as police officers launched tear gas, stun grenades and less lethal ammunition into the crowd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Just after 5 a.m. on May 29, the CNN news crew — comprised of Mendez, correspondent Omar Jimenez and producer Bill Kirkos — was reporting live a few blocks from the Third Precinct, which had been set on fire by protesters the night before, CNN reported.
In the live footage, Minnesota State Patrol troopers can be seen approaching the news crew and asking them to move.
Jimenez calmly shows the officers his CNN identification and is heard telling the troopers, “We can move back to where you’d like. We are live on the air at the moment.”
Within minutes, officers in riot gear approach and arrest each member of the news crew in turn while the camera continues to broadcast live.
Soon after the arrests, CNN posted a statement on Twitter condemning the arrests as a violation of the journalists’ First Amendment Rights and demanding that the news crew be released.
A CNN reporter & his production team were arrested this morning in Minneapolis for doing their jobs, despite identifying themselves - a clear violation of their First Amendment rights. The authorities in Minnesota, incl. the Governor, must release the 3 CNN employees immediately.
— CNN Communications (@CNNPR) May 29, 2020
The three journalists were released from the Hennepin County Public Safety facility in downtown Minneapolis at around 6:40 a.m., CNN reported.
The local chapters of the Society of Professional Journalists and the National Association of Black Journalists released a joint statement condemning the arrests.
The statement reads, in part: “Police, State Patrol and other law enforcement officers should be well aware of the importance of the media whose job it is to document and report on breaking news for the benefit of the general public. We implore the responding parties to alert their officers on the rights of the press and the necessity of their presence as they continue to report on the current unrest.”
Freedom of the Press Foundation, the Committee to Protect Journalists and other press advocacy groups also released statements condemning the arrests.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz apologized for the arrests during a press conference a few hours after the journalists were released, stating that it should not have happened.
“This one is on me and I own it,” Walz said. “I am a teacher by trade and I have spent my time as governor highlighting the need to be as transparent as possible and to have the media here: I failed you last night in that.”
Walz added that ensuring that there is a safe place for journalists to report during such incidents is vital, and that the arrest of journalists can increase fear in affected communities.
“We will continue to strive to make sure that that accessibility is maintained,” Walz added. “The protection and security and safety of the journalists covering this is a top priority, not because it’s a nice thing to do, because it’s a key component of how we fix this.”
Neither CNN nor the Minnesota State Patrol responded to multiple emailed requests for comment about the incident.
The camera operated by CNN photojournalist Leonel Mendez continues to broadcast from Minneapolis, Minnesota as Mendez and two other members of the CNN news crew are arrested live on-air on May 29, 2020.
",detained and released without being processed,not charged,Minnesota State Patrol,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, "CNN producer, crew arrested on-air while documenting Minneapolis protests",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cnn-producer-crew-arrested-air-while-documenting-minneapolis-protests/,2020-07-22 16:16:58.135257+00:00,2021-10-14 15:38:29.463734+00:00,2021-10-14 15:38:29.399159+00:00,,Arrest/Criminal Charge,,,,Bill Kirkos (CNN),,2020-05-29,False,Minneapolis,Minnesota (MN),44.97997,-93.26384,"CNN Producer Bill Kirkos was arrested with two other members of his CNN news crew while covering protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in the early morning of May 29, 2020.
Protests in Minneapolis and across the nation were sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a local hospital. Thousands gathered around the convenience store where Floyd had been detained and at the police department’s Third Precinct building in the days that followed.
At least five journalists were hit with crowd control ammunition while covering the Minneapolis protests on May 26 and May 27 as police officers launched tear gas, stun grenades and less lethal ammunition into the crowd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Just after 5 a.m. on May 29, the CNN news crew — comprised of Kirkos, correspondent Omar Jimenez and photographer Leonel Mendez — was reporting live a few blocks from the Third Precinct, which had been set on fire by protesters the night before, CNN reported.
In the live footage, Minnesota State Patrol troopers can be seen approaching the news crew and asking them to move.
Jimenez calmly shows the officers his CNN identification and is heard telling the troopers, “We can move back to where you’d like. We are live on the air at the moment.”
Within minutes, officers in riot gear approach and arrest each member of the news crew in turn while the camera continues to broadcast live.
Soon after the arrests, CNN posted a statement on Twitter condemning the arrests as a violation of the journalists’ First Amendment Rights and demanding that the news crew be released.
A CNN reporter & his production team were arrested this morning in Minneapolis for doing their jobs, despite identifying themselves - a clear violation of their First Amendment rights. The authorities in Minnesota, incl. the Governor, must release the 3 CNN employees immediately.
— CNN Communications (@CNNPR) May 29, 2020
The three journalists were released from the Hennepin County Public Safety facility in downtown Minneapolis at around 6:40 a.m., CNN reported.
The local chapters of the Society of Professional Journalists and the National Association of Black Journalists released a joint statement condemning the arrests.
The statement reads, in part: “Police, State Patrol and other law enforcement officers should be well aware of the importance of the media whose job it is to document and report on breaking news for the benefit of the general public. We implore the responding parties to alert their officers on the rights of the press and the necessity of their presence as they continue to report on the current unrest.”
Freedom of the Press Foundation, the Committee to Protect Journalists and other press advocacy groups also released statements condemning the arrests.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz apologized for the arrests during a press conference a few hours after the journalists were released, stating that it should not have happened.
“This one is on me and I own it,” Walz said. “I am a teacher by trade and I have spent my time as governor highlighting the need to be as transparent as possible and to have the media here: I failed you last night in that.”
Walz added that ensuring that there is a safe place for journalists to report during such incidents is vital, and that the arrest of journalists can increase fear in affected communities.
“We will continue to strive to make sure that that accessibility is maintained,” Walz added. “The protection and security and safety of the journalists covering this is a top priority, not because it’s a nice thing to do, because it’s a key component of how we fix this.”
Neither CNN nor the Minnesota State Patrol responded to multiple emailed requests for comment about the incident.
CNN producer Bill Kirkos is arrested with two other members of the news crew during a live broadcast from protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 29, 2020.
",detained and released without being processed,not charged,Minnesota State Patrol,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, "Indianapolis Star journalist pepper sprayed, threatened, shot with projectile",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/indianapolis-star-journalist-pepper-sprayed-threatened-shot-projectile/,2020-07-22 22:40:27.320438+00:00,2022-03-10 19:49:50.218693+00:00,2022-03-10 19:49:50.161185+00:00,,Assault,,,,Kelly Wilkinson (The Indianapolis Star),,2020-05-29,False,Indianapolis,Indiana (IN),39.76838,-86.15804,"Indianapolis Star photojournalist Kelly Wilkinson was tear gassed, pepper sprayed, threatened and shot with a pepper ball on May 29, 2020, while documenting the first night of protests in Indianapolis, Indiana.
The protests were sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the U.S. since the end of May.
Wilkinson told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the protests that day had been largely peaceful until shortly after sunset when something triggered a back-and-forth between protesters and law enforcement.
“It sort of spiraled downhill after that,” she said.
Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers began launching tear gas into the crowd, Wilkinson said. It was the first time she had experienced the chemical irritant.
“I don’t know whether I had a panic attack or what, but that first time that it got me, it got me good,” Wilkinson said. “I thought I was going to die.” After taking a few minutes to recover she said she was able to resume working.
Shortly before 10 p.m., as the skirmish between police and demonstrators continued, Wilkinson said she was working near a street corner where a number of police officers were assembled in a line. In a video captured by Eric Weddle, a reporter with NPR affiliate WFYI, Wilkinson can be seen approaching the intersection with one of her cameras raised as she photographs the scene.
An officer breaks away from the police line and approaches Wilkinson with his weapon trained on her. A second officer appears to intervene and directs Wilkinson to step back; as she does, the first officer appears to begin lowering his weapon.
On the ground moments ago in Indianapolis. pic.twitter.com/H4fto941z0
— Eric Weddle (@ericweddle) May 30, 2020
Wilkinson told the Tracker that she didn’t remember the incident happening until she saw the video and that she hadn’t felt threatened at the time. “It does look quite shocking though, when you see it,” she added.
Wilkinson noted that in a separate incident that night she was struck above the knee with a pepper ball. She didn’t realize what hit her until she researched the wound pattern when she got home.
Later that evening, after Wilkinson had put on a gas mask to protect herself from the tear gas, officers directly pepper sprayed her, Wilkinson said.
“It looked like he was pointing right at me,” Wilkinson said. “I was maybe 8 to 10 feet away from him, so not too far.”
“Again, I thought I looked like a photographer, but maybe I didn’t. I did have all of my equipment on me,” she added, noting that she was carrying two cameras, a fanny pack and her press pass.
The following day, Wilkinson said the Star issued new press passes that are bright yellow and marked PRESS in large capital letters. Editors from the Star did not respond to requests for comment.
The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department did not respond to a voicemail requesting comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd while in police custody. Find all of these cases here.
Nina Svanberg, a reporter for the Swedish outlet Expressen, was struck with a crowd-control munition while covering protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 29, 2020.
Multiple days of protests in Minneapolis and across the nation were sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Svanberg told the Committee to Protect Journalists — a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker — that she and Thomas Nilsson, a photojournalist for Norwegian outlet Verdens Gang, had walked with protesters up from the Third Precinct to the Fifth Precinct on the 29th. National Guard troops and police arrived to the area to disperse the crowd and enforce the 8 p.m. curfew.
At about 11:30 p.m., Minneapolis Police Department officers began indiscriminately firing projectiles and tear gas to disperse the crowd, Svanberg said. One hit her on the hip.
“All of a sudden, I feel a sudden pain in the leg, and I’m losing my balance and falling down,” Svanberg told CPJ.
She said that she crawled behind a car to avoid being hit again, but was caught in the tear gas. Nilsson was affected by the chemical irritant as well. The Tracker documented his assault here.
The journalists eventually met up in an alley where an Australian news team was sheltering with its security team.
Svanberg told CPJ that both she and Nilsson were wearing press passes.
“The thing is, I think it was obvious that we were there working,” Svanberg said. “We were behaving like journalists and not demonstrators.”
The Minneapolis Police Department did not respond to multiple phone and emailed requests for comment.
“We stood there for a while,” Svanberg said. “And then we just went from the corner and continued working.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
On May 29, 2020, CNN’s headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, was targeted by individuals who threw objects, broke windows and graffitied the large “CNN” logo out front.
The crowd had gathered in Centennial Park earlier in the day, CNN reported, but by about 7 p.m. individuals were damaging the news organization’s headquarters.
The protests in Atlanta were part of a national response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the U.S. since the end of May.
As the crowd became rowdier on May 29, they set an Atlanta Police Department vehicle on fire and a SWAT team was called in, CNN reported. As police faced off with protesters, someone threw either a firework or a flash-bang grenade over a line of officers. It detonated in front of CNN correspondent Nick Valencia and his crew as they reported from the scene.
Despite that dramatic incident, no CNN employees were harmed, according to a CNN spokesperson.
“The protests were not directed at CNN and they were not protesting us/CNN, but our office in downtown Atlanta is a landmark location,” Bridget Leininger, CNN senior director of communications said.
A CNN report did note that some protesters were “chanting anti-media rhetoric.” In one social media video someone can be clearly heard yelling, “Fuck CNN!”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Protesters stand in front of a vandalized CNN logo at the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia, on May 29, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,CNN,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, Journalist hit with projectile two days in a row in Minneapolis,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-hit-projectile-two-days-row-minneapolis/,2020-08-04 20:59:12.490697+00:00,2022-03-10 19:50:22.507220+00:00,2022-03-10 19:50:22.450066+00:00,,Assault,,,,Julio Rosas (Townhall),,2020-05-29,False,Minneapolis,Minnesota (MN),44.97997,-93.26384,"Reporter Julio Rosas told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was struck by a projectile shot by law enforcement while reporting on a protest in Minneapolis on May 29, 2020.
The protest was held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the U.S. since the end of May.
Rosas said he was hit near Minneapolis' Third Precinct while reporting for Townhall, which describes itself as a conservative news and commentary site.
In the early afternoon, Rosas filmed State Patrol troopers and National Guardsmen stationed near stores that had been burgled. At about the same time, officials announced the arrest of fired police officer Derek Chauvin on third-degree murder and manslaughter charges. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison later added a second-degree murder charge in addition to charging three other former officers with aiding and abetting murder.
The situation grew tense as an 8 p.m. curfew drew closer, Rosas said. He filmed protesters emotionally confronting a mixed deployment of National Guard and police, including State Patrol.
Some officers can also be seen wearing riot gear with “Police” or “Sheriff” written on it. It isn’t precisely clear to which law enforcement agencies they belonged.
Protesters, journalists and even law enforcement officials have had difficulty at times identifying specific officers during the protests. More than a dozen different agencies joined the law enforcement effort in Minnesota, often wearing similar looking uniforms.
Officials by loudspeaker ordered protesters to disperse 10 minutes before curfew, as officers donned gas masks, Rosas told the Tracker. Rocks and bottles flung from the protesters’ side of a barricade were met with projectiles and tear gas from law enforcement, Rosas said.
But instead of advancing to enforce the curfew, police and National Guard troops began to withdraw from the area, Rosas said.
In a video of the incident Rosas filmed from the sidewalk, law enforcement are seen backing past a burned-out building. He told the Tracker he had informed the National Guardsman closest to him that he was a journalist. He was wearing press credentials around his neck. Rosas pans to the left as police fire projectiles toward a line of protesters down the street.
Then the sound of another shot rings out and the video cuts off. Rosas was hit in the torso. He would later tweet a photo of a welt of about 40 millimeters in diameter, the same as some of the projectiles he saw being used.
Rosas, who was hit by what he believed was a pepper ball the previous day, said the pain of getting hit by a 40mm projectile was on a different level.
“When I first got hit, on a scale of one to 10 pain-wise, it was a 10 for the first minute,” Rosas said. “And then I thought ‘Oh shoot I need to get out of here.’”
Rosas said he jumped over a small fence on the side of the road and landed on his back. Other people in the area helped him up and asked if he needed to go to the hospital. He wasn’t coughing up blood and didn’t feel pain breathing, so he went back to reporting, assuming he didn’t suffer serious internal damage. Later that night, he went to the hospital and received an official all-clear.
Capt. Melanie Nelson, a spokeswoman for the Minnesota National Guard, told the Tracker it “did not employ non-lethal rounds during the civil unrest in Minneapolis, Saint Paul and surrounding communities.”
The Minnesota Department of Public Safety, which oversees the State Patrol, didn’t respond to questions sent by the Tracker.
Rosas said he would be “very surprised” if he was hit by accident because there was no one around him. But he said he didn’t know whether he was targeted specifically as a journalist.
Citing his experience assessing threats in the Marines, Rosas said it didn’t make sense to focus on him, as he posed no danger whether he was recognized as a journalist or not.
At least 12 people across the country were partially blinded by police projectiles between May 28 and June 2, according to a Washington Post investigation. One of those 12, freelance writer and photographer Linda Tirado, was hit in the left eye on the same night and precinct as Rosas.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Townhall reporter Julio Rosas shows the welt left behind from a projectile that hit him while covering protests on May 29, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest, shot / shot at",,,,, Videographer hit by police projectiles in Minneapolis’ Fifth Precinct,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/videographer-hit-by-police-projectiles-in-minneapolis-fifth-precinct/,2020-08-08 11:11:19.119271+00:00,2022-05-26 20:03:55.102125+00:00,2022-05-26 20:03:55.026855+00:00,"(2022-02-08 11:55:00+00:00) Journalists reach settlement agreement with Minnesota State Patrol, rest of suit ongoing",Assault,,,,Mike Shum (Freelance),,2020-05-29,False,Minneapolis,Minnesota (MN),44.97997,-93.26384,"Police officers struck freelance filmmaker and journalist Mike Shum with two projectiles while he was reporting on protests in Minneapolis on May 29, 2020 for the New York Times.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the U.S. since the end of May.
Shum and Katie G. Nelson, a freelance journalist also reporting for the New York Times, were covering the fourth night of protests in Minneapolis on May 29. The night before, protesters overran and set fire to the Minneapolis Police Department’s Third Precinct. The focus on the 29th had shifted to the Fifth Precinct, Shum told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
Video shot by Shum and Nelson shows hundreds of protesters gathered outside the station as police stand on the rooftop, ordering them to disperse. Police deploy tear gas and protesters aim laser pointers and shoot fireworks at police. The video ends with a line of police emerging through a thick cloud of either tear gas or smoke on Nicollet Avenue next to the station.
Shum said he and several other photojournalists filmed the officers as they began to fire projectiles. Protesters scattered by the tear gas were nearby, but the journalists stood together “obviously trying to get our shots,” Shum said.
Shum heard projectiles whizzing by his head before he was hit in the foot and side.
“I was trying to hold my shot realizing I could hear the whizzing by and I was like, OK, they are obviously shooting at us. And that’s when I got hit in the foot,” Shum said. “We should probably start running now.”
He said he wasn’t sure what kind of projectile hit him, though he suspected the one on his side was a ricochet given the force and angle of the impact.
The projectile that hit his foot “had more of an impact than I gave it credit for,” Shum said. His foot bruised with minor swelling. Walking was harder than normal but the injury didn’t require a doctor’s visit, he said.
Shum told the Tracker he believed the police didn’t specifically target him but were shooting indiscriminately in a general direction that included many journalists. He said he wasn’t sure which law-enforcement agency was responsible, or whether other journalists in the group were hit.
Protesters, journalists and even law-enforcement officials have had difficulty at times identifying specific officers during the protests. More than a dozen different agencies joined the law-enforcement effort in Minnesota, often wearing similar looking uniforms.
In a livestream filmed by Jeff Wagner, a reporter with CBS affiliate WCCO, the Minnesota State Patrol can be heard over loudspeaker just before 11:30 p.m. ordering people to disperse immediately. Within the next twenty minutes, several journalists were hit by police projectiles and tear gas fired by either State Patrol or Minneapolis Police, all within a block radius of where Shum was hit. Nine minutes after Wagner filmed the loudspeaker warning, he, too, was hit by a police projectile.
Minneapolis Police Department spokesman John Elder told the Tracker he couldn’t comment on Shum getting hit. He added that “every use of force by the MPD is under investigation internally.”
The Minnesota Department of Public Safety, which oversees the State Patrol, didn’t respond to the Tracker’s emailed list of questions.
Capt. Melanie Nelson, a spokeswoman for the Minnesota National Guard, told the Tracker that “the Minnesota National Guard did not employ non-lethal rounds during the civil unrest in Minneapolis, Saint Paul and surrounding communities.”
Despite the injury, Shum continued to report on the protests with Nelson. The following day, law-enforcement officers pushed him over a wall and fired on Nelson’s car in separate incidents, the journalists said.
Nelson and Shum have joined a class-action lawsuit filed by the ACLU of Minnesota against Minneapolis and Minnesota officials concerning the treatment of journalists covering the Floyd protests.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering Black Lives Matter protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Police line up outside of Minneapolis Police Department’s Fifth Precinct on May 29, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,0:20-cv-01302,"['ONGOING', 'SETTLED']",Class Action,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,no,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest, shot / shot at",,,,, Journalist says police fired pepper balls at him while he stood alone covering Denver protests,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-says-police-fired-pepper-balls-him-while-he-stood-alone-covering-denver-protests/,2020-08-18 18:32:54.838836+00:00,2022-03-10 19:51:00.803647+00:00,2022-03-10 19:51:00.744205+00:00,,Assault,,,,Kevin Beaty (Denverite),,2020-05-29,False,Denver,Colorado (CO),39.73915,-104.9847,"Reporter and photographer Kevin Beaty says that police officers tried to pelt him with pepper balls while he was covering protests in Denver on May 29, 2020.
The protests erupted in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis on May 25.
Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held in cities across the U.S. since late May.
Another Black man, Elijah McClain, died in August 2019 after a fateful encounter with police in Aurora, Colorado, which is in the Denver metro area. McClain’s name has been invoked in signs and chants at protests sparked by Floyd’s death.
Beaty told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was standing alone on the lawn of the Colorado State Capitol while covering the May 29 protests for Denverite when a truck carrying Denver Police Department officers wielding pepper ball launchers arrived and began firing off rounds.
Beaty said he didn’t take direct hits, but he heard rounds make contact with his backpack.
“Even the smallest bit of powder getting into your respiratory system will make you sneeze or cough,” Beaty said.
Beaty said that in addition to using pepper balls, Denver police were also hitting protesters with tear gas throughout the day and that he had taken some himself.
He did not seek medical attention following the May 29 protests.
Later that night, Beaty tweeted that Denver Mayor Michael Hancock told him earlier that day that police would not target bystanders to the protests.
“Why, then, did I just get shot while standing alone on the Capitol grass taking photos?” he said in the tweet.
.@DenverPolice the mayor told me this morning bystanders are not the intended target of this enforcement. Why, then, did I just get shot while standing alone on the Capitol grass taking photos?
— Kevin Beaty (@KevinJBeaty) May 30, 2020
The Denver Police Internal Affairs Bureau contacted Beaty after he tweeted about the incident, Beaty told the Tracker. He filed a report with the office, but said he has not been contacted since.
A spokesman for the Denver Police Department declined to comment on Beaty’s case.
“An internal affairs investigation into this incident is underway and it would be inappropriate for the department to comment at this time,” spokesman Jay Casillas said in an email.
Denver has seen numerous demonstrations since President Donald Trump’s inauguration in 2017, Beaty said. But the protests that broke out in the days following Floyd’s death were “some of the wildest I’ve ever seen.”
“It was pretty bananas for the first few days,” Beaty said.
In the months since, Beaty said that he has seen protestors in Aurora carrying firearms. He also noted that there have been a number of shootings during area demonstrations. In July, a 23-year-old man allegedly opened fire at a Jeep that attempted to drive through a group protesting McClain’s death while marching on Interstate 225 in Aurora.
Two protesters were struck with bullets during the shooting, according to CBS4 Denver. Samuel Young, the accused shooter, is charged with four counts of attempted murder.
“In the last month, things have gotten more worrisome from a safety perspective,” Beaty said.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
The staff of television station WHAS 11 was forced to briefly evacuate the station’s offices in Louisville, Kentucky, after the building’s windows were smashed during a protest on May 29, 2020.
The protest was held in response to the killing of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman who was shot dead by police on March 13, as well as the May 25 police killing of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis. Protests against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the U.S. since late May.
Shortly after 11 p.m. on May 29, a WHAS producer posted on Twitter that he and other staff members were back on the air after having to evacuate the downtown building for 25 minutes when unidentified people started smashing windows.
#BreakingNews @WHAS11 crew forced to evacuate building for about 25 minutes after protesters starting smashing our windows. We're back on air now. We are SAFE and we are SECURE. #Louisville #BreonnaTaylor
— Stephen A. Ostrosky (@producer_steve) May 30, 2020
A news reporter from the station also described having to evacuate the building and said everyone returned safe and unharmed.
Our @WHAS11 crew was forced to evacuate the building after some protesters smashed our windows. Thankfully everyone is safe and all is well. Please stay safe #Louisville
— Senait Gebregiorgis (@SenaitTV) May 30, 2020
At around 11:30 p.m., a journalist from the nearby Courier-Jourier saw broken window panes and graffiti spray painted on the network’s building, the newspaper reported.
Doug Proffitt, an anchor on WHAS 11, reported on air later that night that a group of protestors had come down Chestnut Street towards the station’s building and that “it was a frightening situation.” He also said WHAS staff had suffered effects from tear gas that entered the building, but didn’t elaborate.
The network didn’t respond to emails seeking comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Jeff Wagner, a reporter and anchor for WCCO, a CBS affiliate station based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, was livestreaming protest coverage as he was hit by a police projectile on May 29, 2020.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the U.S. since the end of May.
Wagner was covering the fourth night of protests in Minneapolis on May 29. The night before, protesters overran and set fire to the Minneapolis Police Department’s Third Precinct. But the focus on the 29th had shifted to the Fifth Precinct.
In a livestream video filmed by Wagner, the Minnesota State Patrol can be heard over loudspeaker just before 11:30 p.m. ordering people to disperse immediately. About 10 minutes after Wagner filmed the loudspeaker warning, he was hit by a police projectile.
Wagner did not respond to requests for comment, and a message left on the WCCO general line was not answered.
In the livestream, Wagner reports that State Patrol troopers were advancing north on Nicollet Avenue, shooting projectiles at protesters who’d been throwing objects and launching fireworks at the police. He stands separate from the action in a mostly empty parking lot on the side of the street.
A lone officer can be seen stepping into the parking lot and appears to hit one individual trying to retrieve a bike. Wagner asks if the person is all right, just as he, too, is hit. Wagner grunts as his phone tumbles to the ground.
Wagner says in the livestream that he is all right despite the projectile feeling like the “the hardest punch to my forearm I’ve ever had.” But he says he recognized the risk of reporting close to the action.
“I had my hand up. I got my news badge,” Wagner says as he flashes the badge on the video. “It didn’t matter. It didn’t matter in that moment. I looked like anybody else.”
The livestream video does not clearly show the officer who shot the projectile at Wagner. Protesters, journalists and even law enforcement officials have had difficulty at times identifying specific officers during the protests. More than a dozen agencies joined the law enforcement effort in Minnesota in late May, often wearing similar-looking uniforms.
The Minnesota Department of Public Safety, which oversees the State Patrol, didn’t respond to the Tracker’s emailed list of questions.
Several other journalists were hit by police projectiles and tear gas fired by either State Patrol or Minneapolis Police that evening, as documented by the Tracker.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Freelance photojournalist Cole Howard was left dazed and bloodied after being struck in the head by an object thrown during a protest he was covering in Atlanta, Georgia, on May 29, 2020.
Howard was covering one of the many protests that broke out that day across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
In Atlanta, what began as peaceful protests turned violent, with individuals vandalizing CNN’s headquarters and setting a police cruiser on fire. “Things are getting heated up. As a police car is lit on fire by protesters and multiple vehicles are smashed up,” Howard tweeted in posting an image of the burning cruiser.
Howard told the Tracker that he was documenting the protest at the CNN headquarters downtown, describing the situation as “essentially in riot mode.” Sometime after 8 p.m., as Howard rushed to the front to get photos of police advancing to confront the crowd, he felt “a really heavy, blunt force hit the top of my head,” he said.
In a tweet Howard posted at 8:22 p.m., he wrote, “I got pelted in the head with a stone or something and am bleeding. Despite this intense moment things were actually pretty amicable before.”
Chaos ensues in #Atlanta as business windows are attacked. I got pelted in the head with a stone or something and am bleeding. Despite this intense moment things were actually pretty amicable before. #protest
— Cole Howard (@RedheadNomad) May 30, 2020
Howard told the Tracker he believes he was hit by a rock or other object thrown by a protester at police.
William Bridges, a student at Georgia State University and general manager of the campus multimedia news outlet PRN, posted a photo on Instagram of Howard appearing stunned and bloody. Bridges told the Tracker that he observed protesters throwing rocks and other objects before Howard was hit.
As police continued to advance on the crowd, Howard began running, fearful that if he stayed put he’d be beaten by officers, he said. “Then I heard somebody screaming, ‘Medic!’ and felt warm liquid all over my face,” he said. “That’s when I realized I was bleeding.”
Howard believes he suffered a minor concussion from getting hit in the head, saying he felt “dazed and very off” for the rest of the evening.
Georgia State University student journalist William Bridges documented photojournalist Cole Howard just after he was hit in the head with a thrown object during a May 29, 2020, protest in Atlanta.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,no,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, "New Mexico reporter files suit against sheriff alleging retaliation, intimidation",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/new-mexico-reporter-files-suit-against-sheriff-alleging-retaliation-intimidation/,2021-06-17 16:07:55.259658+00:00,2021-12-09 00:02:04.160788+00:00,2021-12-09 00:02:04.117311+00:00,,Denial of Access,,,,Tabitha Clay (Rio Grande Sun),,2020-05-29,False,Española,New Mexico (NM),35.99113,-106.08058,"A reporter for a weekly newspaper based in Española, New Mexico, filed a lawsuit against the Rio Arriba County Sheriff’s Office and Sheriff James Lujan for alleged civil rights violations in retaliation for her reporting on the law enforcement agency in the summer of 2019.
On May 29, 2019, former Rio Grande Sun reporter Tabitha Clay published a piece about former Deputy Jeremy Barnes tasing a student multiple times in the chest, the outlet reported. Clay told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker the piece garnered national attention, which is when the sheriff’s office began retaliating against her.
“Initially I had a great relationship with the Sheriff’s department until I wrote things that they didn’t like,” Clay said. “When the story got picked up in national news and the sheriff’s office got calls from across the country asking what was wrong with them, they got pretty upset with me for that. The sheriff basically said, ‘Look what you did, look what you caused.’”
According to a suit filed by the ACLU of New Mexico on Clay’s behalf: In June, Lujan directed department employees to stop providing records or comment to Clay. In July, Lujan told Barnes to order Clay to leave the scene of a car wreck and arrest her if she didn’t. In September, two department vehicles were parked outside of her apartment building in Santa Fe County in an apparent attempt to intimidate her, and deputies refused to allow her into the Rio Arriba County Courthouse in Tierra Amarilla with her reporting materials, including her laptop and camera.
Rio Arriba County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Capt. Lorenzo Aguilar did not respond to multiple calls requesting comment.
“The Sheriff and his minions responded with frightening efforts to silence Ms. Clay, through obstruction and even intimidation. This case arises from those efforts and strikes at the very core of the First Amendment and our freedoms,” the suit says.
The suit also stipulated that as Clay continued to report on the “questionable conduct” of the sheriff’s office, the department changed its official policies on disclosing dispatch logs and what information is contained in them.
“These changes included dispatch logs that had been provided to the Rio Grande SUN every morning for approximately ten years and which had contained significant information related to RASO activities,” the suit alleges. “Following Ms. Clay’s reporting, Defendant Lujan pushed through policy changes to delay providing dispatch logs until after two weeks, and limiting the information provided in the dispatch logs.”
According to the SUN, the truncated logs were the subject of a separate legal fight between the newspaper and the New Mexico Department of Public Safety; the state settled and implemented a new records policy in October 2019.
The ACLU filed a tort claim notice — the first step in suing the department — in 2019, and filed a formal suit on May 26, 2021.
The suit seeks punitive damages from the Board of County Commissioners for Rio Arriba County, the sheriff’s office, Lujan and Barnes “in connection with their retaliation and intimidation arising from the exercise of [Clay’s] constitutionally protected First Amendment Rights.”
“I ended up leaving my job at the SUN because of this,” Clay told the Tracker. “It was a lot going on, and it didn’t really occur to me how much trauma it caused until we went back through it and did interviews for the brief. This was a lot. This was really scary stuff.”
Visual journalist and documentary filmmaker Amr Alfiky was repeatedly assaulted by police officers while photographing a protest in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, New York, on May 29, 2020, according to a federal lawsuit.
Alfiky is one of five news photographers who filed a federal lawsuit on Aug. 5, 2021, “seeking to hold the New York Police Department [NYPD] accountable for its violation of their First Amendment rights.” The suit is being led by the National Press Photographers Association, of which four of the journalists are members, in partnership with Davis Wright Tremaine LLP.
According to the complaint, Alfiky was covering a demonstration near Barclays Center with his camera in one hand and press pass in the other when an NYPD officer began shouting at him. Alfiky repeated, “I'm a journalist, I have a press pass,” but the officer responded with “I don't give a fuck about your press pass,” shoving him in the chest with a baton.
The complaint stated that the officer continued to shove Alfiky back, causing him to trip and fall with “such force that an approximately one-inch-wide benign cyst on his back ruptured,” which led to "excruciating pain.” The officer continued to hit him with his baton and did not stop until two protestors pulled Alfiky away and helped him stand, according to the complaint.
“As a result of this assault, Mr. Alfiky suffered fever and infection. He later had to undergo medical treatment including a surgical procedure to clean the infected area in his back, and an additional procedure to remove the ruptured cyst,” the complaint noted. “Mr. Alfiky has also suffered back pain since the assault, which has been evaluated as likely caused by a traumatic incident.”
“He was showing his credential and not only did the officer completely disregard it, but actually said, ‘I don't give a fuck,’” Mickey H. Osterreicher, general counsel to the NPPA, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. “That seems to sum up, unfortunately, a lot of the attitude of law enforcement toward journalists.”
Alfiky and the New York Police Department did not respond to a request for comment. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
A news crew with CBS Channel 11 covering protests in Dallas was forced to scatter when a police officer tossed an activated canister of tear gas at two journalists as they were about to go live on air on May 29, 2020.
Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 have spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Photojournalist Bret Kelly and reporter Steve Pickett were stationed in downtown Dallas covering protests. At around 10:15 p.m., they were getting ready to begin their live shot. Typically, the station would have alerted them both, but they had only one working earpiece so Pickett told Kelly aloud, Kelly told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
Kelly believes that a Dallas police officer standing 10 feet away overheard him. "As soon as [Pickett] said that, an officer took a canister and tossed it right at our feet, underhand, like he was playing cornhole," Kelly said. The canister landed on the ground between them and started spewing tear gas. "By then we were live," Kelly said. "We got gassed pretty hard and took flight a little bit."
Pickett can be seen on CBS 11 video struggling to breathe and find a way out of the area where the gas was deployed. "I’m trying to get out of the tear gas, this is killing us," Pickett says to the studio journalist as his eyes visibly water and he stumbles his way out of the cloud. He tells his colleague that earlier that night he was also threatened with arrest. The Tracker has documented his assault here.
Kelly wrote about the experience on Twitter the next day, saying “ ... I was nowhere near any protesters. Definitely a conscious decision by that officer.”
Happened to me last night, when I was nowhere near any protesters. Definitely a conscious decision by that officer.
— Bret Kelly (@BKSpxshooter11) May 31, 2020
An emailed request for comment sent to the Dallas Police Department about the incident was not returned.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Taylor Schuss, a photojournalist with Denver NBC affiliate 9News KUSA, was struck with a pepper ball fired by Denver police while covering protests in the Colorado city on May 29, 2020.
Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 have spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
That evening, police fired a pepper ball that hit Schuss on the ankle, according to Tim Ryan, director of content at 9News KUSA, who summarized the incident in an email to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
Ryan wrote that Schuss and the reporter he was with, Steve Staeger, “don’t believe they were targeted as journalists but rather happened to be in a group of protesters who were targeted.”
Staeger later tweeted about the incident, also adding that an individual had sprayed Schuss’ camera lens with some substance while they were covering the demonstrations.
I watched @Taylor_TVnews take a pepper ball shot into his ankle by police and have a protestor spray his camera lens with something, all while we both endured about 5 or 6 rounds of tear gas tonight during coverage tonight. Yet through it all he stayed focused.
— Steve Staeger (@SteveStaeger) May 30, 2020
Schuss did not reply to an interview request sent via Twitter message.
Requests for comment on this incident sent to the Denver Police Department were not immediately returned.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
An unknown man sprayed pepper spray at CBS4 Denver news crew that was covering the protests on the streets of Colorado’s capital on May 29, 2020.
This incident occurred during the second night of protests in Denver over the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died after a Minneapolis Police officer knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes on May 25. Related protests have spread to cities across the nation.
Photojournalist Rob McClure and reporter Jamie Leary were both “OK” after the attack, according to a tweet from CBS producer Dago Cordova, who shared video footage of the incident.
During our special #CBSNDenver coverage of #JusticeForGeorge protests, a man went up to @JamieALeary & @RobCBS4 and sprayed them with pepper spray. He did this after he did it to fellow local journalists. Jamie & Rob are okay @CBSDenver pic.twitter.com/k76tZsoHXq
— Dago Cordova (@dago_deportes) May 30, 2020
The crew was set up directly across from the Colorado Capitol along Lincoln Avenue. In the video, an unidentified young man in a colorful striped shirt, black baseball cap and black balaclava holding a canister of pepper spray walks by the journalists, who are filming live, then doubles back and sprays the crew with pepper spray. “Hey hey hey, Are you kidding me?” Leary says as the attack is underway.
Leary told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that both she and McClure were able to avoid a direct hit from the pepper spray because they had just watched the man pepper spray another camera crew nearby. They were watching him carefully, she explained. “He walked by us and then did an about-face,” Leary said.
The Tracker documented Leary’s assault here. McClure’s camera was lightly sprayed, but was not damaged.
The identity of the other camera crew attacked was not immediately available.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
A WAVE 3 News crew was shot at with pepper balls by a Louisville Metro Police Department officer while broadcasting live on May 29, 2020, during protests in Louisville, Kentucky.
The Associated Press reported that protests in Louisville have centered around the deaths of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, both of whom were Black. Taylor was shot eight times in her Louisville home in mid-March by narcotics police who broke down her door. Floyd died on May 25, after a white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, knelt on his neck for eight minutes during an arrest. Video of Floyd’s death has sparked protests across the country.
WAVE 3 photojournalist James Dobson and reporter Kaitlin Rust were reporting live at around 9:45 p.m. on May 29 when a police officer walked into the frame and turned toward the news team.
In the video, Rust can be heard screaming, “I’m getting shot!”
Rust then adds that the officer was firing “pepper bullets” directly at her and Dobson. The Louisville Courier Journal reported that pepper balls are essentially paintballs filled with a powdered form of pepper spray.
WAVE 3 reported that both journalists were struck by the ammunition and suffered minor injuries. The Tracker has documented Rust’s assault here.
The station’s general manager, Ken Selvaggi, said in a statement, “We strongly condemn the actions of the LMPD officer who tonight repeatedly fired at and hit our reporter and cameraman, both of whom were courageously and lawfully covering breaking news in their community.”
“There is simply no justification for the Louisville police to wantonly open fire, even with pepper balls, on any journalists under any circumstances,” Selvaggi said.
LMPD spokesperson Jessie Halladay told the Courier Journal that the department would investigate the video after the protests were resolved and investigate or discipline as necessary. Halladay also apologized for the incident.
“[It’s] not our intention to target or subject the media as they try to cover this,” Halladay said.
WAVE 3 reported that during the same night of protests, one of its news vans was vandalized.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Two news vehicles belonging to local broadcast station WLKY News were vandalized on May 29, 2020, during protests in Louisville, Kentucky, according to the station.
The Associated Press reported that protests in Louisville have centered around the deaths of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, both of whom were black. Taylor was shot eight times in her Louisville home in mid-March by narcotics police who broke down her door. Floyd died on May 25, after a white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, knelt on his neck for eight minutes during an arrest. Video of Floyd’s death has sparked protests across the country.
Two separate vehicles belonging to WLKY News were vandalized that night. In a video broadcast by the station, individuals can be seen jumping on one news vehicle and kicking out its windows.
On live TV: Protesters attack #WLKY news vehicle, kick out windows during downtown protests. pic.twitter.com/7tLW8Ltftu
— WLKY (@WLKY) May 30, 2020
A second WLKY vehicle was kicked and dented by rioters while they were in the vehicle filming looting at a liquor store, according to a tweet from station anchor Julie Dolan.
Another WLKY reporter and photographer team was getting drive-by video of a liquor store looting when the rioters spotted them and attacked the station vehicle kicking dents in it. They drove away before it got too bad. @WLKYDrew
— Julie Dolan (@WLKYJulie) May 30, 2020
The station did not immediately respond to requests for additional information or comment. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Deni Kamper, a correspondent for local broadcast station WLKY, and her news partner were assaulted by individuals while covering protests in downtown Louisville, Kentucky, on May 29, 2020.
Protests in Louisville have centered around the deaths of Breonna Taylor, shot and killed inside her home by Louisville police in March, and the death of George Floyd while in the custody of Minneapolis police on May 25.
Kamper was attacked by a mob of people alongside photographer Paul Ahmann, but reported in a tweet that she was “ok,” writing, “A lot of people helped us tonight and I’m so grateful.”
All - I’m ok. Paul, the photographer who’s been with me all night, is being treated but is also ok. A lot of people helped us tonight and I’m so grateful.
— Deni Kamper (@denikamper) May 30, 2020
Shaky video of the attack was livestreamed on Facebook. In the footage, Ahmann lays on the ground as the crowd takes photos and videos of him, while at least one man visibly tries to hold the crowd back.
Kamper and Ahmann did not immediately respond to an emailed interview request.
Their news vehicle was also vandalized and later set on fire, and another WLKY news vehicle was vandalized that night. At least one other WLKY news crew was also attacked. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documented all May 29 WLKY incidents here.
The Tracker documents journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Stephon Dingle, a correspondent for local broadcast station WLKY, and his news crew were targeted with flash-bang grenades thrown by individuals while covering protests in downtown Louisville, Kentucky, on May 29, 2020.
Protests in Louisville have centered around the deaths of Breonna Taylor, shot and killed inside her home by Louisville police in March, and the death of George Floyd while in the custody of Minneapolis police on May 25.
In a post to Twitter at 10:43 p.m., Dingle said that individuals had thrown flash-bang grenades, a nonlethal device typically used by police, at him and his crew. Dingle did not respond to emailed requests for comment.
“And just like that a group of protestors threw their own flag bangs and hit our crew who was standing afar as people quickly dispersed,” Dingle wrote.
And just like that a group of protestors threw their own flag bangs and hit our crew who was standing afar as people quickly dispersed. #chaos #BreonnaTaylor @WLKY pic.twitter.com/8xw32Xb5j4
— Stephon Dingle WLKY (@Stephon_Dingle) May 30, 2020
In the Twitter video, two members of the WLKY news crew talk about being hit with the projectiles — and one shows a mark on his body — but it did not identify the men. The Tracker has documented their assaults as Anonymous WLKY 1 and Anonymous WLKY 2.
At least one other WLKY news crew was also attacked and two WLKY news vehicles were vandalized that night. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documented all May 29 WLKY incidents here.
The Tracker documents journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
A WLKY news crew was targeted with flash-bang grenades thrown by individuals while covering protests in downtown Louisville, Kentucky, on May 29, 2020.
Protests in Louisville have centered around the deaths of Breonna Taylor, shot and killed inside her home by Louisville police in March, and the death of George Floyd while in the custody of Minneapolis police on May 25.
In a post to Twitter at 10:43 p.m., WLKY correspondent Stephon Dingle said that individuals had thrown flash-bang grenades, a nonlethal device typically used by police, at him and his crew. Dingle did not respond to emailed requests for comment.
“And just like that a group of protestors threw their own flag bangs and hit our crew who was standing afar as people quickly dispersed,” Dingle wrote.
And just like that a group of protestors threw their own flag bangs and hit our crew who was standing afar as people quickly dispersed. #chaos #BreonnaTaylor @WLKY pic.twitter.com/8xw32Xb5j4
— Stephon Dingle WLKY (@Stephon_Dingle) May 30, 2020
In the Twitter video, two members of the WLKY news crew talk about being struck in the side with the projectiles — and one shows a mark on his body — but it did not identify the men. The Tracker has documented their assaults as Anonymous WLKY 1 and Anonymous WLKY 2.
At least one other WLKY news crew was also attacked and two WLKY news vehicles were vandalized that night. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documented all May 29 WLKY incidents here.
The Tracker documents journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
A WLKY news crew was targeted with flash-bang grenades thrown by individuals while covering protests in downtown Louisville, Kentucky, on May 29, 2020.
Protests in Louisville have centered around the deaths of Breonna Taylor, shot and killed inside her home by Louisville police in March, and the death of George Floyd while in the custody of Minneapolis police on May 25.
In a post to Twitter at 10:43 p.m., WLKY correspondent Stephon Dingle said that individuals had thrown flash-bang grenades, a nonlethal device typically used by police, at him and his crew. Dingle did not respond to emailed requests for comment.
“And just like that a group of protestors threw their own flag bangs and hit our crew who was standing afar as people quickly dispersed,” Dingle wrote.
And just like that a group of protestors threw their own flag bangs and hit our crew who was standing afar as people quickly dispersed. #chaos #BreonnaTaylor @WLKY pic.twitter.com/8xw32Xb5j4
— Stephon Dingle WLKY (@Stephon_Dingle) May 30, 2020
In the Twitter video, two members of the WLKY news crew talk about being struck in the side with the projectiles — and one shows a mark on his body — but it did not identify the men. The Tracker has documented their assaults as Anonymous WLKY 1 and Anonymous WLKY 2.
At least one other WLKY news crew was also attacked and two WLKY news vehicles were vandalized that night. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documented all May 29 WLKY incidents here.
The Tracker documents journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Thomas Nilsson, a photojournalist for Norwegian outlet Verdens Gang, was targeted by law enforcement while covering protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 29, 2020.
Multiple days of protests in Minneapolis and across the nation were sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Nina Svanberg, a reporter for the Swedish outlet Expressen, told the Committee to Protect Journalists — a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker — that she and Nilsson had walked with protesters up from the Third Precinct to the Fifth Precinct on the 29th. National Guard troops and police arrived to the area to disperse the crowd and enforce the 8 p.m. curfew in place.
At about 11:30 p.m., Minneapolis Police Department officers began indiscriminately firing projectiles and tear gas to disperse the crowd, Svanberg said. One hit her on the hip. She added that she crawled behind a car to avoid being hit again, but was caught in the tear gas. The Tracker documented Svanberg’s assault here.
Nilsson, who could not be reached for comment, wrote in an account for Verdens Gang that he was affected by the chemical irritant as well.
The journalists eventually met up in an alley where an Australian news team was sheltering with its security team.
It was there that Nilsson discovered that he had a red laser sight on his stomach, he wrote.
According to his account, he moved farther into the alley and waited for about 10 minutes. When he looked out to check whether it was safe, he found himself once again targeted with a laser sight, he wrote.
Svanberg told CPJ that both she and Nilsson were wearing press passes. Nilsson noted in his account that he also was carrying two cameras and was wearing a helmet and a gas mask. In the account he said that he is certain the police knew they were journalists.
The Minneapolis Police Department did not respond to multiple phone and emailed requests for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
NBC and MSNBC reporter Micah Grimes wrote that he was struck by multiple munitions fired by law enforcement while covering the fourth night of protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 29, 2020.
Protests in Minneapolis and across the nation were sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
In the early evening, Grimes tweeted that a law enforcement officer deliberately fired a canister of green powder at him, hitting his torso.
State patrol or national guard aimed and intentionally shot me in side with canister with green powder. I turned back to him, he taunted me like would shoot me again, twice. Clear cheap shot. Video at the end. I’m fine. Had my media badge clearly on chest. https://t.co/Zn4csqC7tD https://t.co/n5076fRbP7
— Micah Grimes (@MicahGrimes) May 30, 2020
“I turned back to him, he taunted me like would shoot me again, twice. Clear cheap shot,” Grimes posted. Grimes could not be reached for comment.
Neither the Minneapolis Police Department nor Minnesota State Patrol responded to requests for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Des Moines Register reporter Tyler Davis wrote that he was pepper sprayed by a police officer while covering the fourth night of protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 29, 2020.
Protests in Minneapolis and across the nation were sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
In an account published by USA Today, Davis wrote that at approximately 8:30 p.m. on the 29th he was documenting protesters confronting police who had set up barricades at the intersection of S. 4th Street and Hennepin Avenue. Once protesters began touching the barricades, officers in the parking lot began to retreat while spraying the crowd with what Davis identified as light-pressure water hoses.
Shortly after multiple squad cars and bicycle officers arrived at the scene, flash-bang grenades and “chemical irritants” were deployed, Davis tweeted.
Flash-bangs and chemical irritants deployed near S 4th Street and Hennpin. Multiple MPD vehicles drive down Hennepin to clear one side of road and disperse crowds. #GeorgeFloyd pic.twitter.com/hpmvhZbfKc
— Tyler Davis (@TDavisFreep) May 29, 2020
Davis wrote that as he attempted to document police pepper spraying two young women near him, the officer redirected the chemical spray toward him.
“He laid on the trigger for a few seconds as I told him I was a member of the media,” Davis wrote.
He said that as he walked north away from the scene, his eyes and face began intensely burning.
“I could hardly see,” Davis wrote. “Ten hours later, my right arm still feels as if a sunburn is subsiding.”
I was one of those hit by the eye irritant during the #GeorgeFloyd demonstration downtown. No fun at all. I’m done for the night after 10-plus hours. Follow @TrevorHughes and @Boydenphoto for more. See you all tomorrow, with a dry shirt and clean mask. https://t.co/Dsy4QzlSIh pic.twitter.com/lpNSiasXFb
— Tyler Davis (@TDavisDMR) May 29, 2020
The Minneapolis Police Department did not respond to an email requesting comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Photojournalist Zach Roberts was pepper sprayed and struck by multiple crowd-control munitions while covering the fourth night of protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 29, 2020.
Protests in Minneapolis and across the nation were sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Roberts told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was reporting freelance from Lake Street near the Midtown Light Rail Station at around 8:30 p.m. on the 29th when he was pepper sprayed by Minneapolis police.
“I got nailed [with pepper spray] right in the face, and one eye was just gone, there was so much pain,” Roberts said. “A lot of protesters swarmed me and offered me water and milk.”
He said that police then started firing rubber bullets “the size of a child’s fist” into the crowd, and one barely missed his head. About 15 minutes later, another ricocheted off a pillar and struck him in the leg, he told the Tracker.
“They were not aiming the way that you’re supposed to,” Roberts said, noting that police typically fire rubber rounds to ricochet off the ground into legs or at people’s chests. “They were aiming at head-level.”
About an hour later, Roberts was caught in a cloud of tear gas fired by Minnesota State Patrol troopers. He told the Tracker that he also felt targeted when the troopers began firing rubber bullets.
I just got tear gassed and ricochet hit by a rubber bullet on my leg. These cops are fucking monsters. #JusticeForGeorge #Minneapolisprotests #policeriot. pic.twitter.com/RFglSEwSma
— Zach D Roberts (@zdroberts) May 30, 2020
“I was hiding behind a bench trying to take photos and I had rubber bullets [coming at me]: I don’t know who they were aiming at other than me, because there was no one around me,” Roberts said.
Neither the Minneapolis Police Department nor Minnesota State Patrol responded to requests for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Associated Press photojournalist John Minchillo posted on social media that he was struck with a crowd-control munition while covering the fourth night of protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 29, 2020.
Protests in Minneapolis and across the nation were sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Two days after the incident, Minchillo posted on Twitter that he was also struck by a less-lethal projectile while reporting that day, and said that police had fired indiscriminately.
“No distinctions were made... when I and my colleagues were hit by officers,” Minchillo wrote. “This is a protocol that I’ve not seen elsewhere.”
No distinctions were made two nights back when I and my colleagues were hit by officers. Last night was full force in a wide spread. This is a protocol than I’ve not seen elsewhere. Lone officers do sometimes act so, not entire units. No discretion, just total area denial.
— john minchillo (@johnminchillo) May 31, 2020
Minchillo could not be reached for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
An officer brandished a weapon at two public radio reporters in Minneapolis, Minnesota, even after they identified themselves as press, just after midnight on May 30, 2020.
American Public Media reporters Samara Freemark and Madeleine Baran had spent much of the evening covering the protests outside the Minneapolis Police Department’s Fifth Precinct when they decided to head back to their car and go home, Freemark told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in an interview.
As they attempted to cross Nicollet Avenue, a formation of law enforcement officers appeared, blocking them from crossing the street.
Freemark described the situation as initially being calm. “But all of the sudden, there was a switch that flipped,” she said. An officer suddenly appeared next to Freemark and Baran and shoved a weapon inches from their faces while shouting, “Get the fuck out of here,” Freemark recounted. She said she was not sure exactly what type of weapon it was, but that it did not resemble a pistol and seemed designed to fire crowd control ammunition.
“We were yelling, ‘We’re press, we’re press,’ but he kept shoving it in our face, yelling at us to ‘get the fuck out of here,’” she said. “It was dark, so shocking, and so unexpected.”
The officer did nothing to acknowledge that they were press, Freemark said, and, eventually, they ran away. “Every time we stopped, there were cops yelling at us,” she said. Freemark and Baran were unable to reach their car and had to walk home.
Minneapolis was under an 8 p.m. curfew that evening, but journalists were expressly exempt from it.
Freemark said that the police line they encountered included officers from multiple agencies, and she was unsure which agency the officer who pointed the weapon was from.
An email sent to the Minneapolis Police Department inquiring about this incident was not returned as of press time. Bruce Gordon, director of communications for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, replied that before he could comment he would need to know if the incident in question involved a State Patrol trooper.
After the encounter, Baran tweeted about the experience:
A Minneapolis police officer pointed a weapon at me at @sfreemark’s heads, while we were standing on Nicollet and 32nd covering the protests. I yelled that I’m a journalist. He did not lower his weapon, so we ran. Calling it a night.
— Madeleine Baran (@madeleinebaran) May 30, 2020
An interview request sent to Baran was not immediately returned.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
A photojournalist for The Denver Post was struck with pepper balls multiple times while documenting protests in Denver, Colorado, on May 28, 2020.
Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 have spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Photographer Hyoung Chang was covering a protest in downtown Denver when police began firing tear gas and pepper balls at the crowd, the Post reported.
Chang, who had been taking photos near the officers and had not been told to move, told the Post that the officer fired directly at him.
“If it was one shot, I can say it was an accident,” Chang said. “I’m very sure it was the same guy twice. I’m very sure he pointed at me.”
The first shot struck Chang in the chest, shattering the press credential he was wearing around his neck. As he held his camera to his chest, the second shot struck his forearm, tearing through his coat and cutting a gash near his elbow.
Chang told the Post that he moved south to escape the pepper and tear gas, continuing to take photos as he went. Some protesters aided him, pouring milk over his face to alleviate the burning.
According to the Post, Chang did not seek medical attention but is resting at home. He told the newspaper that the situation made him feel weird, particularly as it appears members of the media are being targeted.
So far, the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented four other journalists struck by crowd control ammunition on two separate nights of protests and a CNN news crew of three arrested while covering the George Floyd protests in Minneapolis.
A second Post journalist, reporter Elise Schmelzer, also reported being shot at by a police officer while covering the protest. The Post reported that at least one pepper ball was fired at her feet, despite the fact that she was wearing a reflective “PRESS” vest.
The Colorado Press Association and the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition reiterated the importance of journalists covering public demonstrations without interference, the Post reported.
Press Association CEO Jill Farschman told the Post, “There seems to be a frightening trend of restraining and targeting reporters during public protests and other civil unrest even when clearly displaying press credentials.”
“Let me stay with clarity that any infringement on our First Amendment right to a free press not only undermines the safety of reporters, but oppresses the public’s access to live news coverage which is completely unacceptable,” Farshman added.
Neither the Denver Police Department nor the Post journalists immediately responded to requests for comment.
In Denver, Colorado, protestors gather on May 28, 2020, following the death of a black man in police custody in Minnesota. At least one journalist was hit with pepper balls while documenting the downtown Denver protest.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, chemical irritant, protest, shot / shot at",,,,, Journalist hit with a projectile shot from Minneapolis police vehicle,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-hit-projectile-shot-minneapolis-police-vehicle/,2020-08-04 20:54:12.872947+00:00,2022-03-10 21:27:33.045295+00:00,2022-03-10 21:27:32.986525+00:00,,Assault,,,,Julio Rosas (Townhall),,2020-05-28,False,Minneapolis,Minnesota (MN),44.97997,-93.26384,"Reporter Julio Rosas was hit by a pepper ball fired from a Minneapolis police vehicle as he reported on a protest in the city on May 28, 2020, Rosas told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
The protest was held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
Rosas had arrived at the Minnesota Police Department’s Third Precinct and begun filming in the early afternoon for Townhall, which describes itself as a conservative and commentary news site. He shared videos of protesters outside the police station and people walking through the ransacked aisles of a nearby Target.
As evening drew close, hundreds had gathered near the police station in preparation for a third night of protests, according to news reports. The police had maintained a minimal presence throughout the afternoon, Rosas said, until a convoy of police vehicles drove in next to the Target parking lot.
A video filmed by Rosas shows officers escorting one person apparently under arrest and patting down another. More police officers arrive in an unmarked white van. The officers are seen throwing flash bang grenades and shooting less-lethal ammunition to disperse the crowd. The video shows a water bottle thrown at the officers, who had formed a line in the middle of the street.
Rosas said he followed the police after they began to retreat from the scene. He realized he needed to find a safer place to film after he was almost hit by a tear gas canister that had been thrown back at police, he said.
Rosas laid down on a berm on the side of the road to lower his profile for safety. “I was trying to make myself as small as possible to try and get out of the way while still trying to do my job,” he said.
Rosas stopped filming during a lull in the action, he told the Tracker. Then an officer pointed his pepper ball gun from inside a Minneapolis Police vehicle directly at Rosas.
“I started shaking my head and said, ‘No, no, no, don’t do it, don’t do it,’” Rosas told the Tracker. “And then he shot me in the upper left thigh.”
Rosas said he was wearing a press badge “clearly in front” around his neck and had his phone in his hand when he was shot. He said he wasn’t sure if he was targeted specifically as a journalist. There were some protesters nearby, but he remained apart from them on the berm to avoid getting hit by thrown objects. He did nothing to indicate a threat to the police officer, he said.
Rosas said he believed he was hit by a pepper ball, a projectile similar to a paintball filled with an irritant instead of paint. The projectile left a white powder on his clothing that burned and caused him to cough.
Minnesota Police Department spokesperson John Elder told the Tracker he was unable to comment about this and other incidents involving the press. However, he said that the police department had not used pepper balls in years, instead using “40 mm less lethal foam marking rounds.” He also said, “Every use of force by the MPD is under investigation internally.”
It is not clear if other law enforcement agencies were present on the scene. Video footage appears to show only Minneapolis police officers.
Protesters, journalists and even law enforcement officials have had difficulty at times identifying specific officers during the protests. More than a dozen different agencies joined the law enforcement effort in Minnesota, often wearing similar-looking uniforms obscured in the chaos of tear gas-soaked streets.
Rosas continued to report despite being hit. Later that night, Mayor Jacob Frey ordered the police to evacuate the Third Precinct, which protesters then set on fire.
The following day, Rosas was also hit by a projectile as he filmed Minnesota State Patrol troopers and National Guardsmen confront protesters, he told the Tracker. Getting hit by a likely pepper ball “wasn’t great,” Rosas said, “but it was a whole lot better” than the 40 mm projectile he was shot with the next day.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Richard Tsong-Taatarii, a photographer for the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, was taking photos of looters inside an Arby’s fast food restaurant when they took his camera and threw it into a fire, he told the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Tsong-Taatarii was photographing protests following the death of George Floyd, a Black man, at the hands of a white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25, 2020. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement are continuing to take place across the country.
Tsong-Tataarii was covering protests in St. Paul, Minnesota, on May 28 when he was sent to the Third Precinct in Minneapolis. In the days prior, the Third Precinct and the surrounding area had been the site of major protests and multiple incidents of violence perpetrated against the press by police and members of the public.
When Tsong-Tataarii arrived, he said he covered the main scene of protests before he spotted a group of people plotting to loot and burn the Arby’s restaurant across the street from the Third Precinct police station. He described this group as “violent anarchists” in a phone interview with CPJ.
“One of the efforts I tried to make was to cover the diversity of violence,” Tsong-Taatarii said. “There’s a stereotypical perception of, ‘why are these people ‘burning down their own community?’ I saw that the group was diverse; majority white, but a couple of black gentlemen, a couple of people of mixed backgrounds. I photographed them outside the Arby’s and followed them into the Arby’s hoping to mix in there and document it.”
He later uploaded his images to Facebook.
Tsong-Taatarii was taking photos of a man tagging a wall with “BLM,” short for Black Lives Matter, when the man turned and asked Tsong-Taatarii, “Why are you photographing a crime?”
Tsong-Taatarii said he started negotiating with the man and offered to give him one of his two cameras — the camera he did not use to photograph him. Instead, the man wanted his small Leica, the camera Tsong-Taatarii used to take his photo. While they were talking, Tsong-Taatarii slipped the Leica lens and card into his pocket, preserving his photos.
Tsong-Taatarii said that he was wearing his press badge but refrained from identifying himself as press.
“I just said, ‘I love photography and I love documenting history and this is history,’ which is all true,” he said. “I knew that if I said I was a member of the press, that would be the end of the negotiating. I felt like I had the right not to tell him.”
“At some point the negotiating stopped and one of the fellas said, ‘It’s not worth losing your life over your gear,’” Tsong-Taatarii continued. “I understood what they meant, because they were going to burn this place down and if they knocked me unconscious, I’d be laying down there. People might never find me.”
Tsong-Taatarii gave the man his Leica, which the man threw into a fire next to a street barricade. Shortly after, Tsong-Taatarii ran into the fire and retrieved his camera. While the camera was damaged, the leather case it was stored in took most of the heat, he said.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Onlookers watch as an Arby's fast food restaurant burns near the Minneapolis Police Department’s Third Precinct on May 28, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest",,,,, Minnesota Reformer reporter struck by projectile during second day of protests for George Floyd,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalists-hit-less-lethal-rounds-during-second-day-minnesota-protests/,2020-05-29 18:51:47.330541+00:00,2022-03-10 19:54:38.313345+00:00,2022-03-10 19:54:38.208244+00:00,,Assault,,,,Max Nesterak (Minnesota Reformer),,2020-05-27,False,Minneapolis,Minnesota (MN),44.97997,-93.26384,"Minnesota Reformer reporter Max Nesterak was shot with crowd-control ammunition while covering demonstrations in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 27, 2020.
Police were attempting to reign in a second day of protests following the death of George Floyd, a Black man. Floyd died at a hospital on May 25, after an officer knelt on his neck during an arrest, ignoring Floyd's repeated exclamations that he could not breathe. A video of the arrest sparked widespread outrage, and protests began the following day in Minneapolis.
On May 26, thousands of protestors gathered outside the convenience store where Floyd had been detained and at the Minneapolis Police Department's Third Precinct. That afternoon and evening, police clad in riot gear fired tear gas, flash-bang grenades and less-lethal rounds into the crowd and some demonstrators built barricades and set fires.
Protesters took to the streets again the following day.
Shortly after 11 p.m., Minnesota Reformer reporter Max Nesterak tweeted that he was struck in the chest by a rubber bullet shot by Minneapolis police.
And I got hit in the chest by a rubber bullet from police. Covered me in dust that’s been making me cough for a half hour. I’m home now. pic.twitter.com/sYShFOjvQO
— Max Nesterak (@maxnesterak) May 28, 2020
“[The rubber bullet] covered me in dust that’s been making me cough for a half hour. I’m home now,” Nesterak wrote. Nesterak did not respond to messages requesting further comment.
At around the same time, a second Reformer reporter, Ricardo Lopez, tweeted that he was “physically yanked away” by a police officer who wanted the media to move away from the advancing police line. Lopez could not be reached for comment to further clarify his tweet.
The Minneapolis Police Department did not immediately respond to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker’s request for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Minnesota police aim pepper spray at protesters on May 28, 2020, as demonstrations continued for a second day following the death of George Floyd, a Black man, in police custody.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, protest, shot / shot at",,,,, Independent filmmaker hit with a flash-bang grenade while covering Minneapolis protest,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-filmmaker-hit-with-a-flash-bang-grenade-while-covering-minneapolis-protest/,2021-02-12 18:41:16.058638+00:00,2021-02-12 18:41:16.058638+00:00,2021-02-12 18:41:16.022062+00:00,,Assault,,,,Chris Phillips (Freelance),,2020-05-27,False,Minneapolis,Minnesota (MN),44.97997,-93.26384,"Chris Phillips, an independent filmmaker, was hit in the leg with a flash-bang canister while covering a protest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 27, 2020.
Protests began in the city in response to the killing of George Floyd, a Black man, during his arrest in Minneapolis on May 25. Floyd’s death sparked weeks of protests across the country.
Phillips is a Ferguson, Missouri-based filmmaker who made a documentary about the Black Lives Matter movement following the 2014 shooting of Black teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson. He has covered protests across the country, posting live videos on Facebook. In May, he drove to Minneapolis to report on the response to Floyd’s killing, he told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
Phillips said that when he arrived near the city’s Third Police Precinct, tear gas was being used by police to try to disperse a protest there. About 45 minutes later, he said, protesters and police were in a standoff. Minneapolis police, Hennepin County sheriff’s deputies, Minnesota State Patrol officers and St. Paul police were present at the protest, according to Minnesota Public Radio.
Phillips said he squatted down in order to film a shot looking up from behind a protester toward the police. He said they were about 100 feet from a line of police officers when a flash-bang canister was fired in their direction. Phillips said the grenade exploded and the canister struck him on his right leg.
“It was kind of like the war movies where your ears just ring,” he said. “You know, you get that high pitch, white noise in your ears.”
The object that hit him was about two inches long and one inch wide, he said. He said that he did not require any medical attention.
Phillips said he was not displaying press credentials or wearing anything that would identify him as a journalist beyond his professional-grade camera. He noted that he was surrounded by hundreds of people, and he did not believe that press identification would have made a difference.
“They look at, there's 50 people around you that are not press, and if they just want to do what they want to do or they just want to get people to move back, they don't care who's in the mix,” Phillips said.
A spokesperson for the Minneapolis Police Department declined to comment, citing ongoing litigation related to police use of force.
Multiple other journalists were struck by police crowd control munitions while covering protests in Minneapolis on May 27.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting hundreds of incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering these protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Freelance journalist Jared Goyette was struck in the eye with a crowd-control munition and tear gassed while documenting demonstrations in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 27, 2020.
Police were attempting to reign in a second day of protests following the death of George Floyd, a black man. Floyd died at a hospital on May 25, after an officer knelt on his neck during an arrest, ignoring Floyd's repeated exclamations that he could not breathe. A video of the arrest sparked widespread outrage, and protests began the following day in Minneapolis.
On May 26, thousands of protestors gathered outside the convenience store where Floyd had been detained and at the Minneapolis Police Department's Third Precinct. That afternoon and evening, police clad in riot gear fired tear gas, flash-bang grenades and less-lethal rounds into the crowd, and some demonstrators built barricades and set fires.
Protesters took to the streets again the following day.
On the 27th, Goyette began tweeting at 7 p.m. about a young protester who had been hit in the side of the head by a crowd-control round by police. He continued tweeting as other demonstrators attempted to carry the man to safety and eventually loaded him into a car to be taken to the hospital.
Ten minutes later, Goyette tweeted that he had been struck in the eye and then tear gassed.
I got hit in the eye and then tear gassed. pic.twitter.com/wXm1P5yPKb
— Jared Goyette (@JaredGoyette) May 27, 2020
Goyette, who was not immediately available for comment, posted that people had rushed to help him bandage his eye and helped him to safety when a cloud of tear gas came upon them.
“I wasn’t trying to put myself at risk. I wanted to document what was happening to the young man who seemed critically injured, and the people who were trying to keep him alive,” Goyette wrote.
Photojournalist Dymanh Chhoun of WCCO-TV tweeted that he, too, had been caught in a cloud of tear gas.
The Minneapolis Police Department did not immediately respond to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker’s request for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Andy Mannix, the federal courts reporter for the Minneapolis Star Tribune, was struck with a crowd-control projectile while covering a protest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 26, 2020.
Demonstrations began in response to the death of George Floyd, a Black man, the day before, after an officer pinned down his neck with his knee for several minutes, ignoring Floyd's repeated exclamations that he could not breathe. A 17-year-old bystander caught this encounter on video and shared it on Facebook, sparking widespread outrage.
On May 26, thousands of protestors gathered outside the convenience store where Floyd had been detained and marched almost three miles to the Minneapolis Police Department's Third Precinct. There, some in the crowd turned violent, lobbing rocks and water bottles at police. Others attacked parked police cruisers and the precinct itself, breaking a glass door, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Police clad in riot gear answered by setting off tear gas canisters, detonating flash bang grenades and firing rubber or foam bullets into the crowd.
One of these projectiles — tipped with blue foam — hit Mannix in the thigh.
I Was just shot with this in the thigh. pic.twitter.com/igcJ3e7iQ4
— Andy Mannix (@AndrewMannix) May 27, 2020
Mannix, who had walked with the protesters to the precinct, told the Committee to Protect Journalists he was leaning against a tree a block away from the precinct attempting to post a video to Twitter when he was hit. Mannix was wearing a press pass, but it was not visible under his raincoat. He said that the police seemed to be firing these projectiles "indiscriminately" and that he did not feel as if he was targeted. CPJ is a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
The next day Mannix posted a photo to Twitter of an enormous, colorful bruise that had spread across the inner part of his upper left thigh.
The tear gas police fired was so thick that "you couldn't see your hands in front of your face for a couple square blocks," Mannix told CPJ.
Most protestors in the crowd were wearing face masks to prevent the spread and transmission of coronavirus. "If you can imagine like 2,000 people in a pretty condensed crowd, and then all of them coughing because they're just getting annihilated by this tear gas, you probably couldn't have a worse situation in terms of the pandemic," Mannix said.
A request for comment sent to Minneapolis Police Department Public Information Officer John Elder was not answered as of press time.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Protesters gather near the Minneapolis Police Third Precinct on May 27, 2020, after George Floyd, a Black man, died while in police custody. The death touched off multiple nights of protests in the city and across the nation.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, Black Lives Matter protest 1 year, Black Lives Matter protest 2020, chemical irritant, protest, shot / shot at",,,,, Reporter struck by projectile in Minneapolis while covering George Floyd protest,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-struck-by-projectile-in-minneapolis-while-covering-george-floyd-protest/,2021-09-24 19:48:03.926945+00:00,2022-03-10 19:55:37.366731+00:00,2022-03-10 19:55:37.309529+00:00,,Assault,,,,Niko Georgiades (Unicorn Riot),,2020-05-26,False,Minneapolis,Minnesota (MN),44.97997,-93.26384,"Niko Georgiades, a reporter with the media collective Unicorn Riot, was struck with a crowd-control projectile while covering a protest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 26, 2020.
Demonstrations began in response to the death of George Floyd, a Black man, the day before, after an officer pinned down his neck with his knee for several minutes, ignoring Floyd's repeated exclamations that he could not breathe. A 17-year-old bystander caught this encounter on video and shared it on Facebook, sparking widespread outrage.
On May 26, thousands of protesters gathered outside the convenience store where Floyd had been detained and marched almost three miles to the Minneapolis Police Department's Third Precinct. There, some in the crowd turned violent, lobbing rocks and water bottles at police. Others attacked parked police cruisers and the precinct itself, breaking a glass door, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Police clad in riot gear answered by setting off tear gas canisters, detonating flash bang grenades and firing rubber or foam bullets into the crowd.
The media collective Unicorn Riot posted on Twitter that a projectile hit Georgiades in his left tricep, breaking the skin.
Our reporter Niko was just injured by a projectile shot at him by @MinneapolisPD while he was documenting their interactions with protesters upset by last night’s police murder of George Floyd. pic.twitter.com/JVIUH8BidD
— Unicorn Riot (@UR_Ninja) May 27, 2020
In an email, Georgiades told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was standing inside a bus shelter filming protesters facing off with police when he was hit.
"Many were throwing rocks at the precinct and hiding behind the carts and shelter. One person threw and ducked, and instantly a marker round was shot and shrapnel from the broken glass hit him in the eye. I moved in to see what happened and was shot instantly in the arm," he wrote.
He added that he did not think he had been specifically targeted "because of the sheer amount of people throwing things from where I was."
A request for comment sent to Minneapolis Police Department Public Information Officer John Elder was not answered.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
WGN 9 News reporter Gaynor Hall was assaulted while reporting live in Shorewood, Illinois, on May 23, 2020.
Hall was on air during the 10 p.m. newscast reporting on wind damage in the area when a man suddenly lurched into the frame, Buzzfeed reported. The man — later identified as 20-year-old Eric Farina — grabbed Hall around the shoulders and shouted “Fuck her right in the pussy!” before running off.
In a Facebook post about the incident, Hall wrote, “A brief note to the young man who jumped in my liveshot tonight: It was not funny. You violated my personal space. You grabbed me. You scared me. Was it worth it?”
Hall later updated the post to note that, with the help of viewers, Farina had been identified and arrested. Neither Hall nor the station responded to requests for comment.
Shorewood Police told WGN that Farina was charged with battery and disorderly conduct on May 24. Farina reportedly made a full confession to officers and was released on a $2,500 bond, WGN reported.
Both charges are misdemeanors, and Farina faces up to a year in jail and a fine convicted.
An Illinois reporter was assaulted during a live broadcast by a man who grabbed her and yelled obscenities.
,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,sexual assault,,,,, Subpoena for documents from The Center for Investigative Reporting dropped after lawsuit dismissed,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/subpoena-for-documents-from-the-center-for-investigative-reporting-dropped-after-lawsuit-dismissed/,2021-02-09 22:04:28.923385+00:00,2022-04-06 15:36:32.261681+00:00,2022-04-06 15:36:32.186955+00:00,,Subpoena/Legal Order,,,,,,2020-05-14,False,Tulsa,Oklahoma (OK),36.15398,-95.99277,"The Center for Investigative Reporting, a California-based nonprofit that publishes investigative reporting on the revealnews.org site, was subpoenaed on May 14, 2020, for documents and unpublished information relating to its 2017 article, All Work. No Pay.
The article, a version of which also appeared on the Reveal podcast, noted that courts nationwide increasingly are sending non-violent offenders into drug rehabilitation programs as an alternative to serving time in prison. According to the investigation, some rehab programs essentially serve as work camps for for-profit companies.
Reveal’s investigation focused on one program that it said fit that profile: Christian Alcoholics & Addicts in Recovery, or CAAIR, a long-term residential drug and alcohol recovery program in Oklahoma that provided workers for Simmons Foods Inc., a for-profit chicken processing company in Oklahoma. Residents of CAAIR worked for Simmons Foods in conditions that amounted to indentured servitude, Reveal alleged in its report.
After the Reveal report was published, former residents of CAAIR, who had entered the program through Oklahoma's drug courts, sued CAAIR and Simmons Foods. The lawsuit, filed by the former residents in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma in October 2017, alleged that they were provided no rehabilitative treatment at CAAIR but were required to work in excess of 40 hours a week for Simmons. The lawsuit charged that they worked in unpaid, dangerous conditions, under the constant threat of being sent to prison if their work was deemed unsatisfactory.
In May 2020, lawyers for Simmons moved to subpoena The Center for Investigative Reporting, to gain access to documents and unpublished material that were part of the Reveal report. Lawyers for the outlet objected, arguing that the requested materials were privileged information under California and Oklahoma journalist shield laws.
On Oct. 2, 2020, lawyers for Simmons moved to compel compliance with the subpoena. The Center for Investigative Reporting subsequently made a motion to quash the subpoena.The court never ruled on the motion to quash the subpoena because on Dec. 10 it dismissed the workers’ lawsuit against Simmons and CAAIR.
For journalists serving their communities during the pandemic, field reporting raises new health concerns as individuals protest stay-at-home orders and social distancing guidelines vary by region. Here, we’re documenting reports of journalists harassed while covering COVID-19-related protests and for wearing face masks while on assignment.
Incidents beyond harassment, such as assaults, arrests, damage to equipment or others will be captured in their respective categories.
Oct. 18, 2020 | Masks
Los Angeles Times reporter Laura Newberry was harassed for wearing a mask while covering President Donald Trump’s rally in Newport Beach, California, on Oct. 18, 2020.
The Times reported that a man from nearby Tustin, California, taunted one of the outlet’s reporters for wearing a mask. When the reporter thanked him for the interview and began to walk away, he trailed after her and invited others in the crowd to harass her.
Newberry identified herself as the reporter on Twitter, adding, “He then followed me through the crowd for 5 minutes, pointing at me & shouting ‘Fake news!’ I literally had to run away from him.”
Oct. 13, 2020 | Masks
An ABC 7 Eyewitness News crew was harassed and threatened with coronavirus infection while on assignment in Brooklyn, New York, on Oct. 13, 2020.
Reporter CeFaan Kim wrote on Twitter that they were reporting on Jewish Hasidic schools that were open in violation of a state executive order to address the spread of COVID-19 in certain zip codes.
EXCLUSIVE: “Come here chinky... Let me give you a little corona.” This after we found Jewish Hasidic schools open today in Brooklyn; a blatant violation of state executive order. Last week a mob lit masks on fire, beat a photographer, and allegedly attacked a journalist. pic.twitter.com/q4cCph3oul
— CeFaan Kim (@CeFaanKim) October 14, 2020
In a video of the incident, Kim narrates, “In this Eyewitness News exclusive, you can see how community members react with hostility. Watch a man with no mask threaten us then hurl a racial slur at me.”
The man, who Kim noted identified himself as a Hasidic jew, moves towards the news crew saying, “You know, I just had corona, I’m not even finished with it. I just had the corona. Come here [bleeped epithet], let me give you a little corona.”
Kim also cited other incidents where members of the Hasidic population had harassed journalists, including the Oct. 7 assault of Jacob Kornbluh.
May 18, 2020 | Protests & Masks
Two KARE11 News journalists were harassed for wearing masks while on assignment in Albany, Minnesota, on May 18, 2020.
Reporter Lou Raguse wrote on Twitter that he and his work partner — identified only as Craig — were covering the reopening of a local bar and restaurant for sit-down service in defiance of the state’s COVID-19 public health guidelines.
That morning, a judge had granted the state attorney general’s request for a temporary restraining order to keep Shady’s Hometown Tavern from opening at noon, as was planned. The owner decided to not defy the order and instead challenge it in court.
When Raguse and his partner arrived in the late morning, the crowd of 200 to 300 gathered in front of the restaurant had morphed from a gathering of supporters to a rally against the state’s coronavirus restrictions.
That fueled even more anger among the crowd - and it essentially turned into a rally in support of the bar owner and against MN's restrictions relating to the coronavirus. The crowd of 200-300, for a town the size of Albany on that small block, was huge.
— Lou Raguse (@LouRaguse) May 23, 2020
Several women began harassing Raguse and his partner for wearing masks. Raguse tweeted that he attempted to de-escalate the situation, but it only worked for a minute or two.
The women then began chanting “take it off,” as was captured by FOX 9 News at the scene, with one woman grabbing him as he walked away.
Came across this clip in @FOX9 video from Monday's protest/rally outside Shady's Tavern in Albany, MN. This is @LouRaguse, a fellow Reporter & friend trying to cover the story. And getting *harassed* for wearing a mask. A judge will decide soon whether the bar can legally re-open pic.twitter.com/iHYXUvysow
— Paul Blume (@PaulBlume_FOX9) May 22, 2020
Raguse tweeted that, “Sensing the possibility of the crowd riling up, potentially surrounding me, I shook my head and wheeled back to where Craig was filming.”
Several other protesters approached Raguse after he walked away to affirm that wearing a mask was his choice and his right.
“To me, the issue that bothered me more than the mask confrontation was the general anti-press sentiment we received,” Raguse wrote. He also noted that it is company policy to wear masks “in these settings”.
Raguse, who could not be reached for comment, added that he’s experienced similar confrontations at rallies held across the political spectrum.
“No matter what problems you have with the press, I will just respond by saying most of us want to go out there and cover an issue fairly and make sure people of different viewpoints are represented,” Raguse wrote.
May 14, 2020 | Protests
Kevin Vesey, a reporter for News 12 Long Island, was harassed and insulted by numerous demonstrators while covering a reopening protest in Commack, New York, on May 14, 2020.
In a video Vesey shared on Twitter, many of the protesters can be heard shouting insults at him, including “You shouldn’t be here, you’re fake news,” “You’re destroying Suffolk and Long Island,” “You are the enemy of the people,” “You’re the virus,” and “Traitor.”
The level of anger directed at the media from these protestors was alarming. As always, I will tell a fair and unbiased story today. pic.twitter.com/5jCR0YY9VH
— Kevin Vesey (@KevinVesey) May 14, 2020
At one point the crowd begins to chant, “Fake news is not essential.” As Vesey’s video of the protesters gained national attention, President Donald Trump repeated that refrain in a retweet of it.
Vesey reported that some protesters attempted to prevent him from reporting live on Facebook and repeatedly invaded his personal space, ignoring his requests that they adhere to social distancing guidelines.
I'll probably never forget what happened today.
— Kevin Vesey (@KevinVesey) May 14, 2020
I was insulted. I was berated. I was practically chased by people who refused to wear masks in the middle of a pandemic.
All the while, I was there to tell THEIR story. Here's the finished product. pic.twitter.com/HV2Hrcs7gi
In his broadcast, Vesey can be heard repeatedly asking one such man to maintain social distancing.
“I think you need to back away from me, sir,” Vesey says.
The protester replies, “No. I got hydroxychloroquine. I’m fine.”
In a reflection on the incident, Vesey said, “It was aggressive, intimidating and at times potentially dangerous.”
“Since then I’ve received an overwhelming amount of support from all kinds of people, including fellow journalists, celebrities and elected officials.
Vesey, who could not be reached for comment, noted that while he has recovered from COVID-19, he continues to wear a mask in public.
May 5, 2020 | Masks
Two reporters from The Arizona Republic and a news crew were harassed while awaiting President Donald Trump’s visit to a mask plant in Phoenix, Arizona, on May 5, 2020.
Republic reporter BrieAnna Frank told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she arrived near the Honeywell plant at around 8 a.m., in advance of the president’s visit to the converted N95 mask factory.
As presidential supporters and critics began arriving on site about an hour later, Frank said she began asking if they would be willing to be interviewed.
After a group that identified as Trump supporters declined to be interviewed and started stating their opinions on the Republic, Frank said she walked away and planned to leave them alone.
However, the group immediately began accosting her and other reporters about their coverage of the president and alleged production of “fake news,” which Frank documented in a series of tweets.
The group also took issue with the reporters wearing masks.
9:32 am - myself + other journalists here are being harassed for wearing masks.
— BrieAnna J. Frank 🌵 (@brieannafrank) May 5, 2020
One man says: “It’s submission, it’s muzzling yourself, it looks weak - especially for men.”
We’re being accused of fear-mongering, not knowing anything + being “pieces of shit.”
🤗🤗@azcentral
“I said that my mother is a nurse and has been working with COVID patients lately, so I just try to do everything I can to protect myself and people around me,” Frank told the Tracker.
“That’s when they started giving me their opinions about masks not being effective, masks doing more harm than good, and then going into criticisms that I and the other journalists there wearing masks were doing so to seed into paranoia and panic.”
Frank said that wearing masks has been misconstrued as a political statement in the eyes of many. Trump did not wear a mask during his visit to the Honeywell plant, nor did Vice President Mike Pence don one while visiting the Mayo Clinic. Pence later said that he should have worn a mask.
Jamie Landers, also reporting for the Republic, told the Tracker that as soon as she arrived to meet up with Frank, a man nearby was telling someone in a car that the two reporters were with the Republic and that everyone should be careful about what they say. The man then turned to Landers and told her to “go to hell.”
About a dozen supporters are waiting for Donald Trump’s arrival at Honeywell here in Phoenix.
— Jamie Landers (@jamielanderstv) May 5, 2020
So far, we’ve been told we are “fear mongering” & “pieces of shit.”
One man told my colleague our masks are “submission, it’s muzzling yourself, it looks weak - especially for men.” pic.twitter.com/05u1oSGUZm
When an NBC crew that had been on assignment left the area, they offered to walk Frank to her car. She stayed, she said, but didn’t realize that the crew was leaving because of harassment until she read an article by the Republic’s media critic.
Both Frank and Landers told the Tracker that at no point were they worried about their safety or the harassment escalating. They were in touch with their editors, they said, and would have left if they had felt unsafe.
May 1, 2020 | Protests & Masks
A reporter for NBC4 Columbus covering stay-at-home protests at the Ohio capitol on May 1, 2020, says a protester refused to keep her distance, yelling in close enough range that she felt her spit.
Reporter Adrienne Robbins told NBC4 later that day that she and a photographer had arrived at the capitol to shoot video for their broadcast, and were standing on the outskirts of the protest.
“This woman immediately saw us and came up to us, and it seemed she just had a problem with the news media,” Robbins said.
A video of the woman interacting with Robbins shows her first asking whether Robbins is the station’s social media manager and how old she is.
According to a tweet posted by Robbins, the unidentified woman continued to follow her around and refused to step back when Robbins asked multiple times for her to observe social distancing guidelines. As a result, the woman was close enough that her saliva hit Robbins as she yelled at the reporter.
I asked this woman to respect my space after she was yelling and spitting in my face. She said i had no right to social distancing in public and continued to follow me. Complaining about my mask (that is meant to protect her and those around me). https://t.co/M7BX888z11
— Adrienne Robbins (@ARobbinsTV) May 1, 2020
May 1 was the first day of Ohio’s “Stay Safe” order, ABC6 reported, which reopens much of Ohio’s economy but maintains requirements that residents wear face masks and maintain social distancing of at least six feet to avoid spreading the coronavirus.
A second video, captured by cleveland.com reporter Laura Hancock, shows the woman complaining to Robbins about her mask and accusing her and NBC News of lying about the coronavirus pandemic.
“Did you know that the company that you work for is lying to the American people?” the woman says on the video. “And you know that what you’re doing is wrong, at the end of the day. You know it!”
The woman also accused Robbins, NBC or both of terrifying the general public.
Gov. Mike DeWine’s spokesman Dan Tierney told cleveland.com that the incident had been reported to the Ohio Highway Patrol.
Robbins told NBC4 that she was doing well, and that though she had been concerned about the incident becoming physical, she understood that emotions were running high during the protest.
“But again, this is kind of the world that we’re living in,” she said.
April 24, 2020 | Protests
Reporters and photographers from multiple Albuquerque, New Mexico, broadcast stations reported being harassed by the same man while covering a reopening protest on April 24, 2020.
According to a tweet posted by KOB4 News reporter Kai Porter, he and a photographer — identified only as Jeremy — were documenting the rally in downtown Albuquerque when a man began harassing them.
“[He] became aggressive, & started yelling in my face, calling me ‘media scum,’” Porter wrote.
Our photographer Jeremy and I were covering a rally to re-open the state this morning, when a man (not wearing a mask) started harassing us, became aggressive, & started yelling in my face, calling me "media scum." I don't understand why people think this behavior is acceptable. pic.twitter.com/qxQFvhLmkj
— Kai Porter (@KaiPorterKOB) April 24, 2020
In the video shared by Porter, he can be heard asking the man to maintain social distancing. The man refused.
“No! C’mon, let’s see what happens here. I want to see how much of this bullshit you’re accepting and how much you’re destroying your family,” the man can be heard saying to Porter as the reporter attempted to walk away from him.
The unidentified man then turned and walked away.
Trevier Gonzalez, a KRQE News 13 photojournalist, replied to Porter on Twitter that the same man also harassed the KRQE crew, posting, “He came at us too.”
If it’s any consolation.. He came at us too. We also just walked away. Sorry to hear that. 🙏🏼
— Trevier Gonzalez (@Sevenrevier) April 24, 2020
April 19, 2020 | Protests
Fox 11 News reported that while covering a protest in San Clemente, California, against the state’s shelter-in-place order, a demonstrator intentionally coughed on one of the station’s photographers.
According to the outlet, a crowd of hundreds gathered in downtown San Clemente on April 19, 2020, in defiance of social distancing guidelines. One of the protesters approached the Fox 11 photographer and deliberately coughed on them because the demonstrator “did not agree with news coverage,” according to the outlet.
Fox 11 reported that the photographer is expected to be OK.
A Fox News spokesperson told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the photographer did not file a police report concerning the incident.
The Washington Post reported that appearing or threatening to spread COVID-19 has been prosecuted as a “terroristic threat” in Minnesota, Missouri and Pennsylvania. Similarly, individuals have been charged with assault for deliberately coughing on police or private citizens in Colorado, Florida, New York and South Dakota, among others.
The news media captures a demonstrator in a Los Angeles caravan protest calling on state and local officials to re-open the California economy following restrictions as part of the coronavirus outbreak.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,Media,coronavirus,,,,, MLK50 journalist files lawsuit to regain access to Memphis mayor’s media list,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/mlk50-journalist-files-lawsuit-to-regain-access-to-memphis-mayors-media-list/,2020-05-22 16:46:33.465166+00:00,2022-03-28 17:09:29.488298+00:00,2022-03-28 17:09:29.405952+00:00,(2021-04-30 00:00:00+00:00) Lawsuit filed by nonprofit journalist dismissed by court of appeals,Denial of Access,,,,Wendi C. Thomas (MLK50),,2020-05-13,False,Memphis,Tennessee (TN),35.14953,-90.04898,"A journalist for a Memphis-based nonprofit news site sued the city and its mayor and communications officer on May 13, 2020, for removing her from the city’s media email list and ignoring her repeated requests to be re-added.
In 2017, Wendi C. Thomas, a veteran of The Commercial Appeal, Indianapolis Star, Tennessean, and the Charlotte Observer, founded MLK50: Justice Through Journalism, a nonprofit news site “focused on poverty, power and public policy — issues about which Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. cared deeply.”
Filed in U.S. District Court in the Western District of Tennessee, the lawsuit alleges that sometime after Jan. 22, 2018, Thomas’ personal gmail address was dropped from Mayor Jim Strickland’s media advisory list without her knowledge.
Thomas later realized she was no longer receiving the emails and began requesting to be added back to the list beginning in May 2019.
“Can you please confirm that the following email addresses have been added to any and all media advisory/distribution lists sent by any and all city departments?” she wrote on Oct. 29, 2019, in her second email requesting that her email account and two others for her publication be added to the list, according to an exhibit. This email, like all her other messages on the matter, received no reply, according to the complaint.
She also made these requests in person at a October 2019 event, and in voicemails and text messages the following month. On Jan. 14, 2020, she sent her seventh email requesting to be returned to the list.
When asked for comment, Thomas referred the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker to the website’s article about the lawsuit:
“I’m disappointed that it’s come to this, since the fix is so simple: Just treat me and MLK50 like you treat other journalists and news outlets,” Thomas wrote in the published statement.
Thomas’s attorney, Paul McAdoo, a Tennessee-based attorney for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, argued in the lawsuit that the exclusion from the list interferes with Thomas’s ability to exercise her First Amendment rights.
“The exclusion of Ms. Thomas from the Media Advisory List substantially disrupts and interferes with her ability to gather news and report on the City and Mayor Strickland,” the complaint states.
Recently, Thomas’s exclusion from the email list has meant she has not been able to attend the city’s virtual COVID-19 briefings via Zoom.
The complaint alleges that Thomas was removed from the list due to her past coverage of the mayor and the city. When Thomas sought to interview Strickland in June 2017 about the one-year anniversary of a protest on Memphis’ Hernando De Soto Bridge, her request was denied.
In denying the request, Ursula Madden, the city’s chief communications officer, wrote to her that she had “demonstrated, particularly on social media, that you are not objective when it comes to Mayor Strickland,” according to the complaint.
Prior to filing the lawsuit, attorney McAdoo wrote two letters to the city’s chief legal officer, informing her of Thomas’s exclusion from the media advisory list and asking for this “infringing, discriminatory, and possibly retaliatory decision by the City” to be remedied.
“MLK50: Justice Through Journalism is doing important investigative reporting about issues affecting the residents of Memphis, and it is flatly unconstitutional for the city to disrupt and interfere with Ms. Thomas’s ability to gather and report the news because it doesn’t like the content of her reporting,” McAdoo said in a statement published by RCFP.
Through her lawsuit, Thomas is seeking to be added to the email distribution list, that “explicit and meaningful standards” for inclusion of a media organization or reporter on the list be established, and that her exclusion from the list be declared unconstitutional.
City spokesman Dan Springer did not return an emailed request for comment about the lawsuit, but told the Commercial Appeal that the city does not comment on ongoing legal matters.
A portion of the lawsuit filed by Wendi Thomas of MLK50 against Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland and others seeking to be added to the mayor's media advisory email list.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,2:20-cv-02343,['DISMISSED'],Civil,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,press briefings,,,,,Mayor Jim Strickland Freelance journalist subpoenaed for testimony in defamation suit,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/freelance-journalist-subpoenaed-for-testimony-in-defamation-suit/,2021-04-19 21:55:20.069852+00:00,2022-04-06 15:37:06.355960+00:00,2022-04-06 15:37:06.293732+00:00,,Subpoena/Legal Order,,,,Cassandra Fairbanks (Big League Politics),,2020-05-11,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"In the early hours of July 10, 2016, Seth Rich, a 27-year-old staffer with the Democratic National Committee, was fatally shot while walking to his home in Washington, D.C. His death, while unsolved, is believed to be the result of a robbery gone wrong. It quickly, however, became a flash point for conspiracy theories: that Rich had been behind a DNC email dump to WikiLeaks and its founder, Julian Assange, and that he’d effectively been assassinated because of it. None of the claims have ever been substantiated.
On March 26, 2018, Rich’s brother, Aaron, filed a defamation suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against a slew of defendants — Texas businessman and then-frequent Fox News guest Ed Butowsky, the Washington Times, America First Media Group and its founder, Matt Couch — who he’d alleged had shown a “reckless disregard for the truth” and falsely linked both himself and his brother to the email leak.
During the course of three years of litigation, attorneys for both sides collectively subpoenaed nearly a dozen news outlets and members of the press. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents all subpoena requests individually; Find a complete overview of the known subpoenas for this case in the blog post, “Nearly a dozen journalists, outlets and third parties subpoenaed in defamation suit.”
In January 2021, both Couch and Butowsky publicly apologized and retracted prior claims made about the Rich brothers, though Butowsky deleted his statement of contrition almost immediately, according to Law & Crime. Couch and Rich reached a settlement agreement on Jan. 19; Butowsky and Rich reached an agreement on March 22. The lawsuit was terminated officially when District Judge Richard Leon granted Rich’s motions to dismiss the charges against the defendants on March 29. The details of the settlement agreements were not made public.
Fairbanks wrote multiple articles about Aaron Rich and the possible “WikiLeaks connection” for Big League Politics in 2017. She was also subpoenaed in January 2020 in a related defamation lawsuit brought by Butowsky against NPR, a case the Tracker documented here.
Status of Subpoena
The Knoxville News Sentinel said its reporter was prevented from participating in a Knox County, Tennessee, health department press briefing about the county’s COVID-19 response on May 8, 2020, in apparent retaliation for his reporting.
Reporter Vincent Gabrielle had been attending the daily Zoom press briefings without incident, the Sentinel reported, recently pressing health officials to release more of the data informing the county’s reopening decisions following the lockdown to curb the spread of the pandemic.
The day before the briefing, the Sentinel published an article by Gabrielle stating that the county had repeatedly failed to explain the criteria used to evaluate the county’s reopening readiness.
On May 8, Gabrielle was unable to access the press briefing when he called in, according to the Sentinel. When he asked the health department’s media contact via text whether there had been a technical problem with the call, a representative referred him to county communications director Mike Donila.
Donila told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker via email that Gabrielle had not been permitted to participate through the Zoom portal because of “his obnoxious, disrespectful and rude behavior” toward fellow reporters and health department members.
He maintained, however, that Gabrielle had not been barred from the press conference, as he could have still watched a livestream on Facebook or the health department website, and could have submitted questions through the social media platform or via email.
"The Zoom portal is a courtesy we offer — and one we can stop at any time — and not a right,” Donila said.
Donila also noted that other Sentinel reporters and executive editor Joel Christopher had been allowed into the Zoom meeting and had had the opportunity to ask questions.
Christopher denied Donila’s claim that other journalists from the outlet had been able to effectively participate.
He told the Tracker that when another Sentinel reporter had tried to access the Zoom meeting he was “locked out” without explanation. By the time Christopher was able to get into the call, he did not have time to get and submit Gabrielle’s questions before the briefing ended.
Christopher said that Donila’s assertions were “odd” and questioned why Donila would bother to ban Gabrielle if he didn’t believe it would have a practical effect on Gabrielle’s ability to participate in the briefing.
Donila denied Christopher’s claims, maintaining that not only had the outlet’s staff never lost their ability to ask questions, they had deliberately refused to submit any out of apparent solidarity with Gabrielle.
Donila had told the outlet that Gabrielle’s reporting — which he described to the paper as “constantly riddled with half-truths, missing facts and a constant false narrative" — was also a reason why he’d been denied access to the Zoom call.
Donila told the Tracker that he stands by his comments on Gabrielle’s reporting but indicated that Gabrielle’s reporting was not the reason behind barring him. He also rejected the Sentinel’s claims that Gabrielle was barred because of his tough questioning of the health department.
Christopher told the Tracker that he stands by Gabrielle’s conduct and reporting, but noted that the outlet takes any requests for corrections seriously. He said that he had arranged a meeting with the health department and county mayor’s office and hoped to resolve the situation amicably.
Gabrielle was allowed to participate in the county’s next health department press briefing, on May 11. Donila told the Tracker that the county mayor’s office felt a one-day restriction was adequate.
“We look forward to him continuing to ask questions and we look forward to answering them,” Donila said.
Photojournalist Glenna Gordon was detained and issued a ticket for blocking the road while documenting a homeless camp cleanup operation in Los Angeles, California, on May 7, 2020.
Gordon told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she was on assignment for The New York Times Magazine to document the housing crisis in LA, which has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic; LA Sanitation & Environment clean operations aim to remove trash and encourage unhoused populations to seek out shelters.
Upon arriving at the site alongside an activist, Gordon said, a LASAN employee approached her and ordered her to move back; as she continued to take pictures of the workers removing tents Gordon said the workers became very angry. When Gordon and the activist turned the corner to go to the next street for the sweep, Los Angeles Police Department officers were waiting for them.
“The cops were immediately very aggressive with me,” Gordon said. “The sanitation workers are along the sidewalk and I’m standing close to them in the road and the cops yell at me to get back. And then I back up into the middle of the road — and keep in mind that this was during deep COVID and there are no cars on the road. And then the cops are yelling at me that I’m blocking the road.”
Gordon told the Tracker she tried to back up further to get out of the road but the officers detained her anyway.
“They pulled me over to the sidewalk and I asked them if I was arrested and they said no, I was detained. I asked if I was free to go and they said no,” Gordon said. The officers allowed her to sit on the sidewalk without being cuffed as they asked her questions and contacted a supervisory officer.
The activist who arrived with her captured an image of Gordon being detained. Gordon told the Tracker that while she was not wearing a press badge at the time, she had credentials from the National Press Photographers Association in her bag and repeatedly identified herself as a member of the press.
@_glennagordon was a badass though. Here she is being detained for taking pics of sweeps. pic.twitter.com/AsCK7lRhHN
— HABLA (@myhabla90291) July 13, 2021
Gordon told the Tracker that she was detained for one to two hours before she was released with a ticket ordering her to appear for a hearing on Aug. 5. Before that date arrived, however, Gordon said the charges against her were suddenly dropped without explanation. She believes that hers were among the charges dropped by LA City Attorney Mike Feuer in early June, following mass arrests at Black Lives Matter protests spurred by the death of George Floyd.
“I understand ultimately that the situation was not that bad for me because I am a white woman who was on assignment for the Times,” Gordon said. “It could have played out very differently, for example, for someone who’s a freelancer and not on assignment or someone who is young and brown or just doesn’t have the level of security that I had in that moment.”
The Los Angeles Police Department did not respond to an emailed request for comment.
A WQAD News 8 photojournalist was assaulted and his camera destroyed while on assignment in Rock Island, Illinois, on May 1, 2020.
The photojournalist — who was not identified in the station’s article about the incident — was gathering footage of local business in the area from a sidewalk at approximately 5 p.m, WQAD reported.
A man driving by the area, later identified as 45-year-old Brett Laermans, was reportedly angry that he may have been filmed. Laermans stopped his car and grabbed the photographer’s hat. He then repeatedly smashed the WQAD broadcast camera on the ground, destroying it.
Police were called to the scene shortly after.
WQAD reported that the outlet’s photographer was uninjured and had filed a police report.
Rock Island Deputy Chief of Police Jason Foy told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that Laermans was not arrested at the time. However, Foy said that the Rock Island County State’s Attorney’s Office charged Laermans with battery and criminal damage to property on May 5.
The State’s Attorney’s Office also issued Laermans a court summons for July 13, according to WQAD.
WQAD News Director Alan Baker could not be reached for comment.
The Fourth District Court of Appeal in Florida upheld a trial court’s May 2020 decision ordering CNN to produce emails and text messages with a source for a 2015 investigation.
The network’s investigative report focused on the pediatric heart surgery program at St. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach, Florida. The report said that infants who underwent open heart surgery at St. Mary's had a mortality rate three times higher than the national average.
After the story ran, Dr. Michael Black, head of the hospital’s heart surgery unit, filed a lawsuit in 2016, alleging he had been defamed and asserting that “the preconceived goal of the June 1, 2015 article and video report was to manufacture an outrageous, headline-grabbing story.”
The lawsuit named six defendants, including CNN lead reporter Elizabeth Cohen; anchor Anderson Cooper; producer John Bonifield and employee Dana Ford; as well as Kelly Robinson, who was the key source for the CNN stories and “was motivated to defame respondent because of her association with another children’s hospital and surgeon,” the lawsuit charged.
During the discovery phase of the trial, plaintiff Black learned that a substantial amount of communication occurred between Robinson and the CNN defendants. The plaintiff sought the communications from Robinson, but she testified that she had deleted the emails and text messages in order to keep them confidential. Subsequently, Black sought the same communications from the CNN defendants.
CNN argued that the correspondence was shielded by Florida laws that reporters are not required to reveal the identity of sources, according to The Palm Beach Post.
But in May 2020 a trial court ruled that exceptions in the shield law applied in this case. It ordered CNN to turn over its communications with Robinson and noted that it “found a compelling interest for disclosure because of the unique circumstances of the case: 1) the need for the defamation plaintiff to prove malice; 2) the centrality of Robinson’s role as a source of CNN’s reporting; and 3) the fact that Robinson, a co-defendant, deleted her own copies of the communications and was not protected by journalist privilege.”
That decision was upheld on Oct. 7, by the Fourth District Court of Appeal, which ruled that “while the journalist privilege must be protected, it is a qualified privilege.”
Neither CNN’s lawyers nor Black’s counsel responded to a request from the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker for updated information or comment on the case.
Vice President Mike Pence’s office reportedly threatened to take punitive actions against a Voice of America reporter for a tweet he posted on April 30, 2020.
Pence’s staff alleged that White House bureau chief Steve Herman had violated an off-the-record agreement after the vice president’s trip to the Mayo Clinic, The Washington Post reported.
Herman’s tweet disclosed that Pence’s office had informed the pool journalists coming on the trip that they would need to wear face masks during the visit in accordance with the clinic’s precautionary policy against spreading the coronavirus.
All of us who traveled with him were notified by the office of @VP the day before the trip that wearing of masks was required by the @MayoClinic and to prepare accordingly. https://t.co/LFqh27LusD
— Steve Herman (@W7VOA) April 30, 2020
Pence received considerable criticism after he was photographed as the only person in the room not following the guideline. His wife Karen Pence said in a Fox News interview that the vice president had not been aware of the guideline until after the visit.
Herman tweeted in direct response to the Second Lady’s assertion, apparently “enraging” Pence’s staff which alleged he had inappropriately shared details of a logistical memo, the Post reported.
The planning document, shared with the Post, is marked “OFF THE RECORD AND FOR PLANNING PURPOSES ONLY,” which is standard operational security on official White House trips. Questions remain, however, about how long publications are barred from printing such details.
Herman told the Post that the White House Correspondents’ Association notified him that he would be barred from further travel on Air Force Two at the behest of the vice president’s office.
Pence’s press secretary, Katie Miller, did not respond to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker’s request for comment.
A spokesperson for Pence’s office did inform VOA that any punishment was still under discussion, pending an apology from Herman or the outlet, the Post reported.
In a statement to the Post, Herman said, “My tweet speaks for itself.”
“We always have and will strictly adhere to keeping off the record any White House communications to reporters for planning purposes involving logistics that have security implications prior to events,” he said.
VOA Director Amanda Bennett told the Tracker in a statement that the outlet adheres to the highest journalistic standards.
“VOA’s credibility relies on presenting ‘a balanced and comprehensive projection of significant American thought and institutions,’ as the Charter states,” she said.
Vice President Mike Pence received criticism for not wearing a mask while visiting COVID-19 research facilities at the Mayo Clinic.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,coronavirus,,,,, Judge rules in favor of Minnesota journalist barred from COVID-19 briefing calls,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/judge-rules-in-favor-of-minnesota-journalist-barred-from-covid-19-briefing-calls/,2021-03-08 16:26:23.567888+00:00,2022-04-06 15:41:36.018994+00:00,2022-04-06 15:41:35.964401+00:00,,Denial of Access,,,,Scott Johnson (Power Line),,2020-04-28,False,St. Paul,Minnesota (MN),None,None,"Scott Johnson, co-founder of the digital-only outlet Power Line, filed a lawsuit against the commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Health and the director of the department’s communications office after he said he’d been barred from accessing the department’s daily teleconference on April 28, 2020.
According to the suit, the MDH had started hosting daily press briefings in late February to field a rise in information requests concerning the COVID-19 pandemic and the department’s response. On April 9, Johnson, who did not reply to an email from the Tracker requesting comment, asked to be added to the MDH invite list for briefings and was granted access the following day. For the next couple of weeks, the suit states, Johnson was able to participate in the teleconference calls and submit follow-up questions over email.
The suit also claims that after responding to two of Johnson’s follow-up questions on April 27, communications director Michael Schommer forwarded the questions to members of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz’s office, stating, “Flagging as an FYI and for future discussion.”
The following day, allegedly under the direction and supervision of Commissioner Jan Malcolm, Schommer chose not to provide Johnson with access to the MDH Conference Line and his office did not respond to Johnson’s calls or emails, the suit claims.
According to the suit, a reporter for the Washington Free Beacon emailed the department asking how participants in the press briefings were selected and why the MDH had ceased communications with Johnson. Schommer responded, in part: “We routinely have so many journalists on the daily briefing call that we cannot field questions from all of them each day. To ensure that the journalists have a reasonable opportunity to get a question in we need to limit call participation only to professional journalists.”
Schommer’s response did not include the criteria by which the department evaluates whether an individual reporter or outlet is deemed “professional.”
Johnson filed his suit on May 28, claiming that his access was revoked due to the conservative viewpoint of his questions and reporting. Schommer and Malcolm contest that claim, stating that Johnson never lost access to the information contained in the briefings, as they were broadcast in real time. They also argued in court that the department elected to exclude Johnson not because of his viewpoint but to prioritize questions from larger and more-established media organizations.
The MDH did not respond to an email from the Tracker requesting comment as of press time.
On June 4, Johnson filed a motion for a preliminary injunction to provide him immediate access to the MDH conference line and ask that he be granted the opportunity to pose questions during the briefings.
Judge Donovan Frank denied Johnson’s motion on June 26, but found that Johnson had successfully argued that his access had been revoked in response to his viewpoint or the context of his questions, and therefore was in violation of his First Amendment rights. Frank also denied the defendants’ motion to dismiss the case.
In his decision, Frank wrote, “It seems that the whole matter could be resolved if the Department simply provided Plaintiff access to the MDH Conference Line, particularly considering the fact that all parties agree the Department is under no obligation to allow Plaintiff to ask questions or to answer any submitted questions.”
The Free Beacon reported that the MDH agreed to a settlement on Nov. 13 and to reinstate Johnson’s access to the COVID-19 press briefings.
In the early hours of July 10, 2016, Seth Rich, a 27-year-old staffer with the Democratic National Committee, was fatally shot while walking to his home in Washington, D.C. His death, while unsolved, is believed to be the result of a robbery gone wrong. It quickly, however, became a flash point for conspiracy theories: that Rich had been behind a DNC email dump to WikiLeaks and its founder, Julian Assange, and that he’d effectively been assassinated because of it. None of the claims have ever been substantiated.
On March 26, 2018, Rich’s brother, Aaron, filed a defamation suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against a slew of defendants — Texas businessman and then-frequent Fox News guest Ed Butowsky, the Washington Times, America First Media Group and its founder, Matt Couch — who he’d alleged had shown a “reckless disregard for the truth” and falsely linked both himself and his brother to the email leak.
During the course of three years of litigation, attorneys for both sides collectively subpoenaed nearly a dozen news outlets and members of the press. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents all subpoena requests individually; Find a complete overview of the known subpoenas for this case in the blog post, “Nearly a dozen journalists, outlets and third parties subpoenaed in defamation suit.”
In January 2021, both Couch and Butowsky publicly apologized and retracted prior claims made about the Rich brothers, though Butowsky deleted his statement of contrition almost immediately, according to Law & Crime. Couch and Rich reached a settlement agreement on Jan. 19; Butowsky and Rich reached an agreement on March 22. The lawsuit was terminated officially when District Judge Richard Leon granted Rich’s motions to dismiss the charges against the defendants on March 29. The details of the settlement agreements were not made public.
Ratner — who’s late brother, Michael, was one of WikiLeaks’ U.S. lawyers — claimed Assange told her during a three-hour meeting in London that the DNC email dump was executed by an insider, not the Russian government.
Status of Subpoena
In the early hours of July 10, 2016, Seth Rich, a 27-year-old staffer with the Democratic National Committee, was fatally shot while walking to his home in Washington, D.C. His death, while unsolved, is believed to be the result of a robbery gone wrong. It quickly, however, became a flash point for conspiracy theories: that Rich had been behind a DNC email dump to WikiLeaks and its founder, Julian Assange, and that he’d effectively been assassinated because of it. None of the claims have ever been substantiated.
On March 26, 2018, Rich’s brother, Aaron, filed a defamation suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against a slew of defendants — Texas businessman and then-frequent Fox News guest Ed Butowsky, the Washington Times, America First Media Group and its founder, Matt Couch — who he’d alleged had shown a “reckless disregard for the truth” and falsely linked both himself and his brother to the email leak.
During the course of three years of litigation, attorneys for both sides collectively subpoenaed nearly a dozen news outlets and members of the press. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents all subpoena requests individually; Find a complete overview of the known subpoenas for this case in the blog post, “Nearly a dozen journalists, outlets and third parties subpoenaed in defamation suit.”
In January 2021, both Couch and Butowsky publicly apologized and retracted prior claims made about the Rich brothers, though Butowsky deleted his statement of contrition almost immediately, according to Law & Crime. Couch and Rich reached a settlement agreement on Jan. 19; Butowsky and Rich reached an agreement on March 22. The lawsuit was terminated officially when District Judge Richard Leon granted Rich’s motions to dismiss the charges against the defendants on March 29. The details of the settlement agreements were not made public.
Fox News published an article written by Malia Zimmerman in May 2017 that reported on the conspiracy surrounding Seth Rich’s death. The outlet retracted the article a week later. Both Zimmerman and Fox reporter Adam Housley were also subpoenaed during the course of litigation, which the Tracker documented separately.
Status of Subpoena
In the early hours of July 10, 2016, Seth Rich, a 27-year-old staffer with the Democratic National Committee, was fatally shot while walking to his home in Washington, D.C. His death, while unsolved, is believed to be the result of a robbery gone wrong. It quickly, however, became a flash point for conspiracy theories: that Rich had been behind a DNC email dump to WikiLeaks and its founder, Julian Assange, and that he’d effectively been assassinated because of it. None of the claims have ever been substantiated.
On March 26, 2018, Rich’s brother, Aaron, filed a defamation suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against a slew of defendants — Texas businessman and then-frequent Fox News guest Ed Butowsky, the Washington Times, America First Media Group and its founder, Matt Couch — who he’d alleged had shown a “reckless disregard for the truth” and falsely linked both himself and his brother to the email leak.
During the course of three years of litigation, attorneys for both sides collectively subpoenaed nearly a dozen news outlets and members of the press. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents all subpoena requests individually; Find a complete overview of the known subpoenas for this case in the blog post, “Nearly a dozen journalists, outlets and third parties subpoenaed in defamation suit.”
In January 2021, both Couch and Butowsky publicly apologized and retracted prior claims made about the Rich brothers, though Butowsky deleted his statement of contrition almost immediately, according to Law & Crime. Couch and Rich reached a settlement agreement on Jan. 19; Butowsky and Rich reached an agreement on March 22. The lawsuit was terminated officially when District Judge Richard Leon granted Rich’s motions to dismiss the charges against the defendants on March 29. The details of the settlement agreements were not made public.
Isikoff hosted a six-episode podcast on the case titled “Conspiracyland,” which explored the motivations and methods used to propel the conspiracy theories surrounding Seth Rich’s death.
Status of Subpoena
A man was arrested in Huntington Beach, California, and charged with kidnapping a Fox 11 News photographer at knifepoint during a protest on April 17, 2020.
Fox 11 reported that its two-person crew was covering a demonstration against the state’s shelter-in-place guidelines when a man approached the reporter and photographer with a pocket knife in hand and demanded they delete any video he might appear in.
A Fox News spokesperson told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the crew requested to not be identified.
The man, later identified as 36-year-old Christien Petersen, then forced the photographer to go to his news van in order to delete the protest footage. Fox 11 reported that Petersen was still holding the cameraman at knifepoint in the van when police arrived at the scene at around 7:30 p.m.
Police told The Los Angeles Times that Petersen appeared intoxicated.
The Fox News spokesperson told the Tracker that the station turned over all footage to the police to aid in their investigation.
Officer Angela Bennett confirmed that to the Tracker that Petersen faces charges of kidnapping and exhibiting a deadly weapon other than a firearm. Bennett also noted that Petersen was released from police custody on April 20 after he posted bail. Fox 11 reported the bail was set at $100,000.
In a statement to the New York Post, Petersen’s attorney, Christopher Darden, said the incident was a “gross misunderstanding.”
“A man took [Petersen]’s photo and [Petersen] objected because he was not part of the protest and did not want to be associated with it. We do not believe that an attempted kidnapping is supported by the facts and that all that has happened to [Petersen] is due to a gross misunderstanding,” Darden said.
Darden, who identified his client as a lawyer and father of two, says Petersen intends to apologize to the news photographer.
The spokesperson added that both the photographer and reporter were shaken but uninjured, and are looking forward to returning to work.
A woman was arrested in Atlanta, Georgia, and charged with kidnapping after police said she hijacked a news van on April 14, 2020, with a reporter inside.
Atlanta police spokesperson Officer Anthony Grant told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that at approximately 5:30 a.m. police were called to the scene of a crashed Toyota involving a pregnant woman, later identified as 38-year-old Seniqua Lunsford.
A CBS46 news crew was nearby to cover the crash, the outlet reported, and had just finished a live shot. Reporter Iyani Hughes had started the news van to power her computer as she sat in the back editing footage, while the photojournalist with her stood outside.
Grant told the Tracker that, unbeknownst to the officers approaching the scene of the crash, Lunsford exited the vehicle. She then jumped behind the wheel of the news van and sped away.
Grant said that officers heard reporter Hughes’s screams, attempted to stop the van and then gave chase.
Police spokesman Officer Steve Avery told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Hughes attempted to make Lunsford pull over.
“The suspect wouldn’t do that, so [Hughes] did the smart thing: She got into her seat and put her seat belt on,” Avery said.
The chase ended when Lunsford crashed the news van into a traffic circle approximately a mile away, deploying the airbags. Police quickly arrived at the scene and arrested Lunsford, Officer Grant told the Tracker.
Hughes was not injured in the crash, Grant said, but was taken to the hospital as a precaution. During the course of their investigation, police learned that both Hughes and Lunsford are pregnant.
CBS46 Station Manager Jeff Holub told the Tracker, “This was obviously a very dangerous and frightening situation and we are happy that Iyani is OK.”
Lunsford is being held on charges of kidnapping, which is punishable by 10 to 20 years in prison under Georgia law.
New York City police confiscated the drone of independent aerial photojournalist George Steinmetz as he attempted to document mass burials on Hart Island on April 14, 2020.
The island has been used as a potter’s field — a burial site for the city’s unidentified deceased or those without means for burial elsewhere — since the 19th century. The Washington Post reported that since the outbreak of the new coronavirus, burials on the island have grown from an average of 25 per week to a peak of 120. While access to the island is usually limited, during the pandemic it has been completely shut off to the press, Gothamist reported.
Steinmetz told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was piloting his drone at dawn on that Tuesday from a parking lot in City Island in the Bronx, which is a half mile away from Hart Island. He was accompanied by a CBS News journalist, as the outlet was doing a video piece on Steinmetz and his photography of the city amid COVID-19.
Minutes after starting to take pictures of the island, a group of plainclothes NYPD officers exited an unmarked van and told him to land the drone, Steinmetz said.
The officers initially demanded that Steinmetz show them the photos he had taken, which he did, and then asked him to turn over his memory card. He told the Tracker he refused.
Steinmetz said that the officers did not work at the local precinct, and therefore he waited with them in the parking lot for nearly an hour until another officer could bring the correct paperwork to seize the drone and censure Steinmetz.
Ultimately, in addition to the seizure of his $1,500 drone, the officers issued Steinmetz a misdemeanor summons for “avigation,” a law which prevents private individuals from launching drones anywhere in the metro area that isn’t an airport. According to Steinmetz, he faces up to a $1,000 fine for violating the regulation.
“The law about avigation is really written for flying over densely populated parts of New York City — like lower Manhattan — where with all the radio and cell traffic and microwaves it’s possible to lose contact with the drone or it could crash into a building and fall onto people’s heads,” Steinmetz said.
Steinmetz said that since the drone was flying over the water, it couldn’t endanger anyone.
“It was clear to me that they were trying to harass the press,” he said.
Mickey Osterreicher, general counsel for the National Press Photographers Association, told the Tracker that while Steinmetz has a FAA license to pilot a drone, that only prevents him from running afoul of the federal regulations. That does not matter under the city’s avigation restrictions, Osterreicher said.
“In one sense, I understand why the police see the drone as evidence, but in another sense it’s like taking a journalist’s camera: This is a device that he or she is using to gather and disseminate news and by taking it from them it is depriving them of the ability to do that, because drones are not inexpensive,” Osterreicher said.
When asked about the return of Steinmetz’s drone and maximum penalties for violating the avigation law, an NYPD spokesperson emailed this statement: “Drones are illegal to fly in New York City except for authorized areas. The areas approved for flying drones are very limited and set by the FAA.”
Osterreicher noted that Steinmetz is the second journalist whose drone was seized while attempting to photograph Hart Island in recent weeks. He added that police returned the drone to the first photojournalist the following day, but declined to publicly identify that journalist. As of publication, Steinmetz’s drone had not been returned.
A spokesperson for the Department of Corrections, which oversees Hart Island and typically conducts the burials, told Gothamist in a statement, "Out of respect to the families and friends of those buried on Hart Island, we have a longstanding policy of not permitting photography of an active burial site from Hart Island. It is disrespectful."
Mayoral spokesperson Olivia Lapeyrolerie told Gothamist that Bill de Blasio’s administration is exploring ways of granting press access to Hart Island burials safely.
Drone images of bodies being buried on New York's Hart Island were captured on April 9. About a week later, a photojournalist capturing similar images was issued a citation and had his drone seized by the New York Police Department.
",arrested and released,charges dropped,New York Police Department,None,None,False,None,None,None,returned in full,False,law enforcement,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,coronavirus,,avigation,,, White House accuses Voice of America of spreading propaganda,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/white-house-accuses-voice-america-spreading-propaganda/,2020-04-16 20:24:25.147510+00:00,2022-04-06 15:45:02.987475+00:00,2022-04-06 15:45:02.924971+00:00,"(2020-04-30 15:37:00+00:00) CDC bars Voice of America from interviewing officials, citing White House newsletter",Other Incident,,,,,,2020-04-10,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"A White House newsletter accused a U.S.-funded and independent international news outlet of uncritically spreading Chinese state propaganda on April 10, 2020.
The “1600 Daily” newsletter, which a White House official told ProPublica has approximately 2.5 million subscribers, was sent under the headline “Amid a Pandemic, Voice of America Spends Your Money to Promote Foreign Propaganda.” It went on to assert that “VOA too often speaks for America’s adversaries—not its citizens.”
While attacks on the press have become commonplace on the president’s Twitter feed, it came as a shock to many that VOA was singled out on a platform often used to highlight the president’s accomplishments and daily schedule.
The newsletter specifically cited VOA’s coverage of the coronavirus pandemic in China, criticizing the outlet for tweeting a video of the quarantine being lifted in Wuhan and alleged that the outlets used Chinese government statistics in its graphics.
In a response to the allegations, VOA Director Amanda Bennett detailed more than two dozen articles published by VOA in recent weeks on China’s response to the pandemic and on the Chinese government’s misinformation and lack of transparency. Bennett also noted that the data cited in the graphic mentioned by the newsletter was drawn from Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, which has been used around the world.
"Unlike China, VOA has stuck to verifiable facts, including publishing numerous articles in Mandarin, English and other languages that outed China's initial secrecy keeping information of the initial outbreak from the world," Bennett wrote. "VOA has thoroughly debunked much of the information coming from the Chinese government and government-controlled media."
It is unclear what triggered the White House’s targeting of the outlet. However, on April 9 — the day before the newsletter went out — Dan Scavino, an adviser to President Donald Trump who handles his social media strategy, retweeted VOA’s post on the end of the quarantine in Wuhan. In his post, Scavino accused VOA of parroting Chinese propaganda and called the outlet a “disgrace.”
Committee to Protect Journalists Executive Director Joel Simon condemned the newsletter in a statement and said the attack was appalling.
“It is outrageous that the White House is attacking Voice of America, which has a tradition of reporting stories that challenge the narratives of authoritarian regimes around the world,” Simon said. “At this moment, citizens in some highly censored countries are depending for their health and safety on VOA news of the coronavirus, and President Trump should absolutely not undermine the news outlet’s efforts to do its job.”
While VOA has not been directly targeted by the president on Twitter, Trump went on a rant against the outlet during a press briefing in the Rose Garden on April 15, several days after the newsletter was published, Business Insider reported.
"If you hear what's coming out of the Voice of America, it's disgusting," Trump said. "The things they say are disgusting to our country."
At the same briefing, the president also railed against Congress for failing to confirm various nominees including Michael Pack, whom the president nominated to head the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which oversees VOA. Trump also threatened to take the unprecedented step of forcing Congress to adjourn so he could install his nominees.
President Trump used part of the Coronavirus Task Force briefing at the White House on April 15, 2020, to attack Voice of America days after a White House newsletter was critical of the government-funded outlet.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,Voice of America,coronavirus,,,,, Liberty University obtains trespassing warrants against two journalists,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/liberty-university-obtains-trespassing-warrants-against-two-journalists/,2020-04-14 19:33:58.549517+00:00,2021-11-18 19:59:24.685585+00:00,2021-11-18 19:59:24.612932+00:00,(2020-05-15 13:50:00+00:00) Criminal charges against two journalists dropped,Arrest/Criminal Charge,,,,Julia Rendleman (The New York Times),,2020-04-06,False,Lynchburg,Virginia (VA),37.41375,-79.14225,"Arrest warrants were issued on April 6, 2020, for two journalists after they visited Liberty University to cover the school's decision to invite students back to campus following spring break during the coronavirus pandemic.
Virginia Magistrate Kang Lee signed the misdemeanor arrest warrants, which were sought by the Liberty University Police Department against ProPublica's Alec MacGillis, who wrote a March 26 report about students who returned to the university's Lynchburg, Virginia, campus, and Julia Rendleman, a freelance photographer on assignment for The New York Times whose photos accompanied a March 29 story in the newspaper. A warrant was not issued for the author of the Times piece, Elizabeth Williamson, as university officials had not located eyewitnesses placing her on campus, University President Jerry Falwell Jr. told the Associated Press.
Falwell has faced criticism of downplaying the risk posed by the coronavirus and being slow to halt in-person classes at the school. Around 1,000 students remain on campus. In MacGillis' ProPublica piece, "What’s It Like on One of the Only University Campuses Still Open in the U.S.?" he describes many examples of students on campus not adhering to social distancing guidelines and students and faculty worried about their personal safety.
The decision whether to prosecute will be up to Lynchburg Commonwealth’s Attorney Bethany Harrison, according to the AP. "Once I receive copies of the served warrants, obtain reports from the Liberty University Police Department, conduct any necessary follow up investigation, and thoroughly research the applicable statutes and case law, I will make a final decision about how to proceed," Harrison said in a news release. Under Virginia law criminal trespassing is a class one misdemeanor, carrying a sentence of up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $2,500.
"We have heard nothing about this warrant from either Liberty or any authority of the Commonwealth of Virginia," ProPublica President Richard Tofel wrote in an email to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. "We have also still never heard any suggestion from Liberty that anything in our story was factually inaccurate. We continue to believe this was a story of significant public interest about the greatest public health crisis of our time."
Eileen Murphy, a Times spokesperson, decried the decision to seek a warrant for someone taking photos for a news story in a statement to the Lynchburg News & Advance. "We are disappointed that Liberty University would decide to make that into a criminal case and go after a freelance journalist because its officials were unhappy with press coverage of the university's decision to reopen campus in the midst of the pandemic," Murphy said.
Falwell announced the warrants in an April 8 appearance on the Todd Starnes radio show and accused the reporters of putting students at risk by coming onto campus from known hot spots.
"To us it's so hypocritical for them to come to a campus that is doing everything right — social distancing, take-out food only, protecting our students who have no place else to go and no classes — and to come on our campus from New York or Washington or wherever the hotspot is that they come from and put our students at risk," he said.
Falwell shared a letter with the Washington Examiner that Liberty University lawyers have sent to the general counsel of the Times seeking a retraction.
Liberty University has been roundly criticized by press freedom advocates for obtaining the warrants.
Katie Townsend, legal director for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, said in a statement that journalists should not face retaliation or threats of criminal penalties for routine newsgathering.
“These arrest warrants appear to be intended to harass journalists who were simply, and rightly, doing their jobs — reporting on the impact of Liberty University’s decision to partially reopen during a pandemic — and to intimidate other reporters from doing the same type of reporting," Townsend said.
The Virginia chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists also issued a statement, writing, “The journalists were reporting about a health crisis of public interest and importance, and doing so in a professional and responsible manner. By pursuing criminal charges, Liberty University has cast a chilling effect on newsgathering activities vital to a free and democratic society.”
The Washington Post editorial board weighed in on April 12, comparing the move against the journalists as a tactic favored by authoritarian strongmen abroad. "But it is more than a little jarring to see this tactic of criminalizing journalism being employed in the United States — and by a university whose name celebrates American freedom," the editorial said.
The AP also reported that a Liberty University campus security officer asked one of its photographers to leave campus and delete the photos he had taken there on March 24. After speaking to his supervisor, the photographer complied, a decision the AP now says was incorrect. “We don’t delete photos or any other material at the request of an individual law enforcement officer,” said Sally Buzbee, the AP’s executive editor and senior vice president. “We try to fight such orders legally.”
Portions of two trespassing warrants by Liberty University against a ProPublica reporter and a New York Times freelance photographer following coverage of the university's decision to remain partially open during the coronavirus pandemic
,None,charges dropped,Liberty University Police Department,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,warrant,None,,coronavirus,,trespassing,,, Liberty University obtains trespassing warrant against ProPublica reporter,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/liberty-university-obtains-trespassing-warrant-against-propublica-reporter/,2021-04-29 20:07:01.590633+00:00,2021-11-18 19:59:56.687516+00:00,2021-11-18 19:59:56.623294+00:00,(2020-05-15 15:06:00+00:00) Criminal charges against two journalists dropped,Arrest/Criminal Charge,,,,Alec MacGillis (ProPublica),,2020-04-06,False,Lynchburg,Virginia (VA),37.41375,-79.14225,"Arrest warrants were issued on April 6, 2020, for two journalists after they visited Liberty University to cover the school's decision to invite students back to campus following spring break during the coronavirus pandemic.
Virginia Magistrate Kang Lee signed the misdemeanor arrest warrants, which were sought by the Liberty University Police Department against ProPublica's Alec MacGillis, who wrote a March 26 report about students who returned to the university's Lynchburg, Virginia, campus, and Julia Rendleman, a freelance photographer on assignment for The New York Times whose photos accompanied a March 29 story in the newspaper. A warrant was not issued for the author of the Times piece, Elizabeth Williamson, as university officials had not located eyewitnesses placing her on campus, University President Jerry Falwell Jr. told the Associated Press.
Falwell has faced criticism of downplaying the risk posed by the coronavirus and being slow to halt in-person classes at the school. Around 1,000 students remain on campus. In MacGillis' ProPublica piece, "What’s It Like on One of the Only University Campuses Still Open in the U.S.?" he describes many examples of students on campus not adhering to social distancing guidelines and students and faculty worried about their personal safety.
The decision whether to prosecute will be up to Lynchburg Commonwealth’s Attorney Bethany Harrison, according to the AP. "Once I receive copies of the served warrants, obtain reports from the Liberty University Police Department, conduct any necessary follow up investigation, and thoroughly research the applicable statutes and case law, I will make a final decision about how to proceed," Harrison said in a news release. Under Virginia law criminal trespassing is a class one misdemeanor, carrying a sentence of up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $2,500.
"We have heard nothing about this warrant from either Liberty or any authority of the Commonwealth of Virginia," ProPublica President Richard Tofel wrote in an email to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. "We have also still never heard any suggestion from Liberty that anything in our story was factually inaccurate. We continue to believe this was a story of significant public interest about the greatest public health crisis of our time."
Eileen Murphy, a Times spokesperson, decried the decision to seek a warrant for someone taking photos for a news story in a statement to the Lynchburg News & Advance.
"We are disappointed that Liberty University would decide to make that into a criminal case and go after a freelance journalist because its officials were unhappy with press coverage of the university's decision to reopen campus in the midst of the pandemic," Murphy said.
Falwell announced the warrants in an April 8 appearance on the Todd Starnes radio show and accused the reporters of putting students at risk by coming onto campus from known hot spots.
"To us it's so hypocritical for them to come to a campus that is doing everything right — social distancing, take-out food only, protecting our students who have no place else to go and no classes — and to come on our campus from New York or Washington or wherever the hotspot is that they come from and put our students at risk," he said.
Falwell shared a letter with the Washington Examiner that Liberty University lawyers have sent to the general counsel of the Times seeking a retraction.
Liberty University has been roundly criticized by press freedom advocates for obtaining the warrants.
Katie Townsend, legal director for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, said in a statement that journalists should not face retaliation or threats of criminal penalties for routine newsgathering.
“These arrest warrants appear to be intended to harass journalists who were simply, and rightly, doing their jobs — reporting on the impact of Liberty University’s decision to partially reopen during a pandemic — and to intimidate other reporters from doing the same type of reporting," Townsend said.
The Virginia chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists also issued a statement, writing, “The journalists were reporting about a health crisis of public interest and importance, and doing so in a professional and responsible manner. By pursuing criminal charges, Liberty University has cast a chilling effect on newsgathering activities vital to a free and democratic society.”
The Washington Post editorial board weighed in on April 12, comparing the move against the journalists as a tactic favored by authoritarian strongmen abroad. "But it is more than a little jarring to see this tactic of criminalizing journalism being employed in the United States — and by a university whose name celebrates American freedom," the editorial said.
The AP also reported that a Liberty University campus security officer asked one of its photographers to leave campus and delete the photos he had taken there on March 24. After speaking to his supervisor, the photographer complied, a decision the AP now says was incorrect. “We don’t delete photos or any other material at the request of an individual law enforcement officer,” said Sally Buzbee, the AP’s executive editor and senior vice president. “We try to fight such orders legally.”
Portions of two trespassing warrants by Liberty University against two journalists following their coverage of the university's decision to remain partially open during the coronavirus pandemic
,None,charges dropped,Liberty University Police Department,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,coronavirus,,trespassing,,, Florida journalist barred from governor’s COVID-19 briefing,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/florida-journalist-barred-from-governors-covid-19-briefing/,2020-03-31 21:29:47.438213+00:00,2020-03-31 21:29:47.438213+00:00,2020-03-31 21:29:47.381994+00:00,,Denial of Access,,,,Mary Ellen Klas (Miami Herald),,2020-03-28,False,Tallahassee,Florida (FL),30.43826,-84.28073,"A reporter was barred from attending a press conference held by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on the COVID-19 pandemic at the state capitol in Tallahassee on March 28, 2020.
Mary Ellen Klas — the Miami Herald's Tallahassee bureau chief, who also reports for the Tampa Bay Times — was denied entry to the capitol to attend DeSantis' news briefing, where Florida's lieutenant governor, director of emergency management and state surgeon general also appeared.
Outside of the capitol, Meredith Beatrice, a spokeswoman for DeSantis, told Klas she could not attend because she had previously requested "social distancing" at these briefings. Beatrice said the briefings were available to view on Florida Channel, a government access television network. Klas countered that this would not afford her the opportunity to ask questions.
Klas posted a video of her exchange with Beatrice to Twitter:
— Mary Ellen Klas (@MaryEllenKlas) March 28, 2020
“I asked for social distancing. I didn’t ask to be excluded,” Klas said in a story about the incident by the Miami Herald's David Smiley.
A few days prior, Klas had requested that the governor's news briefings, in accordance with public health guidelines, be modified to allow for practicing social distancing. One option she suggested was moving them to a Zoom-style videoconference where reporters would have the opportunity to ask questions without having to meet in close quarters, according to the Herald’s story.
This request was repeated in writing in a March 20 letter signed by editors from the Miami Herald, Tampa Bay Times, el Nuevo Herald, Bradenton Herald, Palm Beach Post, Orlando Sentinel and South Florida Sun Sentinel.
"The briefing room at the Emergency Operations Center is typically packed with reporters in a room about 15-20 feet wide. Reporters are seated in chairs close together. At the Wednesday briefing, there were 22 reporters and photographers in the room," the letter stated. "We’d ask, respectfully, that the state move these briefings to a larger space to accommodate all reporters in person and at recommended distances. Alternatively, we would ask that the state set up a small pool of reporters for each briefing along with the ability for the governor and staff to take questions from press corps members outside the room through a live-stream. Either option, or a combination of both, would preserve access to these critical meetings and ensure a safer environment for all concerned."
That letter did not receive a reply, but briefings were subsequently moved to the governor’s office at the capitol, where a hand-selected group of reporters were invited to attend and everyone else could watch via livestream, Klas told the Committee to Protect Journalists. Klas and others were able to submit questions in writing, but did not have any of them answered. So Klas decided to attend the March 28 briefing in person, but was turned away.
But a television reporter waiting outside the capitol, Mike Vasilinda, was allowed in to the press conference after a Florida Department of Law Enforcement drove out to pick him up, Klas tweeted.
On Twitter, Klas posted the questions she had planned to ask DeSantis at the press conference:
Want to know the questions @GovRonDeSantis didn't want to get today, so he kept us out?
— Mary Ellen Klas (@MaryEllenKlas) March 28, 2020
You are preparing four alternative hospitals to prepare for a surge in hospital capacity, please explain when Florida will reach its peak? What is the timeline?/thread
You said you were going to be transparent throughout this process, why have to refused to disclose the nursing homes that have had COVID positive cases, except the one you considered negligent? /
— Mary Ellen Klas (@MaryEllenKlas) March 28, 2020
Health care workers are especially at risk; a 33-year Miami-Dade Nurse has died from #COVID19, what are you doing to assist them?
— Mary Ellen Klas (@MaryEllenKlas) March 28, 2020
You are critical of the reckless behavior of people from NYC and NOLA. Are you fostering it by not imposing stricter restrictions across the state?
Helen Aguirre Ferré, DeSantis' main spokeswoman, told the Herald in an email that another reporter from the paper had been told about the press conference. “Every endeavor is made to ensure the public continues to have full access to information as the safety and security of Florida residents is our greatest concern,” Ferré wrote.
In an editorial, the Miami Herald dubbed the move "vindictive, petty — and illegal." DeSantis, the editorial board wrote, “should be ashamed because, in not allowing Klas to do her job and ask the serious questions that deserve his serious answers, he is really denying access to the Floridians who look to these media outlets for vital information.”
CPJ program director Carlos Martinez de la Serna also decried the move in a statement: “Authorities in Florida and throughout the United States must show they are taking the COVID-19 pandemic seriously, and should accommodate requests from journalists to follow guidance by public health experts,” he said. “Now is the time for the government to increase its transparency and access for the press, not limit it. Governor DeSantis should let Mary Ellen Klas and all other reporters cover his government freely.”
In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis greets the U.S. president on March 9, the same day he declared a state of emergency due to the novel coronavirus. A reporter who requested social distancing measures for media was later barred from a COVID-19 briefing.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,coronavirus,,,,,Gov. Ron DeSantis "Illinois mayor threatens journalist for taking pictures, video on public street",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/illinois-mayor-threatens-journalist-taking-pictures-video-public-street/,2020-04-15 15:57:09.851657+00:00,2020-04-17 14:03:58.611884+00:00,2020-04-17 14:03:58.493801+00:00,,Chilling Statement,,,,John Kraft (Edgar County Watchdogs),,2020-03-26,False,Bellmont,Illinois (IL),None,None,"The mayor of an Illinois village threatened a reporter with assault and called the local sheriff to intervene in newsgathering on March 26, 2020.
Journalist John Kraft, co-founder of state government watchdog blog Edgar County Watchdogs, was notified by residents in Bellmont, Illinois, that Mayor Gary Lance had been recorded allegedly using the village tractor to gravel a parking area in front of his personal residence, which would violate laws barring the use of town property for personal purposes.
Kraft told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he attempted to call Lance multiple times for comment concerning the allegations, and that Lance returned his calls on the morning of March 26.
According to an account of the call published by Edgar County Watchdogs, they spoke about the use of the tractor, which Lance refused to admit belonged to the village. Lance hung up on Kraft then called back soon after to ask for Kraft’s name, telling the reporter that his actions were “none of [his] business.”
Before hanging up again, Lance told Kraft that if the reporter contacted him again he would pursue harassment charges.
“I considered that conversation an invitation to drive to Bellmont and see the new gravel driveway for myself,” Kraft wrote.
Kraft told the Tracker that as he was taking photos and video of the driveway from a public road, Lance drove up and stopped next to his truck. Lance told him to leave or he’d call the Wabash County sheriff.
“I’m not going to move along,” Kraft can be heard saying in a video of the interaction. “Go ahead, I’ll wait right here for [the sheriff]. 911 is their number.”
Lance says, “Maybe I ought to get out and just whip your ass,” to which Kraft responds, “Go ahead and try it.”
Lance then told the reporter that he is “worthless.” Kraft responds, “You’re the one that is.”
Wabash County Sheriff Derek Morgan told the Tracker that the sheriff’s deputy who went to the scene told Lance that Kraft was within his rights to photograph in a public place. Shortly after speaking with the deputy himself, Kraft left the scene.
Lance declined to comment to the Tracker.
On March 31, Lance filed requests for restraining orders against five village residents — including a village trustee — who he alleged were stalking him by taking video of him graveling his driveway and posting the footage online.
Sheriff Morgan confirmed to the Tracker that Lance did not request a restraining order against Kraft.
Reporter John Kraft captures video of a sheriff's deputy interacting with the mayor of Bellmont, Illinois, who had wanted the reporter removed. The sheriff's deputy confirmed that Kraft was within his rights.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, Judge quashes subpoena for Fortune magazine reporter’s notes from profile of Theranos ex-CEO,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/judge-quashes-subpoena-for-fortune-magazine-reporters-notes-from-profile-of-theranos-ex-ceo/,2021-10-21 17:33:58.985246+00:00,2021-10-21 17:33:58.985246+00:00,2021-10-21 17:33:58.844007+00:00,,Subpoena/Legal Order,,,,Roger Parloff (Fortune ),,2020-03-26,False,San Jose,California (CA),37.33939,-121.89496,"A California magistrate judge quashed a subpoena on Oct. 14, 2021, seeking reporting notes, materials and testimony from reporter Roger Parloff as part of a criminal trial. The subpoena, issued March 26, focused on notes and audio recordings in relation to his June 2014 Fortune magazine profile of Elizabeth Holmes, then-CEO of Theranos.
Parloff was subpoenaed by Holmes’ defense team during her criminal fraud case for allegedly defrauding patients and investors of Theranos, a start-up technology company that claimed to have developed a device that could run blood tests with a microscopic amount of blood.
Holmes and her business partner, Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, were federally indicted on June 14, 2018, and charged with wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Holmes’ jury trial started on Sept. 8, 2021.
Parloff, who wrote in a column that his profile helped “raise to prominence the inventor-entrepreneur,” became a key witness for federal prosecutors who used his Fortune magazine reporting to demonstrate how Holmes misled investors. More than a year after publishing the profile, Parloff published a correction to the article in 2015, noting the misleading statements Theranos had made to him.
According to Markets Insider, Parloff already agreed to testify in the trial. He provided notes and transcripts of his 2014 interview with Holmes to federal prosecutors and Holmes’ defense team, but the subpoena, to appear in court on Sept. 7, 2021, demanded he turn over additional reporting notes from other sources he interviewed for the profile.
Parloff’s lawyer, David S. Korzenik, challenged the request, arguing it was a “fishing expedition” and violated Parloff’s reporter’s privilege. Korzenik did not respond to a request for comment.
“The trial is not about Mr. Parloff’s state of mind. It’s not a libel case against his subsequent article in which he corrected his first,” Korzenik said during the hearing. “He can only testify as to what Ms. Holmes told him.”
According to Law360, U.S. Magistrate Judge Nathaneal Cousins agreed with Parloff’s request to quash the subpoena, saying that the subpoena was insufficient because it speculated about what Parloff’s notes contained, adding that granting it could prolong the trial.
Illinois-based government watchdog blog Edgar County Watchdogs received a second subpoena for communications and documents relating to articles involving an ambulance service operating in Effingham County, Illinois, on March 25, 2020.
Edgar County Watchdogs received the first subpoena as part of a federal civil rights lawsuit brought by Lakeside EMS, LLC, against the county in August 2019. That lawsuit was dismissed in September pending the results of a state case brought against the ambulance service by Effingham County. As a result, the subpoena was dropped.
The most recent subpoena was filed as part of the state suit, and is identical to the first: It orders the Edgar County Watchdogs to produce communications or documents exchanged with Lakeside CEO Jerrod Estes, as well as any “employee or agent” of Lakeside or the county. It also orders the turnover of copies of articles written or generated relating to Effingham County, county Board Chairman Jim Niemann or Lakeside.
Edgar County Watchdogs co-founder and reporter John Kraft told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that they planned to contest the subpoena under Illinois’ reporter’s privilege law.
Kirk Allen, the blog’s other co-founder and reporter, told the Tracker in September 2019 that Edgar County Watchdogs had been pursuing a Freedom of Information Act violation claim against the county for two years, pressing for the release of documents related to the ambulance service investigation.
Attorneys for Effingham County Philip Lading and Zachary Merkle did not respond to requests for comment.
According to emails reviewed by the Tracker, the county’s attorneys dropped the subpoena without prejudice on April 7, after the blog’s lawyer informed them that they had not complied with the “special witness” doctrine. The doctrine requires that the party seeking testimony must first state the specific testimony the reporter is expected to give and demonstrate how it is not only relevant, but necessary to the party’s case.
The Tracker has documented multiple other subpoenas against Edgar County Watchdogs in 2019, including a subpoena for their communications and documents relating to the College of DuPage and multiple subpoenas for the group’s Dropbox contents. While the latter two were dropped in February and July 2019, a motion to quash the former is still pending.
A portion of the subpoena demanding work product from Edgar County Watchdogs
,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,journalist communications or work product,['DROPPED'],None,None,None,None,None,None,Edgar County Watchdogs,,,,,, California community blog subpoenaed in ongoing lawsuit,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/california-community-blog-subpoenaed-ongoing-lawsuit/,2020-04-02 19:28:45.048808+00:00,2021-09-21 15:01:57.712263+00:00,2021-09-21 15:01:57.653240+00:00,(2021-05-12 14:40:00+00:00) City drops lawsuit against bloggers it accused of hacking documents,Other Incident,,,,"David Curlee (Friends for Fullerton's Future), Joshua Ferguson (Friends for Fullerton's Future)",,2020-03-13,False,Fullerton,California (CA),33.87029,-117.92534,"The City of Fullerton, California, filed three deposition orders for testimony and documents from Friends for Fullerton’s Future, a community blog, and two of its journalists on March 13, 2020, as part of its ongoing suit accusing them of violating state and federal anti-hacking laws.
The city’s complaint, filed Oct. 24, 2019, concerns more than a dozen documents that it alleges were illegally downloaded from the city’s account on the file hosting and sharing service Dropbox. The depositions were filed one day after a district judge granted the city a preliminary injunction, barring the blog from publishing, sharing or deleting any of the contested files. The prior restraint was stayed, or paused, fewer than two weeks later.
Joshua Ferguson and David Curlee, two of the blog’s journalists, each received a deposition subpoena ordering them to appear for questioning on March 23 and 24, respectively. A third deposition ordered that the “person most knowledgeable for defendant Friends for Fullerton’s Future” appear for questioning on March 26. The order said topics of discussion would include the structure of the blog, who its contributors are and the sources of all city documents posted to the blog.
Ferguson told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that no such individual exists.
“Nobody runs this blog, it’s a blog,” he said. “We do do journalistic work insofar as we report on stories — we do break stories, we do have people that we talk to — but we don’t have an official structure: I don’t have an editor.”
The blog’s attorney, Kelly Aviles, told the Tracker that a deposition order such as this is standard legal procedure when seeking information from an entity. She also said that all three orders were invalid because they were improperly filed after the city had received notice of her clients’ appeal, which stays, or pauses, all pending matters.
Kimberly Hall Barlow, attorney for the City of Fullerton, told the Tracker the orders were filed properly and that they will continue to pursue the depositions as part of the discovery process.
The deposition orders, reviewed by the Tracker, demand that the individual bring numerous documents and communications related to the city’s allegations, including around the use or possession of nearly two dozen files from the city’s Dropbox, the IP addresses for all its computers and electronic devices, Dropbox activity logs and private browser use.
They also command the production of all documents, including communications, relating to the blog’s argument that the city’s Dropbox was accessible to the public at large, and that accessing it was part of routine newsgathering.
The depositions also focus on communications around 15 public records requests, six of which were filed by Ferguson and one by Curlee. Many of the remaining requests were filed by individuals associated with Air Combat USA, Inc., a private company which has sued the city for breach of contract. The subpoenas also request copies of all communications between the blog or its staff and anyone affiliated with the corporation.
Ferguson told the Tracker that the city, essentially, wants to know everything about the blog.
“They want to know IP addresses, who accesses it, how you share data, who you talk to, all of stuff that is absolutely covered under the reporter shield laws… because they’re arguing that we’re a blog, ergo, not a news site,” he said.
Hall Barlow told the Tracker that the city’s intent is not to be punitive or suppress the press, but to retrieve the confidential documents containing the private information of multiple individuals that were downloaded from the Dropbox account.
The subpoenas request an amount of invasive information not typically seen outside of national security cases, said Aviles. The attempt to subvert California’s shield law and reporter’s privilege protections are concerning, she said.
“Not only is the entire case so outrageous that a government agency would come after an organization that was reporting on it in this fashion, claiming that they committed crimes by accessing documents that the city put on a website without any kind of protection, but then all of these procedural maneuverings by the city that have just tried to make it more difficult for the journalists — I think that is especially troubling.”
Aviles told the Tracker that she hopes all filings in the appeal will be complete in the next two to three months.
A portion of the subpoena demanding documents and work product from the blog Friends for Fullerton's Future
,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,Friends for Fullerton's Future,,,,,, WikiLeaks subpoenaed in defamation lawsuit,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/wikileaks-subpoenaed-in-defamation-lawsuit/,2021-04-16 02:29:39.179654+00:00,2022-04-06 15:46:59.132760+00:00,2022-04-06 15:46:59.084852+00:00,,Subpoena/Legal Order,,,,,,2020-03-13,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"In the early hours of July 10, 2016, Seth Rich, a 27-year-old staffer with the Democratic National Committee, was fatally shot while walking to his home in Washington, D.C. His death, while unsolved, is believed to be the result of a robbery gone wrong. It quickly, however, became a flash point for conspiracy theories: that Rich had been behind a DNC email dump to WikiLeaks and its founder, Julian Assange, and that he’d effectively been assassinated because of it. None of the claims have ever been substantiated.
On March 26, 2018, Rich’s brother, Aaron, filed a defamation suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against a slew of defendants — Texas businessman and then-frequent Fox News guest Ed Butowsky, the Washington Times, America First Media Group and its founder, Matt Couch — who he’d alleged had shown a “reckless disregard for the truth” and falsely linked both himself and his brother to the email leak.
During the course of three years of litigation, attorneys for both sides collectively subpoenaed nearly a dozen news outlets and members of the press. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents all subpoena requests individually; Find a complete overview of the known subpoenas for this case in the blog post, “Nearly a dozen journalists, outlets and third parties subpoenaed in defamation suit.”
In January 2021, both Couch and Butowsky publicly apologized and retracted prior claims made about the Rich brothers, though Butowsky deleted his statement of contrition almost immediately, according to Law & Crime. Couch and Rich reached a settlement agreement on Jan. 19; Butowsky and Rich reached an agreement on March 22. The lawsuit was terminated officially when District Judge Richard Leon granted Rich’s motions to dismiss the charges against the defendants on March 29. The details of the settlement agreements were not made public.
In July 2016, some four months before the U.S. presidential election, WikiLeaks “released a trove of 20,000 emails stolen from the servers of the Democratic National Committee,” according to Vox. How WikiLeaks obtained those emails fueled endless speculation around Seth Rich and his death. Assange was also subpoenaed over the course of the lawsuit, which the Tracker has documented here.
Status of Subpoena
The city of Fullerton, California, can pursue its lawsuit against local blog Friends for Fullerton’s Future and two of its reporters, a judge ruled on March 12, 2020. Superior Court Judge James Crandall also granted the city’s motion for a preliminary injunction to bar the blog from publishing, sharing or destroying a number of city documents.
Two weeks later, on March 26, an appellate judge stayed, or paused, portions of the prior restraint, allowing the blog to publish but not destroy records.
The city alleges that the blog FFFF and journalists Joshua Ferguson and David Curlee violated state and federal anti-hacking laws by illegally accessing and downloading city files uploaded to Dropbox, a file hosting and sharing service.
Both Ferguson and Curlee told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that they had been provided a link to the city’s Dropbox account in response to their previous public records requests. The folder was not password protected, and anyone could access it via the web address in the link.
A previous temporary restraining order was rendered moot when this injunction was granted.
In his ruling, Crandall also denied FFFF’s motion to dismiss the suit under California’s anti-SLAPP provision, which permits courts to dismiss lawsuits that are intended to censor public speech.
Kelly Aviles, attorney for FFFF, told the Tracker they have already filed an appeal of the judge’s decision.
“The court’s denial of the anti-SLAPP motion is a big problem because it’s the only opportunity for the client to get the money that they had to expend in this case in terms of trying to get their costs back,” Aviles said. She noted that responding to dozens of declarations and briefs have driven up FFFF’s attorney’s fees and costs.
Kimberly Hall Barlow, attorney for the City of Fullerton, told the Tracker, “The city’s goal here is not to be punitive, it is to retrieve files containing confidential documents that were stolen from the Dropbox account.”
“We’re under an obligation to protect the privacy interests of the numerous individuals whose private information is included in those documents,” she said. “This is not about trying to suppress the press.”
The city also filed three deposition orders for testimony and documents from FFFF, Ferguson and Curlee, all captured in the Tracker’s subpoena category. Aviles said they were all filed after she had filed their appeal and are therefore invalid.
Hall Barlow told the Tracker the orders were filed properly and that they will continue to pursue the depositions as part of the discovery process.
Fourth Appellate District Judge Raymond Ikola, who granted the stay on the preliminary injunction on March 26, granted a writ of supersedeas on April 2, which lifts the restraint on publishing throughout the appellate hearings.
Curlee told the Tracker that he is hopeful that the appellate court will understand the conditions of the case more clearly.
“My hope is that they understand this better and realize that no crime occurred, no theft occurred,” he said. “We’re hopeful that the appeals court will see this for what it is and not by the city’s argument about it.”
Aviles said that she hopes all filings on their appeals will be completed in the next two to three months.
A portion of the ruling prohibiting the blog Friends for Fullerton's Future from publishing records and denying its request to dismiss a suit from the city of Fullerton. An appellate judge later removed the publishing restraint.
,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,struck down,Friends for Fullerton's Future,,,,,, Journalist subpoenaed for testimony about confidential sources in defamation suit,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-subpoenaed-for-testimony-about-confidential-sources-in-defamation-suit/,2021-04-16 02:33:47.195321+00:00,2022-04-06 16:48:15.289434+00:00,2022-04-06 16:48:15.170054+00:00,,Subpoena/Legal Order,,,,Seymour “Sy” Hersh (Independent),,2020-02-29,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"In the early hours of July 10, 2016, Seth Rich, a 27-year-old staffer with the Democratic National Committee, was fatally shot while walking to his home in Washington, D.C. His death, while unsolved, is believed to be the result of a robbery gone wrong. It quickly, however, became a flash point for conspiracy theories: that Rich had been behind a DNC email dump to WikiLeaks and its founder, Julian Assange, and that he’d effectively been assassinated because of it. None of the claims have ever been substantiated.
On March 26, 2018, Rich’s brother, Aaron, filed a defamation suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against a slew of defendants — Texas businessman and then-frequent Fox News guest Ed Butowsky, the Washington Times, America First Media Group and its founder, Matt Couch — who he’d alleged had shown a “reckless disregard for the truth” and falsely linked both himself and his brother to the email leak.
During the course of three years of litigation, attorneys for both sides collectively subpoenaed nearly a dozen news outlets and members of the press. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents all subpoena requests individually; Find a complete overview of the known subpoenas for this case in the blog post, “Nearly a dozen journalists, outlets and third parties subpoenaed in defamation suit.”
In January 2021, both Couch and Butowsky publicly apologized and retracted prior claims made about the Rich brothers, though Butowsky deleted his statement of contrition almost immediately, according to Law & Crime. Couch and Rich reached a settlement agreement on Jan. 19; Butowsky and Rich reached an agreement on March 22. The lawsuit was terminated officially when District Judge Richard Leon granted Rich’s motions to dismiss the charges against the defendants on March 29. The details of the settlement agreements were not made public.
Hersh, who was investigating Seth Rich’s death, contacted Butowsky during the course of his reporting. Butowsky recorded one call between the pair, without Hersh’s knowledge, in which the investigative journalist said that he’d heard about an FBI report that said that Rich had contacted WikiLeaks to sell the DNC emails. Hersh later told NPR that he was fishing for information from Butowsky, and that he never published about the case because the claims could not be proved.
Status of Subpoena
The FBI arrested five members of the neo-Nazi paramilitary group Atomwaffen in four states on Feb. 26, 2020, for allegedly participating in campaigns of targeted harassment of journalists and others using racist and anti-Semitic slurs.
Four men arrested and charged in U.S. District Court in Seattle with criminal conspiracy were Cameron Brandon Shea, 24, of Redmond, Washington; Kaleb James Cole, 24, of Montgomery, Texas; Taylor Ashley Parker-Dipeppe, 20, of Spring Hill, Florida, and Johnny Roman Garza, 20, of Queen Creek, Arizona.
“These defendants sought to spread fear and terror with threats delivered to the doorstep of those who are critical of their activities,” said U.S. Attorney Brian T. Moran for the Western District of Washington.
Collaborating via an encrypted messaging service, the men identified journalists and other targets — focusing their efforts on Jewish and other minority individuals — and created threatening posters covered in swastikas and containing the line "You have been visited by your local Nazis," which they then delivered or mailed to their homes, according to the criminal complaint. One member of the group suggested the men identify their targets using the Society of Professional Journalists' online freelance directory. Their targets included Jewish journalists and a leader of a black journalists association in the state of Arizona
"We will be postering journalists [sic] houses and media buildings to send a clear message that we too have leverage over them," Shea wrote in a chat message. The group coordinated to deliver all the posters on Jan. 25, 2020. Garza wrote that their goal was "a show of force, demonstrating we are capable of mass coordination."
A fifth man, John Cameron Denton, 26, of Montgomery, Texas, was arrested and charged separately in the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Virginia in a "swatting" conspiracy stretching from November 2018 to April 2019, allegedly targeting a ProPublica investigative journalist and the outlet's New York offices, as well as Old Dominion University, a historically black baptist church in Virginia, and a cabinet official of the Trump administration.
The Justice Department press release defined swatting as "a harassment tactic that involves deceiving dispatchers into believing that a person or persons are in imminent danger of death or bodily harm and causing the dispatchers to send police and emergency services to an unwitting third party’s address."
Denton unknowingly met with an undercover FBI agent and described his role in the swatting calls, according to an affidavit. He specifically targeted ProPublica and a journalist who worked there because he was furious that he had been identified as the leader of Atomwaffen in a story for the publication.
On Dec. 14, 2018, a dozen New York Police Department officers showed up at ProPublica's New York City offices after receiving a call from a man claiming to be an Atomwaffen member named James Mason, who claimed he had "multiple pipe bombs, an AR 15, one hostage, and a dead body." Only one employee was present in the office at time. "This employee was visibly shaken by the threat and police response," the affidavit said.
On Feb. 8, 2019, Denton and an unnamed co-conspirator swatted a ProPublica journalist, the affidavit alleges, placing a swatting call to the Richmond Police Department, in Northern California. On the call, the co-conspirator claimed to be the journalist, saying he had shot his wife with an M16 and threatening to shoot any officers who approached his home. Law enforcement officers went to the journalist's home, put him and his wife in separate police cars, where the journalist explained "he had been receiving threats because he was a journalist that wrote about white supremacists," according to the affidavit.
Following Denton’s February 2020 arrest, Magistrate Judge Nancy K. Johnson ordered him transferred to the Eastern District of Virginia, where he will be detained pending a hearing there.
Shea is currently detained in Federal Detention Center, SeaTac. He has a court hearing set for March 12, but on March 6 the chief judge for the U.S. District Court’s Western Washington District postponed all in-person hearings at the federal courthouses in Seattle and Tacoma until at least the end of the month due to the novel coronavirus outbreak. In criminal cases, “the time period of the continuances implemented by this general order will be excluded under the Speedy Trial Act, as the Court specifically finds that the ends of justice served by ordering the continuances outweigh the best interests of the public and any defendant’s right to a speedy trial,” Martinez wrote.
Garza, Cole, and Parker-Dipeppe will remain in federal custody pending transfer to the Western District of Washington. "There are no conditions of release that would reasonably protect the safety of the community," read a detention order signed by Magistrate Judge Thomas G. Wilson on March 2, regarding Parker-Dipeppe.
A spokesman for the U.S. Marshals Service declined comment on the timing of this transfer, citing a policy of not discussing prisoner movements.
A portion of a poster that was mailed or hand delivered to journalists as part of an alleged coordinated harassment campaign from the neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,ProPublica,,,,,, Virginia circuit court quashes subpoena seeking investigative journalist’s voicemail,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/virginia-circuit-court-quashes-subpoena-seeking-investigative-journalists-voicemail/,2021-03-17 18:53:08.712455+00:00,2021-03-17 18:57:19.076753+00:00,2021-03-17 18:57:19.042939+00:00,,Subpoena/Legal Order,,,,Kerri O’Brien (WRIC-TV),,2020-02-21,False,Richmond,Virginia (VA),37.55376,-77.46026,"On Feb. 21, 2020, the Circuit Court for the City of Richmond, Virginia, quashed a subpoena issued to WRIC-TV investigative reporter Kerri O’Brien that sought a voicemail the journalist had received during the course of reporting.
Neither O’Brien nor WRIC responded to requests for comment as of press time.
The subpoena was sought as part of a lawsuit Marathon Resource Management Group, a facilities management company based in Ashland, had filed in 2019 against one of its subcontractors, Fresh Cuts Lawn Care Inc., alleging that it had made disparaging statements to the news media and on Facebook about Marathon engaging in unfair business practices and not paying the workers it contracted.
O’Brien filed a motion to quash the subpoena, citing reporter’s privilege.
In its finding, the court stated: “Even assuming that this voicemail would be relevant because it goes to the publication element of the Plaintiff’s defamation claim, the Court FINDS that Plaintiff has failed to satisfy their burden as to the other two prongs of the qualified privilege. Specifically, the information sought by the Plaintiff can be obtained by alternative means, namely the testimony of the Defendant. Further … the evidence sought by the subpoena of Ms. O’Brien is not compelling because publication can be established through other mechanisms.”
California newspaper The Fresno Bee says it was barred from attending an event with Rep. Devin Nunes and the U.S. Department of the Interior’s top official in Tulare County, California, on Feb. 18, 2020.
In an article about its exclusion, The Bee reported that it had registered and received tickets through an Eventbrite website to attend a water forum moderated by the Friant Water Authority, a public agency, and featuring David Bernhardt, secretary of the Interior Department, and Nunes. The Bee noted that the event was not a private fundraiser.
At 10 a.m. the day of the event, the outlet said a Nunes staffer contacted The Bee to make clear its reporters would not be allowed to cover the forum.
“I saw you registered for the event today,” Nunes’ staffer Crystal Ervin said in a voicemail to The Bee, “but I want to make it clear that it’s invited press only, and you’re not on the list and your ticket will not scan at the door.”
Journalists from other news outlets were allowed to cover the event, including local Fox affiliate KMPH and ABC30 News.
An Interior Department spokesperson told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the agency was not responsible for press credentialing the event. The Friant Water Authority did not immediately respond to the Tracker’s request for comment.
Spokespeople for Nunes did not respond to the Tracker’s questions about The Bee’s exclusion and whether the decision was connected to his pending lawsuit against the outlet’s parent company, Sacramento-based McClatchy Company.
Nunes filed the $150 million defamation lawsuit in April 2019, arguing that a 2018 Bee article on the congressman constituted “character assassination.”
In an editorial about the outlet’s exclusion, The Bee wrote, “Nunes’ decision to bar the region’s biggest newspaper from attending represents a new strategy in his war against the free press.”
“In barring The Bee from the water forum, Nunes unveiled a new tactic: excluding media outlets from public events as punishment for doing their jobs. He appears to be once again copying the behavior of Trump, who in the past has banned news outlets like Bloomberg News, Buzzfeed news and Politico from covering his events,” the editorial reads.
California newspaper The Fresno Bee was denied entrance to a water forum with its representative, Devin Nunes, here on Capitol Hill, and others. Nunes is also suing The Bee's parent company over the outlet's articles on the congressman.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,The Fresno Bee,,,,,,Devin Nunes State Department Classifies Five Chinese State-Run Outlets as ‘Foreign Missions’,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/state-department-classifies-five-chinese-state-run-outlets-as-foreign-missions/,2020-02-28 20:20:00.400052+00:00,2022-04-06 16:53:07.446883+00:00,2022-04-06 16:53:07.334696+00:00,"(2020-09-06 16:46:00+00:00) Chinese government limits visas for journalists for US media outlets, (2020-03-17 14:20:00+00:00) Chinese government announces expulsion of journalists from three outlets, will require financial disclosures from two others, (2020-06-22 21:28:00+00:00) State Department announces four additional Chinese state-run media outlets in the U.S. will be treated as ‘foreign missions’, (2020-05-11 15:33:00+00:00) U.S. restricts length of work visas for Chinese journalists in the county, (2020-07-01 16:24:00+00:00) Chinese government demands four U.S. news outlets disclose financial, staffing details, (2020-03-02 10:57:00+00:00) Four of the five Chinese state-run media outlets in the U.S. ordered to reduce staff, (2020-10-21 15:51:00+00:00) State Department labels six additional Chinese media outlets as ‘foreign missions’, bringing total to 15",Other Incident,,,,,,2020-02-18,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"The State Department announced on Feb. 18, 2020, it was classifying five Chinese state-run media outlets as foreign missions, a move that makes them subject to the same rules as foreign embassies and consulates located inside the U.S under the 1982 Foreign Missions Act.
The media organizations named were the U.S.-based outlets of Xinhua News Agency (the official state-run press agency of the People’s Republic of China), China Global Television Network (the international division of state broadcaster CCTV), China Radio International (the state-run radio broadcaster), the China Daily newspaper (the Communist Party of China’s English-language daily paper), and Hai Tian Development USA (distributor for The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China’s newspaper).
Under the new classification, these outlets will have to obtain approval from the State Department’s Office of Foreign Missions to lease or buy real estate, and must report a list of all their employees, including their addresses and ages, on an ongoing basis to the office.
At a background briefing on the change, a senior state department official said these media organizations are under “very clear state control” and so the change was made because “each one of these entities meets the definition of foreign mission under our Foreign Mission Act, which is to say they are either substantially owned or effectively controlled by a foreign government.”
That official cautioned that these new rules would not impact the outlets abilities to report in the United States. “We’re not in any way, shape, or form constraining any of the journalistic activities these entities engage in. We’re just saying we’re going to treat them as a foreign mission,” the official said.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang disagreed with that sentiment in his daily briefing on Feb. 19. “We deplore and reject the wrong decision of the US,” he said. “The US touts its press freedom. However, it is wantonly restricting and thwarting Chinese media outlets' normal operation there. This is totally unjustified and unacceptable. We urge the US to discard its ideological prejudice and Cold War zero-sum game mentality, and stop ill-advised measures that undermine bilateral trust and cooperation.”
Later in that same briefing, Shuang announced that China was expelling three Wall Street Journal reporters over anger at a headline in the outlet’s Opinion section.
In September 2018, the Department of Justice ordered CGTN and Xinhua to register as foreign agents under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, or FARA. CGTN compiled with the request in February 2019, but Xinhua has yet to register. China Daily and the Hai Tian Development have been registered under FARA since 1983 and 1996, respectively.
China Radio International headquarters in Beijing. CRI is one of five media organizations from the country whose U.S.-based outlets are being classified as foreign missions by the U.S. State Department.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,"Beijing Review, China Central Television, China Daily, China Global Television Network, China News Service, China Radio International, Economic Daily, Global Times, Hai Tian Development USA, Jiefang Daily, People’s Daily, Social Sciences in China Press, Xinhua News Agency, Xinmin Evening News, Yicai Global",Foreign Missions Act,,,,, FBI arrests man following threatening calls to investigative reporter,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/fbi-arrests-man-following-threatening-calls-investigative-reporter/,2020-03-10 18:33:49.887425+00:00,2021-11-18 19:59:54.045986+00:00,2021-11-18 19:59:53.984411+00:00,"(2021-08-03 09:03:00+00:00) Former seminary professor pleads guilty to sending death threats to reporter, (2021-11-09 00:00:00+00:00) Former seminary professor sentenced to 12 months in prison for sending death threats to reporter",Other Incident,,,,Charlie Specht (WKBW-TV),,2020-02-12,False,Buffalo,New York (NY),42.88645,-78.87837,"FBI agents arrested a seminary professor in Buffalo, New York, on Feb. 12, 2020, in connection with death threats made against WKBW chief investigative reporter Charlie Specht.
Specht told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he had been receiving harassing and threatening voicemails from an unknown caller for nearly six months.
“Then it was kind of a menacing voice and they were leaving messages that were very personal but also they were criticizing my reporting and saying that there were going to be consequences,” Specht said.
WKBW, the local ABC affiliate, reported that the calls began in August 2019, as Specht and the station’s investigative team reported on alleged abuse and corruption scandals at Christ the King Seminary. The voicemails told Specht to end the investigations into the diocese, threatened to end his career and referenced members of his family.
“You’re still a bad Catholic and a horrible reporter,” one voicemail warned, according to the complaint filed against the caller. “I hope to God I don’t see you walking around [town].”
In another, the caller said, “You destroyed the Diocese of Buffalo and Bishop Malone. Oh, you must be so proud. You’re a piece of shit, you really are a piece of shit. You’re not a journalist … and you don’t know how to be a journalist.”
WKBW reached out to law enforcement when the calls began, the outlet reported, but prosecutors needed more information about the caller and the specific nature of the threats.
Specht told the Tracker that the calls kept escalating until Feb. 4 when — moments after Specht gave a live report on the diocese’s announcement that the seminary would be closing — the caller threatened to kill him.
“You must be so happy the seminary’s closing. You’re a bad person. I know where you live,” the caller said. “I’m gonna find you. I’m gonna kill you.”
WKBW decided to cancel Specht’s 6 p.m. live broadcast as a precaution, he told the Tracker.
Specht said that he and his family were shocked and scared by the calls. WKBW hired private security for them and had the family stay in a hotel for a week as prosecutors opened an investigation and assigned an FBI field officer to investigate.
“It was clear that this wasn’t someone who got upset with a news broadcast and did a spur of the moment thing. This was persistent and it seemed like this guy really had it out for me. That’s what really worried us,” Specht said.
The caller, eventually identified as adjunct seminary professor Paul Lubienecki, was arrested and charged with cyberstalking on Feb. 12, accused of making 11 “harassing” phone calls to Specht between August 2019 and February 2020, according to a complaint filed against Lubienecki. If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Specht told WKBW that he was grateful the FBI made the investigation a priority.
“Criticism of news reporting is acceptable and even welcomed. But making personal threats against a reporter for simply doing his job goes against the entire American belief in a free press,” he said.
Bishop Edward Scharfenberger, whom the Pope appointed as interim administrator for the diocese, condemned the threats against Specht in a series of tweets.
“There is no place — nor should there be any tolerance — for threats or harassment towards members of the news media or any one else. This is against who we are as Christians, but also against our nation’s founding principles that guarantee freedom to the press and freedom of speech,” Scharfenberger wrote.
Lubienecki was released on a $2,500 bond to await trial. The judge in the case granted a 60-day adjournment for Lubienecki and his attorney to consider possible defenses, and he is scheduled back in court on April 24.
A portion of the criminal complaint against a Buffalo, New York, man for allegedly cyberstalking a reporter
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, "NYPD arrests photojournalist, charges him with disorderly conduct",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/nypd-arrests-photojournalist-charges-him-disorderly-conduct/,2020-02-14 21:28:47.367239+00:00,2022-05-12 22:25:00.545494+00:00,2022-05-12 22:25:00.398663+00:00,"(2021-08-05 16:39:00+00:00) Photojournalist sues NYPD for unlawful arrest, (2020-05-17 21:47:00+00:00) Charges dropped against photojournalist arrested in NYC","Arrest/Criminal Charge, Equipment Search or Seizure",,press pass: count of 1,,Amr Alfiky (ABC News),,2020-02-11,False,New York,New York (NY),None,None,"Photojournalist Amr Alfiky was arrested while documenting an arrest in New York City, New York, on Feb. 11, 2020.
Alfiky, who is a photo editor at ABC News and a contributor to Reuters and The New York Times, was taking video of a man being arrested at about 7 p.m. in New York’s Lower East Side neighborhood when police took him into custody, Alfiky’s friend Mostafa Bassim told the Committee to Protect Journalists.
In a video captured by Bassim, Alfiky can be heard repeatedly telling officers that he is a journalist as the officers push him toward the back of an SUV. As additional officers approach him, Alfiky can be heard offering to show them his press credentials and stating, “I did not refuse. I did not refuse.”
According to @mostafabassim1 our friend @alfiky_amr, an Egyptian photojournalist w/@Reuters @abcnews, was arretsed by @NYPDnews while taking pictures of police officers arresting someone on the street!
— Tarek Hussein (@TarekHussein22) February 12, 2020
pic.twitter.com/Jc2AST50Gx
An NYPD spokesman alleged that Alfiky “refused to comply with repeated requests to step back,” and didn’t identify himself as a journalist until he was in police custody, the New York Daily News reported.
A police spokesman told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that Alfiky was taken to Manhattan’s 7th precinct and held for several hours before being released. The spokesman also confirmed that Alfiky’s press credential, issued by the NYPD, was confiscated.
That evening on Twitter, Alfiky wrote, “I’m out and safe. Thank you all for your invaluable support!”
Alfiky declined to comment and instead directed the Tracker to his attorney, Mickey Osterreicher.
Osterreicher, general counsel for the National Press Photographers Association, told the Tracker that Alfiky was charged with disorderly conduct and issued a summons for March 31.
“I’m hoping to have [the charges] disposed of before then, either to have the summons voided or to have the charges dismissed,” Osterreicher said.
If convicted, Alfiky could face a fine of up to $250 and up to 15 days in prison under state law.
Osterreicher told the Tracker that Alfiky’s press credential was returned to him on Feb. 14.
A former employee of Comstock's Magazine has been accused of deleting the publication's YouTube channel on Feb. 10, 2020, less than a month after quitting his job at the magazine.
Federal prosecutors allege that Matthew Keys deleted the YouTube channel while on federal probation for a previous hacking offense. In 2015, Keys was convicted of three counts of conspiracy and violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act after he, prosecutors said, gave a member of Anonymous login credentials to access the backend of the Los Angeles Times' site in 2010. (The Los Angeles Times was then owned by the Tribune Company, and Keys was a former employee of a Tribune-owned television station, Sacramento's KTXL FOX 40. Keys denied the allegations at the time.)
Keys was released from federal prison in March 2018 and placed on two years supervised release that was slated to end in April 2020.
Keys joined Comstock's Magazine, a Sacramento-based business periodical, as digital editor in May 2019, according to his LinkedIn page. He quit his job "abruptly" on Jan. 23, 2020, according to a federal court filing by Keys' probation officer.
On Feb. 14, an editor at Comstock’s discovered that the magazine’s YouTube account had been deleted, along with its videos. Tom Couzens, the magazine's executive editor, suspected Keys' involvement in the deletion, and called the U.S. Attorney's Office, according to the filing.
As a condition of his probation, Keys' computer and other electronic devices could be searched with reasonable suspicion, without obtaining a warrant.
In March, probation officers conducted a search of Keys' home, seizing 18 electronic devices, including Keys' iPhone X and Mac laptop, according to the filing.
A digital forensic analysis found that in the early morning of Feb. 10, someone using Keys’ devices performed a Google search for "how to delete YouTube channel.” Then, “approximately 20 seconds later, the user was once again signed into [Comstock’s] YouTube account, accessed the, ‘Manage your YouTube content.’”
Analyzing the forensic evidence, the probation officer concluded "it appears Matthew Keys has exhibited similar conduct to that of the underlying offense by deleting Comstock's Magazine YouTube content," the filing states.
Keys was asked, in the presence of his attorney, about these allegations on April 23, and denied them, according to the filing. "Mr. Keys indicated he believes Couzens' accusations stem from a complaint he filed against Comstock's Magazine with the California Employment Development Department for a hostile work environment," the filing reads. An email sent to Keys' attorney for comment was not returned.
Couzens, reached via email, declined to comment, citing a legal matter.
In the court filing dated April 27, the probation officer asked that due to the coronavirus pandemic, Keys remain out of custody pending a hearing. The judge agreed and set a hearing for June 8.
A portion of the filing requesting a summons for Matthew Keys
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, "Subpoena issued for watchdog blog’s documents, communications",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/subpoena-issued-for-watchdog-blogs-documents-communications/,2020-02-26 18:41:35.766135+00:00,2020-02-26 18:41:35.766135+00:00,2020-02-26 18:41:35.706640+00:00,,Subpoena/Legal Order,,,,,,2020-02-07,False,Stark County,Illinois (IL),None,None,"Illinois-based government watchdog blog Edgar County Watchdogs was subpoenaed on Feb. 7, 2020, for documents and communications relating to coverage of the Stark County board and sheriff.
Former Stark County Board Vice-Chairman Fulvio Zerla brought a lawsuit against the county and Sheriff Steve Sloan, accusing Sloan of violating his civil rights. The county is part of the larger Peoria metropolitan area.
Zerla’s complaint, which was reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, also alleges that Sloan paid Edgar County Watchdogs to attend a board meeting in June 2017 to “disrupt” the proceedings.
Edgar County Watchdogs co-founder John Kraft flatly denied Zerla’s accusations and that they had been paid at any time.
“All we did was attend the meeting and we bring our video camera with us everywhere we go,” Kraft told the Tracker. “We attended the meeting and we told the board that they didn’t comply with the Illinois county code requirement to post about the meeting in the newspaper, and the sheriff came and shut the meeting down.”
The subpoena orders Edgar County Watchdogs to produce documents, notes, photographs and communications relating to three board meetings in mid-2017, the Sheriff Department’s budget, plaintiff Zerla, former board Chairwoman Coleen Magnussen and defendant Sloan.
Zerla’s attorney did not immediately respond to the Tracker’s request for comment.
Kraft told the Tracker that their attorney is filing for an extension on the Feb. 27 deadline for producing the documents, and they intend to fight the production of any documents.
The Tracker has documented multiple other subpoenas involving Edgar County Watchdogs, including a subpoena for their communications and documents relating to the College of DuPage and two subpoenas for the group’s Dropbox contents.
A portion of the subpoena requesting communication from the Illinois watchdog group Edgar County Watchdogs
,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,journalist communications or work product,['PENDING'],None,None,None,None,None,None,Edgar County Watchdogs,,,,,, "Journalist barred from recording, removed from New Mexico Senate proceeding",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-barred-recording-removed-new-mexico-senate-proceeding/,2020-03-06 16:52:19.258072+00:00,2020-03-06 16:52:19.258072+00:00,2020-03-06 16:52:19.142328+00:00,,Denial of Access,,,,Rachel Knapp (KRQE News 13),,2020-02-06,False,Santa Fe,New Mexico (NM),35.68698,-105.9378,"Rachel Knapp, a reporter for dual CBS/Fox-affiliate KRQE, was barred from recording and removed from a state Senate committee meeting in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on Feb. 6, 2020.
Knapp wrote an account of the incident for the outlet, describing the lawmakers’ behavior as “bizarre.”
According to Knapp, Sen. Antoinette Sedillo Lopez, vice chair of the Senate Conservation Committee, interrupted the chair to note that Knapp was filming and ask if she had received permission or would like to request it. While committee meetings are streamed through a webcast, Senate rules at the time barred anyone from photographing or recording audio or video without permission from the committee chair. KRQE reported that it never saw the rule enforced, and that a sign posted outside the room to notify the public of the policy noted that the news media was exempt.
“I figured, it was a public meeting,” Knapp said, identifying herself as a member of the press. A second senator then expressed opposition to her filming, according to KRQE.
“I just prefer this not to be spliced and edited to be used against someone and have someone not be totally truthful in their comments in a bill because they’re worried how something might be splashed and cut in a newscast,” Sen. Pat Woods said.
Seconds later, Sedillo Lopez said, “OK, I’m sorry but I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”
KRQE reported that the sign noting media exemption was removed after its broadcast about the incident.
Bill Anderson, general manager of KRQE, told the Albuquerque Journal that the incident was unacceptable, adding that he assumed it was an “error in judgement.”
“Nothing good happens in government when these people close the door and want to talk when no one’s listening,” Anderson said.
Sen. Jeff Steinborn told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that Sedillo Lopez had overstepped the bounds of the policy by asking Knapp to leave.
“The rule doesn’t allow for that at all,” Steinborn said. “That incident was rightfully embarrassing to the institution: It shined a light on the problem and made it an imperative to fix it.”
In late January, Steinborn had proposed a resolution to change the rule and allow for both the public and media to record and photograph meetings. The resolution passed without opposition on Feb. 12, after the incident with Knapp.
The Roundhouse is one step closer to full transparency for the public. @jeff4nm Resolution 2 was passed in Senate Rules this morning- it will allow the public to record video and take photos during a Senate committee meeting WITHOUT asking for permission first @krqe pic.twitter.com/JA4203WePD
— Rachel Knapp (@RachelKnappNews) February 12, 2020
Steinborn told the Tracker that seeing a crowd of people pull out their phones to take pictures a few days after the resolution passed was heartening.
“It was the best endorsement that we could have that, of course, we had done the right thing,” Steinborn said. “It was a good thing for democracy and a good thing for the citizens of the state.”
The capitol building in Santa Fe, New Mexico, is referred to informally as the 'Roundhouse.'
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,,New Mexico Senate CNN anchors excluded from lunch with president ahead of State of the Union,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cnn-anchors-excluded-lunch-president-ahead-state-union/,2020-02-04 20:14:34.189448+00:00,2020-02-04 20:14:34.189448+00:00,2020-02-04 20:14:34.088006+00:00,,Other Incident,,,,,,2020-02-04,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"CNN reported that the outlet was excluded from participating in the annual presidential lunch with broadcast and cable anchors ahead of President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address on Feb. 4, 2020.
CNN Business’ Brian Stelter reported that the event — hosted by Trump like presidents before him — is an off-the-record opportunity for anchors to gain insight into the topics the president will cover during the evening’s speech as well as his state of mind.
According to CNN, “This is the first time in recent memory that a president has singled out one network and opted to not invite any anchors from there.” Stelter noted anchor Wolf Blitzer has attended the lunch for more than 20 years.
When asked to confirm whether CNN was banned from the luncheon, White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Hogan Gidley said he could not.
“I can tell you that anybody who has a private lunch that’s off the record can invite whomever they see fit,” Gidley said.
When pressed whether it was right for CNN to be excluded, Gidley responded that the president wants to have a conversation with news outlets about what he plans to discuss and his accomplishments. “And if that has a place for opinion journalism than it does, if it doesn’t, it doesn’t,” Gidley said.
He didn’t answer further questions on referring to the major news network as “opinion journalism.”
Ahead of last year’s luncheon, Politico reported that despite Trump’s persistent attacks on the media in rallies and tweets, he has typically continued such traditions.
Trump has directed his ire at CNN more than 100 times during his tenure as president, denigrating or insulting the outlet or its reporters in 140 tweets and declining all interview requests. His administration also suspended the press credentials of chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta in November 2018 until a federal court ruled in CNN’s favor.
On Capitol Hill, a television is tuned to CNN for the 2019 State of the Union address by President Donald Trump. This year, anchors from the news outlet were excluded from a traditional pre-event luncheon.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,CNN,,,,,, "Tennessee lawmaker introduces bill to declare CNN, Washington Post ‘fake news’",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/tennessee-lawmaker-introduces-bill-to-declare-cnn-washington-post-fake-news/,2020-01-31 17:41:00.594493+00:00,2021-10-05 20:07:42.868647+00:00,2021-10-05 20:07:42.821349+00:00,,Chilling Statement,,,,,,2020-01-29,False,Nashville,Tennessee (TN),36.16589,-86.78444,"A Republican State Representative in Tennessee filed a joint resolution declaring CNN and The Washington Post “fake news” for introduction on Jan. 29, 2020.
The resolution was introduced by Tennessee State Rep. Micah Van Huss, and co-sponsored by Reps. Dennis Powers, Bruce Griffey and Mike Sparks. A brief description of the statement of intent or position on the official assembly website reads, “Recognizes CNN and the Washington Post as fake news and condemns them for denigrating our citizens.”
Van Huss told News Channel 11 he had a list of articles and outlets that were “very hypocritical,” but limited the scope of the bill to the Post and CNN. The bill specifically cites the two outlets’ reviews of the same book, “The Cult of Trump,” by Steven Hassan.
Announcing the bill on Twitter, Van Huss wrote, “The State of Tennessee recognizes CNN and The Washington Post as fake news and part of the media wing of the Democrat Party. I’ve filed HJR 779 on behalf of a constituency that’s tired of fake news and Republicans who don’t fight.”
The State of Tennessee recognizes CNN and The Washington Post as fake news and part of the media wing of the Democrat Party.
— Micah Van Huss (@MicahVanHuss) January 29, 2020
I've filed HJR 779 on behalf of a constituency that's tired of fake news and Republicans who don't fight.
Follow it's progress: https://t.co/7qp6E7q9LT pic.twitter.com/XyqQETtLKy
The language used in Van Huss’ tweet closely mirrors that used in President Donald Trump’s negative tweets about the media. Trump has used the epithet “fake news” in 630 tweets as president, and has targeted CNN and the Post or their reporters in 228 and 116 tweets, respectively.
Brad Batt, who plans to challenge Van Huss for his House seat, told News Channel 11 the bill is “a waste of time and taxpayer money.”
“We should be focused on addressing real problems,” Batt said in his statement.
Once the bill is introduced it must be passed by both the Tennessee House and Senate before going before the governor.
A man wears a 'CNN is fake news' T-shirt at a 2018 California rally for President Trump. A Tennessee state representative has introduced a resolution to recognize CNN and The Washington Post as ‘fake news’ outlets.
,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,"CNN, The Washington Post",,,,,, Journalist subpoenaed for communications in ongoing defamation suit,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-subpoenaed-communications-ongoing-defamation-suit/,2020-03-03 20:30:36.786565+00:00,2020-03-04 15:50:00.015928+00:00,2020-03-04 15:49:59.851255+00:00,,Subpoena/Legal Order,,,,Cassandra Fairbanks (Gateway Pundit),,2020-01-29,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"As part of an ongoing defamation lawsuit between NPR and Texas businessman Ed Butowsky, the public media company subpoenaed Gateway Pundit reporter Cassandra Fairbanks on Jan. 29, 2020.
In June 2018, Butowsky filed a lawsuit against NPR, its reporter David Folkenflik and several editorial staff members. The $57 million defamation suit stems from the outlet’s reporting on a lawsuit filed against Butowsky by a former Fox News contributor and Butowsky’s involvement in propelling a conspiracy involving Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich, who was murdered in July 2016.
Isabel Lara, executive director of media relations for NPR, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that Butowsky listed Fairbanks as a witness during the course of discovery.
“We therefore have to ask for information to see whether his claims about her involvement are true,” Lara said.
The subpoena requests all documents related to and communications with a number of individuals, including journalists Oliver Darcy, Seymour “Sy” Hersh, Adam Housley, Lara Logan, Kerry Picket, Ellen Ratner and Malia Zimmerman; America First Media and its founder Matt Couch; WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange; and “Fox News or any of its owners, representatives, employees, or agents.”
Fairbanks tweeted that she had never heard of, let alone communicated with, some of the individuals listed.
NPR, a news organization funded by taxpayers, subpoenaed me for my conversations with Julian Assange and a whole host of other people, including journalists. Some of whom I’ve never even heard of.
— Cassandra Fairbanks 🕊⏳ (@CassandraRules) February 2, 2020
The subpoena also requests that Fairbanks turn over all documents or communications concerning the investigation in the murder of Rich, the 2016 leak of DNC emails or any of the lawsuits connected to the conspiracy surrounding the DNC staffer’s death. In one of these lawsuits, Seth Rich’s brother, Aaron Rich, subpoenaed Twitter for account information for Fairbanks and numerous others.
Fairbanks told the Tracker that she was shocked when she received the subpoena.
“I thought, ‘Wow, they’re trying to get my source material, that’s crazy,’” Fairbanks said.
In an emailed response to the subpoena shared with the Tracker, Fairbanks’s attorney Ronald Coleman wrote that the subpoena requested work product protected under the District of Columbia’s reporter shield law.
“For this reason no documents or other things will be produced pursuant to the subpoena,” Coleman wrote. Fairbanks told the Tracker that to her knowledge NPR’s attorneys have not responded.
Lara, NPR’s media relations director, said the outlet’s lawyers are discussing with Coleman whether there is non-privileged information that could be disclosed.
“We do not intend to seek information that is in fact protected by a journalistic privilege or other privilege,” she said.
Fairbanks told the Tracker that the subpoena has shaken the confidence of her sources. “I’ve had people who’ve given me things for stories before reaching out and saying, ‘I think I would fall under this subpoena because we’ve talked about WikiLeaks. Please don’t give it to them,’” Fairbanks said.
“They’ve been panicking. So, obviously they’re not giving me anything now, nobody is,” she added.
In February 2020, NPR filed a motion to bring sanctions against Butowsky and his lawyers and to dismiss the case, alleging that they had knowingly been misleading or lied in court filings that contributed to the court’s initial decision against dismissing.
“Butowksy brought this lawsuit against NPR in response to truthful but unwanted press about a lawsuit that had been filed against him,“ the motion reads.
The case is currently scheduled to go to trial in mid-2021.
A portion of the subpoena requesting documents, communications from reporter Cassandra Fairbanks.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,journalist communications or work product,['PENDING'],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, Court denies motion to quash subpoena against journalist working on book about 1993 NY murder,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/court-denies-motion-to-quash-subpoena-against-journalist-working-on-book-about-1993-ny-murder/,2021-02-09 17:41:50.583074+00:00,2021-02-09 17:41:50.583074+00:00,2021-02-09 17:41:50.536925+00:00,,Subpoena/Legal Order,,,,Samantha Christmann (Freelance),,2020-01-29,False,Lockport,New York (NY),43.17061,-78.69031,"Journalist Samantha Christmann was subpoenaed on Jan. 29, 2020, to testify about her interviews with the defendant in an ongoing murder trial in Lockport, New York. Christmann’s motion to quash the subpoena was dismissed by the Niagara County Court on Jan. 21, 2021, according to her lawyer.
The trial involves the 1993 murder of Mandy Steingasser, who was strangled to death when she was 17. In 2018, police charged Joseph H. Belstadt with the murder after newly tested DNA evidence allegedly connected him to the crime. Belstadt had long been a suspect in the crime but was only charged when the new testing was done on DNA recovered from his car in 1993, according to The Buffalo News.
Christmann is a business reporter for The Buffalo News but will not cover the trial for the outlet, The News said. Michael Higgins, Christmann’s lawyer, said she is working on a book about the murder case and was subpoenaed as an independent journalist. According to the paper, she went to school with both Steingasser and Belstadt, and in interviews she did with Belstadt he gave a different account of his whereabouts when the murder happened than what he had told police.
Higgins filed a motion to quash the subpoena in June 2020 and told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he argued Christmann was protected by New York state journalist shield laws. After the court refused to quash the subpoena, Higgins told the Tracker that Christmann did not plan to appeal the ruling. He said it is unclear when the court might call Christmann to testify; the trial has faced delays due to the state’s COVID-19 restrictions on jury trials.
In apparent retaliation for an NPR reporter’s interview with Mike Pompeo, the State Department removed a different NPR reporter from accompanying the secretary on an official trip abroad.
During an interview on Jan. 24, Mary Louise Kelly, co-host of NPR’s “All Things Considered” and a former national security correspondent, asked Pompeo about U.S. policy and Iran and his role in the Ukrainian affair, particularly the dismissal of the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch.
NPR reported that an aide cut off the interview immediately following Kelly’s questions on Ukraine. Pompeo then leaned in, glared silently at Kelly and left the room. A few moments later, the same aid asked Kelly to follow her into Pompeo’s private living room at the State Department without a recorder, not specifying that the conversation would be off the record.
“He shouted at me for about the same amount of time as the [9-minute] interview itself had lasted,” Kelly told her “All Things Considered” co-host Ari Shapiro. “He was not happy to have been questioned about Ukraine. He asked, ‘Do you think Americans care about Ukraine?’ He used the f-word in that sentence and many others.”
“He asked if I could find Ukraine on a map. I said yes. He called out for his aides to bring him a map of the world with no writing, no countries marked. I pointed to Ukraine, he put the map away. He said, ‘People will hear about this.’ And then he turned and said he had things to do,” Kelly said.
The following day, Pompeo issued a rare official statement — a medium typically used for condemnations of human rights violations or announcing sanctions — denouncing Kelly and the media as a whole.
In the statement, Pompeo accuses Kelly of lying to him twice: both in setting up the interview and when agreeing to have their post-interview conversation off the record.
“It is shameful that this reporter chose to violate the basic rules of journalism and decency,” the statement reads. “This is another example of how unhinged the media has become in its quest to hurt President Trump and this Administration. It is no wonder that the American people distrust many in the media when they so consistently demonstrate their agenda and their absence of integrity.”
NPR Senior Vice President for News Nancy Barnes and President and CEO John Lansing came to Kelly’s defense, citing her integrity and professionalism, and stood behind NPR’s reporting.
In an interview with “All Things Considered,” Lansing acknowledged that tensions can and do arise when journalists press officials on hard questions. “But this goes well beyond tension — this goes toward intimidation,” Lansing said. “And let me just say this: We will not be intimidated. Mary Louise Kelly won’t be intimidated, and NPR won’t be intimidated.”
Kelly also wrote about the incident in an opinion article for The New York Times, in which she recounted the interview and said, “Journalists don’t sit down with senior government officials in the service of scoring political points. We do it in the service of asking tough questions, on behalf of our fellow citizens.”
Five Democratic members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee — ranking member Bob Menendez (NJ), Cory Booker (NJ), Ed Markey (MA), Jeff Merkley (OR) and Tim Kaine (VA) — wrote a letter castigating Pompeo’s statement, The Hill reported.
“At a time when journalists around the world are being jailed for their reporting — and as in the case of Jamal Khashoggi, killed — your insulting and contemptuous comments are beneath the office of the Secretary of State,” the letter reads.
At a time when journalists around the world are being jailed for their reporting, Sec Pompeo’s insulting and contemptuous comments to NPR’s @NPRKelly are beneath the office of the Secretary of State.
— Senator Bob Menendez (@SenatorMenendez) January 25, 2020
Read our letter 👇 pic.twitter.com/x3qaRrUXTM
Pompeo was echoing language often used by President Donald Trump, who has previously referred to the press as “unhinged,” and blamed an absence of “journalistic standards, for waning public trust in the media. Trump has also affirmed critiques of NPR and praised Pompeo’s actions in regards to Kelly.
On Jan. 27, the State Department Correspondents’ Association released a statement in response to the department’s decision to remove NPR correspondent Michele Kelemen from Pompeo’s plane, asserting that the move was “retaliation” against the outlet and urging it to reconsider the decision.
“The removal of Michele, who was in rotation as the radio pool reporter, comes days after Secretary Pompeo harshly criticized the work of an NPR host. We can only conclude that the State Department is retaliating against National Public Radio as a result of this exchange,” said Shaun Tandon, the association’s president.
“The State Department press corps has a long tradition of accompanying secretaries of state on their travels and we find it unacceptable to punish an individual member of our association.”
NPR’s Lansing and Barnes wrote to the State Department on Jan. 28 asking for confirmation of Kelemen’s removal from Pompeo’s official trip and clarification around NPR access. The letter also asked for copies of policy and procedures regarding pool reporters, as well as correspondence regarding the Kelemen decision.
The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo departs early on Jan. 29, 2020, from Maryland for an official trip to Europe. The State Department removed an NPR reporter from this trip in apparent retaliation to Pompeo’s dispute with another NPR reporter.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,NPR,,,,,,Secretary of State Mike Pompeo State agency sends cease-and-desist letter to NBC journalists,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/state-agency-sends-cease-and-desist-letter-nbc-journalists/,2020-03-04 21:06:59.528043+00:00,2022-04-06 17:00:05.758091+00:00,2022-04-06 17:00:05.689661+00:00,,Chilling Statement,,,,"Mike Hixenbaugh (NBC News), Janelle Richards (NBC News)",,2020-01-24,False,Madison,Wisconsin (WI),43.07305,-89.40123,"The Wisconsin Department of Children and Families sent a cease-and-desist letter to an NBC reporter and producer on Jan. 24, 2020, in an effort to block the outlet from publishing information the agency believed was confidential.
NBC investigative reporter Mike Hixenbaugh told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he received the letter a few days after he had emailed the child welfare agency requesting an interview. The letter, shared with the Tracker, advised Hixenbaugh and NBC Nightly News producer Janelle Richards that the disclosure of a confidential file is a criminal offense punishable by up to 6 months imprisonment and up to a $1,000 fine, under state law.
“Please cease and desist immediately from any further illegal use and disclosure of the documents in the child abuse investigation file illegally disclosed to you, and any information obtained in that file,” wrote the agency’s chief legal counsel Therese Durkin. “Failure to comply will lead to further legal action.”
Hixenbaugh told the Tracker that in all of his reporting on child protective services across the country, never before had a state agency reached out to block his reporting or threaten him.
“It was unusual and surprising to receive a letter that suggested that I could be imprisoned for doing journalism,” he said.
NBC attorney Alexander Ziccardi emailed a response to the letter, noting that the agency had falsely assumed the information used in the outlet’s reporting could only have been obtained from a confidential report.
“[V]irtually all of that information is available from alternative sources that are entirely independent of the CPS investigation file,” he wrote. Ziccardi added that even if NBC did source information from a CPS report it would “unquestionably” be protected under the First Amendment.
Sarah Matthews, a staff attorney with the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, confirmed to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that media outlets cannot be held liable when publishing information that a third-party illegally obtained or disclosed. Matthews is also on the Tracker’s advisory board.
Hixenbaugh told the Tracker that his reporting ultimately cited only court records and other legally obtained files, such as hospital records and criminal complaints, making no references to a CPS investigative file.
Thomas McCarthy, communications director for the agency, told the Tracker that the letter was meant not as a threat but as a warning, as the department cannot itself pursue criminal charges.
“We are concerned with how he received the information, but understand and respect his role as a journalist to report,” McCarthy said.
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers spoke in support of the department’s actions after the letter was publicized by media and First Amendment organizations.
“I believe it’s appropriate that DCF protects the kid in this case. Somebody’s got to stick up for that young kid who was deemed to be abused,” Evers said, according to the Journal Sentinel. “Somebody’s got to stand up for the kind, and we did and I did support that.”
Hixenbaugh emphasized to the Tracker that the privacy of the allegedly abused child was never threatened, as journalistic ethics prevent such disclosures.
“Although through many different means we are aware of her name and identifying information, we did not name her and would never have named her in this situation,” Hixenbaugh said.
NBC News investigative reporter Mike Hixenbaugh was sent a cease-and-desist letter by the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, "Two journalists attacked, news van vandalized while covering Puerto Rico protests",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/two-journalists-attacked-news-van-vandalized-while-covering-puerto-rico-protests/,2020-02-13 16:18:10.426228+00:00,2022-02-16 22:56:29.471356+00:00,2022-02-16 22:56:29.387922+00:00,,Assault,,,,Kefrén Velázquez (NotiCentro WAPA-TV),,2020-01-23,False,San Juan,Puerto Rico (PR),None,None,"Two journalists for NotiCentro WAPA-TV were attacked while covering protests in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Jan. 23, 2020.
According to translations made available to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, reporter Kefrén Velázquez and photojournalist Luis Ojeda were covering protests against Gov. Wanda Vázquez Garced and her administration in Old San Juan.
Shortly after police fired a canister of tear gas toward the crowd around 11 p.m., the station’s news vehicle was attacked. An editorial by NotiCentro News Director Rafael Lenín López detailed the event, and a photo published by the outlet shows damage to the side mirrors and windshield, as well as spray painted messages on the hood and side door.
Newspaper Primera Hora reported that Velázquez interceded when individuals attempted to set the car on fire. Though Velázquez was able to stop the vandals, others threw stones at him. The individuals also reportedly attacked Ojeda with a piece of wood. Ojeda's assault is documented here.
In an interview with his station the following morning, Velázquez said that police officers did not act quickly to protect them from the riot. However, eventually the Special Forces lined up in front of him and Ojeda.
“There were two completely different environments,” Velázquez said. “During the afternoon hours, I walked with the demonstrators and colleagues Sylvia Verónica Camacho, producer Erika Martínez and Luis Ojeda. We walked with them until we reached La Fortaleza and by then everyone was chanting and dancing.”
Velázquez said that he wouldn’t describe the people who attacked him and Ojeda later that evening as demonstrators.
“I will call them ‘individuals’ because they were certainly not the people we saw before,” Velázquez said. He added that the attackers had hammers and baseball bats, not the pans or cowbells used during the march.
The reporter tweeted a thank you to those who reached out with their concerns, and said that Ojeda was doing well. Neither journalist responded to the Tracker’s requests for comment.
A todos los que han enviado texto, WhatsApp, llamadas, tuits etc. Gracias! Estoy bien! Todavía sorprendido como terminó la noche, pero pa' alante. Mi compañero fotoperiodista, Luis Ojeda (Ojedita) fue golpeado con un cuartón de madera, pero está bien y recuperando. #VamoArriba
— Kefrén Velázquez (@kefvelazquez) January 24, 2020
López wrote in his editorial, “To attack the press is to attack the country. It undermines the right to expression.”
“Noticentro will not let its guard down in our work or informing and watching everyone equally. On the contrary, events like these make us braver to affirm that we are with you always,” López said.
Protesters gather in front of the capitol building on Jan. 23, 2020, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, after a warehouse full of unused Hurricane Maria relief aid was discovered.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,unknown,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,protest,,,,, NotiCentro vehicle vandalized during Puerto Rico protests,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/noticentro-vehicle-vandalized-during-puerto-rico-protests/,2020-02-13 17:08:17.680704+00:00,2021-09-24 18:27:27.332468+00:00,2021-09-24 18:27:27.278317+00:00,,Equipment Damage,,,vehicle: count of 1,,,2020-01-23,False,San Juan,Puerto Rico (PR),None,None,"A NotiCentro WAPA-TV news vehicle was vandalized while the news crew covered protests in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Jan. 23, 2020.
According to translations made available to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, reporter Kefrén Velázquez and photojournalist Luis Ojeda were covering protests against Gov. Wanda Vázquez Garced and her administration in Old San Juan.
Shortly after police fired a canister of tear gas towards the crowd around 11 p.m., the station’s news vehicle was attacked by protestors, according to an editorial by NotiCentro News Director Rafael Lenín López. A photo published by the outlet shows damage to the side mirrors and windshield, as well as spray painted messages on the hood and side door.
Newspaper Primera Hora reported that Velázquez interceded when protesters attempted to set the car on fire. Though Velázquez was able to stop the vandals, individuals then attacked both journalists. It was not immediately clear how extensive the damage to the vehicle was.
Two journalists for NotiCentro WAPA-TV were attacked while covering protests in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Jan. 23, 2020.
According to translations made available to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, reporter Kefrén Velázquez and photojournalist Luis Ojeda were covering protests against Gov. Wanda Vázquez Garced and her administration in Old San Juan.
Shortly after police fired a canister of tear gas towards the crowd around 11 p.m., the station’s news vehicle was attacked by protestors, according to an editorial by NotiCentro News Director Rafael Lenín López. A photo published by the outlet shows damage to the side mirrors and windshield, as well as spray painted messages on the hood and side door.
Newspaper Primera Hora reported that Velázquez interceded when protesters attempted to set the car on fire. Though Velázquez was able to stop the vandals, protesters threw stones at him. The Tracker has documented Velázquez’s assault here.
The individuals also reportedly attacked Ojeda with a piece of wood.
In an interview with his station the following morning, Velázquez said that police officers did not act quickly to protect them from the riot. However, eventually the Special Forces lined up in front of him and Ojeda.
“There were two completely different environments,” Velázquez said. “During the afternoon hours, I walked with the demonstrators and colleagues Sylvia Verónica Camacho, producer Erika Martínez and Luis Ojeda. We walked with them until we reached La Fortaleza and by then everyone was chanting and dancing.”
Velázquez said that he wouldn’t describe the people who attacked him and Ojeda later that evening as demonstrators.
“I will call them ‘individuals’ because they were certainly not the people we saw before,” Velázquez said. He added that the attackers had hammers and baseball bats, not the pans or cowbells used during the march.
The reporter tweeted a thank you to those who reached out with their concerns, and said that Ojeda was doing well. Neither journalist responded to the Tracker’s requests for comment.
A todos los que han enviado texto, WhatsApp, llamadas, tuits etc. Gracias! Estoy bien! Todavía sorprendido como terminó la noche, pero pa' alante. Mi compañero fotoperiodista, Luis Ojeda (Ojedita) fue golpeado con un cuartón de madera, pero está bien y recuperando. #VamoArriba
— Kefrén Velázquez (@kefvelazquez) January 24, 2020
López wrote in his editorial, “To attack the press is to attack the country. It undermines the right to expression.”
“Noticentro will not let its guard down in our work or informing and watching everyone equally. On the contrary, events like these make us braver to affirm that we are with you always,” López said.
A La Mesa, California, business owner was arrested after altercations with several news crews on Jan. 20, 2020. The man also threw a reporter’s video camera to the ground, causing thousands of dollars of damage.
Reporters and photographers had gathered outside of a men’s apparel store to speak with owner Peter Carzis concerning allegations that he had engaged in lewd and inappropriate behavior in front of his shop.
Claudia Buccio, a multimedia journalist for Univision, posted on Instagram that she was capturing footage in front of the store for her piece and did not see Carzis approach her.
“He yanked my shoulder, pushed me and then he grabbed my camera and threw it to the sidewalk,” she wrote. “Thank God there were fellow journalists in the area who jumped out at my defense.”
Buccio wrote in a subsequent comment that several other news crews were in the area to report on the accusations against Carzis, but were in their vehicles and did not film the attack.
A crew from KUSI News, an independent station in San Diego, was among those who came to Buccio’s defense. KUSI News Director Steve Cohen told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that reporter Dan Plante stepped in to stop Carzis’ attack.
Plante recounted the incident in a live broadcast that evening.
“The first person he went after when he came out blazing was a young woman from Univision, and he pushed her up against the wall and he took her camera and he threw it in the street and broke it into a hundred pieces,” he said.
Carzis then turned on Plante.
A video taken by Plante on his cellphone shows Carzis attempting to hit him multiple times before rounding on KUSI cameraman Michael Saucedo, pushing him into a couple parking meters and pursuing him several yards down the sidewalk.
Media assaulted, camera broken, women groped in public and Peter Carzis is finally tracked down and arrested in downtown San Diego. After “years of abuse” the people in the Village of La Mesa are breathing easier now that police are taking action. KUSI Tonight pic.twitter.com/a7ZgMqNP2d
— Dan Plante (@DanPlanteKUSI) January 22, 2020
In the video, Plante can be heard telling Carzis that he’s “about to get arrested.” Carzis then turns again on Plante, attempting to both hit and kick him. A brief scuffle ensued as Plante attempted to keep Carzis at a distance, according to his accounting of the attack.
“When he was throwing punches at me, I was kind of laughing a little bit because I’m not afraid of a guy like that,” Plante said. “So what was going through my mind was, ‘Block the punches, block the kicks, get it all on video tape and expose this guy for who he is.’ And I believe that’s what happened.”
Carzis did land a blow against him, Plante said, resulting in a small cut on his nose from a piece of jewelry Carzis was wearing. Plante also dropped his phone in the altercation, but KUSI News Director Cohen told the Tracker it was not damaged.
Other journalists, including ABC 10News reporter Mimi Elkalla and photographer Virginia Creighton, witnessed the assaults but were not targeted by Carzis.
Just moments after a store owner attacks members of the media Peters men’s clothing store owner wanted for questioning. @LaMesaPD @fox5sandiego pic.twitter.com/0zZGKSmYvh
— Jaime Chambers (@jaimechambers) January 20, 2020
Plante called 911 and Carzis retreated to his store, locking the door behind him. Carzis was gone by the time police arrived, according to a press release from the La Mesa Police Department.
Police said that after canvassing the area, they located Carzis in nearby San Diego and arrested him on Jan. 21 on charges of misdemeanor battery and felony vandalism.
“Carzis is accused of battering multiple reporters and causing irreparable damage to a video camera reported to be worth approximately $7,000.00,” the press release states.
KUSI News Director Cohen told the Tracker that the broadcaster had not needed to press charges, but they expect Plante or Saucedo will need to provide testimony as the case against Carzis moves forward.
“It was just an absolutely crazy thing,” Plante said of the attack.
Several news crews were on scene when a La Mesa, California, store owner broke a Univision video camera and accosted this KUSI News cameraman and other journalists.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, "Shop owner charged with assaulting journalists, breaking Univision equipment",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/shop-owner-charged-assaulting-journalists-breaking-univision-equipment/,2020-01-27 21:17:49.849740+00:00,2021-11-09 21:58:59.588638+00:00,2021-11-09 21:58:59.535126+00:00,,"Equipment Damage, Assault",,,camera: count of 1,Claudia Buccio (Univision),,2020-01-20,False,La Mesa,California (CA),32.76783,-117.02308,"A La Mesa, California, business owner was arrested after altercations with several news crews on Jan. 20, 2020. The man also threw a Univision reporter’s video camera to the ground, causing thousands of dollars of damage.
Reporters and photographers had gathered outside of a men’s apparel store to speak with owner Peter Carzis concerning allegations that he had engaged in lewd and inappropriate behavior in front of his shop.
Claudia Buccio, a multimedia journalist for Univision, posted on Instagram that she was capturing footage in front of the store for her piece and did not see Carzis approach her.
“He yanked my shoulder, pushed me and then he grabbed my camera and threw it to the sidewalk,” she wrote. “Thank God there were fellow journalists in the area who jumped out at my defense.”
Buccio wrote in a subsequent comment that several other news crews were in the area to report on the accusations against Carzis, but were in their vehicles and did not film the attack.
Journalists from independent San Diego station KUSI News were among those who came to Buccio’s defense.
Reporter Dan Plante recounted the incident in a live broadcast that evening.
“The first person he went after when he came out blazing was a young woman from Univision, and he pushed her up against the wall and he took her camera and he threw it in the street and broke it into a hundred pieces,” he said.
Carzis then turned on Plante and KUSI cameraman Michael Saucedo.
Media assaulted, camera broken, women groped in public and Peter Carzis is finally tracked down and arrested in downtown San Diego. After “years of abuse” the people in the Village of La Mesa are breathing easier now that police are taking action. KUSI Tonight pic.twitter.com/a7ZgMqNP2d
— Dan Plante (@DanPlanteKUSI) January 22, 2020
Other journalists, including ABC 10News reporter Mimi Elkalla and photographer Virginia Creighton, witnessed the assaults but were not targeted by Carzis.
Plante called 911 and Carzis retreated to his store, locking the door behind him. Carzis was gone by the time police arrived, according to a press release from the La Mesa Police Department.
Police said that after canvassing the area, they located Carzis in nearby San Diego and arrested him on Jan. 21 on charges of misdemeanor battery and felony vandalism.
“Carzis is accused of battering multiple reporters and causing irreparable damage to a video camera reported to be worth approximately $7,000.00,” the press release states.
The owner of a men’s clothing store in La Mesa, California, was arrested and charged with assault of several journalists and damage to this Univision video camera.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, "Shop owner in California charged with assaulting journalists, breaking camera equipment",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/shop-owner-in-california-charged-with-assaulting-journalists-breaking-camera-equipment/,2021-09-24 17:40:21.534976+00:00,2021-09-24 17:40:21.534976+00:00,2021-09-24 17:40:21.494808+00:00,,Assault,,,,Michael Saucedo (KUSI News),,2020-01-20,False,La Mesa,California (CA),32.76783,-117.02308,"A La Mesa, California, business owner was arrested after altercations with several news crews on Jan. 20, 2020. The man also threw a reporter’s video camera to the ground, causing thousands of dollars of damage.
Reporters and photographers had gathered outside of a men’s apparel store to speak with owner Peter Carzis concerning allegations that he had engaged in lewd and inappropriate behavior in front of his shop.
Claudia Buccio, a multimedia journalist for Univision, posted on Instagram that she was capturing footage in front of the store and did not see Carzis approach her.
“He yanked my shoulder, pushed me and then he grabbed my camera and threw it to the sidewalk,” she wrote. “Thank God there were fellow journalists in the area who jumped out at my defense.”
Buccio wrote in a subsequent comment that several other news crews were in the area to report on the accusations against Carzis, but were in their vehicles and did not film the attack.
A crew from KUSI News, an independent station in San Diego, was among those who came to Buccio’s defense. KUSI News Director Steve Cohen told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that reporter Dan Plante stepped in to stop Carzis’ attack.
Plante recounted the incident in a live broadcast that evening.
“The first person he went after when he came out blazing was a young woman from Univision, and he pushed her up against the wall and he took her camera and he threw it in the street and broke it into a hundred pieces,” he said.
Carzis then turned on Plante. The Tracker has documented that assault here.
A video taken by Plante on his cellphone shows Carzis attempting to hit him multiple times before rounding on KUSI cameraman Michael Saucedo, pushing him into a couple parking meters and pursuing him several yards down the sidewalk.
Media assaulted, camera broken, women groped in public and Peter Carzis is finally tracked down and arrested in downtown San Diego. After “years of abuse” the people in the Village of La Mesa are breathing easier now that police are taking action. KUSI Tonight pic.twitter.com/a7ZgMqNP2d
— Dan Plante (@DanPlanteKUSI) January 22, 2020
In the video, Plante can be heard telling Carzis that he’s “about to get arrested.” Carzis then turns again on Plante, attempting to both hit and kick him. A brief scuffle ensued as Plante attempted to keep Carzis at a distance, according to his account of the attack.
Carzis did land a blow against him, Plante said, resulting in a small cut on his nose from a piece of jewelry Carzis was wearing. Plante also dropped his phone in the altercation, but KUSI News Director Cohen told the Tracker it was not damaged.
Other journalists, including ABC 10News reporter Mimi Elkalla and photographer Virginia Creighton, witnessed the assaults but were not targeted by Carzis.
Just moments after a store owner attacks members of the media Peters men’s clothing store owner wanted for questioning. @LaMesaPD @fox5sandiego pic.twitter.com/0zZGKSmYvh
— Jaime Chambers (@jaimechambers) January 20, 2020
Plante called 911 and Carzis retreated to his store, locking the door behind him. Carzis was gone by the time police arrived, according to a press release from the La Mesa Police Department.
Police said that after canvassing the area, they located Carzis in nearby San Diego and arrested him on Jan. 21 on charges of misdemeanor battery and felony vandalism.
“Carzis is accused of battering multiple reporters and causing irreparable damage to a video camera reported to be worth approximately $7,000.00,” the press release states.
KUSI News Director Cohen told the Tracker that the broadcaster had not needed to press charges, but they expect Plante or Saucedo will need to provide testimony as the case against Carzis moves forward.
Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Michael Stenger implemented restrictions on media access in advance of the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, which began on Jan. 16, 2020.
Roll Call reported that the planned restrictions were announced following months of discussions between the Capitol’s chief security officials, including Stenger and the Capitol Police chief, Senate Rules Chairman Roy Blunt and the Standing Committee of Correspondents, which represents the interests of credentialed congressional reporters.
The new restrictions exceed those that were in place during the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton in 1998, Roll Call reported, in part spurred by the hundreds of protestors that flooded the Capitol during the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh.
Sarah D. Wire, a congressional reporter for the Los Angeles Times and chair of the Standing Committee of Correspondents tweeted that the Committee suggested changes to the restrictions prior to them being finalized. “Our suggestions were rejected,” Wire wrote, “without an explanation of how the restrictions contribute to safety rather than simply limit coverage of the trial.”
In a letter to Senate majority and minority leaders sent on Jan. 14, the Committee expressed its strong opposition to the planned restrictions, which it said failed to take into account the effective policies and practices that are currently in place.
The Committee listed the restrictions as:
When the formal procession to deliver of the articles of impeachment from the House to the Senate took place on Jan. 15, the restriction limiting coverage to a single pool camera was lifted, or at least not enforced.
Wire told CNN Business that when impeachment proceedings officially began the following day, several measures curtailing reporter access were implemented. Both a magnetometer — a type of metal detector — and a police officer were posted at the door of the Senate press gallery.
My view of the opening of the Senate impeachment trial. pic.twitter.com/nHuj60DhBb
— Dana Milbank (@Milbank) January 21, 2020
According to Wire and reporting from Roll Call, no written guidance concerning media restrictions was provided ahead of proceedings beginning in the Senate.
“Reporters [are] learning about the restrictions in real time,” Wire said.
On Jan. 16, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, joined by 57 news and press freedom organizations — including 16 U.S. Press Freedom Tracker partners — sent a letter to the Senate condemning the restrictions.
The letter reads in part: “Absent an articulable security rationale, Senate leaders and the Sergeant at Arms have an obligation to preserve and promote the public’s right to know. Reporters must have the ability to respond quickly to rapid developments and need reasonable access to lawmakers as they deliberate. The proposed restrictions on the use of electronic devices and on the ability of reporters to question lawmakers as they move about the Capitol, as well as the additional security screening, will hinder reporting without an obvious benefit for Senate security.”
RCFP wrote that the U.S. District Court in D.C. found that the Capitol is not a “public forum” under the First Amendment, and therefore lawmakers and Capitol security have some discretion to “reasonably” limit or restrict press access to the building. It wrote that any such restrictions, however, cannot be based on vague or arbitrary standards and must be enforced consistently.
Tweets from correspondents instead revealed that instructions were often contradictory, and that officers told journalists that they couldn’t clarify or confirm the rules. Several reporters also tweeted that their interviews with willing senators were interrupted by Capitol Police.
Getting the latest guidance on press restrictions is like a game of telephone as reporters pass along to their colleagues & competitors what they’ve heard most recently.
— K Tully-McManus (@ktullymcmanus) January 16, 2020
Capitol Police officers can't clarify/confirm what reporters heard the rules are. https://t.co/R8kpZdU93g
The Associated Press reported that senators were given cards by Capitol Police with phrases to alert police that they need assistance and fend off protesters or reporters, including “You are preventing me from doing my job” and “Please move out of my way.”
JUST IN: @CBSNews /@caitlinconant obtain a flashcard being given to U.S. Senators ahead of the #ImpeachmentTrial on tips to avoid reporters. (One thing it doesn’t suggest is calling reporters a “liberal hack.”) pic.twitter.com/mAZpBP9Fv7
— Ed O'Keefe (@edokeefe) January 16, 2020
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) speaks to members of the press in a restricted area as President Donald Trump's impeachment trial begins in Washington, D.C.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,Media,,,,,,Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Fox News journalist subpoenaed for testimony in defamation lawsuit,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/fox-news-journalist-subpoenaed-testimony-defamation-lawsuit/,2020-05-18 18:03:42.814644+00:00,2022-04-06 15:43:36.368169+00:00,2022-04-06 15:43:36.298252+00:00,(2020-09-28 11:54:00+00:00) Fox News journalist withdraws opposition to subpoena in defamation lawsuit,Subpoena/Legal Order,,,,Malia Zimmerman (Fox News),,2020-01-07,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"Fox News journalist Malia Zimmerman was subpoenaed on Jan. 7, 2020, to testify about a 2017 article and her communications with the defendant in a pending defamation suit.
The article, published in May 2017, reported on the conspiracy around the murder of Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich, alleging that he and his brother, Aaron Rich, were embroiled in a plot to steal and share DNC emails with WikiLeaks. Fox News retracted the article a week later.
In 2018, Aaron Rich sued Edward Butowsky, Matthew Couch and America First Media, alleging that they had defamed him by publishing false statements about his purported involvement in such a plot and prior knowledge of his brother’s murder.
According to a court order reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, Aaron Rich alleges that journalist Zimmerman was in frequent contact with Butowsky both before and after her article was retracted. Butowsky also appears to rely on Zimmerman’s article as a basis for his defense in the suit.
Zimmerman’s Twitter account was also among those listed in a 2018 subpoena issued to the social media company. Zimmerman could not be reached for comment.
The January deposition subpoena orders Zimmerman to provide testimony concerning her communications with Butowsky, any knowledge she may have as to whether he acted intentionally or recklessly and Fox News’ decision-making process behind the retraction.
On Jan. 15, Fox and Zimmerman moved for a protective order barring her deposition on the basis that her testimony is protected by newsgathering privilege under the First Amendment and New York’s reporter shield law.
U.S. District Judge Richard Leon denied their motion on March 25, 2020.
In his April 9 order explaining that decision, Leon wrote that Zimmerman’s communications with Butowsky were not protected because he was not her source (nor had Zimmerman claimed that he was), and that in sharing information with Butowsky she “waived any newsgathering privilege.”
Leon also stipulated that the outlet’s decision to retract Zimmerman’s article is not privileged, and even if it were, Aaron Rich had demonstrated the centrality of her testimony to his case.
Fox and Zimmerman filed a motion for the court to reconsider its decision on April 22. Attorneys for Fox News and Zimmerman declined to comment.
In the motion, reviewed by the Tracker, they argue that Judge Leon took an “unduly narrow” view of what is protected by reporter’s privilege. Butowsky — even though he is not quoted in Zimmerman’s piece — should still be considered a source, they said, and the decision to retract an article is made through the same editorial process as the decision to publish.
Fox and Zimmerman urged Leon, if he remained unmoved by those arguments, to vacate his rulings on those issues and to rest his decision to allow Zimmerman’s deposition solely on the determination that Rich had overcome her reporter’s privilege.
“Those questions concerning scope and waiver of the privilege have constitutional dimension, as well as implications for journalists beyond the confines of this dispute, and they should not be decided unless it is necessary for the Court to do so,” the motion reads.
As of this writing, no decision has been reached on this latest motion.
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, a Tracker partner organization, wrote that the ruling could pose significant First Amendment issues if not rolled back.
“Far from not being part of the editorial process in newsgathering, as the district court found, the decision to retract a story is perhaps the most ‘weighty’ exercise of editorial judgment there is,” writes Gabe Rottman, director of RCFP’s Technology and Press Freedom Project.
“To allow that holding to stand would discourage all news organizations from having these discussions, which would harm newsgathering and the free flow of true information to the public.”
A portion of the motion asking a judge to reconsider an order allowing the deposition of Fox News journalist Malia Zimmerman
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,other testimony,['UPHELD'],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, Court upholds subpoena of Richmond Times-Dispatch in civil lawsuit,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/court-upholds-subpoena-of-richmond-times-dispatch-in-civil-lawsuit/,2021-04-29 18:38:29.979290+00:00,2022-04-06 17:14:50.483423+00:00,2022-04-06 17:14:50.430195+00:00,,Subpoena/Legal Order,,,,,,2020-01-07,False,Richmond,Virginia (VA),37.55376,-77.46026,"On Jan. 7, 2020, a subpoena was issued to the BH Media Group, owner of the Richmond Times-Dispatch, seeking published and source material from any interviews the newspaper had done with Jason Kamras, superintendent of Richmond Public Schools and one of the defendants in a lawsuit concerning an alleged cheating scandal at a local elementary school.
In July 2019, three of the school’s former teachers sued Kamras, the Richmond City School Board and Richmond Public Schools for “defamation and violation of their right to due process,” according to WRIC, the ABC affiliate station in Richmond. The teachers had proctored Standards of Learning tests in 2018 and were later cited in a Virginia Department of Education report that summarized testing irregularities and noted that “inappropriate assistance” had been provided by some school employees to help students pass their tests.
The Times-Dispatch covered the scandal throughout the summer of 2018. During pretrial discovery in the case, the plaintiffs subpoenaed the Times-Dispatch to produce published and unpublished material regarding the coverage of the scandal by the newspaper. The parties resolved most of the requests made in the subpoena with the exception of certain unpublished material, including the recording of an interview conducted between reporter Justin Mattingly and Kamras. In the motion to quash the subpoena, the newspaper argued that the First Amendment extends protection to all unpublished material obtained in the process of news-gathering and that the recording of the interview was irrelevant, since the plaintiff’s defamation claims were based on Kamras’ public statements.
On May 22, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia denied the motion to quash the subpoena, noting that the recording of the interview was testament to Kamras’ state of mind and deemed it plausible that Kamras made other similar, possibly defamatory statements during the course of the interview.
The court held that the newspaper’s claim that the information could be obtained from other sources, including cross-examination of the defendant, was nonviable, since the defendant’s recollection could raise concerns of credibility during the trial. It also acknowledged that the newspaper had diminished interest in protecting the source, since Kamras was not a confidential source, and ruled “that the interest in disclosure outweighs the Reporter's interest.”
When reached for comment, Richmond Times-Dispatch executive editor Paige Mudd told the Tracker that the newspaper “won’t have any comment on this matter.” David B. Lacy, an attorney for BH Media Group, did not respond to a request for comment. With no further information available, the status of the subpoena is noted as “upheld.”
In the early hours of July 10, 2016, Seth Rich, a 27-year-old staffer with the Democratic National Committee, was fatally shot while walking to his home in Washington, D.C. His death, while unsolved, is believed to be the result of a robbery gone wrong. It quickly, however, became a flash point for conspiracy theories: that Rich had been behind a DNC email dump to WikiLeaks and its founder, Julian Assange, and that he’d effectively been assassinated because of it. None of the claims have ever been substantiated.
On March 26, 2018, Rich’s brother, Aaron, filed a defamation suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against a slew of defendants — Texas businessman and then-frequent Fox News guest Ed Butowsky, the Washington Times, America First Media Group and its founder, Matt Couch — who he’d alleged had shown a “reckless disregard for the truth” and falsely linked both himself and his brother to the email leak.
During the course of three years of litigation, attorneys for both sides collectively subpoenaed nearly a dozen news outlets and members of the press. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents all subpoena requests individually; Find a complete overview of the known subpoenas for this case in the blog post, “Nearly a dozen journalists, outlets and third parties subpoenaed in defamation suit.”
In January 2021, both Couch and Butowsky publicly apologized and retracted prior claims made about the Rich brothers, though Butowsky deleted his statement of contrition almost immediately, according to Law & Crime. Couch and Rich reached a settlement agreement on Jan. 19; Butowsky and Rich reached an agreement on March 22. The lawsuit was terminated officially when District Judge Richard Leon granted Rich’s motions to dismiss the charges against the defendants on March 29. The details of the settlement agreements were not made public.
In May 2017, Housley was involved in publishing an article with Malia Zimmerman that alleged Seth Rich's connection to stealing and sharing DNC emails with WikiLeaks. Fox News retracted the article a week later. Zimmerman was also subpoenaed in January 2020.
Status of Subpoena
The U.S. Department of Justice on May 3, 2021, notified Washington Post reporters Ellen Nakashima and Greg Miller, and former Post reporter Adam Entous, that it had obtained their phone records from 2017 over reporting on the Trump administration's communications with Russia during the 2016 election, the Post reported.
The Justice Department wrote in three separate letters that they obtained the reporters' phone records from April 15, 2017 to July 31, 2017, the Post reported. The article said the letters don’t state the purpose of this seizure, but noted that “toward the end of the time period mentioned in the letters, those reporters wrote a story about classified U.S. intelligence intercepts indicating that in 2016, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) had discussed the Trump campaign with Sergey Kislyak, who was Russia’s ambassador to the United States.”
The letters received at the Post were signed by Channing D. Phillips, the acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, and John C. Demers, the head of the Justice Department’s national security division, the paper reported. Records from five phones had been seized. These were Nakashima’s work, cell and home phones; Miller’s work and cell phones; and Entous’ cellphone.
"We are deeply troubled by this use of government power to seek access to the communications of journalists,” the Post’s acting executive editor, Cameron Barr, said in the article. “The Department of Justice should immediately make clear its reasons for this intrusion into the activities of reporters doing their jobs, an activity protected under the First Amendment."
A Justice Department spokesman told the Post that the decision to obtain those records came in 2020, during the Trump Administration. A specific date or the name of the telecom company in possession of the records was not disclosed. The letters, according to the article, also indicated a court order to take “non content communication records” for the reporters’ work email accounts, but the Justice Department didn’t do so. The Post said the timeline of the leak investigation was unclear, but the Justice Department is typically required to tell the news organization that it took action to obtain media records, which explains the notification of the reporters.
The Department of Justice, The Washington Post and the reporters didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment from the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
The U.S. Department of Justice informed CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr on May 13, 2021, that under the Trump administration, the agency secretly obtained her work and personal phone and email records, CNN reported.
According to CNN, prosecutors obtained Starr’s records from June 1 to July 31, 2017, including records from her phone extension at the Pentagon, the CNN Pentagon booth phone, Starr’s home and work numbers, and both her work and personal email accounts.
The phone information obtained included “toll records” for each number, which detail the numbers of calls to and from the line and the duration of each. Similarly, prosecutors obtained “non-content information” for Starr’s email addresses: the recipient, sender and timestamp of each email but not the contents, the outlet reported. CNN said the records were obtained without notifying Starr or her employer.
It is unclear what investigators were looking for, CNN reported, as well as when the investigation was opened and whether it was by Attorney General Jeff Sessions or Attorney General William Barr, both appointed by former President Trump. Neither Starr nor CNN responded to requests for comment.
Anthony Coley, DOJ’s director of public affairs and a senior advisor to Attorney General Merrick Garland, said in a statement to CNN that the decision to subpoena Starr’s communications was approved by the Trump administration in 2020.
“Department leadership will soon meet with reporters to hear their concerns about recent notices and further convey Attorney General Garland’s staunch support of and commitment to a free and independent press,” Coley said.
“CNN strongly condemns the secret collection of any aspect of a journalist’s correspondence, which is clearly protected by the First Amendment,” said CNN President Jeff Zucker in a statement to the outlet. “We are asking for an immediate meeting with the Justice Department for an explanation.”
The revelation about Starr’s records was one in a series of recent disclosures about the Trump administration’s efforts to use the seizure of journalists’ communications to identify leakers or critics of the administration.
CNN reported that DOJ regulations for issuing media subpoenas were changed under the Obama administration in 2015, to require that the attorney general authorize any such legal orders related to journalists’ communications or work product. While the regulations mandated that the journalist and outlet be notified of the seizures, the policy set no clear timetable for notification.
On May 21, 2021, President Joe Biden condemned such seizures as “simply, simply wrong” following the revelations about Starr’s records, the Associated Press reported. In keeping with Biden’s sentiments, the DOJ announced on June 5 that it will no longer seize journalists’ records during leak investigations, according to the AP.
“This announcement is a potential sea change for press freedom rights in the United States,” Trevor Timm, executive director of Freedom of the Press Foundation, said in a statement. “While we’re encouraged to see this announcement ending this invasive and disturbing tactic, the devil is — of course — in the details. The Justice Department must now write this categorical bar of journalist surveillance into its official ‘media guidelines,’ and Congress should also immediately enshrine the rules into law to ensure no administration can abuse its power again.”
Attorney General Merrick Garland met with executives from CNN as well as those from The New York Times and The Washington Post on June 14, and affirmed the planned policy changes.
The U.S. Department of Justice informed The New York Times on June 2, 2021, that the agency secretly obtained phone records of four of the newspaper’s reporters during the Trump administration, the Times reported.
The Justice Department, now under President Joe Biden, sent a letter to the Times saying that in 2020 it had obtained phone logs spanning nearly four months of 2017 for multiple Times reporters — Matt Apuzzo, Adam Goldman, Eric Lichtblau and Michael S. Schmidt — as part of a leak investigation. While the letter didn’t specify the subject of the investigation, according to the Times the four reporters were covering then-FBI Director James Comey’s handling of investigations into the 2016 election, and had published classified information.
Times Executive Editor Dean Baquet told the newspaper in a statement: “President Biden has said this sort of interference with a free press will not be tolerated in his administration. We expect the Department of Justice to explain why this action was taken and what steps are being taken to make certain it does not happen again in the future.”
Goldman’s phone records also were seized in 2013 while he was reporting for the Associated Press, which helped spur reforms to the department’s policies on obtaining journalists’ records. Goldman didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment.
I don’t care who is president - Republican or Democrat - I will always try to inform the public.
— Adam Goldman (@adamgoldmanNYT) June 3, 2021
“I don’t care who is president—Republican or Democrat—I will always try to inform the public,” Goldman wrote in a June 2 tweet.
CNN reported that DOJ regulations for issuing media subpoenas were changed under the Obama administration in 2015 to require that the attorney general authorize any such legal orders related to journalists’ communications or work products. While the regulations mandated that the journalist and outlet be notified of the seizures, the policy set no clear timetable for notification.
The revelation about the Times reporters’ phone records was the latest in a series of recent disclosures about the Trump administration’s efforts to use the seizure of journalists’ communications to identify leakers or critics of the administration. On June 4, a gag order was lifted, allowing Times attorney Dave McCraw to reveal that the DOJ also had attempted to obtain the four reporters’ email records in an effort that began in January 2021 and continued under the Biden administration.
On May 21, President Joe Biden condemned such seizures as “simply, simply wrong,” the Associated Press reported. In keeping with Biden’s sentiments, the DOJ announced on June 5 that it would no longer seize journalists’ records during leak investigations, according to the AP.
“This announcement is a potential sea change for press freedom rights in the United States,” Trevor Timm, executive director of Freedom of the Press Foundation, said in a statement. “While we’re encouraged to see this announcement ending this invasive and disturbing tactic, the devil is—of course—in the details. The Justice Department must now write this categorical bar of journalist surveillance into its official ‘media guidelines,’ and Congress should also immediately enshrine the rules into law to ensure no administration can abuse its power again.”
FPF is a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker and manages its day-to-day operations.
When reached for comment concerning the newspaper’s push for an explanation from the Justice Department, Times spokesperson Danielle Rhoades Ha confirmed to the Tracker that publisher A.G. Sulzberger would be meeting with the attorney general and shared a statement from him ahead of that meeting.
“We’re pleased that Attorney General [Merrick] Garland has agreed to this meeting. We hope to use the meeting to learn more about how this seizure of records happened and to seek a commitment that the Department of Justice will no longer seize journalists’ records during leak investigations,” Sulzberger said.
Garland met with executives from The New York Times, The Washington Post and CNN on June 14, and affirmed the planned policy changes. While Garland’s comments during the meeting were off the record, The Times reported that Sulzberger was encouraged by Garland’s statements but said he would continue to push the department until the outlets’ concerns are fully addressed.
AllOnGeorgia reporter Casie Bryant was set up to report on a county budget meeting in Chattooga County in the state’s northwest corner on Dec. 13, 2019, when the county commissioner’s wife dumped a soda on her.
According to a Summerville police incident report published by AllOnGeorgia, Bryant was sitting at the conference table when Abbey Winters, wife of Sole Commissioner Jason Winters, poured a drink over her head, soaking her hair, clothes, belongings and equipment. In photos of the incident published by The Summerville News, it appears that Bryant’s tablet was covered in the beverage.
The wife of Chattooga County's sole commissioner poured a soda on a reporter's head this morning. The Summerville PD is charging Abbey Winters with simple battery and disorderly conduct. The reporter is Casie Bryant of All On Georgia. Photos courtesy of the Summerville News pic.twitter.com/V3pz6UbWY8
— Patrick Filbin (@PatrickFilbin) December 13, 2019
The incident was witnessed by representatives from the local newspaper and radio station, as well as four others. Several of these witnesses told police that the attack appeared to be completely unprovoked and that they heard Abbey Winters say twice after dumping the drink that Bryant “deserved” it.
In a video of the incident taken by Bryant and posted on AllOnGeorgia’s YouTube channel, Jason Winters is seen and heard saying, “Every bit of this has been brought on,” while pointing toward Bryant.
According to the incident report, neither of the Winters’ spoke with police at the scene, but after seeking legal counsel Abbey Winters told police that she had tripped and spilled the drink accidentally.
AllOnGeorgia reported that following an investigation, police applied for warrants on Abbey Winters for simple battery and disorderly conduct, turning the matter over to the Chattooga County Sheriff’s Office.
“What happened at the budget meeting today was completely inappropriate and I’m disappointed to see not only the behavior of those involved, but the excuses made for the behavior after the fact,” AllOnGeorgia owner Delvis Dutton said in the outlet’s report of the incident. “The media plays an integral role in ensuring transparency and these types of antics are dangerous to open government and a disservice to the people it serves.”
The Chattanooga Times Free Press reported that Winters turned herself in at the Chattooga County Jail that afternoon and was released on a $1,520 bond on both counts.
Reporter Casie Bryant sits drenched in liquid after a drink was poured on her head at a Chattooga County, Georgia, budget meeting. The wife of the county commissioner has been charged with simple battery and disorderly conduct for the dousing.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, "Subpoena issued for Twitter communication of journalist, others",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/subpoena-issued-twitter-communication-journalist-others/,2020-02-10 16:43:52.073358+00:00,2022-06-23 18:17:02.167986+00:00,2022-06-23 18:17:02.105342+00:00,,Subpoena/Legal Order,,,,Charles Davis (Freelance),,2019-12-12,False,Charlottesville,Virginia (VA),38.02931,-78.47668,"As part of an ongoing defamation lawsuit, an attorney representing public relations and communications strategist Trevor FitzGibbon subpoenaed Twitter to compel the social media company to produce information on nearly two dozen accounts, at least one of which belongs to a journalist.
Filed in Virginia on Dec. 12, 2019, the subpoena requested all direct messages, private messages and group messages between the defendant — high-profile attorney Jesselyn Radack — and 22 Twitter accounts, among other things.
The Twitter account of freelance reporter Charles Davis is among those identified in the subpoena. After receiving an email from Twitter notifying him that his account was implicated, Davis tweeted that he was named in retaliation for his reporting on FitzGibbon in 2017. Davis shared a copy of the subpoena with the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker and said that he sent a statement to Twitter noting that he objected to the subpoena.
“It is legal harassment,” Davis said. “And while Twitter seems committed to defending its users, it also makes me think it might be time to switch to encrypted messaging apps like Signal for any conversation, sensitive or not.”
Other accounts named in the subpoena include those of numerous satirists, activists and lawyers as well as Andrew Stepanian of Sparrow Media. Stepanian told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he does not identify as a journalist. A blogger who did not respond to the Tracker’s requests for comment was also named.
Twitter filed a memorandum in support of quashing the subpoena on Feb. 4, 2020, stating, “The Subpoena suffers from a litany of substantive defects and must be quashed.”
In reference to the request for direct communications, Twitter argued FitzGibbon’s lawyer Steven Biss both sought irrelevant information or information that should be obtained from Radack, and placed an undue burden on the company.
In its memorandum, Twitter mentions that its counsel met with Biss twice, raising issues with the subpoena and requesting that he withdraw it. According to Twitter, Biss refused. In an email exchange following the second meeting, FitzGibbon’s counsel again refused to withdraw the subpoena, but narrowed the request to Radack’s communications with 17 accounts.
It is unclear whether reporter Davis’ Twitter account is still listed in the revised subpoena. Biss did not return the Tracker’s request for comment.
FitzGibbon’s underlying case against Radack is scheduled to go to trial on July 13, and all evidence must be finalized by June 29, including information gained from discovery subpoenas.
A portion of the subpoena seeking, among other things, private Twitter messages between nearly two dozen accounts.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,journalist communications or work product,['PENDING'],None,None,Twitter,tech company,subpoena,None,,,,,,, "Using obscure legal justification, NYPD subpoenas reporter's records",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/using-obscure-legal-justification-nypd-subpoenas-reporter/,2020-02-24 20:25:41.440118+00:00,2020-02-25 15:57:11.426703+00:00,2020-02-25 15:57:11.334009+00:00,,Subpoena/Legal Order,,,,,,2019-12-09,False,New York,New York (NY),None,None,"The New York Police Department subpoenaed Twitter for the account information of a New York Post journalist on Dec. 9, 2019, as part of a departmental leak investigation.
The Post reported that its police bureau chief Tina Moore tweeted out crime scene photos in mid-October that “appear to be at the center of the NYPD subpoena.”
The subpoena, published by the Post, commands Twitter to produce all device and contact information for Moore’s Twitter account, as well as her handle’s IP and internet connection history from Oct. 9 through Oct. 14.
Adam Scott Wandt, an assistant professor at John Jay College who specializes in digital forensics and cybersecurity, told the Post the subpoena appears to focus not on Moore’s communications but “where she is and what equipment was used.”
Wandt said the information requested could be used to create a “network trail,” geo-locating Moore’s movements over the requested days.
The subpoena claims legal authority under the city’s administrative code and the Patriot Act — a federal law passed following 9/11 which expanded law enforcement authorities. The provision of the act cited pertains to the digital transfer of information and metadata, which the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press noted is one of the most obscure sections.
NYPD spokesperson Sgt. Jessica McRorie confirmed to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the department has an open investigation into the source of the leaked photos.
“Tina Moore was never the focus of our investigation,” McRorie said in a statement. McRorie declined to answer further questions on the focus of the subpoena and why the Patriot Act was cited.
Courtney Radsch, advocacy director for the Committee to Protect Journalists, said in a statement, “Using the Patriot Act to subpoena a journalist’s social media data is not only a gross overstep by the New York Police Department, it is reminiscent of how countries without democratic safeguards use anti-terrorism laws to dampen or retaliate against critical journalism.”
In early February 2020, Twitter notified Moore of the subpoena. The social media company confirmed to the Tracker that it did not comply with the subpoena.
The NYPD withdrew the request on Feb. 13, after attorneys for the Post contacted the department, the Post reported.
Moore declined to comment.
In a statement to The New York Times, Post spokeswoman Iva Benson said the police department’s actions were “antithetical to a free press.”
“The Patriot Act was passed to make it easier to prevent deadly terror attacks, not help the government crack down on people who speak to reporters,” Benson said.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said on NY1 show “Inside City Hall” that the subpoena was a mistake.
“I think the effort to ensure that information that is not public is kept confidential — that’s fair. But subpoenaing a reporter in that fashion? I’m not comfortable with that. Freedom of the press really matters,” de Blasio said.
A portion of the subpoena for New York Post reporter Tina Moore's Twitter information
,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,journalist communications or work product,['DROPPED'],None,None,Twitter,tech company,subpoena,None,New York Post,,,,,, Man arrested after assaulting reporter during live broadcast,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/man-arrested-after-assaulting-reporter-during-live-broadcast/,2019-12-17 16:29:07.725816+00:00,2020-09-08 17:59:29.501666+00:00,2020-09-08 17:59:29.403067+00:00,(2020-09-01 13:58:00+00:00) Georgia man pleads guilty to sexual battery after assaulting journalist during live broadcast,Assault,,,,Alex Bozarjian (WSAV-TV),,2019-12-07,False,Savannah,Georgia (GA),32.08354,-81.09983,"While reporting live from a race in Savannah, Georgia, broadcast reporter Alex Bozarjian was assaulted on Dec. 7, 2019.
NBC-affiliate WSAV published a clip of the incident, which shows Bozarjian reporting during the Enmarket Savannah Bridge Run when a man forcefully hits her bottom as he runs past.
Bozarjian looks shocked and stares off towards the man before regaining her composure and resuming her broadcast. Bozarjian responded to the incident in a tweet later that day, saying that the man “violated, objectified, and embarrassed” her.
To the man who smacked my butt on live TV this morning: You violated, objectified, and embarrassed me. No woman should EVER have to put up with this at work or anywhere!! Do better. https://t.co/PRLXkBY5hn
— Alex Bozarjian (@wsavalexb) December 7, 2019
The Savannah Sports Council — which owns and operates the bridge run — identified the man as Thomas Callaway and provided his information to WSAV. The Council also said that Callaway has banned him from registering for any of its future races.
Following the incident, the station issued a statement and posted a video of Callaway’s apology.
“The conduct displayed toward Alex Bozarjian during her live coverage of Saturday’s Savannah Bridge Run was reprehensible and completely unacceptable,” the statement said. “No one should ever be disrespected in this manner. The safety and protection of our employees is WSAV’s highest priority.”
WSAV reported that Bozarjian filed a sexual battery report with the Savannah Police Department on Dec. 9. In an appearance on “CBS This Morning” the following day, Bozarjian said that the man slapped her hard enough not only to startle her but physically hurt her.
“He took my power, and I'm trying to take that back,” Bozarjian said. “I think what it really comes down to is that he helped himself to a part of my body.”
Callaway was arrested on Dec. 13 on a misdemeanor charge of sexual battery, The Guardian reported. State law defines the crime as “intentionally mak[ing] physical contact with the intimate parts of the body of another person without the consent of that person.” The misdemeanor is punishable by up to a year in jail.
A statement posted on Bozarjian’s Twitter account from high-profile attorney Gloria Allred, who is representing Bozarjian, says the reporter will not comment on the incident further in case there is a trial.
— Alex Bozarjian (@wsavalexb) December 14, 2019
Reporter Alex Bozarjian pauses her on-air broadcast after being hit and grabbed on her backside. A man was later arrested on sexual battery charges.
,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,sexual assault,,,,, Police officer charged with leaking information to Florida newspaper,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/police-officer-charged-with-leaking-information-to-florida-newspaper/,2022-06-08 19:03:46.762284+00:00,2022-06-08 19:03:46.762284+00:00,2022-06-08 19:03:46.710015+00:00,,Leak Case,,,,,,2019-12-06,False,Sunrise,Florida (FL),26.13397,-80.1131,"Roger Krege, a sergeant with the Sunrise Police Department, was arrested on multiple charges on Dec. 6, 2019, stemming from his alleged leak of sensitive information to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
According to the Sun-Sentinel, law enforcement executed search warrants against Krege in August on the suspicion that in 2014 he provided the newspaper with a list of confidential informants used in dozens of drug cases, among other things.
In September 2014, the Sun-Sentinel published an investigation into police’s use of informants to lure “big-money” drug buyers into the city from across the country in order for officers to seize their money and vehicles once they were arrested. The report did not disclose the names of any informants, but did demonstrate that the newspaper knew the location of the department’s “Vice, Intelligence and Narcotics” unit, prompting the SPD to relocate the office.
Lt. Brian Katz told the Sun-Sentinel that this leak was particularly egregious because it jeopardized the safety of all involved.
“The exposure and illegal copying of the [list] put every confidential informant in grave danger and threatened the personal safety of every detective working in the Vice, Intelligence and Narcotics unit and working with the confidential informants,” Katz wrote in a statement to the outlet.
Krege was placed on unpaid administrative leave on Sept. 12, 2019, and charged on Dec. 6 with 10 counts, including disclosing confidential information, unlawful copying of an article containing trade secrets, theft and multiple counts of official misconduct, according to the Sun-Sentinel and WPLG Local 10 News.
According to the Sun-Sentinel, the department’s press release about the arrest did not mention the newspaper, but did state that Krege is accused of obtaining and trading information on confidential informants using two email accounts.
Under Florida law, both “disclosure or use of confidential criminal justice information” and “theft of or trafficking in trade secrets” are third-degree felonies, punishable by a maximum of five years in prison. If convicted on all charges, Krege would face a maximum prison sentence of more than 50 years.
On March 3, 2021, prosecutors confirmed to the Sun-Sentinel that Krege agreed to plead no contest to a single charge of making a false official statement and six months’ probation in exchange for the other charges being dropped. As part of the deal, the charges will not show up as a conviction on Krege’s criminal record and allows him to keep his pension.
The 2018 police investigation into the media leak determined that Krege disclosed the identity of a confidential informant to his then-wife, Elizabeth Krege, in order for her to provide the information to a reporter, the Sun-Sentinel reported.
Sunrise Police Department Sgt. Roger Krege was arrested on multiple charges on Dec. 6, 2019, stemming from his alleged leak of sensitive information to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel in 2014.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, Restauranteur steals reporter’s cellphones during interview,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/restauranteur-steals-reporters-cellphones-during-interview/,2019-12-19 15:02:07.930585+00:00,2022-03-11 14:47:51.953485+00:00,2022-03-11 14:47:51.865929+00:00,,"Assault, Equipment Damage",,,mobile phone: count of 2,Priscilla Totiyapungprasert (Arizona Republic),,2019-12-05,False,Phoenix,Arizona (AZ),33.44838,-112.07404,"An Arizona Republic reporter had two cellphones stolen by a restaurant operator during an interview on Dec. 5, 2019.
Food and dining reporter Priscilla Totiyapungprasert had arranged to interview Tawny Costa, the operator of a new Italian restaurant in Phoenix. Costa had agreed to the interview being recorded, the Republic reported.
Totiyapungprasert’s personal and work phones were placed on the table during the interview, which ended abruptly when the reporter asked questions about Costa’s past businesses and her connection to Frank Capri, the father of Costa's two children. Capri, also a restauranteur, had multiple locations fail to open or abruptly close amid allegations of fraud and theft, according to the Republic.
In a statement to the police, Totiyapungprasert said Costa abruptly grabbed her phones, elbowing and pushing her when she attempted to grab them back, the Republic reported. Totiyapungprasert also told police that her knee was injured as she reached for her phones.
Costa left the restaurant with the phones and, as of publication, they have not been recovered. The incident remains under investigation by Phoenix police, the Republic reported.
“We’re thankful for Phoenix police’s response and their concern for Priscilla,” Republic Executive Editor Greg Burton said in the newspaper's report of the incident. “A free press is a courageous press, and her actions are an inspiration.”
Totiyapungprasert declined to comment to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
Police are investigating the theft of two phones from Arizona Republic reporter Priscilla Totiyapungprasert, which she says were stolen during an interview with a Phoenix restaurant operator.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,public figure,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,robbery,,,,, Indiana governor sends cease-and-desist letters to news outlets following investigative report,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/indiana-governor-sends-cease-and-desist-letters-news-outlets-following-investigative-report/,2019-12-10 19:34:04.204719+00:00,2019-12-10 19:34:04.204719+00:00,2019-12-10 19:34:03.959504+00:00,,Chilling Statement,,,,,,2019-11-29,False,Indianapolis,Indiana (IN),39.76838,-86.15804,"On Nov. 29, four days after Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting published a lengthy investigative piece into injuries at Amazon's warehouses, the general counsel for Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb sent the news organization a cease-and-desist letter demanding the story be retracted. The Indianapolis Star, which republished the Reveal investigation in two parts, also received a cease-and-desist letter from the governor.
The Reveal investigation — which looked at injury records for 23 of Amazon's 110 fulfillment centers — alleges that Holcomb personally intervened in the Indiana Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigation into the death of an Amazon worker who had been crushed by a forklift. Indiana was vying for Amazon's HQ2 at the time.
In his letter to the Indianapolis Star, Joseph Heerens, general counsel for Gov. Holcomb, claims that the stories contain "serious inaccuracies and falsehoods."
"These articles seek to unjustifiably and inexcusably harm the good name and reputation of Governor Holcomb,” Heerens wrote. “But more than that, if these serious inaccuracies and falsehoods are not immediately corrected, they represent a threat to the positive business climate that has been created in our State ... That should not be allowed to happen. You must cease and desist from publishing the articles as currently written and take immediate steps to retract them."
In a separate cease-and-desist letter to Reveal, Heerens goes into further detail about his objections to the story. The news outlets later included a clarification and update to one of those objections.
The Indiana chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists issued a strongly worded open letter to Holcomb condemning his cease-and-desist letters, holding they represent a "threat to press freedom."
Signed by the chapter’s board of directors, the open letter stated that Holcomb's order is "designed to intimidate reporters and journalists looking into your administration" as well as "add to the overall climate in the nation that looks to undermine the credibility of journalists and media outlets."
"Although you might not agree with the contents or conclusions of the report in Reveal and the Indianapolis Star, an unusual call by your office for a cease-and-desist order against the media could chill efforts to report an ongoing story," the letter said. An email to Russell for additional comment was not returned as of press time.
The national branch of the Society of Professional Journalists also weighed in with a tweet, calling the cease-and-desist letters an effort to intimidate and silence the outlets:
We support @IndyProSPJ in calling out Gov. Holcomb for trying to intimidate and silence @indystar and @reveal through cease-and-desist letters for their reporting of Amazon worker safety. https://t.co/isKGwSYuYD
— Society of Professional Journalists (@spj_tweets) December 4, 2019
A portion of one of two cease-and-desist letters sent from Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb following the publication of an investigative report by Reveal from the Center of Investigative Reporting.
,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,"Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting, The Indianapolis Star",,,,,, "Broadcast reporter attacked, camera damaged while reporting in Southwest Florida",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/broadcast-reporter-attacked-camera-damaged-while-reporting-southwest-florida/,2019-12-05 21:38:11.105135+00:00,2019-12-05 21:38:11.105135+00:00,2019-12-05 21:38:10.999640+00:00,,"Assault, Equipment Damage",,,camera: count of 1,Delia D’Ambra (WBBH-TV),,2019-11-28,False,North Fort Myers,Florida (FL),26.66729,-81.88009,"Delia D’Ambra, a broadcast reporter for NBC2 News in Southwest Florida, was assaulted and her camera damaged while working on a story alone in North Fort Myers on Nov. 28, 2019.
D’Ambra was wrapping up her shoot when a man wearing work gloves approached her, NBC2 reported. She hit the record button on her camera right as the man lunged for her.
“He comes and grabs everything, shakes me and pushes me back,” D’Ambra told NBC2. “And as we’re going down, he holds onto the viewfinder and pulls that down and breaks it.”
In the video posted by NBC2, D’Ambra can be heard screaming multiple times, “Leave me alone!” As the man walks away from her D’Ambra drags herself and the camera across the pavement, warning the man that she is calling the police.
“I knew immediately that I was alone, I needed to get away from this person,” D’Ambra said. “He went back to his car. I had no idea whether he was going to get a weapon, take the car and come get me. You don’t know what’s going to happen.”
When deputies arrived at the scene, they arrested 79-year-old Hollis Creach.
D’Ambra tweeted later that day that the experience was frightening and exhausting, but that she was feeling better. “God spared me great harm today & I’m grateful. I also forgive the man who attacked me & know God loves him too,” D’Ambra wrote.
Today was a frightening & exhaustive day. Thankful for the loving messages & support from my family, husband ,coworkers & @NBC2 viewers. I’m happy to be feeling better. God spared me great harm today & I’m grateful. I also forgive the man who attacked me & know God loves him too.
— DeliaDAmbraTV (@DeliaDAmbraTV) November 29, 2019
The incident will affect how she approaches reporting in the future, D’Ambra told NBC2.
“I will be extremely cautious with individuals approaching me, yelling at me, even more so now,” D’Ambra said.
D’Ambra did not respond to request for comment by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
Creach has been charged with battery, damaging property and criminal mischief, and made his first appearance in court on Nov. 29, according to NBC2.
A Florida man attacked broadcast reporter Delia D’Ambra, pushing her to the ground and damaging the camera.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, "Congressman Nunes alleges CNN, Daily Beast ‘committed crimes’ in reporting, says will sue",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/congressman-nunes-alleges-cnn-daily-beast-committed-crimes-in-reporting-says-will-sue/,2019-11-27 17:17:20.024795+00:00,2019-12-04 19:59:56.989574+00:00,2019-12-04 19:59:56.903330+00:00,"(2019-12-03 14:58:00+00:00) After calling reporting criminal, Congressman Nunes sues CNN for $435 million",Chilling Statement,,,,,,2019-11-24,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"California Congressman Devin Nunes said that he plans to sue CNN and The Daily Beast for defamation during an interview on Fox News on Nov. 24, 2019.
Host Maria Bartiromo asked the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee whether he had met with former Ukrainian Prosecutor General Victor Shokin in Austria in 2018, as had been reported by CNN and Daily Beast over the weekend.
Nunes did not answer the question, and instead dismissed the articles as “fake news” and alleged that it is “very likely” that the outlets committed crimes while reporting the story. He also said he intends to take the outlets to federal court after Thanksgiving, arguing that it’s the only way to hold the "corrupt" media accountable.
"So we hope that CNN and Daily Beast will cooperate with the court," Nunes said. "They should comply with the subpoenas once we file this and go through different depositions. It should be fun."
A spokesperson from Daily Beast told The Hill that they “stand by our reporting and are happy to defend it.” The Hill said CNN declined to comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker will document any resulting subpoenas under our Subpoena/Legal Order category.
Nunes has pursued libel suits against the media before. In April, he targeted The McClatchy Company, which owns The Fresno Bee, in a $150 million defamation lawsuit, arguing that its reporting on the congressman constituted “character assassination.” According to The Hill, Nunes also has an ongoing $75 million lawsuit against journalist Ryan Lizza and Hearst Magazines filed in October.
Ranking House Intelligence Committee Member Devin Nunes (R-CA) participates in an impeachment inquiry on Nov. 21. A few days later on Fox News, Nunes outlined his plans to sue two more media organizations for their reporting.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,"CNN, The Daily Beast",,,,,, "Photographer knocked to ground, camera damaged at football game",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-knocked-ground-camera-damaged-football-game/,2019-12-09 17:27:02.840840+00:00,2019-12-09 17:27:02.840840+00:00,2019-12-09 17:27:02.704459+00:00,,"Assault, Equipment Damage",,,camera lens: count of 1,Jamm Aquino (Honolulu Star-Advertiser),,2019-11-23,False,Honolulu,Hawaii (HI),21.30694,-157.85833,"A photographer for the Honolulu Star-Advertiser says that he was assaulted during a University of Hawaii football game on Nov. 23, 2019, resulting in injuries and damage to his camera.
USA Today reported that photographer Jamm Aquino was standing on the sidelines when Hawaii coaches and players rushed the field after the opposing team missed a field goal, sealing the university’s victory. Aquino followed the team onto the field to photograph the celebration.
According to the Star-Advertiser, seconds remained on the game clock and therefore the game was not officially over. It was while the team rushed back off the field to avoid a penalty that Aquino says Hawaii coach Nick Rolovich charged at him while swearing and “made contact” with him. The outlet also reported that an Associated Press photographer next to Aquino was shoved.
Aquino told the Star-Advertiser that an unnamed university employee then shoved him to the ground, leaving him with a concussion and various other injuries and damaging his camera lens.
As Rolovich made his way off the field at the end of the game, he saw Aquino, pointed in his direction and again began swearing at him.
Star-Advertiser editor Frank Bridgewater said in the article, “Our photographers are representing our readers and deserve to be treated as professionals.”
“Swearing at and, worse, physically assaulting them, will not be tolerated,” Bridgewater said. “We will take whatever steps are needed to protect our photographers’ rights and to ensure that those who abuse them are called out.”
The university said in a statement that Aquino violated sideline protocol and that Rolovich came into contact with Aquino while attempting to clear the field.
“Coach Rolovich regrets the situation occurred. He contacted the photographer late Saturday night and apologized,” the university said.
Aquino did not respond to request for comment by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
University of Hawaii coach Nick Rolovich charges the camera of Honolulu Star-Advertiser photographer Jamm Aquino during a football game. Aquino says Rolovich and another university employee assaulted him, causing injuries and equipment damage.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,public figure,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, "Arkansas broadcast journalist found in contempt of court, released on time served",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/arkansas-broadcast-journalist-found-contempt-court-released-time-served/,2019-11-26 16:07:12.722088+00:00,2022-07-18 21:49:22.843161+00:00,2022-07-18 21:49:22.778719+00:00,,Arrest/Criminal Charge,,,,Nkiruka Azuka Omeronye (KNWA/FOX24 News),,2019-11-19,False,Bentonville,Arkansas (AR),36.37285,-94.20882,"Nkiruka Azuka Omeronye, a reporter for KNWA/FOX24 News in northwest Arkansas, was found in contempt of court and sentenced to three days in jail on Nov. 19, 2019.
Omeronye, who broadcasts as Nkiruka Azuka, admitted in court to using her cell phone to record the Oct. 7 proceedings in a capital murder case. She said, however, that she was not aware that Benton County Circuit Judge Brad Karren had filed an order in June prohibiting any recording in his courtroom. There is also a state Supreme Court rule prohibiting recording without the judge’s permission.
According to Arkansas Online, Omeronye said during her hearing that she understood that it was a sensitive case and that she had recorded to proceedings only to ensure the accuracy of her notes, not with the intention of broadcasting it.
“I did not mean to disrespect you or your courtroom,” Omeronye said. She testified that she had previously worked at stations in St. Paul, Minnesota, and Phoenix, Arizona, where reporters were permitted to record in courtrooms, and that she did not see signs in the lobby or on the courtroom door warning against recording the proceedings.
Karren appeared to accept Omeronye’s apology.
“I think you have shown the proper remorse,” Karren said. “I don’t think you were thumbing your nose at the court.” He also stated that he believes Omeronye’s employers let her down by not ensuring she was aware of the court’s rules.
Karren found that Omeronye deliberately recorded the proceedings and ruled her in contempt of the court. He ordered her to serve 10 days in the Benton County jail, but suspended seven of the days. Karren also placed her on six months probation and barred her from his courtroom.
Omeronye was scheduled to begin serving her sentence on Nov. 20, and was going to be permitted to leave the jail in order to go to work.
After Omeronye’s sentencing, KNWA/FOX24 General Manager Lisa Kelsey said in a statement that the broadcaster regrets the incident.
“Nkiruka has offered a sincere apology to the judge, to her colleagues, and to the station. As we do with all our journalists, we have counseled her on obeying all courtroom rules, as well as Arkansas Judicial Guidelines,” Kelsey said.
Omeronye’s sentence drew criticism from media outlets and journalism organizations who called the jail time “excessive.”
#NABJ is disheartened to learn that reporter @NkirukaAzuka@KNWANews @Fox24News has received jail time. We believe it's an excessive sentence. She stated she was unaware of a court's rule that did not permit her to record and apologized. Read more: https://t.co/PFdbAqPqkY pic.twitter.com/30eUhoB1mU
— NABJ Headquarters (@NABJ) November 20, 2019
Arkansas Society of Professional Journalists chapter President Sarah DeClerk said in a statement, “We consider the judge’s actions to be excessive and disrespectful of the public service provided by journalists to all citizens interested in the judicial process.”
Arkansas Online reported that judge Karren called the jail on Nov. 20 and reduced Omeronye’s sentence to time served. She was released from custody at 5 p.m., a few hours after beginning her sentence.
Omeronye was ordered to pay $250 in court costs, and told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, “All I can really say is that it’s done and that I’m moving on.”
A North Carolina judge granted a temporary restraining order on Nov. 13, 2019, barring David Hodges, a reporter at WBTV, from airing his investigation into a Charlotte-based towing company.
The order was lifted at a hearing the following day, and Hodges' story — about an Army National Guard soldier whose car was towed and sold while she was deployed — aired as planned that evening.
In the motion for the temporary restraining order filed with the court, the lawyer for the towing company, SL Recovery LLC, argued that Hodges' story was false. "Hodges has not produced any evidence to substantiate his claims that Plaintiff has engaged in predatory towing practices, and thus far, Defendant Gray Television, Inc., has refused to pull the story which will air on November 14 if temporary and/or permanent injunctive relief is not granted to Plaintiff," attorney Cedric Rainey wrote in his motion.
Previews of the story had already ran on WBTV, and as a result of those previews, Rainey’s motion alleges, SL Recovery had received a death threat. “The person making the threats specifically stated he would cause harm to Plaintiff if the targeting of veterans continued,” Rainey wrote.
Mecklenburg County Judge Lisa Bell granted the temporary restraining order on the evening of Nov. 13, a day before the story was slated to run.
The next day, Jonathan Buchan, the lawyer representing WBTV and Hodges, filed a motion to dissolve the temporary restraining order, arguing that it amounted to "an impermissible prior restraint on speech which violates the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article I, Section 14 of the Constitution of North Carolina."
Buchan continued, "If this form of prior restraint were permissible under the First Amendment, then every subject of a planned news story could prohibit its publication for indefinite periods and litigate the truth or falsity of the unpublished article prior to its publication. It would essentially require, in Alice and Wonderland fashion, a 'libel trial' prior to the publication of an article. Such a process would eviscerate the First Amendment's prohibition of prior restraints on publication."
Buchan made these arguments at a hearing before judge Bell on the afternoon of Nov. 14. “You don’t keep the news media in this country from publishing truthful—or what they believe to be truthful—information in this country,” Buchan told the court, according to WBTV.
Rainey, the attorney for SL Recovery, told the judge that this was not a case of prior restraint. “There hasn’t been a prior restraint at any level,” he said in court. If the restraining order were lifted, Rainey continued, “The court would be tacitly permitting them to make ongoing libelous statements."
Buchan countered at the hearing that the law affords injured parties the opportunity to file a lawsuit for defamation, should that occur, but restraining speech by blocking publication would set a dangerous precedent. “That’s not how the First Amendment was designed to work or has ever worked,” Buchan said. “When he says this is not a prior restraint, this is the definition of a prior restraint.”
Bell granted Buchan’s motion to dissolve the restraining order. “I conclude that the court was in error in granting a temporary restraining order,” Bell said as she announced her ruling.
“At the time she signed the restraining order, Bell said, she thought the potential significant harm to SL Recovery outweighed the potential harm to WBTV by having to hold its story,” WBTV reported.
“At that point alone, I stand corrected,” Bell said.
In a statement emailed to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, Hodges said the experience was a shocking one. “It paralyzed me, but only for a minute before the news team at WBTV went to work defending the first amendment to make sure our story would air on-time,” he wrote. “Time and money are in short supply for any newsroom and are better spent reporting for our community than fighting legal battles already decided by the Supreme Court.”
A portion of the motion to disolve the temporary restraining order placed on WBTV's report
,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,struck down,,,,,,, "NYC building owner assaults reporter, breaks station camera equipment",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/nyc-building-owner-assaults-reporter-breaks-station-camera-equipment/,2019-12-05 16:56:29.806903+00:00,2021-10-08 14:38:32.806486+00:00,2021-10-08 14:38:32.693835+00:00,,"Assault, Equipment Damage",,,camera: count of 1,Michael Herzenberg (Spectrum News NY1),,2019-11-12,False,New York,New York (NY),None,None,"Michael Herzenberg, a reporter for Spectrum News NY1, was assaulted and a NY1 camera damaged in an altercation with a New York City landlord on Nov. 12, 2019, after Herzenberg attempted to interview him concerning complaints from his tenants.
Herzenberg was investigating allegations that there had been no heat or gas in two buildings owned by Michael Rose since May, NY1 reported in its write-up of the altercation. Herzenberg entered a business owned by Rose alongside Daniel Bernstein, the founder of a tenants association for the buildings.
After answering a few questions, Rose became hostile. In a video of the incident captured by NY1, Rose answers a question then tries to grab the NY1 microphone out of Herzenberg’s hand and says, “Alright, that’s enough.”
Landlord/owner # didn’t like me @NY1 asking him why his tenants have #noheat He blames @conedison saying he tries to get the 2 buildings fixed everyday, but @nyccouncil @marklevinenyc says utility told him it’s the owner’s fault. @nypd charged owner Mike Rose w/Criminal Mischief pic.twitter.com/xGDz6FAoiS
— Michael Herzenberg (@MHerzenberg) November 13, 2019
Someone can be heard asking Rose what he is doing as he pushes Herzenberg multiple times and appears to attempt to pull away the NY1 camera. In its Facebook post, NY1 said the camera was broken in the altercation.
“I said get the fuck out of here,” Rose says. Rose appears to drag Herzenberg out of the store by his jacket. Once outside, Rose can be seen punching Bernstein in the head.
NYPD Spokesperson Sgt. Jessica McRorie told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that Bernstein sustained injuries but refused medical attention. It is unclear whether Herzenberg, who declined to comment, was injured in the scuffle. McRorie confirmed that Rose “broke a part of the [NY1] camera by smashing it with his hand.”
Rose was arrested and held overnight. McRorie told the Tracker that Rose has been charged with criminal mischief. West Side Rag reported that Rose’s next court date is Dec. 5.
When an interview with a landlord became physical, a Spectrum News NY1 reporter was assaulted and the station camera was damaged.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, Court grants motion to compel former editor to reveal confidential source,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/court-grants-motion-to-compel-former-editor-to-reveal-confidential-source/,2021-05-06 20:13:48.123654+00:00,2022-04-06 17:22:28.107594+00:00,2022-04-06 17:22:28.047063+00:00,,Subpoena/Legal Order,,,,Milo Yiannopoulos (Breitbart News),,2019-11-05,False,New York,New York (NY),None,None,"On Nov. 5, 2019, as part a lawsuit against the organizers of Unite the Right rally held in Charlottesville, Virginia, in Aug. 2017, Milo Yiannopoulos, a former editor at Breitbart News, was subpoenaed for all documents and communication related to the rally and one of its organizers, Richard Spencer.
Yiannopoulos, who, in Feb. 2017, had resigned from his post at the conservite news site once described by its chairman as a “platform for the alt-right,” failed to comply with the subpoena, and on Dec. 18, the parties involved in the suit agreed to restrict its scope, now requesting only audio and visual recordings concerning the rally, as well as any communications between Yiannopoulos and the defendants.
Yiannopoulos again failed to comply, ultimately stating that he had “nothing to produce relevant to the planning of [the rally].”
On April 6, 2020, however, Yiannopoulos published a video on his YouTube channel that showed Spencer chanting, “Sieg Heil,” and performing a Nazi salute among a crowd of people, and two months later, he claimed on the social media website Telegram that “[a] lot more Richard Spencer drops still to come from me.” This prompted the plaintiffs in the case to file a motion, on June 25, to compel his compliance with the subpoena.
In a court hearing on July 29, Yiannopoulos testified that the recordings relating to Spencer and the rally were not in his possession and that he had been “mistaken” in his belief that he possessed them. “I have consulted the source of these recordings, who reminded me that they were played to me, but I did not retain copies of them,” Yiannopoulos told the court in his objection to the subpoena. He then invoked the reporter’s privilege to protect the source’s identity.
The plaintiffs argued that Yiannopoulos could not invoke such privilege, stating that he’d been “cultivating his source in order to pursue a personal feud with Richard Spencer, and was thus not acting in the role of an independent journalist.”
On Oct. 14, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York held that Yiannopoulos had been working for Breitbart at the time he contacted the source and was thus protected by the reporter’s privilege.
It noted: “Respondent’s style of disseminating information may be confrontational and biased, but it is not wholly without journalistic content, and protecting even Respondent’s muckraking style protects the ‘public interest in the maintenance of a vigorous, aggressive and independent press capable of participating in robust, unfettered debate over controversial matters.”
The court order stated that the plaintiffs had also failed to prove that the requested information was not available through alternative sources and rejected their claim that Yiannopoulos had not acted as an independent journalist. The court denied the motion to compel “with leave to renew upon a more thorough demonstration that Movants have exhausted potential alternative sources.”
When reached for comment, Yiannopoulos told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: “Journalists are, to a man, weaselly, hypocritical, vindictive, disreputable and disgusting people, but we survive for one reason: We don’t reveal our sources.”
On Nov. 5, 2020, the movants submitted a renewed motion to compel. The court admitted the renewed motion after Yiannapolous did not submit an opposition to the motion.
The court subsequently granted the renewed motion to compel, ordering Yiannopoulos to reveal the two sources and noting that the movants had now also successfully shown that the confidential information sought was not obtainable from other available sources and had therefore overcome qualified privilege.
A law clerk at the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York told the Tracker that the movants in the case had not approached the court since that order to compel, implying that the respondent, Yiannopoulos, had complied.
Yiannopoulos did not respond to the Tracker’s follow-up request for comment.
Paige Pauroso, a multimedia journalist for WBTV, a CBS-affiliate station based in Charlotte, North Carolina, was assaulted while filming b-roll in the city on Nov. 1, 2019.
Pauroso, who did not respond to messages requesting comment, posted a video to Twitter that shows a woman approaching Pauroso as she’s carrying a camera atop a tripod toward a couple of cars. Approximately 5 seconds into the clip, the woman hits Pauroso in the head, knocking it into the camera. The woman appears to then say something to Pauroso and walk away.
According to a police report shared with the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, the assault occurred shortly before 1 p.m. at the intersection of North Sharon Amity Road and Campbell Drive.
Pauroso wrote an account of the incident: “This woman verbally and then physically attacked me for just doing my job. I tried to diffuse the situation by deleting the clips she might have been in (she was walking on a public street). But it was obviously she hated me for just being in the neighborhood with a camera.”
Pauroso wrote that she was “a little shaken up” and her head was sore from where it hit the camera; she also confirmed that she had filed a police report about the incident.
“I’m ok, thankfully. But I know this situation could have been worse,” Pauroso wrote. “I’m not sure exactly the point of this post other than to remind other journalists to be careful. And for those outside the biz, your local journalists aren’t the enemy, we’re your neighbors.”
Pauroso also noted that safety concerns are an ongoing conversation among multimedia journalists — many of whom are young women — as they often report in the field alone.
Officer Thomas Hildebrand, a spokesperson for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, told the Tracker the case is still open and no one has been charged.
In the early hours of July 10, 2016, Seth Rich, a 27-year-old staffer with the Democratic National Committee, was fatally shot while walking to his home in Washington, D.C. His death, while unsolved, is believed to be the result of a robbery gone wrong. It quickly, however, became a flash point for conspiracy theories: that Rich had been behind a DNC email dump to WikiLeaks and its founder, Julian Assange, and that he’d effectively been assassinated because of it. None of the claims have ever been substantiated.
On March 26, 2018, Rich’s brother, Aaron, filed a defamation suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against a slew of defendants — Texas businessman and then-frequent Fox News guest Ed Butowsky, the Washington Times, America First Media Group and its founder, Matt Couch — who he’d alleged had shown a “reckless disregard for the truth” and falsely linked both himself and his brother to the email leak.
During the course of three years of litigation, attorneys for both sides collectively subpoenaed nearly a dozen news outlets and members of the press. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents all subpoena requests individually; Find a complete overview of the known subpoenas for this case in the blog post, “Nearly a dozen journalists, outlets and third parties subpoenaed in defamation suit.”
In January 2021, both Couch and Butowsky publicly apologized and retracted prior claims made about the Rich brothers, though Butowsky deleted his statement of contrition almost immediately, according to Law & Crime. Couch and Rich reached a settlement agreement on Jan. 19; Butowsky and Rich reached an agreement on March 22. The lawsuit was terminated officially when District Judge Richard Leon granted Rich’s motions to dismiss the charges against the defendants on March 29. The details of the settlement agreements were not made public.
Ratner — who’s late brother, Michael, was one of WikiLeaks’ U.S. lawyers — claimed Assange told her during a three-hour meeting in London that the DNC email dump was executed by an insider, not the Russian government.
Status of Subpoena
Carried out. Following the completion of the deposition, Butowsky voiced a desire to cross-examine or re-depose Ratner, ultimately filing his own deposition subpoena and a motion to strike the first deposition in its entirety. The Tracker has documented the second subpoena here.
On Oct. 31, 2019, venture capital investor, entrepreneur and philanthropist Shervin Pishevar filed an application for discovery against Fast Company senior news editor Marcus Baram in an effort to uncover identifying information about a source cited in a 2017 article.
In September 2017, Baram met with a confidential source who claimed to have information concerning the arrest of the tech investor on suspicion of sexual assault in London that May. The source also claimed to have a copy of the police report from that arrest. In a response to a request for comment, Pishevar confirmed his arrest in a statement to Fast Company.
Information provided by the source and contained in the alleged police report was used in an article published by Fast Company in November 2017, having received inconclusive responses from the City of London Police concerning the document’s authenticity. The police report was later proven to be fabricated.
Fast Company received a subpoena from lawyers representing Pishevar in August 2019, seeking information they hoped to use in possible future court cases, or “contemplated criminal and civil proceedings in England,” according to a memorandum of law obtained by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
General counsel for the magazine largely complied with the subpoena and follow up emails from Pishevar’s attorneys. They did not, however, provide identifying information about Baram’s confidential source, stating that Baram claimed reporter’s privilege under New York’s shield law.
Lucas Bento, an attorney for Pishevar, acknowledged that identifying information about the source was the central aim of the subpoena, and threatened to pursue a court-ordered deposition of Baram if Fast Company did not provide the identifying information voluntarily.
Bento followed through on this threat on Oct. 31, filing an application for discovery for documents, communications and testimony from Baram. The application, which is the process by which subpoenas are issued by foreign parties and approved by U.S. courts, was obtained and reviewed by the Tracker.
In an affidavit opposing the application filed on Dec. 4, Baram said that he often relies on speaking with sources on the condition of anonymity.
“My ability to report on matters of public interest depends on my ability to safeguard the identities of my sources and the confidentiality of the information that they provide. I have never revealed a confidential source,” Baram said.
In addition to asserting his reporter’s privilege, Baram wrote that he was asserting his privilege against self-incrimination. He noted concerns that — while he maintains he committed no crime — Pishevar may pursue criminal charges against him.
“I am appalled that my honest newsgathering and truthful reporting about [City of London Police’s] arrest of Mr. Pishevar (a fact he has acknowledged) could result in criminal allegations against me by Mr. Pishevar,” Baram said.
This article was updated to reflect that Shervin Pishevar confirmed his arrest to Fast Company.
A portion of one of two subpoenas seeking confidential work product and testimony from Fast Company senior news editor Marcus Baram in relation to a 2017 article about investor Shervin Pishevar
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,testimony about confidential source,['QUASHED'],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, Editor says arrest is in retaliation for his reporting,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/editor-says-arrest-retaliation-his-reporting/,2019-11-05 18:59:21.691241+00:00,2019-12-09 22:11:22.268671+00:00,2019-12-09 22:11:22.113498+00:00,(2019-12-06 17:08:00+00:00) Charges against journalist Max Blumenthal dropped,Other Incident,,,,Max Blumenthal (The Greyzone),,2019-10-25,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"The Grayzone editor Max Blumenthal was arrested on assault charges on Oct. 25, 2019, at his home in Washington, D.C.
Blumenthal told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the charge is false and is in retaliation for his outlet’s reporting on the Venezuelean opposition.
An account of his arrest was published on The Grayzone, the site Blumenthal founded in 2015.
In April and May of this year, the embassy in D.C. was the site for weeks-long protests between backers of Venezuelean President Nicolás Maduro and supporters of Juan Guaidó, who has been recognized by the United States and other nations as the country’s interim president, according to the Washington Post. The Post reported that at least 10 other people were arrested in connection with the protests.
In public court records, prosecutors claim that the alleged assault occurred during a confrontation involving the delivery of food and water to the embassy on May 8.
The Tracker is so far unable to independently corroborate the editor’s assertion that this arrest was specifically in retaliation for his reporting, but we will continue to follow this case and report on it as it develops.
Blumenthal said the next status hearing is scheduled for Nov. 22.
Supporters of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guido demonstrate outside the Venezuelan embassy occupied by Nicolas Maduro supporters in Washington, D.C. in May.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, White House plans to instruct federal agencies to cancel subscriptions to two major news outlets,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/white-house-plans-instruct-federal-agencies-cancel-subscriptions-two-major-news-outlets/,2019-11-06 17:55:27.651760+00:00,2021-10-05 20:08:00.650175+00:00,2021-10-05 20:08:00.604418+00:00,,Chilling Statement,,,,,,2019-10-24,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"The White House announced that President Donald Trump plans to instruct federal agencies to not renew their subscriptions to The New York Times and the Washington Post, as reported by the Wall Street Journal on Oct. 24, 2019.
Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham told the Journal, “Not renewing subscriptions across all federal agencies will be a significant cost saving—hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars will be saved.”
Grisham did not provide additional details, such as how many subscriptions the federal government currently has, how the White House intends to compel agencies to cancel the subscriptions and when the order would take effect.
The decision came less than a week after Trump said during an interview on Fox News that the Times wasn’t wanted in the White House anymore.
“We’re going to probably terminate that and the Washington Post. They’re fake,” Trump added.
Neither the Times or the Post communications departments responded to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker’s requests for comment.
Jennifer Jacobs, a senior White House correspondent for Bloomberg, tweeted that the White House followed through with the President’s threat and that Oct. 22 was the last day physical copies of those newspapers were delivered.
White House says it’s going to do things and doesn’t always follow through, but NYT and WaPo subscriptions were ended.
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) October 24, 2019
Some aides privately expressing regret. But doubt Trump will stop reading either.
WaPo *online* subscription remains.
WH still gets WSJ, Hill, NY Post etc. pic.twitter.com/1H3lzdBtYM
Jonathan Karl, president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, told the Associated Press, “I have no doubt the hardworking reporters of The New York Times and Washington Post will continue to do quality journalism, regardless of whether the president acknowledges he reads them. Pretending to ignore the work of a free press won’t make the news go away or stop reporters from informing the public and holding those in power accountable.”
Axios reported that sources familiar with the president’s iPhone confirmed that Trump has not deleted the Times and the Post’s cell phone apps, maintaining digital access to the two newspapers.
Trump’s “fake news” rhetoric has trickled down to the local level. The same day the White House said it would instruct federal agencies to not renew subscriptions, county commissioners in Florida denied local librarians’ request for funds to provide their roughly 70,000 patrons with digital access to the Times. The Citrus County Chronicle reported that when the request came before the commission, the officials laughed aloud.
Commissioner Scott Carnahan also called the newspaper “fake news.”
“I agree with President Trump,” he said. “I will not be voting for this. I don’t want The New York Times in this county.”
All five members of the commission agreed to reject the library’s request. The Chronicle reported that it spoke to four of them and commissioners Brian Coleman and Chairman Jeff Kinnard cited concerns that approving the request would lead to requests for subscriptions to more “radical publications.” Coleman also said, “I support President Trump. I would say they put stuff in there that’s not necessarily verified.”
President Donald Trump speaks to the media in this 2018 file photo. Trump said in a Fox News interview recently that he wanted to keep specific newspapers out of the White House. REUTERS/Carlos Barria
,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,"The New York Times, The Washington Post",,,,,, California journalists sued for 'hacking' city’s open Dropbox folder; barred from publishing,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/california-journalists-sued-for-hacking-citys-open-dropbox-folder-barred-from-publishing/,2019-12-23 18:12:26.960064+00:00,2021-09-21 15:04:07.173191+00:00,2021-09-21 15:04:07.081476+00:00,"(2021-05-12 13:59:00+00:00) City drops lawsuit against bloggers it accused of hacking documents, (2020-03-12 11:30:00+00:00) Judge denies motion to dismiss under anti-SLAPP law",Prior Restraint,,,,,,2019-10-24,False,Fullerton,California (CA),33.87029,-117.92534,"In a complaint filed in the California Superior Court of Orange County on Oct. 24, 2019, the City of Fullerton, California, accused a community blog and two contributors of violating anti-hacking laws for accessing confidential files city employees posted online, according to their lawyer Kelly Aviles and court documents reviewed by the Committee to Protect Journalists. Aviles told CPJ in December that the suit could go to a jury trial in early 2020. The press freedom and legal advocacy group Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press called the case the “first … we’re aware of where the computer crime laws have been misused so brazenly against members of the news media.”
The City of Fullerton claims that the blog, Friends for Fullerton’s Future, and two of its journalists, Joshua Ferguson and David Curlee, accessed more than a dozen internal documents stored on the file hosting and sharing service Dropbox without permission, according to CPJ’s review. The blog publishes original articles and commentary on the city government and the local police department.
Aviles alleged, in a phone interview with CPJ, that the case is designed to retaliate against her clients for reporting and to block future publication. She told CPJ she has filed an anti-Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation motion, or SLAPP, which permits courts to dismiss lawsuits that are intended to censor public speech.
“The City’s suit was not in retaliation for anything,” Fullerton’s lawyer Kimberly Hall Barlow wrote in an email to CPJ. The blog was not a factor in the decision to bring the case, she said.
“If the argument is that a reporter can steal information him or herself and then be allowed to publish it at will, that is neither consistent with the first amendment law nor the ethical tenets of professional journalists,” she said.
Ferguson routinely requested public records, and the city had provided him with a link to the Dropbox folder in the past, he told CPJ. The city acknowledges sending a link to access the folder in response to records requests, according to court filings reviewed by CPJ. The folder was not password protected, and anyone could access it via the web address in the link. Files that were approved for public release were kept in the same folder as others that had not been, some of which were password protected, according to those documents.
The complaint said Ferguson and Curlee accessed files in the folder that had not been approved for release, thereby violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, a federal law intended to combat hacking, and a similar state law, the California Comprehensive Computer Data Access and Fraud Act. CPJ has reported concerns that the CFAA’s broad wording could be used to punish routine online journalistic activity.
The complaint said the journalists had intentionally obscured their activity using a virtual private network and the Tor browser — digital security tools that CPJ and others routinely recommend that journalists use online. The City also requested a forensic analysis of the reporters’ computers and sought prior restraint to block future publication based on the files — a request that RCFP called “concerning” and Aviles called unconstitutional in court documents.
In November, a trial court in Orange County did not allow that forensic examination, according to Aviles, while an appeals court stayed the attempt to block future publication in December. But the anti-hacking lawsuit against the blog is ongoing, Aviles told CPJ.
“The city is calling me a hacker and a thief,” Ferguson told CPJ in December. Yet, he said, “the idea they are presenting — that hacking is just clicking a link — that idea would literally break the internet if broadly applied.”
“The conduct that the City complains of is no more criminal than clicking through the City’s website, finding confidential information, and downloading it,” Aviles wrote in court filings reviewed by CPJ. The city’s lawsuit is in “retaliation for Mr. Ferguson’s CPRA lawsuit and to silence the Blog,” she wrote. Immediately before the city launched its lawsuit, Ferguson had filed a California Public Records Act lawsuit requesting the release of documents related to alleged police misconduct, he told CPJ.
Kimberly Hall Barlow told CPJ that the city decided to file their suit before Ferguson filed his.
Ferguson told CPJ that the city’s complaint included Christopher Tennyson, his former co-worker at a local camera store where they sometimes shared the same computer, in order to damage Ferguson’s professional relationships. Kimberly Hall Barlow denied this, noting to CPJ that the city later dropped Tennyson from the suit.
Aviles said the case was draining her clients’ financial resources and impeding their ability to continue reporting.
“It would be hard for a large newspaper to deal with this,” Aviles told CPJ in November. “But for a blog of concerned citizen journalists — who felt like there was no voice in their community — it’s an outrageous thing to face.”
RCFP filed an amicus brief in support of the bloggers, as did the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a leading U.S. digital rights group. The editorial board of the local Orange County Register newspaper published an editorial in November asking the city to drop the case and “get some professional advice on how to password-protect its files.”
Caitlin Yilek, a breaking news reporter for the Washington Examiner, wrote that she was berated and threatened by top White House senior adviser Kellyanne Conway during a phone call on Oct. 23, 2019.
Yilek had published an article the day before about President Donald Trump considering Conway as his next chief of staff; Yilek included details about the feud between the president and Conway’s husband, George Conway. Tom Joannou, Conway’s assistant, contacted Yilek that evening asking for her phone number.
The morning of Oct. 23, Joannou called and requested that their conversation be off the record, but moments later Conway took over the call, initiating a new, on-the-record conversation. Conway appeared to be furious with the reporter’s coverage, and berated Yilek for what she classified as lazy, irrelevant and sexist reporting.
In a transcript of the call published by the Examiner, Conway says, “So, I just am wondering why in God’s earth you would need to mention anything about George Conway’s tweets in an article that talks about me as possibly being chief of staff. Other than it looks to me like there’s no original reporting here, you just read Twitter and other people’s stuff, which I guess is why you don’t pick up the phone when people call from the White House because, if it’s not on Twitter or it’s not on cable TV, it’s not real.”
Conway also accused Yilek of “trying to undercut another woman based on who she’s married to,” and dismissed Yilek’s explanations of why information about George Conway was considered important contextual information.
Near the end of the call, Conway said: “Listen, if you’re going to cover my personal life, then we’re welcome to do the same around here.” Yilek later characterized the statement as a threat that “the White House would delve into the personal lives of reporters if they wrote about her husband.”
Conway disputed Yilek’s version of events, saying in a lengthy statement, “What I said on that call I’ve said publicly on-the-record before, including on TV, in speeches, in driveway gaggles with reporters. I did NOT indicate the call was off-the-record, but the reporter certainly thought it was.”
Neither Conway nor Yilek responded to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker’s requests for comment.
In a video published by The Washington Post, a reporter asked Conway to clarify what she meant by “cover her personal life.” Conway responded, “Right, so, don’t use the word ‘threaten’ and don’t use the word ‘investigate’ and stop being so silly.” She did not, however, elaborate on her original intent with the statement to Yilek.
White House senior advisor Kellyanne Conway speaks to reporters at the White House in October. REUTERS/Tom Brenner
,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, "Former House Speaker Gingrich says, if he could, he would eliminate the White House press corps",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/former-house-speaker-gingrich-says-if-he-could-he-would-eliminate-white-house-press-corps/,2019-11-20 19:13:23.200951+00:00,2022-04-06 17:23:49.524653+00:00,2022-04-06 17:23:49.476521+00:00,,Chilling Statement,,,,,,2019-10-21,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich said during a CBS News interview on Oct. 21, 2019, that he would eliminate the White House press corps if he had the authority to do so.
While Gingrich appeared on CBSN Monday to promote his new book, he was asked by anchor Vladimir Duthiers whether he would have given a press briefing like Mick Mulvaney did if he were chief of staff. The previous week, Mulvaney gave a news conference during which he appeared to admit that President Donald Trump had asked for help investigating a political rival in exchange for releasing military aid for Ukraine.
.@NewtGingrich on advising Pres. Trump and Mick Mulvaney before Mulvaney's quid pro quo remarks during WH briefing: "If I had had the ability to do it, there wouldn't be a White House press corps in the White House." https://t.co/g1VHZ94AH7 pic.twitter.com/ypMzH0AKkE
— CBS News (@CBSNews) October 21, 2019
Gingrich responded, "If I had had the ability to do it, there wouldn't be a White House press corps in the White House.”
"Why is that?" asked CBSN anchor Anne-Marie Green.
“They’re all enemies of the president,” Gingrich said. “Why would you call on people who get up every morning saying, ‘I hate Donald Trump. I wonder how I can make his life miserable’?”
Green interjected that press briefings are opportunities for the president to speak to the people. Gingrich dismissed that characterization, echoing the sentiments of White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham when she said she was not planning to resume regular press briefings.
“The president can speak to the people anytime,” Gingrich said. “He doesn’t need to speak to a bunch of reporters who are then going to be distorted by their editors.”
The Hill reported that Gingrich made similar comments in May 2017. According to The Hill’s reporting at the time, Gingrich called on Trump to follow through on his threat to cancel the daily press briefings and advised him to treat the news media as “dishonest opponents pretending to be reporters.”
Grisham and her press secretary predecessor, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, have effectively ended the daily White House press briefings. In January, Trump tweeted that the lack of regular briefings was the result of directions he gave to Sanders. ABC News reported that Wednesday, Sept. 11 marked six months since the White House held a traditional briefing.
Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich speaks to the media in New York in this 2016 file photo.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,White House Press Corps,,,,,, Trump’s anti-press language on Twitter mirrored in violent video created by supporter,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/trumps-anti-press-language-on-twitter-mirrored-in-violent-video-created-by-supporter/,2019-10-15 20:32:22.755844+00:00,2022-03-11 14:59:23.239802+00:00,2022-03-11 14:59:23.168577+00:00,,Other Incident,,,,"Mika Brzezinski (MSNBC), Rachel Maddow (MSNBC)",,2019-10-19,True,Miami,Florida (FL),25.77427,-80.19366,"More than half of the news outlets depicted in a graphic fake video of President Donald Trump assaulting his critics have also been singled out in anti-press tweets published by the president.
In a video shared with The New York Times over the weekend, a fake Trump in a pinstripe suit rampages through a church, shooting, stabbing and assaulting those in the pews, many of whom bear the faces of his political opponents, critics and journalists. As Trump massacres his way through the “Church of Fake News,” the faces of two media figures and the logos of at least 23 news organizations are superimposed on his victims, ranging from Bloomberg and NPR to HuffPost and BuzzFeed, from The Guardian to PBS.
The video was played at one point during a pro-Trump conference from Oct. 10–12, 2019, at the president’s hotel and golf resort near Miami, but has been circulating across the internet since at least July 2018, according to CNN.
Following the Times’ publication and amid national outcry, White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham posted a tweet stating that the president had not yet seen the edited scene. “But based upon everything he has heard, he strongly condemns this video,” Grisham wrote.
As of publication, Trump has not personally condemned the video.
A database of Trump’s negative tweets about the press, compiled by U.S. Press Freedom Tracker reporter Stephanie Sugars, finds that 11% of all of his tweets since declaring his candidacy contain negative language about news organizations, specific journalists and the media as a whole.
To date, 13 of the news organizations represented in the video have been mentioned by name in his anti-press tweets.
According to the database, CNN has been directly mentioned in 215 such tweets, NBC in 124 and The Washington Post in 107.
Over the years, Trump has referred to NBC staff as “losers,” “degenerate… Trump haters,” “crazy” and “the enemy of the American People,” and has implied that the station’s broadcasting license should be reevaluated or revoked.
.@politico covers me more inaccurately than any other media source, and that is saying something. They go out of their way to distort truth!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 22, 2015
Politico has been featured in 19 of the president’s anti-press tweets, CBS in 16 and Univision in eight.
In August 2015, Trump tweeted, “[Politico] covers me more inaccurately than any other media source, and that is saying something.”
In a statement released on Twitter, White House Correspondents’ Association President Jonathan Karl of ABC News expressed horror at the video: “We have previously told the President his rhetoric could incite violence. Now we call on him and everybody associated with this conference to denounce this video and affirm that violence has no place in our society,” Karl said.
WHCA Statement on video depicting President Trump murdering journalists. pic.twitter.com/52lHFaQjU2
— WHCA (@whca) October 14, 2019
ABC News, which the video depicts being shot in the head by the president, has been featured in 48 of the president’s anti-press tweets.
The two journalists clearly identifiable in the video—Mika Brzezinski and Rachel Maddow, both of MSNBC—have also been featured in Trump’s negative tweets about the press. Trump has directly targeted Maddow four times and Brzezinski 13 times, referring to her as “a neurotic and not very bright mess” and a “very angry Psycho.”
The Times reported that the video’s creation and display at the conference demonstrates how Trump’s anti-press language has influenced his supporters and political allies.
Trump has tweeted and retweeted similar videos in both tone and content—albeit less violent—in the past. In 2017, he received condemnation from media outlets and press freedom advocates after he posted a video of himself participating in WrestleMania, edited to have the CNN logo replacing the face of the man he body slams and beats up.
On Sept. 6 of this year, he tweeted a video that ended with the CNN logo, photoshopped onto an out-of-control vehicle, crashing and bursting into flames.
Despite the news about the video’s placement at the conference breaking over the weekend, Trump has continued to use negative language against the press on social media. Since Sunday, he has posted at least 11 more tweets attacking the media, including ABC News and CNN—both of which were depicted in the graphic video—along with The Times and Fox News’ Chris Wallace and Brian Kilmeade.
A highly-edited video showing a fake President Donald Trump violently murdering opponents, critics and news organizations was reportedly shown during a pro-Trump conference at one of his hotels in Florida.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,Media,,,,,, Astros fire assistant general manager for inappropriate comments to reporters,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/astros-fire-assistant-general-manager-inappropriate-comments-reporters/,2019-11-13 21:08:26.666664+00:00,2019-11-13 21:08:26.666664+00:00,2019-11-13 21:08:26.592381+00:00,,Other Incident,,,,Stephanie Apstein (Sports Illustrated),,2019-10-19,False,Houston,Texas (TX),29.76328,-95.36327,"The Houston Astros fired Brandon Taubman, the baseball team's assistant general manager, on Oct. 24, 2019, after Taubman made improper comments toward female reporters about a team member accused of domestic violence.
On Oct. 19, during celebrations in the Astros clubhouse following the team's victory over the New York Yankees to win the American League pennant, Taubman yelled “Thank God we got Osuna! I’m so f------ glad we got Osuna!” directing his comments at three female reporters nearby, one of whom was wearing a purple rubber domestic violence-awareness bracelet.
Pitcher Roberto Osuna was a Toronto Blue Jay when he was suspended without pay for 75 games during the 2018 season for violating Major League Baseball's domestic violence policy. Osuna had been accused of assaulting the mother of his three-year-old child. The Astros hired Osuna near the end of that suspension despite having a "zero tolerance policy" against domestic violence, drawing widespread criticism.
Sports Illustrated's Stephanie Apstein, one of the reporters at whom Taubman directed his remarks, published a story on Oct. 21 describing Taubman's outburst and putting it in broader context.
"The outburst was offensive and frightening enough that another Houston staffer apologized. The Astros declined to comment. They also declined to make Taubman available for an interview," she wrote. "Taubman's timing was odd," Apstein continued, as Osuna had not performed well that evening. "He had been, by Baseball Reference’s calculations and any intelligent observer’s assessment, the least valuable Astro that night. So why would Taubman choose that moment, to taunt that demographic? It’s not hard to figure out."
But for his arrest for domestic violence, Osuna would likely have never become an Astro, Apstein continued. "Osuna was one of the best closers in the game, and his infraction made him, in the mind of the Astros’ front office, a distressed asset. They traded for him, and in terms of traditional organizational capital, the price was low: the Astros gave up their own struggling closer and two middling pitching prospects for him," she wrote. "But the price was low for a reason: Many teams didn’t want to deal with the public backlash for acquiring Osuna."
The Houston Chronicle reported that Taubman’s comments were directed at one particular female reporter. “In casual conversations at the end of the 2018 season, Taubman complained about the reporter to multiple people,” the Chronicle reported, without naming the individual in question.
After Apstein's story was published, the Astros put out a statement accusing the reporter of fabrication: "The story posted by Sports Illustrated is misleading and completely irresponsible," the statement began, attributing Taubman's comments to "the game situation that had just occurred and nothing else -- they were also not directed toward any specific reporters. We are extremely disappointed in Sports Illustrated's attempts to fabricate a story where one does not exist."
Sports Illustrated came to Apstein's defense in a statement the next day: "Sports Illustrated unequivocally stands behind Apstein, her reporting and the story, which was subsequently corroborated by several other media members present at the scene. Any implication that SI or any of its journalists would ‘fabricate’ a story in its detail or intent is both disappointing and completely inexcusable."
Two days later, on Oct. 24, the Astros fired Taubman and tweeted out a mea culpa:
— Houston Astros (@astros) October 24, 2019
Team owner Jim Crane on Oct. 26 sent a short letter to Apstein admitting fault, writing, "We were wrong and I am sorry that we initially questioned your professionalism."
A view of Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas, where the Astros beat the New York Yankees in six games for baseball’s American League pennant on Oct. 19, 2019.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, "Journalist alleges bodyguard pushed, assaulted him outside San Francisco courthouse",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-alleges-bodyguard-pushed-assaulted-him-outside-san-francisco-courthouse/,2019-11-15 18:46:44.428721+00:00,2021-11-09 21:59:28.882661+00:00,2021-11-09 21:59:28.840028+00:00,,Assault,,,,Phelim McAleer,,2019-10-15,False,San Francisco,California (CA),37.77493,-122.41942,"Multimedia journalist Phelim McAleer told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was assaulted by a bodyguard for Planned Parenthood outside of a San Francisco courthouse on Oct. 15, 2019.
McAleer said he was attempting to interview Dr. Mary Gatter, who had just finished testifying in Planned Parenthood’s suit against activist David Daleiden.
Footage of the incident posted to McAleer's YouTube channel shows McAleer asking questions of Gatter as she walks toward an SUV waiting on the side of the street. As he appears to move around Gatter’s bodyguard to continue asking questions, the man pushes McAleer backward repeatedly. In the video, McAleer is heard shouting, “You’re assaulting me! Get your hands off me!”
McAleer told the Tracker that the bodyguard shoved and pushed him before jabbing him in the ribs. McAleer called the police who, according to a summary of the police report shared with the Tracker, were dispatched to the courthouse just before noon.
“Officers met with an adult male victim (investigative Journalist) who stated that he was assaulted by an adult male while trying to interview a witness,” Public Information Officer Joseph Tomlinson shared over email. “Officers reviewed the surveillance footage of the incident and did not see a battery of the victim.”
In regards to the police determination that he was not assaulted, McAleer said, “I think they looked at a confusing situation on my phone and made a snap judgement.”
Multimedia journalist Phelim McAleer filed a police report alleging assault outside of a San Francisco courthouse.
,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private security,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, Counterterrorism analyst charged with leaking classified documents to two reporters,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/counterterrorism-analyst-charged-leaking-classified-documents-two-reporters/,2019-10-10 17:59:34.197701+00:00,2022-08-04 22:12:38.482805+00:00,2022-08-04 22:12:38.395492+00:00,"(2020-06-18 16:23:00+00:00) Former counterterrorism analyst sentenced to over two years in prison for leaking classified documents, (2020-02-20 15:18:00+00:00) Former counterterrorism analyst pleads guilty to leaking classified documents to two reporters",Leak Case,,,,,,2019-10-09,False,Alexandria,Virginia (VA),38.80484,-77.04692,"Henry Kyle Frese, a counterterrorism analyst for the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency, was arrested when he arrived at work on Oct. 9, 2019, accused of leaking classified information about a foreign country’s weapons systems to two journalists.
Frese has been charged under the Espionage Act with two counts of willful transmission of national defense information, and could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted on both counts, the Justice Department announced.
The Justice Department indictment details alleged contact with two journalists dating back to April 2018, at least some of which took place over Twitter direct messaging. Officials also allege that Frese was in a romantic relationship with one of the journalists, citing their shared home address from August 2017 to August 2018.
In a statement announcing the indictment, Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Demers said, “Frese was caught red-handed disclosing sensitive national security information for personal gain.” The indictment alleges that Frese accessed at least three classified intelligence reports unrelated to his job and discussed their contents with the reporters.
The Wall Street Journal reported that while the reporters to whom Frese is accused of leaking are not named in the indictment, details suggest that the journalists are Amanda Macias, a national security reporter for CNBC, and Courtney Kube, a national security and Pentagon correspondent for NBC.
The indictment alleges that the first journalist, believed to be Macias, urged Frese to pass additional top secret information to one of her colleagues, and he agreed to do so to help advance her career. The indictment says cellphone surveillance from Sept. 24, 2019, caught Frese communicating national defense information to the second reporter, believed to be Kube.
In an affidavit supporting the seizure of Frese’s phone records, FBI Special Agent Donny Kim wrote, “There is probable cause to believe Frese committed violations of Title 18, United States Code, Section 793(d) and (e), willful transmission of national defense information.” These sections are more commonly known as part of the Espionage Act.
Frese is the eighth person to be investigated by President Trump’s Justice Department for allegedly sharing confidential information with the press. The Trump administration is on pace to surpass the Obama administration’s record of the most prosecutions of alleged journalistic sources. During President Obama’s two terms in office, the Department of Justice brought charges against eight people accused of leaking to the media.
Carlos Martínez de la Serna, program director for the Committee to Protect Journalists, said in a statement that these prosecutions can have a chilling effect.
"Prosecuting a civil servant under the Espionage Act puts leaking information of interest to the American people on a par with spying for a foreign county," Martínez de la Serna said.
A police booking mugshot released by the sheriff’s office in Alexandria, Virginia, shows U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency analyst Henry Kyle Frese after his arrest on charges of leaking classified materials to journalists.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,True,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,Espionage Act,,,,, Independent prisons reporter removed from Alabama government press lists,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-prisons-reporter-removed-from-alabama-government-press-lists/,2022-02-03 16:23:00.225232+00:00,2022-02-03 16:23:00.225232+00:00,2022-02-03 16:23:00.167857+00:00,,Denial of Access,,,,Beth Shelburne (Independent),,2019-10-08,False,Birmingham,Alabama (AL),33.52066,-86.80249,"Independent reporter Beth Shelburne was notified of her removal from the Alabama Department of Corrections press distribution list on Oct. 8, 2019, on the basis that Shelburne did not work for an “accredited news organization. Shelburne alleged that it was in retaliation for her reporting and opinion pieces.
Birmingham-based Shelburne told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in January 2022 that she has been covering prisons in the state since 2012. After leaving her position at WBRC FOX6 News in July 2019, she said she was able to have her new email address added to the ADOC press distribution list.
That August, she wrote an op-ed criticizing the department’s funeral for a K-9 officer killed in a contraband raid. After the piece was published she stopped receiving regular press releases from the department.
Following the death of an inmate in early October, Shelburne said she tried to receive confirmation and comment from the department’s communication director, Linda Mays, who told her to check the ADOC website or submit a formal records request. When AL.com, the largest digital news site in the state, published a story about the death which included the information she had requested, Shelburne asked Mays why she had responded to questions from that outlet but not to hers.
“She responded that they had revised their media policy and the public affairs office would only respond to journalists with ‘accredited’ news organizations and those would be the only reporters on their press distribution list,” Shelburne told the Tracker. “I realized that this was retaliation for the critical op-ed I had published.”
The policy Mays cited went into effect in October 2004 and describes “news media” as almost exclusively traditional and legacy media outlets — namely broadcast, radio and print outlets — and does not include any reference to freelance journalists or digital media outlets. The policy and definitions do not appear to have been revised since 2004.
Mays and the ADOC press office did not respond to an emailed request for comment.
Shelburne tweeted about her removal on Oct. 9, 2019, and included a screenshot of the email from Mays, which asserted that she was a member of the public, not a journalist.
I asked ADOC why they answered another reporter's questions but not mine. Hours later, they informed me that my questions are no longer good enough to be answered. In more than 2 decades of reporting, this has never happened. Transparency as clear as a mountain of bullshit. pic.twitter.com/Bu3eyZPh8A
— Beth Shelburne (@bshelburne) October 10, 2019
“That was the tweet that kind of went viral and the next day I received a call from Gov. [Kay] Ivey’s press secretary and she told me that somebody from the Department of Corrections would be reaching out to me and that this would be remedied,” Shelburne said. “And in fact the commissioner of prisons called me and apologized.”
Then-ADOC Commissioner Jeff Dunn told her that she had been removed in error and would be readded to the press list, Shelburne told the Tracker, and offered to meet with her for coffee.
In a statement emailed to reporters on Oct. 10, Dunn reasserted the department’s commitment to transparency and said they were “resolving” Shelburne’s removal for the press list, WBRC reported at the time.
“The action of removing this person does not help us reach our ultimate goal of making Alabama safer and helping to cultivate an atmosphere within the system where both the inmates and correctional officers feel safe,” Dunn said. “The Alabama Department of Corrections is committed to working with all types of media and will continue working tirelessly to remain transparent and effective for the media and the public.”
Shelburne told the Tracker that while her access was restored for a time, communications with Mays and other ADOC press officers were sluggish and their responses hostile. In emails shared with the Tracker, they criticized her reporting tips from incarcerated individuals and accused her of “misinformation” and “cherry-picking” information to further an agenda. By June 2020, both the ADOC and governor’s office had removed her from their press distribution lists and stopped responding to her requests entirely, Shelburne said.
Shelburne said she’s now considering legal avenues for restoring her access.
“It feels like nothing is going to change unless I sue,” Shelburne said. “You can’t block people’s access just because you don’t like what they’re saying because they are an opinion journalist or an op-ed writer.
“And a government agency can’t decide who is a real journalist or not.”
Ben Watson, a news editor for Defense One, was harassed by a U.S. immigration official when arriving at Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 3, 2019. At passport control, a Customs and Border Protection officer asked Watson four times, “You write propaganda, right?” The officer withheld Watson’s passport until he gave an affirmative answer.
Watson told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that things seemed normal as he passed through permanent resident reentry aisle No. 17 at around 4 p.m., though he noticed the CBP officer on duty was taking twice as long as normal with each customs interview.
In an account of the incident for Defense One, Watson wrote that after he answered a few standard questions about undeclared goods, the interaction took an unusual and unsettling turn.
After telling the officer that he is a journalist, the officer asked, “So you write propaganda, right?”
Watson told the Tracker that at first he wasn’t sure the officer was serious. “When I saw this smirk on his face and with the way he was looking at me, I realized this was not a joke.”
Watson responded no, that he was a journalist and that in his work covering national security he uses many of the same skills he used as a U.S. Army public affairs officer. “Some would argue, that’s propaganda,” Watson recalled saying.
The CBP officer persisted, asking a second time whether Watson is a journalist and asking again, “You write propaganda, right?”
Watson wrote that he paused briefly and then said, “For the purposes of expediting this conversation, yes.” Before returning his passport, the officer made Watson repeat for a second time that he, as a journalist, wrote propaganda.
Watson told the Tracker that he gave in when he thought about how long he could be delayed if he called for the officer’s supervisor and filed a complaint in person. He said, however, that he has since filed a civil rights complaint with the Department of Homeland Security’s Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties.
In a statement to Defense One, a DHS spokesperson said the CRCL office has received Watson’s complaint and is reviewing it. A spokesperson for CBP also provided an emailed statement to Defense One, stating that the agency is aware of and is investigating the reports of an officer’s alleged inappropriate conduct.
Watson tweeted after the incident, “I’ve honestly never had a human attempt to provoke me like this before in my life.”
What I told my colleagues shortly afterward:
— Ben Watson (@natsecwatson) October 4, 2019
"I've honestly never had a human attempt to provoke me like this before in my life.
This behavior is totally normal now, I guess?" https://t.co/9qV5xRWVMr
Walter Shaub, an attorney who served as director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics until 2017, tweeted that the incident should go to the DHS inspector general for review.
“A customs agent withholding the passport of a journalist until he agrees to say he writes ‘propaganda’ is actionable misconduct, even in Trump’s America,” Shaub wrote.
Watson’s is latest incident of politicized remarks by CBP agents aimed at journalists that the Tracker has documented in our border stop category. Other recent cases include a journalist being asked if he was part of the “fake news media,” two journalists being told to “fall in line” with the president’s agenda, and aggressive questioning to a reporter about his outlet’s political articles.
International passengers arrive at Washington Dulles International Airport after clearing immigration and customs in Dulles, Virginia in this 2017 file photo.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,Dulles International Airport,True,U.S. citizen,False,False,no,no,no,yes,no,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, NYT report: U.S. Ambassador to Hungary asked Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty to circumvent critical reporting of Hungarian government,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/nyt-report-us-ambassador-to-hungary-asked-radio-free-europeradio-liberty-to-circumvent-critical-reporting-of-hungarian-government/,2021-03-24 17:25:46.795029+00:00,2022-04-06 17:25:36.448356+00:00,2022-04-06 17:25:36.395950+00:00,,Chilling Statement,,,,,,2019-09-26,False,Budapest,Hungary,None,None,"David Cornstein, who served as United States Ambassador to Hungary from 2018 to 2020, reportedly contacted the federally-funded U.S. Agency for Global Media in 2019 asking that its media services avoid negative reporting about Viktor Orban, Prime Minister of Hungary, according to a New York Times report.
“The United States International Broadcasting Act prohibits American government officials, including Mr. Cornstein, from interfering in Radio Free Europe’s reporting,” the Times reported on Sept. 6. 2019.
Following the report, eight U.S. senators addressed an open letter to Cornstein seeking to confirm the Times account. No response from Cornstein has been made public, and Sen. Dick Durbin’s office, which posted the letter on the senator’s website, did not respond to a request from the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker for information.
Cornstein’s reported request came as the USAGM, an independent federal agency that oversees five state-run broadcasting networks, was preparing for a May 2020 relaunch of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in Hungary. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is funded by the U.S. government, with a mandate to promote democratic values in countries where a free press is banned or not fully established.
According to the Times report, unnamed U.S. officials told the paper that while Cornstein was still serving as ambassador, he “sought assurances from the agency that its service would not focus on negative stories about the Hungarian government, or investigative journalism, and that it would not undermine his efforts as ambassador.”
USAGM’s CEO and Director John Lansing told the Times, “It’s literally illegal for the U.S. government to interfere in our editorial independence.”
The United States International Broadcasting Act 1994, enacted to streamline the U.S. international media, prohibits U.S. government officials from interfering in Radio Free Europe’s reporting.
In a reply on the matter, Cornstein told the Times, “In general we do not comment on private discussions. That said, I remain as committed today as I was when I made clear during my Senate confirmation hearing, that as ambassador I am committed to promoting American and democratic values, including the freedom of speech and the freedom of the press.”
Cornstein, who was appointed to the post in Budapest by President Donald Trump in June 2018, enjoyed a close relationship with Orban, who has been heavily criticized by pro-democracy and human rights groups for cracking down on freedoms.
According to a 2019 report by leading international press freedom groups following their joint mission to Hungary, Orban’s government has dismantled media freedoms, using techniques such as systematic government takeovers of independent media. Freedom House, a U.S.-based democracy watchdog organization, downgraded Hungary from “free” to “partly free” in 2019 in its annual Freedom of the World report, citing Orban’s increasing control on the country’s independent institutions.
Despite the concerns of Freedom House and others, Cornstein lobbied to help Orban get a White House meeting in 2019, where President Trump praised him, saying, “Viktor Orban has done a tremendous job in so many different ways.”
The Hungarian service of RFE/RL relaunched on Sep. 8, 2020. “We are very excited to return to Hungary with state-of-the art programming and RFE/RL’s signature commitment to serving the public interest by reporting the issues that our audiences say matter most,” said RFE/RL acting President Daisy Sindelar.
A U.S. Army soldier stationed at Fort Riley, Kansas, was arrested on Sept. 21, 2019, on allegations that he distributed information online about making explosives and discussed attacking multiple targets, including a local news station and a major American news network.
According to the criminal complaint, Jarrett William Smith, 24, engaged in conversations on multiple platforms about his desire to join a violent far-right paramilitary group in Ukraine, about killing members of the anti-fascist group known as antifa and about techniques for building bombs and other explosives.
In an Aug. 19 conversation in an online chat group, Smith told a confidential FBI source about his plans for domestic terrorism, including killing members of antifa and destroying nearby cell towers or a local news station. In a conversation with the confidential source a few days later, Smith gave the headquarters of a major American news network as a potential target, describing how a car bomb could be used.
While the network was not named in the affidavit, two unnamed sources told CNN that it was the CNN headquarters in New York that was targeted.
In the criminal complaint, FBI Special Agent Brandon LaMar wrote, “[Smith] admitted that he provides this information even to individuals who tell him they intend to use the information to cause harm to others.” According to LaMar, Smith said he does so to cause “chaos.”
Smith was indicted by a federal grand jury on Sept. 25, and charged with two counts of distributing explosives information and a third alleging he sent interstate threats about setting the home of an antifa member on fire.
Smith pleaded not guilty to the charges during a hearing on Sept. 26, the Associated Press reported, and a federal magistrate ordered him detained until his trial. He faces 45 years in prison, a $500,000 fine, or both if convicted on all three counts, according to the indictment.
CNN’s New York headquarters, housed in the Time Warner building in Manhattan, was reported to be a target of a U.S. Army soldier who was indicted for distributing information about explosives.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,CNN,,,,,, "Kentucky journalist harassed, kissed on cheek during live broadcast",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/kentucky-journalist-harassed-kissed-cheek-during-live-broadcast/,2019-10-07 16:51:11.443908+00:00,2019-12-11 19:33:18.642893+00:00,2019-12-11 19:33:18.555904+00:00,,Assault,,,,Sara Rivest (WAVE 3),,2019-09-20,False,Louisville,Kentucky (KY),38.25424,-85.75941,"WAVE 3 News broadcast reporter Sara Rivest was harassed and kissed by a stranger while reporting outside a music festival in Louisville, Kentucky, on Sept. 20, 2019.
The news crew set up outside of the Bourbon & Beyond music festival to avoid the worst of the crowds, Rivest told WAVE 3. She shared a clip of her live broadcast on Twitter.
Hey mister, here’s your 3 seconds of fame. How about you not touch me? Thanks!! pic.twitter.com/5O44fu4i7y
— Sara Rivest (@SRivestWAVE3) September 20, 2019
Shortly after Rivest begins her broadcast, a man walks behind her and pretends to spank her before walking off camera smiling. A few seconds later, a second man quickly runs in front of Rivest, who continues reporting through the distraction. The first man, later identified as Eric Goodman, quickly returns and leans in to kiss Rivest’s cheek before running back off camera.
“OK, that was not appropriate,” Rivest says to the camera. “But, let’s just go to the story.”
Rivest appeared to laugh off the incident, but she addressed the harassment a few days later on her channel, and told viewers that she was shaken up and his actions were unacceptable.
“I was shocked, but my nervous laughter does not equate to approval of his actions,” Rivest said. “It was an exertion of power over me, a woman trying to do her job who couldn’t stop him. This embarrassed me, and it made me feel uncomfortable and powerless.”
Rivest highlighted that harassment of this type is an all-too-common occurrence for journalists in the field, especially women. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented at least one other case this year where a female broadcast reporter was kissed against her will while reporting.
Rivest told the Tracker that she didn’t expect the amount of public support that she received.
“I knew I had something important to say about this but I didn’t know how many people would listen, and it’s important when something like this happens to say something,” Rivest said.
After Goodman was identified as the man involved in the incident, he was charged by the Jefferson County Attorney with harassment with physical contact, a Class B misdemeanor.
Eric Goodman has been identified as the guy who pretended to spank me and kiss me during the live shot Friday. He’s charged with harassment with physical contact. He has written me an apology letter, I’ll read that on @wave3news later today. pic.twitter.com/chgG9tikVp
— Sara Rivest (@SRivestWAVE3) September 26, 2019
In a letter of apology read on air by Rivest, Goodman said, “After watching the video, reading through the posts and listening to your explanation, I have found a new respect for how difficult it must be to be a reporter, specifically in this type of environment. I was wrong to interrupt your job, invade your personal space and leave you feeling powerless.”
Rivest said that she accepts his apology, but that she knows he needs to face the consequences of his actions and agrees with the Commonwealth’s decision to charge him.
Goodman has a Nov. 6 court date, and faces up to 90 days in jail and a maximum $250 fine.
Journalist Sara Rivest speaks candidly on air about being assaulted during a previous live broadcast.
,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,sexual assault,,,,, BuzzFeed says its immigration reporter was excluded from DHS border tour,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/buzzfeed-says-its-immigration-reporter-was-excluded-dhs-border-tour/,2019-09-23 17:03:49.344194+00:00,2021-11-09 21:01:31.828882+00:00,2021-11-09 21:01:31.787804+00:00,,Denial of Access,,,,,,2019-09-16,False,New York,New York (NY),None,None,"BuzzFeed News immigration reporter Hamed Aleaziz was disinvited from a Department of Homeland Security tour of the border on Sept. 16, 2019, according to a letter obtained by CNN's Reliable Sources.
CNN reported that Aleaziz had originally been invited on the media tour with acting DHS Secretary Kevin McAleenan and had provided his personal information for security clearance purposes.
In the letter, BuzzFeed news director Tom Namako wrote to protest the agency’s treatment of Aleaziz. Namako said that while DHS spokesperson Andrew Meehan was visiting BuzzFeed’s offices in February, Meehan said he viewed Aleaziz as a “fair reporter” and repeatedly invited him to take a tour of the border with U.S. immigration authorities.
Namako wrote that Aleaziz had sought to take Meehan up on this offer when he was notified that he would be excluded from the tour.
“We are perplexed and disappointed by your apparent decision to specifically target Hamed, who has always sought your agency’s perspective in his coverage,” Namako wrote. “His exclusion serves only to prevent our audience and the American public from understanding the real situation at the border.”
Neither Aleaziz nor a spokesperson from DHS responded to request for comment.
A BuzzFeed news director protested a reporter's exclusion from a media tour of the border with DHS.
,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,BuzzFeed News,,,,,,Department of Homeland Security North Carolina state senator damages reporter’s phone in physical altercation,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/north-carolina-state-senator-damages-reporters-phone-in-physical-altercation/,2019-09-19 20:00:33.780626+00:00,2022-04-06 17:26:50.789533+00:00,2022-04-06 17:26:50.695737+00:00,,"Assault, Equipment Damage",,,mobile phone: count of 1,Joe Killian (NC Policy Watch),,2019-09-11,False,Raleigh,North Carolina (NC),35.7721,-78.63861,"Investigative reporter for NC Policy Watch, Joe Killian, said North Carolina State Sen. Paul Lowe assaulted him and threw his phone down a hallway of the legislative building on Sept. 11, 2019.
Killian was covering the aftermath of an unscheduled vote to overrule the governor’s veto of the state budget at approximately 10:20 a.m. when he heard screaming from behind a closed door and a shout for police assistance, Policy Watch reported. Killian began filming as Lowe came out of the room alongside two other congressmen.
In Killian’s video of the incident posted to NC Policy Watch’s channel on YouTube, Lowe notices Killian filming and moves toward him asking, “What are you doing with your camera?”
“I’m a journalist,” Killian replies as Lowe grabs at the hand holding the phone. Killian told Policy Watch that after a brief struggle the senator threw Killian’s phone down the hallway and walked away. Killian said that he was not injured in the altercation.
In the outlet’s write-up about the incident, NC Policy Watch Director Rob Schofield offered this statement: “Senator Lowe’s unprovoked actions this morning targeted a working journalist just doing his job. They were outrageous, unacceptable, and sadly indicative of a trend we’ve seen from an alarming number of public officials.”
“I apologize for anything that I’ve done,” Lowe said in the write-up. “It was an unfortunate circumstance. I apologize for that circumstance.”
The Greensboro News & Record reported that both Lowe and Killian had spoken with the N.C. General Assembly Police Department about the incident.
Schofield told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that Killian’s phone was ultimately destroyed. “He has purchased a new one and Senator Lowe has promised to reimburse our organization,” Schofield said.
Schofield told the Tracker that they do not anticipate any further legal proceedings at this point.
An image from NC Policy Watch reporter Joe Killian’s phone as North Carolina State Sen. Paul Lowe moves toward him
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,politician,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, Journalists barred from asylum hearings held in tent courts at border,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalists-barred-asylum-hearings-held-tent-courts-border/,2019-09-23 19:49:25.720770+00:00,2020-02-28 21:25:14.842011+00:00,2020-02-28 21:25:14.757407+00:00,(2019-12-29 00:00:00+00:00) Tent courts for asylum seekers at U.S.-Mexico border opened to journalists,Denial of Access,,,,,,2019-09-11,False,Laredo,Texas (TX),27.50641,-99.50754,"Members of the media were barred from observing asylum hearings held in two tent complexes in the Texas border cities of Laredo and Brownsville. The first hearing in Laredo was held on Sept. 11, and hearings began at the Brownsville tent court the next day.
Asylum seekers processed under the Trump administration’s new Migrant Protection Protocols, also known as the "Remain in Mexico" policy, crossed the border to attend the hearings held in the tent facilities beginning on Sept. 11. But journalists and members of the public were not allowed inside the tents while the hearings were in session.
BuzzFeed reporter Adolfo Flores tweeted that he had not been permitted into the tents to observe the hearings on their first day:
I wasn’t allowed to observe the first MPP/“Remain in Mexico” hearings at the tents in Laredo, TX because they’re “not open to the public,” a DHS officer said. Was told the only people allowed inside the tents DHS built are law enforcement, attorneys with clients, and contractors. pic.twitter.com/c1aT3P4dPW
— Adolfo Flores (@aflores) September 11, 2019
Typically, asylum hearings are open to the public and the media except when limited exceptions are invoked, including when "the respondent in an asylum case, which by regulation provides for additional privacy protections, requests that the hearing be closed,” or when such closure is in the “public interest,” according to established Executive Office for Immigration Review policies.
These exceptions can be invoked on a case-by-case basis, but the access in the tent courts is being restricted to all hearings.
In a statement emailed to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson—who declined to be identified by name—wrote that because the tent courts are located within U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s “secure port of entry property,” media access to them is limited. “Access to these temporary immigration hearing facilities will operate in accordance with practices for other secure CBP areas,” the statement said. “Requests for access by the media or by the public to the [immigration hearing facilities] will be assessed on a case-by-case basis when operationally feasible and in accordance with procedures for access to any CBP secure facility.”
Journalists can observe the hearings from San Antonio, Harlingen, and Port Isabel, Texas, where the immigration judges presiding over the hearings are located, the DHS spokesperson continued. The asylum seekers appear in the courtroom via teleconference.
This arrangement, however, means the journalists will be located at least 150 miles away from the migrants, rendering them unavailable for in-person interviews.
"Just as it's hard for judges to catch emotion and body language from a video hearing, it's going to be hard for reporters to accurately describe the scene in a hearing room if we only have access to it via video conference," Flores said in a statement emailed to the Tracker. "If there are technical issues inside one of the tent hearings we won't know what it was like for the asylum-seekers there. We'll only be able to see what the hearing was like from the judge's courtroom.”
Journalists need access to these hearings, Flores continued, to cover how the "Remain in Mexico" policy is affecting migrants. “Public hearings are supposed to be public,” Flores wrote.
Kennji Kizuka, a researcher at Human Rights First, decried the ban on journalists and outside observers in the tent courts in a statement. "By banning independent monitors and potential pro bono lawyers from tent courts, the Trump Administration is hiding information about the human rights abuses asylum seekers are suffering after being forced to return to Mexico,” the statement said. “It is just another attempt to cover up the flaws in this sham asylum process, a process created to block refugees from finding safety in the United States.”
Some 42,000 migrants are now waiting in Mexico for their asylum hearings under the so-called “Remain in Mexico” policy that has been challenged in the courts. On Sept. 11, the U.S. Supreme Court stayed an injunction in the case, allowing the Trump administration to proceed in enforcing the new policy while court challenges proceed. According to reporting from The Washington Post, the Trump administration has budgeted $155 million to cover operation of five temporary MPP courts.
Migrants who returned voluntarily to Mexico from the U.S. under the Migrant Protection Protocol show documents to a U.S. border protection agent to attend their court hearing for asylum seekers in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,Media,,,,,, "Journalists subpoenaed in criminal case involving intimidation, blackmail of the news organizations",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalists-subpoenaed-criminal-case-involving-intimidation-blackmail-news-organizations/,2019-10-21 16:35:36.411714+00:00,2021-10-28 17:54:31.095825+00:00,2021-10-28 17:54:31.040980+00:00,,Subpoena/Legal Order,,,,"Andy Taylor (Montgomery County Chronicle), Josh Umholtz (The Independence Daily Reporter)",,2019-09-10,False,Independence,Kansas (KS),37.22424,-95.70831,"Journalists at two local newspapers in Kansas have been subpoenaed for testimony as part of a criminal case against a former community college football coach featured in a Netflix documentary who allegedly impersonated a high-powered Los Angeles attorney as part of a scheme to intimidate the journalists.
The Independence Daily Reporter, its publisher, and the editor for the Montgomery County Chronicle received a subpoena dated Sept. 10, 2019.
Both the Daily Reporter and the Chronicle are based in Independence, a small town of under 9,000 people in southeastern Kansas. The town gained national fame when “Last Chance U,” a Netflix documentary series about junior college football teams, arrived in 2017 to chronicle the transformation of Independence Community College’s football program under new coach Jason Brown.
The Daily Reporter is a daily newspaper that publishes both online and in print, while the Chronicle is a weekly publication that doesn’t have a website. The Chronicle is edited by Andy Taylor, whose family has been in the newspaper business since the 1870s. Andy’s parents, Rudy and Kathy Taylor, are the paper’s owners and publishers.
Taylor told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the trouble began in October 2018, after he published an editorial critical of coach Brown and the ICC football team, which had gotten into a physical fight with an opposing team the month before.
A few weeks after the editorial was published, Taylor received an email from someone claiming to be “Richard Barnwell,” an attorney at The Cochran Firm, a well-known law firm in Los Angeles. The email threatened Taylor with a lawsuit if he continued to write about Brown. (Although Taylor said he could not share copies of the actual emails in advance of the trial, he was able to describe them in general terms.)
“It looked legit,” Taylor said of the email. “It had the guy’s [photograph] on there. It had a link to the firm’s website. It was just very typical of what you’d see in any cease-and-desist letter. It was typical in the language, where it would start out saying, ‘I represent Jason Brown at Independence Community College, he is my client, any continuing effort to defame or write anything that is negative toward my client will result in immediate litigation against you, please cease and desist.’”
The email spooked Taylor, who knew that his family’s small-town newspaper could not afford to defend an expensive defamation suit.
“My parents, who are in their mid-70s, own the newspaper,” Taylor said. “They’re the publishers. So I presented them the cease-and-desist letter, and they were very quick and swift in their decision. In fact, my father said, ‘Andy, you need to cool your jets!’ Meaning, stop being critical of Jason Brown.”
Fearful of a lawsuit, the Chronicle stopped running editorials and commentary critical of Brown and the ICC football program.
Then in February 2019, a student at ICC who had been cut from the football team reached out to Taylor with an explosive tip about Brown. The student, who was originally from Germany, told Taylor that Brown had berated him in front of his teammates and mocked his heritage. After the student complained about Brown’s behavior to ICC administrators, the coach sent him a text message: “I’m your new Hitler.” The student shared a copy of the text message with Taylor.
Soon after Taylor contacted ICC’s president for comment, he received another threatening email from “Richard Barnwell.”
Taylor said this email referenced the cease-and-desist language of the first email and again threatened a defamation and libel lawsuit if he investigated further.
This time, Taylor replied to the email. The response he got from “Barnwell” was unprofessional, full of misspelled words — including the word “chronicle” — and personal insults, which made him skeptical that the man on the other end of the email was really a professional attorney. Taylor also noticed that the emails supposedly from “Barnwell” were sent from a Yahoo email address, rather than an email address associated with The Cochran Firm.
Suspicious that someone was impersonating Barnwell, Taylor called the attorney’s office and explained the situation to his secretary. Barnwell soon left Taylor a voicemail confirming that the attorney had nothing to do with the emails and had never heard of Brown.
Taylor then contacted the county sheriff’s office and told them the whole story. In May, the sheriff’s office informed Taylor that it had obtained evidence tying the fake “Barnwell” account to Brown’s electronic devices. Taylor also learned that the same email account had targeted another local newspaper — the Daily Reporter — which had run an editorial cartoon mocking Brown.
On June 28, Brown was charged with four felony counts of blackmail, four felony counts of identity theft, and two misdemeanor counts of criminal false communication, according to the Chronicle.
A month later, Netflix released the fourth season of “Last Chance U.” The season details the text message incident and Brown’s subsequent firing but makes no mention the pending criminal charges against him.
Taylor plans to testify at Brown’s trial, which was originally scheduled to begin in October but has since been postponed to January 2020. Both Taylor and Josh Umholtz, the publisher of the Daily Reporter, and the Daily Reporter itself appear on a list of subpoenaed witnesses. No one from the Daily Reporter has returned request for comment as to whether the organization will comply with the subpoena.
Most subpoena cases documented on the Tracker involve journalists who are being compelled to testify, often about their reporting and their confidential sources, against their will. This case is different.
Taylor described his situation as “the flip side of the conventional argument against journalists testifying,” Taylor said, since it involves journalists being the victim of a criminal attempt to intimidate the press. He said he would testify voluntarily even if he had not been subpoenaed in the case.
“I just want to tell somebody, with my hand on my Bible and under oath, that I did my job, I did it well, and somebody didn’t like that and tried to put my pen away, and that doesn’t work in America,” he said.
The Montgomery County Chronicle is one of two Kansas publications subpoenaed to testify in a criminal case against a community college football coach charged with blackmail, identity theft after allegedly sending false cease-and-desist emails.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,other testimony,['PENDING'],None,None,None,None,None,None,The Independence Daily Reporter,,,,,, BuzzFeed reporter receives second subpoena in ongoing Unsworth-Musk defamation lawsuit,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/buzzfeed-reporter-receives-second-subpoena-ongoing-unsworth-musk-defamation-lawsuit/,2019-10-01 19:01:24.995200+00:00,2022-04-06 17:27:58.805920+00:00,2022-04-06 17:27:58.746345+00:00,(2019-10-08 11:54:00+00:00) Judge upholds one subpoena deposition in ongoing Musk-Unsworth case,Subpoena/Legal Order,,,,Ryan Mac (BuzzFeed News),,2019-09-06,False,San Francisco,California (CA),37.77493,-122.41942,"Ryan Mac, a senior technology reporter for BuzzFeed News, was issued his second subpoena in the ongoing case between caver Vernon Unsworth and Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Sept. 6, 2019. In total, five subpoenas were issued for reporting material and testimony from Mac and the digital news outlet.
Unsworth is suing Musk for defamation, alleging that the tech executive repeatedly labeled him a pedophile without evidence on Twitter and in communications with Mac, the latter of which were published by the outlet.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker reviewed the motion to quash both subpoenas for Mac’s deposition. The filing said that Musk was the first to issue a subpoena, demanding that Mac appear at a Sept. 11 deposition. About a week later, Unsworth filed a deposition subpoena cross-noticing the subpoena from Musk, listing the same date and time.
Musk’s counsel had previously issued two subpoenas for information from the news organization.
Unsworth had promised not to file additional subpoenas for discovery after BuzzFeed complied with a previous subpoena for documents establishing how many people viewed BuzzFeed articles about Musk’s dispute with Unsworth.
The filing said that Unsworth’s counsel was asked to voluntarily withdraw the subpoena. They declined.
Mac’s attorneys filed the motion to quash both deposition subpoenas on Sept. 13, arguing that any information that could be gained legally is already available to the parties and everything else is protected under California’s reporter’s privilege.
“The Deposition Subpoenas represent an attempt to harass and scapegoat BuzzFeed reporter Ryan Mac for publishing a news article about comments made by billionaire Tesla CEO Elon Musk,” the filing said.
A hearing is scheduled for Oct. 18.
A portion of the second subpoena demanding testimony from BuzzFeed reporter Ryan Mac as part of an ongoing defamation lawsuit between Tesla CEO Elon Musk and caver Vernon Unsworth.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,other testimony,['UPHELD'],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, "Vermont Judiciary sets new rules on recording in courtrooms, registering as media",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/vermont-judiciary-sets-new-rules-recording-courtrooms-registering-media/,2019-12-04 15:24:30.557961+00:00,2019-12-04 15:24:30.557961+00:00,2019-12-04 15:24:30.493048+00:00,,Denial of Access,,,,,,2019-09-03,False,Montpelier,Vermont (VT),44.26006,-72.57539,"The state court system of Vermont formalized rules on May 1, 2019, requiring members of the press to register in order to record or photograph in state courtrooms. According to VTDigger, the new rules, which also established who qualifies as a member of the press, took effect on Sept. 3.
The Vermont Judiciary’s rules state that members of the media, once registered or with a one-time waiver, can record audio, video or livestream within courtrooms, while trial participants can only record audio. The public is not allowed to record whatsoever.
Emily Wetherell, deputy clerk of the Vermont Supreme Court, told VTDigger that the new rules were made to modernize existing policies in the face of technological advances, particularly in regard to smartphones.
“The registration for media members, too, is a response to the power that cell phones give citizens in the courtroom,” Wetherell said. “That old rule was really just about media, because most people didn’t have the capability or the technology to record. But now most people can … and so in order to identify who media is, the committee decided that a registration process would be the most useful way of doing it.”
Mike Donoghue, executive director of the Vermont Press Association and vice president of the New England First Amendment Coalition, told VTDigger that while he understands the need to modernize the rules, he has concerns about how the judiciary will determine who is legitimately a member of the media.
According to The Manchester Journal, when the proposed rules went to the Vermont Supreme Court in January 2018, media was defined as "any individual or organization engaging in news gathering or reporting to the public, including free-lance reporter, newspaper, radio or television station or network, news service, magazine, trade paper, in-house publication, professional journal, or other news reporting or news-gathering agency, and any individual employed by such an organization."
Retired state Supreme Court Justice John Dooley, who chaired the procedural rules committee, told the Journal that they worked to adopt a “pretty broad” definition to avoid improperly denying applications for media registration. The registration system also established an appeals process by which a denied applicant can seek an “expeditious review” by the Supreme Court.
Shawn Cunningham, a reporter for The Chester Telegraph, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was reporting on a hearing at the Windsor Criminal Division court when he was pulled aside by one of the court officers. The officer told Cunningham that he couldn’t take pictures without being registered.
“Now, I had seen this up on the wall the previous time I had been to court, but it seemed as if they were talking about recording, video and audio recording. And they said no, it’s all,” Cunningham said.
Cunningham said he was directed to the court clerk to register, but because approval would take several days he was able to receive a one-day registration waiver. In a matter of days Cunningham received his media registration, which appears to authorize him to take photos and recordings in Vermont courts in perpetuity.
“We have several things right now that affect our area that are going through the courts, and that’s both Vermont-run state courts and federal courts,” Cunningham told the Tracker. “So, I’m basically checking all the rules to make sure that whatever I’m going into at this point, that I’m good to go in there and do what I need to do.”
Above the entrance to the Vermont Supreme Court in Montpelier is the state's coat of arms. The Vermont Judiciary recently changed its rules for reporting in the courts.
,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,Media,,,,,,Vermont Judiciary "BBC journalist questioned by border official, passport reviewed",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/bbc-journalist-questioned-border-official-passport-taken-away/,2019-09-16 15:25:52.077513+00:00,2021-11-09 22:00:30.659648+00:00,2021-11-09 22:00:30.611990+00:00,,Border Stop,,,,Stephanie Hegarty (BBC News),,2019-08-29,False,Brownsville,Texas (TX),25.90175,-97.49748,"Stephanie Hegarty, a population correspondent for BBC News, was invasively questioned about her reporting and had her passport briefly taken away while crossing the U.S.-Mexico border on Aug. 29, 2019.
Hegarty told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she was walking across the Brownsville & Matamoros International Bridge into Texas with a cameraman and reporter from BBC Mundo around 7:45 p.m. Her colleagues passed through immigration control without incident.
When asked what she was doing in Mexico, Hegarty told the Customs and Border Protection officer that she was a reporter covering the situation at the border. That’s when it got very tense, she said.
“He said, ‘It would help you a lot if you told me exactly where you were, where you were filming and who you spoke to,’” Hegarty told the Tracker. “It was at that point that I thought, ‘Do I really have to tell you that?’”
Hegarty, who is from Ireland, told the CBP officer that she didn’t think that was necessary. The officer scanned her passport, commented, “Oh, interesting,” and asked her to wait in a room while he walked away with her passport. She told the Tracker that she was traveling on a journalist visa and was concerned by the officer’s actions.
“I kinda thought, ‘Is he putting me on some sort of list? What is he doing with my passport in that other room?” Hegarty said.
A CBP officer returned with her passport approximately 10 minutes later—Hegarty said she wasn’t certain whether it was the same officer—and his entire attitude had shifted. He was friendly while returning her passport, Hegarty said, and told her she could go.
Unlike previous searches, however, Hegarty called the incident extremely disappointing and disturbing.
“I used to work in Nigeria so I’m used to being intimidated by officials,” Hegarty said. “But when it happened in the U.S. I was shocked.”
— A previous version of this article misidentified Hegarty's nationality.
People wait on the Mexican side of the Brownsville & Matamoros International Bridge in 2018.
,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,Brownsville & Matamoros International Bridge,True,U.S. non-resident,False,False,no,no,no,yes,yes,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,United Kingdom,, "Amid backlash, Department of Defense backs away from new press regulations at Guantánamo Bay",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/amid-backlash-department-of-defense-backs-away-from-new-press-regulations-at-guant%C3%A1namo-bay/,2019-09-09 20:31:37.164673+00:00,2022-04-06 17:29:24.685467+00:00,2022-04-06 17:29:24.638448+00:00,,Denial of Access,,,,,,2019-08-28,False,Guantánamo Bay,Cuba,None,None,"New press rules issued at U.S. Naval Station Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, on Aug. 28, 2019, would have curtailed journalists' ability to report freely at the detention camp where 40 detainees are still held.
The new policies, which military officials asked journalists to sign within 48 hours in order to report on military commission hearings in September, would require journalists to be constantly escorted while working at the naval station, and would give public affairs officers the right to review and approve interview recordings "prior to upload into any laptop." The rule also gives Naval Station personnel the ability to seize “all materials and equipment” in a journalist’s possession, including cell phones.
“[Journalists] may not participate in any activity related to their work, including any news or information gathering activity, if they are not accompanied by a designated public affairs escort and have that escort’s explicit consent,” the policy reads, according to The Intercept. The policy also requires journalists to “submit all still imagery, video imagery, and audio recordings taken at [Naval Station Guantánamo Bay] to the appropriate security reviewer,” according to a letter written by a lawyer for The New York Times.
The Department of Defense's Office of Military Commissions created a separate policy in 2010 that applied to journalists inside military commission facilities at the naval station. Naval Station Guantánamo Bay public affairs officer J. Overton told The Intercept that the new rules covered the naval station generally, but not reporters at the Office of Military Commissions. (Emails sent by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker to the Navy for comment were not returned.)
In a tweet, Guantánamo-based New York Times reporter Carol Rosenberg called the new rules “unprecedented.” “In all the years I’ve covered Guantanamo I have never been presented with these Navy base documents to sign. This week was the first time,” Rosenberg wrote in a separate tweet.
Deputy General Counsel for The New York Times, David McCraw, sent a letter to Paul Ney, the general counsel of the Department of Defense, on behalf of a media coalition including the Times, the Associated Press, NPR and First Look Media, decrying the new rules. McCraw provided a copy of the letter to the Tracker.
“[T]he Naval Station is attempting to exercise a level of control over journalists and their newsgathering activities that has no apparent security justification and interferes with the First Amendment rights of the news media,” McCraw wrote. The existing OMC policy, McCraw wrote, has been effective, “striking a serviceable balance between the need for operational security, the protection of national security and the First Amendment rights of reporters.”
On Sept. 6 the Department of Defense formally rescinded the new press regulations, after offering unofficial reassurance on Sept. 2 that the rules would not go into effect.
“It’s a good thing that they’re stepping back and looking at the issue on a more global basis,” said David Schulz, an attorney at Ballard Spahr who has been closely involved in the fight for press access at Guantanamo over the years. “The existing ground rules were the result of extensive discussions with all the relevant stakeholders in 2010.”
McCraw wrote in an email to the Tracker that he was glad the Department of Defense took seriously the concerns he voiced in his letter. “Guantanamo remains a vital story, and reporters need the freedom to report fully on the proceedings there,” he wrote. “We look forward to working with the Department of Defense to make sure that the rules in place take into account the needs of our news organizations.”
A soldier stands guard overlooking Camp Delta at Guantanamo Bay naval base in 2009.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,Media,military,,,,, Man robs and briefly kidnaps NBC affiliate reporter at gunpoint,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/man-robs-and-briefly-kidnaps-nbc-affiliate-reporter-gunpoint/,2019-09-04 16:46:32.624419+00:00,2022-03-10 21:37:56.879843+00:00,2022-03-10 21:37:56.817478+00:00,,"Assault, Equipment Damage",,,,Unidentified reporter 1 (NBC Right Now),,2019-08-27,False,Kennewick,Washington (WA),46.21125,-119.13723,"A reporter for NBC Right Now in Kennewick, Washington, was robbed and briefly kidnapped at gunpoint while covering a local teachers strike on Aug. 27, 2019.
An undisclosed reporter had set up her video camera in the parking lot of the Kennewick School District ahead of a planned teachers strike, YakTriNews reported. At around 5:45 a.m., as she was sitting in her news vehicle waiting for the rally to begin, a man got into the backseat of her car, pointed a gun at her and told her to drive.
She complied, but after driving a few feet the man “got spooked,” NBC Right Now reported. Kennewick Police Lt. Aaron Clem told the Tri-City Herald that the man told her to stop the car, then got out of it and ran across the street and toward some apartments.
YakTriNews reported that the man took the journalist’s microphone with him when he fled. NBC Right Now reported that she was uninjured.
A 19-year-old identified as Karlo Medina was arrested in connection with the incident later that day, and has been charged with first-degree robbery and second degree kidnapping, in addition to burglary and attempted rape in an unrelated incident the day before.
The news media was barred from attending a public meeting on Newark, New Jersey’s ongoing lead contamination crisis on Aug. 27, 2019, by Mayor Ras Baraka’s communications team.
The meeting was called to “enlist members of the public as volunteers to canvas city homeowners for their participation in the planned replacement of lead-tainted service lines leading to individual properties,” NJTV News reported.
Though the mayor’s office had issued a press release in advance of the meeting, when media representatives arrived at Newark City Hall, they were told the press was not invited and were asked to leave.
Mark Bonamo, editor of TAPinto Newark, told NJTV News, “When we showed up at the door, we were generally all shocked and surprised that we were not let in to what we believed was going to be a public meeting in the public’s house: City Hall.”
In a statement, Newark’s Director of Communications Frank Baraff said that the press was excluded in an effort to “encourag[e] an open dialogue with volunteers” and “so that residents will not shy away from helping us in these efforts.”
Media attorney and Rutgers law professor Bruce Rosen told NJTV News that the decision to exclude the press was unconstitutional: “Constitutionally, it’s a public forum. He invited the public and the media is part of the public. In fact, the media is a representative of the public.”
On Aug. 28, Baraka’s administration announced that in the future it would not block the press from meetings about the lead water crisis, TAPinto reported. The statement read, in part, “At future meetings, there will be media availability.”
As Rosen noted to TAPinto, uncertainty about the meaning of “media availability” remains.
The mayor’s office was not immediately available for comment.
Newark's mayor Ras Baraka addresses the media in this 2014 file photo.
,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,Media,,,,,,Ras Baraka Subpoenas seeking Illinois-based government watchdog’s communications and documents dropped,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/subpoenas-seeking-illinois-based-government-watchdogs-communications-and-documents-dropped/,2019-09-18 17:07:40.585091+00:00,2022-04-06 18:01:24.480104+00:00,2022-04-06 18:01:24.420752+00:00,,Subpoena/Legal Order,,,,Kirk Allen (Edgar County Watchdogs),,2019-08-27,False,Effingham County,Illinois (IL),None,None,"Illinois-based government watchdog blog Edgar County Watchdogs and its co-founder and reporter, Kirk Allen, received subpoenas for communications and documents relating to articles involving an ambulance service operating in Effingham County, Illinois.
As part of a federal civil rights lawsuit brought by Lakeside EMS, LLC, against the county, the two Aug. 27, 2019, subpoenas ordered Edgar County Watchdogs and Allen to produce communications or documents exchanged with Lakeside CEO Jerrod Estes, as well as with any “employee or agent” of Lakeside or the county. They also order the turnover of copies of articles written or generated relating to Effingham County, county Board Chairman Jim Niemann or Lakeside.
“We wrote several articles about the process which the county used to award the contract to the current emergency service provider: it was done without putting it up for bid and board members have believed conflicts of interest because they have family members working there,” co-founder John Kraft told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. “So, basically they’re asking for all of our sources and the information we gave back-and-forth.”
Allen, who wrote many of the articles, told the Tracker that the only documents he has that fall under the subpoena are ones he received from Effingham County through public records requests.
“They know exactly what I got from the county because I FOIA’ed it. So, why did they waste my time with a subpoena for records they already gave me?” Allen said. “It’s their way of trying to create a legal burden on us as well, because there’s no reason for that subpoena.”
Allen also noted that Edgar County Watchdogs has been pursuing a Freedom of Information Act violation claim against the county for nearly two years, pressing for the release of documents related to the ambulance service investigation.
The subpoenas ordered the documents produced by Sept. 16, but Kraft told the Tracker that the group’s attorney, government transparency and media lawyer Matt Topic, filed for an extension of 30 days on compliance.
The federal case was dismissed without prejudice on Sept. 11 by U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Illinois Nancy Rosenstengel, and as a result the subpoenas were dropped.
Bryan Kibler, the state attorney representing Effingham County, told the Tracker that the case was dismissed pending the results of the state case involving the ambulance service and the county. Kibler said that he would not rule out refiling the subpoenas against the Edgar County Watchdogs and Allen if necessary in the future.
The Tracker has documented multiple other subpoenas against Edgar County Watchdogs in 2019, including a subpoena for their communications and documents relating to the College of DuPage and a subpoena for the group’s Dropbox contents. A motion to quash the former is still pending and the latter was quashed on Feb. 11.
A portion of a subpoena received by Edgar County Watchdogs for reporting materials
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,journalist communications or work product,['DROPPED'],None,None,None,None,None,None,Edgar County Watchdogs,,,,,, Tech journalist subpoenaed in ongoing Bitcoin lawsuit,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/tech-journalist-subpoenaed-ongoing-bitcoin-lawsuit/,2019-09-27 16:53:19.714292+00:00,2022-04-06 17:58:04.205467+00:00,2022-04-06 17:58:04.149356+00:00,,Subpoena/Legal Order,,,,,,2019-08-27,False,Miami,Florida (FL),25.77427,-80.19366,"Brendan Sullivan, a journalist at Modern Consensus, received a subpoena for all documents and communications between him and Craig Wright, an Australian computer scientist and businessman who has claimed to be the creator of Bitcoin.
Wright is currently the defendant in a lawsuit brought against him by the Estate of David Kleiman, Wright’s late partner. David’s brother, Ira Kleiman, is the executor of the estate and claims Wright attempted to steal his brother’s Bitcoin holdings, now worth approximately $10 billion.
Wright agreed to an interview with Sullivan, giving him a scoop on the case before the courts made an announcement of the judge's order. The next day, on Aug. 27, 2019, someone was waiting outside of Sullivan’s home to serve him the subpoena, according to his article outlining the events.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker reviewed the subpoena, which Sullivan posted with his article. It orders him to hand over any documents and communications between him and Wright since 2006 (before Bitcoin was invented), listing out more than 110 items that count as “documents,” including their encrypted WhatsApp and Signal messages, every social media conversation, interview notes and transcripts, drafts of his article and any relevant documents protected by computer encryption.
“I’m a journalist and the court has no right to any of my files, notes, thoughts or personal belongings. They are not getting anything from me,” Sullivan wrote.
Sullivan told the Tracker that he refused to attend the deposition hearing scheduled for Sept. 10. His lawyer filed a motion to quash on Sept. 9, arguing that the breadth of documents requested suggests that the subpoena is a fishing expedition with no clear idea how, if at all, the documents are relevant to the case.
The filing also included an affidavit from Sullivan authenticating his article and stating that it truly and accurately reflects his interview with Wright. In addition to asking that the subpoena be quashed, they are asking for Kleiman to cover Sullivan’s legal fees.
“I can fight this for years if I need to,” Sullivan told the Tracker. “What I really want is just to have my press freedom back.”
On Sept. 20, a judge granted Kleiman’s attorney a 21-day extension to respond to the motion to quash the subpoena against Sullivan. In a joint filling from Wright and Kleiman they state, “The parties have been engaged in extensive settlement negotiations and have reached a non-binding agreement in principle to settle this matter.”
If a settlement is reached, Sullivan told the Tracker, it is likely that the subpoena against him would be dropped.
The Bitcoin logo
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,journalist communications or work product,['PENDING'],None,None,None,None,None,None,Modern Consensus,,,,,, BuzzFeed reporter receives subpoena in ongoing Unsworth-Musk defamation lawsuit,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/buzzfeed-reporter-receives-subpoena-ongoing-unsworth-musk-defamation-lawsuit/,2019-10-01 18:55:36.546358+00:00,2022-04-06 18:05:02.786227+00:00,2022-04-06 18:05:02.718056+00:00,(2019-10-08 11:51:00+00:00) Judge quashes Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s deposition subpoena,Subpoena/Legal Order,,,,Ryan Mac (BuzzFeed News),,2019-08-26,False,San Francisco,California (CA),37.77493,-122.41942,"Ryan Mac, a senior technology reporter for BuzzFeed News, was issued his first subpoena in the unfolding case between caver Vernon Unsworth and Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Aug. 26, 2019. Mac subsequently received a second deposition subpoena, bringing the total number of subpoenas issued against the outlet and its reporter to five.
Unsworth is suing Musk for defamation, alleging that the tech executive repeatedly labeled him a pedophile without evidence on Twitter and in communications with Mac, the latter of which were published by the outlet.
Lawyers for Musk previously subpoenaed the outlet twice during the discovery phase, and lawyers for Unsworth did so once. BuzzFeed provided some of the requested documents while objecting to others on First Amendment and reporter’s privilege grounds. The judge sustained the outlet’s objections.
Musk was the first to file a subpoena demanding reporter Mac appear at a Sept. 11 deposition in San Francisco. About a week later, Unsworth’s counsel issued its own subpoena against Mac, effectively joining Musk’s. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker reviewed the motion to quash both subpoenas for Mac’s deposition.
According to the filing, the cover letter on the subpoena stated, “Mr. Musk does not intend to seek testimony from you that would be protected by the United States or California Constitutions or any other reporter’s privilege.” The letter did not, however, state what information Musk did hope to obtain by questioning Mac.
Mac’s counsel argued that Musk’s attempt to depose the reporter was part of a campaign of harassment and intimidation.
“It is clear from Musk’s prior conduct that he would put Mac through the ordeal of a hostile deposition for no reason other than to retaliate against Mac for his critical reporting,” the filing said. “The deposition subpoenas must be quashed to avoid this oppressive outcome.”
The filing argued that Musk is trying to deflect blame for his comments about Unsworth onto Mac, claiming that because Musk wrote the phrase “off the record” in the unsolicited email he sent to Mac, he couldn’t reasonably foresee that the statements he made would be published and therefore cannot be held liable.
Mac’s attorneys argued that, as Mac never agreed to keep the emails off the record, their contents were fair game for publication.
According to the filing, Musk’s attorneys were asked to voluntarily withdraw the subpoena, but they declined to do so.
On Sept. 9, Michael Lifrak, an attorney representing Musk, emailed BuzzFeed Attorney Kate Bolger offering to withdraw the deposition subpoena if the outlet would agree to a Rule 30(b)(6) deposition, in which one or more individuals from an entity are questioned about set topics. The topics proposed by Lifrak included BuzzFeed’s guidelines on publishing off-the-record and on-background information, pre-publication review process and editorial process and procedures for predicting article popularity.
Bolger responded over email, “This request calls for privileged matters related to BuzzFeed’s newsgathering materials and is, indeed, far broader than the request to Mr. Mac. It is not worth exploring.”
Mac’s attorneys filed a motion to quash both deposition subpoenas on Sept. 13, arguing that any information that could be gained legally is already available to the parties and everything else is protected under California’s reporter’s privilege.
A hearing is scheduled for Oct. 18.
A portion of the first of two deposition subpoenas sent to BuzzFeed reporter Ryan Mac as part of a defamation suit between Tesla CEO Elon Musk and caver Vernon Unsworth.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,other testimony,['QUASHED'],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, New York Times reports that conservative operatives are compiling dossiers on journalists,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/new-york-times-reports-conservative-operatives-are-compiling-dossiers-journalists/,2019-08-28 13:14:38.705067+00:00,2021-11-09 21:01:50.145690+00:00,2021-11-09 21:01:50.101677+00:00,,Chilling Statement,,,,,,2019-08-25,False,New York,New York (NY),None,None,"According to a New York Times article published on Aug. 25, 2019, a “loose network of conservative operatives” supporting President Donald Trump have compiled dossiers containing potentially embarrassing information on journalists from outlets deemed “hostile” to the president.
The Times said it spoke with four people familiar with the operation. According to these sources, operatives dig through the social media histories of personnel employed at top news outlets—regardless of their rank or actual influence—in order to publicize information that could discredit the outlet as a whole.
“The operation has compiled social media posts from Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, and stored images of the posts that can be publicized even if the user deletes them, said the people familiar with the effort,” The Times wrote. “One claimed that the operation had unearthed potentially ‘fireable’ information on ‘several hundred’ people.”
The Times credited this operation with releases about journalists at CNN, The Washington Post and The Times, writing that the information was publicized “in response to reporting or commentary that the White House’s allies consider unfair to Mr. Trump and his team or harmful to his reelection prospects.”
Sources pointed to Arthur Schwartz as a central player in the operation. Schwartz, a conservative consultant who is a friend and informal adviser to Donald Trump Jr., has previously tweeted alluding to knowledge of or asserting involvement with such dossiers on journalists.
I’m done bashing CNN for now. They should spend some time reflecting on the hypocrisy of their attacks on Trump admin folks — attacks that are usually based on old tweets & Facebook posts. I’m told that there are files on 35+ CNN reporters that will be deployed if they don’t.
— Arthur Schwartz (@ArthurSchwartz) October 8, 2018
The Times acknowledged in its article that it is not possible to independently assess the claims about the quantity or potential significance of the dossiers, and that “some involved in the operation have histories of bluster and exaggeration.”
However, as The Times wrote, the release of information about the operation and its goals may itself be an effort to intimidate journalists or their employers.
“Some reporters have been warned that they or their news organizations could be targets,” The Times wrote, “creating the impression that the campaign intended in part to deter them from aggressive coverage as well as to inflict punishment after an article has been published.”
The White House press office told The Times that neither Trump nor anyone in the White House was involved in or aware of the operation, and that neither the White House nor the Republican National Committee was providing it funding.
Times publisher A.G. Sulzberger said in a statement that using these techniques as a warning against and retribution for pursuing coverage critical of the president escalates the president’s campaign against a free press.
“They are seeking to harass and embarrass anyone affiliated with the leading news organizations that are asking tough questions and bringing uncomfortable truths to light,” Mr. Sulzberger said in The Times. “The goal of this campaign is clearly to intimidate journalists from doing their job… The Times will not be intimidated or silenced.”
A New York Times article says that conservative operatives are compiling dossiers on the social media history of some journalists in an effort to discredit them or their media organizations.
,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,The New York Times,,,,,, CBC National correspondent denied entry into United States,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cbc-national-correspondent-denied-entry-into-united-states/,2021-02-09 21:18:09.033278+00:00,2021-11-09 22:05:27.848432+00:00,2021-11-09 22:05:27.800241+00:00,,Border Stop,,,,Carolyn Dunn (Canadian Broadcasting Company),,2019-08-25,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"Carolyn Dunn, a national correspondent for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, was denied entry into the United States on Aug. 25, 2019, according to her social media account.
The reporter was traveling to Washington, D.C., to fill in for a colleague when she was refused entry by a border agent, who cited her as “imported labor.”
“Guys, I’ve been refused entry into US. Sections 212 (a) (7) (A) (i) (I). Me going to DC is ‘entry into the labor’ market and I’d be ‘imported labor.’ I’ve never been pulled aside at a US border let alone refused entry,” Dunn tweeted.
Guys, I’ve been refused entry into US. Sections 212 (a) (7) (A) (i) (I). Me going to DC is “entry into the labor” market and I’d be “imported labor”. I’ve never been pulled aside at a US border let alone refused entry.
— carolyn dunn (@carolyndunncbc) August 25, 2019
Dunn also shared a screenshot on her feed of the Department of State’s website that read “Citizens for Canada and Bermuda do not generally require visas to enter the United States as members of the press or media working in the United States.”
Dunn was later allowed entry into the United States: She tweeted the following day, “Second time’s the charm. Will board for a US bound flight soon.”
Dunn did not respond to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker’s request for comment as of press time.
Customs and Border Protection also did not respond to the Tracker’s request for comment as of press time, but a spokesperson for the agency said in a statement to the Washington Examiner in Aug. 2019, “All travelers to the U.S. must possess valid travel documents. For foreign nationals this includes a current passport and the appropriate visa for their intended purpose of travel. For example, if a Canadian reporter is seeking to enter the U.S. to engage in that profession, that reporter must apply for and be granted an I visa.”
The News Photographers Association of Canada expressed concern over the incident in a statement. “It’s a disturbing trend,” NPAC vice president Ryan McLeod said. “The members of the Canadian press have always had a mostly cordial relationship across borders. It doesn’t matter if it’s television/print/web, freelance or staff; citizens of Canada should not and do not require visas to enter the United States. While Ms. Carolyn Dunn was eventually allowed to board a flight into the United States, it speaks volumes about the current climate.”
British journalist James Dyer said a Customs and Border Protection agent asked him if he was “part of the ‘fake news media’” as he passed through U.S. immigration in Los Angeles on Aug. 22, 2019.
Dyer, the digital editor-in-chief at Empire Magazine and host of Pilot TV Podcast, told The Washington Post that he arrived at LAX from London in the afternoon en route to Anaheim, California, to cover Disney’s D23 Expo.
In a long thread posted on Twitter shortly after the incident, Dyer said that the CBP agent at passport control saw that he was traveling on a journalist visa and began a tirade, questioning Dyer’s work history and legitimacy.
“Just went through LAX immigration,” Dyer wrote. “Presented my journalist visa and was stopped by the CBP agent and accused of being part of the ‘fake news media.’”
Wow. Just... wow. Just went through LAX immigration. Presented my journalist visa and was stopped by the CBP agent and accused of being part of the ‘fake news media’.
— James Dyer (@jamescdyer) August 22, 2019
Dyer continued, “He wanted to know if I’d ever worked for CNN or MSNBC or other outlets that are ‘spreading lies to the American people.’ He aggressively told me that journalists are liars and are attacking their democracy.” Dyer noted that the entire exchange passed within a couple minutes.
In subsequent replies, Dyer clarified that the agent did not attempt to detain him or send him to secondary screening, and that he did not feel that he had been “mistreated or detained in any way.” Dyer wrote that he did not get the agent’s name and had not filed a complaint.
CBP Los Angeles tweeted at Dyer acknowledging that they were aware of the incident. “We strongly advise you to file a formal complaint,” the official account wrote.
In a statement to The Post, a CBP spokesperson said, “All CBP officers take an Oath of Office, a solemn pledge that conveys great responsibility and one that should be carried out at all times with the utmost professionalism.”
“Inappropriate comments or behavior are not tolerated, and do not reflect our values of vigilance, integrity and professionalism,” the statement said.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documented a similar case in February 2019, involving Australian BuzzFeed reporter David Mack. Mack tweeted that at passport control at JFK airport, a CBP agent “grilled” him for 10 minutes about the outlet’s reporting on Rober Mueller’s investigation into the Trump campaign’s connections with Russia.
BuzzFeed reported that a few days after the incident, CBP Assistant Commissioner for Public Affairs, Andrew Meehan, apologize to Mack directly in a telephone call.
As of publication, Dyer had not responded to requests for comment from the Tracker.
While entering the U.S. through Los Angeles, California, from London, British journalist James Dyer said he was questioned whether he was part of ‘fake news.’
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,LAX,False,U.S. non-resident,False,False,no,no,no,yes,no,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,United Kingdom,, BuzzFeed receives third subpoena in ongoing Unsworth-Musk defamation lawsuit,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/buzzfeed-receives-third-subpoena-ongoing-unsworth-musk-defamation-lawsuit/,2019-10-01 18:43:57.296764+00:00,2022-04-06 18:04:15.322473+00:00,2022-04-06 18:04:15.264316+00:00,,Subpoena/Legal Order,,,,,,2019-08-21,False,San Francisco,California (CA),37.77493,-122.41942,"BuzzFeed News was issued a third subpoena in the ongoing case between caver Vernon Unsworth and Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Aug. 21, 2019. In total, five subpoenas were issued for reporting material and testimony from the digital news outlet and one of its reporters.
Unsworth is suing Musk for defamation, alleging that the tech executive repeatedly labeled him a pedophile without evidence on Twitter and in communications with BuzzFeed senior tech journalist Ryan Mac, the latter of which were published by the outlet.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker reviewed the subpoena, which was the second filed by counsel for Musk and the third it received overall. The subpoena ordered BuzzFeed to produce, in part, a copy of the version of the outlet’s Standards and Ethics Guide posted on buzzfeednews.com between August and September 2018. BuzzFeed, while maintaining its objections to the request, complied.
The subpoena also demanded all documents relating to the decisions around publishing the contents of Musk’s emails to senior technology reporter Ryan Mac and to amending the outlet’s ethics guide after the article was published. It also requested copies of all policies governing the publication of ‘off the record’ or ‘on background’ conversations.
BuzzFeed filed objections to the subpoena on Sept. 6 on the grounds that the requested documents were irrelevant, protected by various privileges (including the reporter’s privilege) and would be unduly burdensome to search for and review.
The outlet did, however, comply with Musk’s demand for copies of documents and communications produced in response to Unsworth’s subpoena.
A portion of the third subpoena received by BuzzFeed in August as part of the defamation case between Tesla CEO Elon Musk and the caver Vernon Unsworth.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,journalist communications or work product,['PENDING'],None,None,None,None,None,None,BuzzFeed News,,,,,, Subpoena for Iowa journalist’s reporting materials in lottery rigging case dropped,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/subpoena-for-iowa-journalists-reporting-materials-in-lottery-rigging-case-dropped/,2019-09-20 16:23:11.471374+00:00,2022-04-06 18:07:41.989346+00:00,2022-04-06 18:07:41.929464+00:00,,Subpoena/Legal Order,,,,Perry Beeman (Independent),,2019-08-16,False,Iowa City,Iowa (IA),41.66113,-91.53017,"Iowa journalist Perry Beeman received a subpoena for unpublished work product in connection to his book, “The $80 Billion Gamble,” on Aug. 16, 2019.
The books tells the story of lottery security contractor Eddie Tipton, who rigged number-drawing programs on computers to win jackpots for himself, friends and family in several states, the Associated Press reported. Larry Dawson, a jackpot winner, has sued the Iowa Lottery and Multi-State Lottery Association, arguing that Tipton’s scheme reduced his prize by millions.
As part of the lawsuit, attorneys representing Dawson ordered Beeman to turn over by Sept. 16 all of his correspondence with former Iowa Lottery CEO Terry Rich—with whom Beeman co-authored the book—since January 2018, including notes related to four interviews they conducted last year.
Beeman did not respond to the subpoena before it was withdrawn on Aug. 27, but he told the AP he likely would have fought it.
“I’m happy that he’s withdrawn the subpoena,” Beeman told the AP. “I think the information was privileged. The Iowa Supreme Court has been pretty clear that the type of information sought was off limits.”
Blake Hanson, one of the attorneys representing Dawson, confirmed to the AP that the subpoena had been withdrawn, but offered no explanation for the decision. The lawsuit is scheduled to go to trial in December.
An Iowa Powerball drawing manager performs a test run of equipment in this 1998 file photo.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,journalist communications or work product,['DROPPED'],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, Oregon county official accuses local newspaper of criminal conduct,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/oregon-county-official-accuses-local-newspaper-criminal-conduct/,2020-02-11 16:29:52.372473+00:00,2020-02-14 20:46:39.521744+00:00,2020-02-14 20:46:39.432032+00:00,(2019-12-14 11:28:00+00:00) Oregon county official again accuses local newspaper of criminal conduct,Chilling Statement,,,,,,2019-08-14,False,Malheur County,Oregon (OR),None,None,"An Oregon county official accused a local newspaper of criminal harassment and requested a formal investigation into what the newspaper defended as normal reporting practices.
The Malheur Enterprise reported that it had spent months investigating State Rep. Greg Smith and his work as the contract director of the Malheur County Economic Development Department.
Enterprise Editor and Publisher Les Zaitz told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that Smith and his agency have been uncooperative with the newspaper’s attempts to report on its activities and projects for well over a year.
Following the publication of an article on the department, a county attorney made a formal request to the local sheriff’s office to investigate the Enterprise reporters. In a statement published on Aug. 14, 2019, Smith wrote that he and his staff had been “subjected to endless phone calls, hostile emails at all hours of the day and unwelcome visits,” and accused the Enterprise of pursuing a “vendetta” against him and his office.
Sheriff Brian Wolfe confirmed to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that a county official had asked him to investigate Smith’s allegations
Wolfe told an Enterprise reporter that the newspaper should examine the state crime of “telephonic harassment,” according to the outlet.
According to state law, “a telephone caller commits the crime of telephonic harassment if the caller intentionally harasses or annoys another person” by repeatedly calling or leaving messages at a number they have been forbidden to use. Telephonic harassment is a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail and a maximum $2,500 fine.
In a statement published by the Enterprise, Zaitz defended the staff’s reporting activities as professional and customary. Zaitz also said the newspaper’s staff was alarmed by the prospect of a criminal investigation or search warrant on the Enterprise’s offices.
“We are a small, independently owned news source trying to hold public officials accountable,” Zaitz said. “Rather than provide information and truth, local officials appear more interested in criminalizing a profession protected by the First Amendment.”
The Enterprise reported that Smith’s staff had been instructed to turn over email correspondence with the newspaper to the sheriff’s office.
Sheriff Wolfe confirmed to the Tracker that his office did not open a formal investigation.
“We looked into the allegations and we did not open an investigation because there were no elements of a crime,” Wolfe said.
Smith did not respond to request for comment.
This article and update have been edited to reflect comment from Malheur Editor and Publisher Les Zaitz.
On Aug. 12, 2019, the Montgomery County Commission in Clarksville, Tennessee, passed a resolution banning live video streaming inside its chambers, stating: “No live broadcast from within the Commission Chambers of its proceedings in whole or in part is allowed. A simultaneous broadcast of the proceedings is available on the internet at ‘YouTube’ and the same is preserved there for an extended period.”
The resolution allowed livestreaming by news professionals, with the caveat that the media gave prior notice and had approval from the Montgomery County government.
Two days after the resolution passed, commissioner Jason Knight, along with two co-plaintiffs, one “whose sole employment is livestreaming local government meetings, including county commission meetings in Montgomery County,” filed a complaint alleging the resolution was a violation of the First Amendment right to freedom of speech. The complaint read, in part, that, “the government apparently believes . . . that operating an ‘official’ YouTube obviates the need for citizen live streamers. This is the modern equivalent of insisting that a State-run newspaper obviates the need for local press.”
“The lawsuit was initiated because seemingly the First Amendment rights and the Tennessee Open Meetings Act were violated,” Knight told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
On Sept. 10, Montgomery County filed a motion to dismiss, which the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee denied on Jun. 30, 2020, holding that Knight’s First Amendment claim was valid.
On Jan. 4, 2021, the court held a discovery dispute conference with the parties involved. No further updates have been made publicly available.
Business magazine Fast Company was subpoenaed on Aug. 9, 2019, for communications and documents relating to a 2017 article concerning the arrest of a tech investor in London.
Venture capital investor, entrepreneur and philanthropist Shervin Pishevar was arrested in May 2017 in the United Kingdom on suspicion of sexual assault. According to a memorandum of law filed by Pishevar’s attorneys and obtained by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, Pishevar was released on bail the following day. City of London Police confirmed that July that they would take no further action against him due to insufficient evidence.
In June 2017, Pishevar, known for his investments in companies like Uber and AirBnB, obtained an injunction in England to prevent UK publication The Sun from publishing his name in any future articles about the incident, according to the memo.
A confidential source reached out to Fast Company senior news editor Marcus Baram in New York, alleging that they possessed a copy of Pishevar’s arrest report. Baram met with the individual in Washington, D.C., in September 2017 and received a copy of the alleged police report.
Fast Company published an article containing a statement from Pishevar confirming his arrest, as well as details provided from the source and report in November. The police report was later proven to be fabricated.
In early August, lawyers representing Pishevar filed an application for discovery by a foreign party to serve Fast Company — through Mansueto, the legal entity controlling the magazine — with a subpoena to produce information. The memo stated the information was for use in “contemplated criminal and civil proceedings in England,” or possible future court cases.
The application was granted by a federal judge for the Southern District of New York on Aug. 9.
The subpoena, obtained by the Tracker, asked for all documents and communications relating to the forged police report, particularly any information that could be used to determine the identity of the forger and anyone who helped distribute the report. Fast Company largely complied with the subpoena, with lawyers for both parties exchanging emails in September and October.
Fast Company did not, however, provide information that would have identified Baram’s confidential source, stating that Baram claimed reporter’s privilege under New York’s shield law. Lucas Bento, an attorney for Pishevar, acknowledged in an email to Fast Company’s general counsel Alison Anthoine that such identifying information was the central aim of the subpoena.
“While we recognize the source’s name is not being redacted in any of the documents, can you please provide us further information about the individual who distributed the forged police report to Mr. Baram,” Bento wrote, “including his or her name or alias, contact information, Signal contact information (including screen name and number), or other identifying information (such as gender, race, age, height, weight, eye color, hair color, glasses, or dress).”
Bento also threatened to pursue a court-ordered deposition of Baram if Fast Company did not provide the identifying information voluntarily. In subsequent emails, Anthoine provided information about the individual whom the source said provided them the report, but not about the source.
Bento followed through on the threat to pursue testimony and documents from Baram, filing an application for additional discovery on Oct. 31, 2019. Attorneys for Baram filed a memo in opposition to the application on Dec. 4.
This article was updated to reflect that Shervin Pishevar confirmed his arrest to Fast Company.
A portion of the subpoena for documents from Fast Company on behalf of tech investor Shervin Pishevar
,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,journalist communications or work product,['CARRIED_OUT'],None,None,None,None,None,None,"Fast Company, Fast Company via Mansueto",,,,,, Wisconsin think tank sues governor for leaving its news service off media advisory list,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/wisconsin-think-tank-sues-governor-leaving-its-news-service-media-advisory-list/,2020-01-31 20:03:32.499693+00:00,2022-04-06 18:12:31.412110+00:00,2022-04-06 18:12:31.343460+00:00,"(2020-03-31 11:26:00+00:00) Federal judge rules Wisconsin gov can bar think tank’s news service, (2021-12-10 12:11:00+00:00) Wisconsin think tank appeal denied by Supreme Court, keeping news service off Gov. media list",Denial of Access,,,,,,2019-08-06,False,Madison,Wisconsin (WI),43.07305,-89.40123,"The MacIver Institute for Public Policy, a Wisconsin-based think tank, sued Governor Tony Evers on Aug. 6, 2019, alleging that his office discriminated against MacIver’s News Service when excluding it from the administration’s media advisory list.
According to the complaint, the MacIver News Service and its reporters are credentialed by the Wisconsin State Legislature to work as part of the Capitol press corps, and regularly interview state legislators and public officials.
The News Service was on the previous administration’s media list, the institute’s lawyer Daniel Suhr told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. When Evers took office, News Director Bill Osmulski and his former colleague Matt Kittle asked to be added to the new list. According to the complaint, they received no response and were never added to the list of approximately 1,000 local, state and national reporters and outlets.
The complaint also details the barring of MacIver reporters from a press briefing on Feb. 28, 2019, to which 26 members of the Capitol press corps had been invited. Kittle and Osmulski attempted to RSVP and arrived at the designated time, but were not permitted to attend as they were not on the invitee list.
Suhr told the Tracker that on April 4 he sent a letter to Evers’ office stating that the administration had violated the News Service’s First Amendment Rights and asking for the reasoning behind excluding the outlet.
A few weeks later, the governor’s legal counsel responded that Evers’ communication’s office “invites some journalists to limited access events, such as exclusive interviews, on a case-by-case basis using neutral criteria, namely newspaper circulation, radio listenership, and TV viewership.”
The News Service subsequently filed a public records request, Suhr said, seeking any documentation outlining the “neutral criteria” used by Evers’ staff. According to the complaint, Evers’ staff denied the request based on attorney-client privilege.
The MacIver Institute then filed their lawsuit against Governor Evers in August, alleging he violated its staffers’ constitutional rights to free speech, freedom of the press and equal access. The Institute also motioned for a preliminary injunction from the court that would force Evers’ office to add the News Service to the media advisory list before a ruling is reached in the case.
In its write-up of the suit, The Associated Press reported that governors from both parties have held similar briefings in the past, and that such briefings have typically been open only to certain invited reporters, not the entire press corps.
The AP also published a statement by Evers’ spokeswoman, Melissa Baldauff, that Evers believes strongly in a “fair and unbiased press corps” and remains committed to openness and transparency.
In a brief in opposition to the injunction, Evers’ counsel argued that the existing media list is comprised of journalists and news organizations that “meet criteria which focus on whether the requestor is a bona fide press organization,” and that the MacIver News Service does not.
A memo dated June 26 from the governor’s Office of Legal Counsel was filed alongside the brief, outlining the criteria used to determine whether a journalist or outlet is “bona fide.” The factors listed are based on the standards used by the Wisconsin Capitol Correspondents Board and the US Congress, and include in part:
The brief asserts that the Governor’s office concluded that the MacIver News Service does not meet these criteria.
“The MacIver Institute is not principally a news organization. On its website, it characterizes itself as ‘a Wisconsin-based think tank that promotes free markets, individual freedom, personal responsibility and limited government,’” the brief reads. “The organization’s ‘news’ branch makes no effort to distinguish itself from the overall organization mission.”
In response to these claims, Suhr told the Tracker that the MacIver Institute is a 501(c)3 and therefore legally barred from engaging in political activity, and the Institute is not registered as a political lobbyist. Suhr asserted that news with a perspective has become commonplace in the new media environment, and doesn’t inherently delegitimize the reporting such outlets produce.
“When government sets up criteria for media, it’s easy to default to this old-school, traditional criteria, to impose requirements like ‘broadcast to a certain number of households,’ or to require that you be a print news outlet,” Shur said, referencing the case of Sam Toll in Nevada. “To some extent what the governor’s office has done here is they defaulted to criteria that were designed for an old media age, and I think they did that to justify their decision after the fact to exclude my client.”
According to the complaint, if the governor’s office had adopted the criteria set by the state legislature, MacIver’s journalists would have qualified as they are already credentialed for the Capitol press corps.
“The new neutral criteria are no salvation: they were not developed openly, are not applied equally, do not permit an opportunity for journalists to show their bona fides, exclude legitimate news outlets besides MacIver, and violate the Constitution,” the complaint states.
The Governor’s office did not respond to the Tracker’s calls or emailed requests for comment.
First Amendment experts told the AP that MacIver appears to have a strong case, drawing a parallel between MacIver’s exclusion and President Donald Trump’s attempt to bar CNN reporter Jim Acosta. Neither the attempt to ban Acosta in 2018 nor the White House’s attempt to suspend correspondentBrian Karem in 2019 were upheld.
Robert Dreschel, a media law expert and journalism professor at UW-Madison, said it appears Evers’ office had no standards or guidance in place when MacIver was denied access. “That’s very troublesome,” Dreschel said.
Shur told the Tracker that he and his clients are still awaiting a ruling on their motion for a preliminary injunction, and that a tentative trial date has been set for early 2021.
“This case isn’t just important to MacIver, it’s not just important to journalists: it’s important to all of us in America because we all have a stake in a healthy First Amendment and we all have an interest in ensuring an active, vigilant press corps that insists on the transparency and accountability we need from our government to make sure that our democracy functions.
Tony Evers speaks at a rally on the eve of his 2018 election as governor of Wisconsin. A think tank has sued the governor's office for leaving its news service off Evers' media advisory list.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,3:19-cv-00649,['DISMISSED'],Civil,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,"MacIver Institute for Public Policy, MacIver News Service",press briefings,,,,, "White House suspends correspondent’s press pass, reporter alleges retaliation",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/white-house-suspends-correspondents-press-pass-reporter-alleges-retaliation/,2019-08-08 16:20:40.033820+00:00,2022-01-18 20:14:12.941308+00:00,2022-01-18 20:14:12.866014+00:00,"(2020-06-05 13:17:00+00:00) Federal appeals court upholds ruling reinstating reporter’s White House press pass, (2019-09-03 11:32:00+00:00) Judge rules White House must restore hard pass for journalist Brian Karem, (2019-08-20 00:00:00+00:00) Reporter sues after his White House press pass was revoked",Denial of Access,,,,Brian Karem (Playboy),,2019-08-05,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"Brian Karem, a White House correspondent for Playboy and political analyst for CNN, tweeted that beginning on Aug. 5, 2019, his press pass would be suspended for 30 days.
Karem received an email from White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham at around 5 p.m. the Friday before the suspension went into effect notifying him of the “preliminary decision,” citing his actions at President Donald Trump’s social media summit the previous month, The Washington Post reported. At a press event in the Rose Garden that day, Karem had a heated exchange with former White House aide and radio host Sebastian Gorka.
Gorka has had at least one other altercation with the media.
Karem wrote in an article for Playboy that the move to pull his press pass was actually in retaliation for him “rock[ing] the boat” and “ask[ing] hard questions” over the last several weeks.
“They’re claiming [the reason is] something that happened 21 days ago. I’m there every day. If this was an issue, it should’ve been brought to my attention long before now,” Karem told the Post.
Playboy and Karem have retained First Amendment attorney Theodore Boutrous Jr., who successfully represented CNN and Jim Acosta when Acosta’s credentials were suspended in November 2018.
In a response and appeal to Grisham dated Aug. 5, Boutrous noted that in the letter to Karem, Grisham acknowledged that the White House had not issued any “explicit rules… to govern behavior by members of the press at White House press events.” Citing multiple instances where other attendees at the press event in July engaged in similar behavior to Karem’s but were not censured, Boutrous argued that the suspension was “arbitrary and unfair.”
Boutrous additionally highlighted that Karem had reached out to the press office multiple times to discuss the incident, but the first meeting was canceled and subsequent emails ended without a meeting scheduled.
“Hard passes are not meant to be weaponized as a means of penalizing reporters for coverage with which the administration disagrees based on amorphous and subjective standards,” Boutrous wrote. “Such actions unconstitutionally chill the free press.”
The White House Correspondents’ Association published a statement in support of Karem on Aug. 4.
“We sincerely hope this White House does not again make the mistake of revoking a reporter’s hard pass,” WHCA President Jonathan Karl said in the statement. “The WHCA has stood up to violations of due process rights before and we stand ready to safeguard those rights for all reporters who work to hold our government accountable.”
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
Former White House staffer and radio host Sebastian Gorka walks away after yelling at Playboy writer and White House correspondent Brian Karem (center, in tie and blue suit) and members of the press corps during a summit in the Rose Garden.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,1:19-cv-02514,['ONGOING'],Civil,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,,White House Press Secretary "Private security guard assaults journalist, confiscates camera during summit",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/private-security-guard-assaults-journalist-confiscates-camera-during-summit/,2019-08-13 15:53:10.647664+00:00,2022-08-08 19:18:58.389868+00:00,2022-08-08 19:18:58.292167+00:00,(2019-08-20 13:05:00+00:00) Ryan speaks out; Hearing delayed to no-show,"Assault, Equipment Damage",,,camera: count of 1,Charlie Kratovil (New Brunswick Today),,2019-08-03,False,New Brunswick,New Jersey (NJ),40.48622,-74.45182,"Charlie Kratovil, founder and editor of New Brunswick Today, filed a police report alleging assault by a private security guard after being forcibly removed from covering an event on Aug. 3, 2019.
The NBT news team was invited to cover an education summit hosted by the non-profit Project Ready. Kratovil was covering the event on behalf of a reporter who could not, he tweeted, and planned to record the gala ceremonies and post the video to the outlet’s YouTube channel without any editing. Kratovil said he was there for the keynote speech, given by White House correspondent and CNN analyst April Ryan.
Kratovil told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that when he checked in and set up his camera at about 6:45 p.m., the public relations officials did not inform him that there would be any limitations or restrictions on filming the proceedings. Kratovil said that he was able to film the first hour and a half of the event without issue.
When Rep. Donald Payne took the stage to introduce Ryan at approximately 8:30 p.m., Kratovil tweeted, he was approached by a man who said he was “with the speaker,” and asked Kratovil to identify himself. He did so and said he had received approval to cover the event. The man left, Kratovil wrote, but returned and threatened to “take down” his camera if Kratovil did not do so himself.
Kratovil refused.
Over the next several minutes, Kratovil debated with the man, later identified as Ryan’s private security guard Joel Morris, and several public relations officials who began to gather around his table, according to his account.
“I maintained a firm position re: video recording, saying I wouldn’t take action until I could get more info on the man who threatened to mess w/ my camera,” Kratovil tweeted. “I told them ‘If he doesn’t give me his name & tell me on the record why I can’t [video], I’m not turning off the camera.’”
In Kratovil’s video, security guard Morris can be seen approaching Ryan onstage, who pauses her speaking, appears to look at Kratovil’s camera and nods. Ryan remains silent as Morris then walks towards Kratovil’s camera, grabs it and walks off.
In the video, which keeps recording, Ryan resumes speaking as Morris grabs the camera and is heard trying to explain the interruption. “When I speak, I don’t have news covering my speech,” Ryan said, adding that she wanted to have an “unfettered conversation with you all.”
However, New Brunswick-based reporter Chuck O’Donnell from TAPInto, a network of local news websites, was allowed to remain in the room.
Kratovil told the Tracker that he quickly gathered up his belongings and followed after Morris.
According to a police report about the incident filed by Kratovil, Morris walked to the front lobby and turned over Kratovil’s camera to the security staff at the hotel’s front desk. The camera was shortly returned to Kratovil.
Kratovil shared with the Tracker a surveillance recording from the lobby that shows Kratovil holding his camera and moving away from Morris. In the video, Kratovil can be heard saying, “This guy is chasing me.” Morris quickly moves around behind him, and appears to grab and twist Kratovil’s left arm behind his back while pushing him out of the frame.
The police report noted the injury.
“According to Kratovil,” Officer Ryan Daughton wrote in the police report, “the privately hired Security Guard utilized some kind of compliance hold and subsequently caused pain to Kratovil’s left wrist. I offered Kratovil medical attention and he refused the same.”
Kratovil told the Tracker that he ended up seeking care at an urgent care a few days after the incident, where they advised him to treat his shoulder injury as a sprain. He said he plans to press charges.
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
While giving the keynote speech at an event in New Jersey, White House correspondent April Ryan is informed of video recording by a member of her private security (back to the camera). The camera was then confiscated.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private security,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,robbery,,,,, "Owner and reporter for Texas weekly threatened, arrest warrant issued",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/owner-and-reporter-texas-weekly-threatened-arrest-warrant-issued/,2019-10-08 20:37:56.915869+00:00,2019-10-08 20:37:56.915869+00:00,2019-10-08 20:37:56.686091+00:00,,Other Incident,,,,Dina Garcia-Peña (El Tejano),,2019-08-01,False,Rio Grande City,Texas (TX),26.37979,-98.8203,"Dina Garcia-Peña, owner of the El Tejano newspaper, received a threatening message from a man on Aug. 1, 2019, the same day her outlet published a news item about his indictment.
Garcia-Peña told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the weekly newspaper often covers crime in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley, publishing breaking news on the outlet’s Facebook page where it has an active social media following.
“One of the things that we do is we publish posts having to do with small crimes, and grand jury results have become quite popular,” Garcia-Peña said.
Garcia-Peña told the Tracker that shortly after El Tejano reported on a grand jury’s decision to indict Lazaro Orlando Banda Treviño on charges of indecency with a child, she received a threat through her personal Facebook account. Police later determined that it was sent from Banda Treviño’s Facebook account.
Garcia-Peña said the message was in unclear Spanish, but roughly translated to “You need to shut your trap or this will be you.”
Brenda Lee, law enforcement liaison for the Starr County Attorney’s Office, confirmed to KRGV Channel 5 News that the message also said in part, “Be informed before moving, you sucker, because soon you will wake up like this. The world is small and I am everywhere.”
Attached to the message was a picture showing a severed head and a dismembered body, according to KRGV.
Garcia-Peña told the Tracker that she has received threats before, but this message had more substance and concerned her. She said she reached out to the local district attorney who advised her to contact the special crimes unit.
Law enforcement liaison Lee told KRGV that local police did not hesitate to take action. “We will not tolerate any news media or any news media outlet being threatened for doing their job,” Lee said.
Garcia-Peña said that police were able to identify Banda Treviño as the source of the message, but that they believe he left for Mexico sometime in 2018. Police have put out an active warrant for Banda Treviño’s arrest in addition to the indictment he is already facing.
Garcia-Peña said shortly after KRGV published about the threat she received, Banda Treviño responded with a long, vulgar comment on El Tejano’s Facebook page. Garcia-Peña told the Tracker that this comment did not have threats of violence, but claimed that some of the outlet’s reporting was incorrect.
The threat has strengthened her relationship with her readers, Garcia-Peña told the Tracker, and she plans to continue working as one of only two reporters covering local crime and politics.
“I think I’ve gotten more support from my community, more readers,” Garcia-Peña said. “And in terms of me reporting: It hasn’t made me quiet.”
Texas weekly El Tejano on newsstands
,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, "America First Media Group founder ordered to comply with document, testimony requests",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/america-first-media-group-founder-ordered-to-comply-with-document-testimony-requests/,2021-04-16 02:03:39.780727+00:00,2022-04-06 18:13:54.861653+00:00,2022-04-06 18:13:54.797970+00:00,,Subpoena/Legal Order,,,,Matt Couch (America First Media Group),,2019-07-31,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"In the early hours of July 10, 2016, Seth Rich, a 27-year-old staffer with the Democratic National Committee, was fatally shot while walking to his home in Washington, D.C. His death, while unsolved, is believed to be the result of a robbery gone wrong. It quickly, however, became a flash point for conspiracy theories: that Rich had been behind a DNC email dump to WikiLeaks and its founder, Julian Assange, and that he’d effectively been assassinated because of it. None of the claims have ever been substantiated.
On March 26, 2018, Rich’s brother, Aaron, filed a defamation suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against a slew of defendants — Texas businessman and then-frequent Fox News guest Ed Butowsky, the Washington Times, America First Media Group and its founder, Matt Couch — who he’d alleged had shown a “reckless disregard for the truth” and falsely linked both himself and his brother to the email leak.
During the course of three years of litigation, attorneys for both sides collectively subpoenaed nearly a dozen news outlets and members of the press. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents all subpoena requests individually; Find a complete overview of the known subpoenas for this case in the blog post, “Nearly a dozen journalists, outlets and third parties subpoenaed in defamation suit.”
In January 2021, both Couch and Butowsky publicly apologized and retracted prior claims made about the Rich brothers, though Butowsky deleted his statement of contrition almost immediately, according to Law & Crime. Couch and Rich reached a settlement agreement on Jan. 19; Butowsky and Rich reached an agreement on March 22. The lawsuit was terminated officially when District Judge Richard Leon granted Rich’s motions to dismiss the charges against the defendants on March 29. The details of the settlement agreements were not made public.
Couch published several conspiracy-driven stories about the Riches on AFM’s website and both his personal and the outlet’s social media platforms. He later identified Butowsky as the outlet’s only source for the information it reported.
Status of Subpoena
BuzzFeed News was issued a second subpoena in the ongoing defamation case between caver Vernon Unsworth and Tesla CEO Elon Musk on July 29, 2019. In total, five subpoenas were issued for reporting material and testimony from the digital news outlet and one of its reporters.
Unsworth is suing Musk for defamation, alleging that the tech executive repeatedly labeled him a pedophile without evidence on Twitter and in communications with BuzzFeed senior tech journalist Ryan Mac, the latter of which were published by the outlet.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker reviewed the subpoena issued by counsel for Unsworth. The subpoena ordered BuzzFeed to produce all documents and communications produced in response to a previous subpoena by Musk’s counsel, as well as website traffic metrics on the dates articles concerning Musk’s dispute with Unsworth were published and data analytics for interactions with each article on BuzzFeed’s website and social media.
An email exchange between BuzzFeed attorney Kate Bolger and Unsworth attorney Taylor Wilson concerning the subpoena was documented in a subsequent motion. Bolger stated in the exchange, “BuzzFeed will produce the page views you requested provided you agree that no further response to the subpoena is required and that there will be no additional subpoenae.”
Wilson agreed not to file additional discovery subpoenas, but reserved the right to seek trial testimony.
BuzzFeed filed formal objections to the subpoena demands on First and 14th Amendment grounds on Aug. 23. The outlet did agree to provide copies of documents prepared in response to the Musk subpoena and non-privileged website traffic and article metrics.
A portion of the second subpoena received by BuzzFeed as part of a defamation case between Tesla CEO Elon Musk and the caver Vernon Unsworth.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,journalist communications or work product,['PENDING'],None,None,None,None,None,None,BuzzFeed News,,,,,, Colorado TV news reporter assaulted while attempting to conduct an interview,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/colorado-tv-news-reporter-assaulted-while-attempting-to-conduct-an-interview/,2019-08-08 16:42:25.437882+00:00,2021-10-21 16:34:44.330858+00:00,2021-10-21 16:34:44.289749+00:00,,Assault,,,,Stephanie Sierra (KRDO News Channel 13),,2019-07-26,False,Colorado Springs,Colorado (CO),38.83388,-104.82136,"A KRDO News Channel 13 reporter was assaulted while attempting to conduct an interview in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on July 26, 2019.
Reporter Stephanie Sierra walked into Tri-Star Masonry with chief photojournalist Chappin Everett at approximately 12:30 p.m. looking to interview the owner, Michael Reeg, in connection with the station’s investigative reporting on illicit spas in Southern Colorado, KRDO reported.
In the video published by KRDO, Reeg initially agrees to answer Sierra’s questions. When her first question mentions the spa leasing property from Reeg, he cuts her off, tells them to leave and moves toward her.
“Why don’t you guys get the hell out of here,” Reeg is heard saying. “I’m telling you to get the hell out of my place. And get that camera out of here.” Reeg can be seen moving past Sierra toward Everett, growing hostile as he attempts to swipe the camera away. A second unidentified man seems to attempt to prevent Reeg from hitting the camera.
According to the police report released to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, “[Sierra] said that [Reeg] then grabbed her wrist as they were walking to the door.”
“She also told me that Mr. Reeg was yelling obscenities at them as they were leaving,” Officer Tyler Koets wrote in the report. “I asked her if any of the interaction caused her pain and she said that it did not, but it was alarming.”
The video becomes shaky as the camera is jostled, and it appears that both Sierra and Everett were pushed out of the door. Once outside, Reeg again swipes at the camera and an object can be heard hitting the ground.
In the article for KRDO, Sierra wrote, “Our team decided to file a police report today because of Mr. Reeg’s reaction to our questions after he agreed to answer them and because his actions occurred while we were in the process of leaving his business — as requested.”
Officers issued Reeg a citation for harassment.
Sierra declined to comment until the incident has been fully resolved.
Colorado-based television news reporter Stephanie Sierra, right, and chief photojournalist Chappin Everett, behind the camera, were assaulted while attempting an interview. The camera was also attacked.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, "KRDO News chief photojournalist assaulted, equipment attacked",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/krdo-news-chief-photojournalist-assaulted-equipment-attacked/,2021-10-21 16:36:49.515946+00:00,2021-10-21 16:36:49.515946+00:00,2021-10-21 16:36:49.468314+00:00,,Assault,,,,Chappin Everett (KRDO News Channel 13),,2019-07-26,False,Colorado Springs,Colorado (CO),38.83388,-104.82136,"A KRDO News Channel 13 photojournalist was attacked while attempting to conduct an interview in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on July 26, 2019.
Chief photojournalist Chappin Everett walked into Tri-Star Masonry with reporter Stephanie Sierra at approximately 12:30 p.m. looking to interview the owner, Michael Reeg, in connection with the station’s investigative reporting on illicit spas in Southern Colorado, KRDO reported.
In the video published by KRDO, Reeg initially agrees to answer Sierra’s questions. When her first question mentions the spa leasing property from Reeg, he cuts her off, tells them to leave and moves toward her.
“Why don’t you guys get the hell out of here,” Reeg is heard saying. “I’m telling you to get the hell out of my place. And get that camera out of here.” Reeg can be seen moving past Sierra toward Everett, growing hostile as he attempts to swipe the camera away. A second unidentified man seems to attempt to prevent Reeg from hitting the camera.
The video becomes shaky as the camera is jostled, and it appears that both Sierra and Everett are pushed out of the door. Once outside, Reeg again swipes at the camera and an object can be heard hitting the ground.
Everett can be heard saying, “That is pricey. I can’t wait for you to pay for my new camera.” Reeg responds, “You’re on private property, asshole.”
According to the police report released to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, Everett told officers over the phone that a rubber eyepiece may have been knocked off the camera, but otherwise there was no damage to the equipment.
Officers issued Reeg a citation for harassment.
Everett told the Tracker that he would like to reserve comment until the incident has been fully resolved.
Documentary filmmaker Ricardo Olivero Lora was shot with a round of "crowd control ammunition" while filming police officers dispersing protesters in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in the early morning of July 23, 2019.
Olivero Lora told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was filming between 1 and 3 a.m., carrying his professional camera and clearly identified with credentials issued by the Puerto Rico Documentary Association.
“I was clearly identified with that and I also had a big camera, so it would be difficult for someone to confuse me for a protester,” Olivero Lora said.
In the video Olivero Lora published via Fuertefuerte, an officer can be seen removing a canister from a riot gun and reloading before turning and firing in Olivero Lora’s direction. As Olivero Lora turns after being shot, there appears to be at least one person standing a short distance behind him.
Un policía dispara a uno de nuestros documentalistas. - Equipo Fuertefuerte (Viejo San Juan, madrugada del 23 de julio) pic.twitter.com/K8KjbwClNC
— Fuertefuerte (@Fuertefuerte2) July 26, 2019
Olivero Lora told the Tracker that he did not know whether he had been directly targeted by the officer.
“I was concentrated on the camera and getting the shot, so I cannot say whether there was someone next to me or close to me,” Olivero Lora said. “What I can tell you without a doubt is that he fired in my direction and it hit me, but mildly.”
Olivero Lora told the Tracker that it felt as though he had been hit in the leg with a couple of marbles. He added that because of the distance from which he was filming, he was not bruised or otherwise injured.
The New York Times reported that Puerto Rican police were using shotguns that included rubber-coated metal pellets, but that they could also be loaded with rock salt, bore cleaners or noise rounds that cause less severe injuries.
When asked if he continued filming after the incident, Olivero Lora told the Tracker, “Of course, of course.”
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
Documentary filmmaker Ricardo Olivero Lora was hit with crowd control ammunition while filming a protest calling for the resignation of Governor Ricardo Rosselló in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on July 23, 2019, police clash.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"protest, shot / shot at",,,,, Little Rock recording ban reversed after outcry from media,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/little-rock-recording-ban-reversed-after-outcry-media/,2019-08-06 14:36:05.332446+00:00,2021-12-15 16:57:34.802294+00:00,2021-12-15 16:57:34.741300+00:00,,Denial of Access,,,,"Ean Bordeaux (Independent), Rich Newman (KATV Channel 7), Russ Racop (Independent)",,2019-07-23,False,Little Rock,Arkansas (AR),34.74648,-92.28959,"Two days after the Little Rock Civil Service Commission signed off on a rule allowing the commission to bar anyone from recording the body’s public hearings, the ban was overturned amid outcry and threatened legal action from local media.
The ban was approved just days before the commission was set to hold an appeal hearing for former Little Rock Police Officer Charles Starks. Starks, who is white, was fired from the force in May for fatally shooting Bradley Blackshire, a black man, during a February traffic stop. (In April, Pulaski County prosecutors announced that they would not charge Starks with a crime in Blackshire’s death.)
The new rule, which went into effect on July 24, 2019, gave the chairman of the Civil Service Commission discretion to bar all photography, video, and audio recording from the commission’s disciplinary appeal hearings. “The new language says the chairman ‘may’ allow broadcasting ‘provided that the participants will not be distracted, nor will the dignity of the proceedings be impaired,’” the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported.
Arkansas has robust Freedom of Information and open meetings laws, but the civil service commission was arguing that it could block recording from this meeting because it was an appeal and thus qualified as a judicial proceeding.
Robert Steinbuch, a law professor at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and the co-author of the state's Arkansas Freedom of Information Act textbook, disagreed with that interpretation of the civil service commission’s role in an interview with the Democrat-Gazette. Steinbuch told the newspaper that, although the commission performs some quasi-judicial roles, it is not actually a judiciary body.
“There’s not one, there’s a series of attorney general opinions that say it is well within the citizen's right to record and videotape," Steinbuch told the newspaper. "This is not new. This is well-established. If it's not an executive session, if it's otherwise an open meeting, a public meeting, then you can record."
On the morning of July 25, photographers and videographers were both ejected and barred from entering the hearing room at City Hall where the commission was meeting to consider Starks’ appeal. These included Rich Newman, a cameraman from KATV, Little Rock’s Sinclair-owned affiliate. Officers from the Little Rock Police Department also escorted two bloggers, Russ Racop of Bad Government In Arkansas and Ean Bordeaux of Corruption Sucks, out of the hearing room after they declined to stop recording, citing their rights under the state Freedom of Information law.
A reporter for the station, Marine Glisovic, raised her objection to the ban in the hearing. “As a media member for Channel Seven I’d like to make a statement on the record that this is in violation of the Freedom of Information Act,” Glisovic said. “I’d like to request that no business be conducted until our corporate attorney can challenge this in court.” Despite this objection, no recording was permitted in the room during the morning session.
MORE: Starks’ attorney requested to ban all recordings of this appeal. While I objected on the record and on behalf of @KATVNews the commission is allowing it—violating Arkansas FOI laws. #arnews #Arpx (photo taken prior to ban request) pic.twitter.com/2PTQ3W6K74
— Marine Glisovic KATV (@KATVMarine) July 25, 2019
The Arkansas chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists issued a statement decrying the recording ban. “The new rule is bad news for news media and the local community. It also runs afoul of the Arkansas’ Freedom of Information Act, which guarantees citizens access to public meetings and public records,” the SPJ statement read.
After consulting with the station’s corporate legal team, KATV hired a local attorney to draft an injunction against the ban. “We let the city know that we planned to file that injunction in the early afternoon if they didn’t rescind that ruling and allow us to be in the hearing,” Nick Genty, KATV’s news director, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
But before KATV filed its injunction, City Attorney Tom Carpenter announced around 3 p.m. that the city had decided to set aside the new rule. "We recommend at this juncture [that] the ban be withdrawn by the commission," Carpenter said, according to the Democrat-Gazette. The previously barred photographers and videographers quickly filed back into the room and began filming.
In an interview with the Tracker, Carpenter said while the rule was defensible under rules set out for trials by the Arkansas Supreme Court, it did not have the backing of city leadership. “Since the commission is appointed by the city, without the city’s approval it didn’t make sense to have the rule,” he said.
News Director Genty said he was glad the ban was lifted without KATV having to file the injunction. “We never want to be the story. We just want to cover the story, that’s all we were asking to do,” he said. “They were treating it as a court of law, but this wasn’t; this was a city civil service commission meeting.”
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
A man using a recording device is escorted from a Little Rock Civil Service Commission meeting after the commission instituted a ban on recording. The ban was lifted within days.
,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,,Little Rock Civil Service Commission Photojournalist struck in the head by rubber bullet while covering Puerto Rico protests,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-struck-head-rubber-bullet-while-covering-puerto-rico-protests/,2019-07-26 17:12:59.073348+00:00,2022-07-30 02:49:11.665582+00:00,2022-07-30 02:49:11.602491+00:00,,Assault,,,,Joe Raedle (Getty Images),,2019-07-17,False,San Juan,Puerto Rico (PR),None,None,"Joe Raedle, a photojournalist for Getty Images, was hit by a rubber bullet while covering protests in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on July 17, 2019.
Raedle was covering protests outside La Fortaleza, the official residence of Governor Ricardo Rosselló, where demonstrators were gathered for the fifth night to demand the governor’s resignation.
Violent clashes between protesters and police began to break out during the evening protests, WAPA-TV broadcast reporter Orlando Rivera Martinez told the Committee to Protect Journalists. Rivera himself was struck by a rubber bullet while covering the protests on July 15.
“During the nights, authorities have been shooting gas and rubber bullets at the protesters,” Rivera said. “And I—and a lot of journalists—have been close by, in the middle of it.”
On July 17, some protesters were throwing firecrackers, beer, bottles of water and glowsticks at police surrounding Rosselló’s mansion. After issuing a warning to the crowd to disperse, officers shot rubber bullets and tear gas into the crowd.
Raedle was struck by a rubber bullet presumably fired by police at around 11 p.m., El Nuevo Día reported.
A photo taken by El Nuevo Día photojournalist Xavier Araújo Berríos shows blood dripping down Raedle’s face. Fellow journalist Benjamín Torres Gotay tweeted the next day that Raedle’s wounds were the product of a rubber bullet.
Así terminó anoche, tras ser impactado por una bala de goma disparada por la Polcía, el fotógrafo Joe Readle, de la agencia fotográfica internacional Getty Images. Foto por @photoxabo pic.twitter.com/d7eMJZUnKv
— Benjamín Torres Gotay 🇵🇷 (@TorresGotay) July 18, 2019
Raedle was transported to a local hospital where his wounds were bandaged, a Getty Images spokesman told El Nuevo Día. He was quickly released, the spokesman said, and returned to covering the demonstrations.
A second journalist, Telemundo cameraman Jorge Figueroa, was injured on the same night. Figueroa was recording amid the crowd when the police began to fire tear gas to disperse the demonstrators, El Nuevo Día reported. In the middle of the ensuing chaos, Figueroa was pushed by demonstrators and fell.
The cameraman was noticed by police officers who helped him up and transported him to the press center of La Fortaleza. In his Facebook post about the incident, Figueroa wrote that he was well.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker only counts incidents where a journalist affected by tear gas, pepper spray or other mass riot control agents if the individual suffers serious injury or appears to have been specifically targeted.
On July 24, after multiple nights of protests, Gov. Rosselló announced he would step down on Aug. 2.
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
Police clash with demonstrators during the fifth day of protests calling for the resignation of Governor Ricardo Rosselló in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Several journalists were injured.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,no,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"protest, shot / shot at",,,,, Broadcast reporter struck by a rubber bullet while covering Puerto Rico protests,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/broadcast-reporter-struck-rubber-bullet-rock-while-covering-puerto-rico-protests/,2019-07-26 14:35:48.257691+00:00,2022-07-30 02:49:27.078510+00:00,2022-07-30 02:49:27.011694+00:00,,Assault,,,,Orlando Rivera Martinez (NotiCentro WAPA-TV),,2019-07-15,False,San Juan,Puerto Rico (PR),None,None,"NotiCentro WAPA-TV broadcast reporter Orlando Rivera Martinez was injured while covering protests in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on July 15, 2019.
Rivera was covering protests outside La Fortaleza, the official residence of Gov. Ricardo Rosselló, where demonstrators were gathered for the third night to demand the governor’s resignation.
“During the nights, authorities have been shooting gas and rubber bullets at the protesters,” Rivera told the Committee to Protect Journalists, a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. “And I — and a lot of journalists — have been close by, in the middle of it.”
It was under these conditions that Rivera said he and his photographer were shot at. Rivera told CPJ that he was struck by one, and the overwhelming pain caused him to fall.
Rivera continued documenting the protests that night, however, but sought safer ground on a third-story balcony to keep observing the protests.
“And then, a protester threw a rock at the police and I got hit in the abdomen,” Rivera told CPJ. The Tracker has documented that incident here.
In a video posted by WAPA-TV, Rivera can be seen laying down on the floor, writhing in pain and tapping his right side where a bruise appears to be forming.
Security forces told La Estrella de Panamá that 10 people were injured that night, including several policemen and “a journalist, who was attacked with a stone.”
Rivera told CPJ that while no one had expected the scale of the protests, his station did provide him with a gas mask and a bulletproof vest. He also said that while some protesters were aggressive and did not want to be filmed, he and his photographer didn’t encounter much hostility.
When asked if he would continue documenting the protests moving forward, Rivera said, “Yes I will. And if it gets aggressive and violent, I will try to find a safe spot—though you never know.”
On July 24, after multiple nights of protests, Gov. Rosselló announced he would step down on Aug. 2.
This was the moment thousands of protesters, standing in front of the governors mansion, tonight, heard the governor say he is resigning pic.twitter.com/PhmVDGpe4A
— David Begnaud (@DavidBegnaud) July 25, 2019
Demonstrators in San Juan, Puerto Rico, called for the resignation of Governor Ricardo Rosselló for nearly two weeks in protests that left several injured.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"protest, shot / shot at",,,,, Broadcast reporter struck by a rock while covering Puerto Rico protests,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/broadcast-reporter-struck-by-a-rock-while-covering-puerto-rico-protests/,2021-11-12 18:17:47.171522+00:00,2021-11-12 18:17:47.171522+00:00,2021-11-12 18:17:47.124316+00:00,,Assault,,,,Orlando Rivera Martinez (NotiCentro WAPA-TV),,2019-07-15,False,San Juan,Puerto Rico (PR),None,None,"NotiCentro WAPA-TV broadcast reporter Orlando Rivera Martinez was injured while covering protests in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on July 15, 2019.
Rivera was covering protests outside La Fortaleza, the official residence of Gov. Richardo Rosselló, where demonstrators were gathered for the third night to demand the governor’s resignation.
“During the nights, authorities have been shooting gas and rubber bullets at the protesters,” Rivera told the Committee to Protect Journalists, a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. “And I — and a lot of journalists — have been close by, in the middle of it.”
It was under these conditions that Rivera said he and his photographer were shot at. Rivera told CPJ that he was struck by one, and the overwhelming pain caused him to fall. The Tracker has documented that incident here.
Rivera continued documenting the protests that night, however, but sought safer ground on a third-story balcony to keep observing the protests.
“And then, a protester threw a rock at the police and I got hit in the abdomen,” Rivera told CPJ.
In a video posted by WAPA-TV, Rivera can be seen laying down on the floor, writhing in pain and tapping his right side where a bruise appears to be forming.
Security forces told La Estrella de Panamá that 10 people were injured that night, including several policemen and “a journalist, who was attacked with a stone.”
Rivera told CPJ that while no one had expected the scale of the protests, his station did provide him with a gas mask and a bulletproof vest. He also said that while some protesters were aggressive and did not want to be filmed, he and his photographer didn’t encounter much hostility.
When asked if he would continue documenting the protests moving forward, Rivera said, “Yes I will. And if it gets aggressive and violent, I will try to find a safe spot—though you never know.”
On July 24, after multiple nights of protests, Gov. Rosselló announced he would step down on Aug. 2.
This was the moment thousands of protesters, standing in front of the governors mansion, tonight, heard the governor say he is resigning pic.twitter.com/PhmVDGpe4A
— David Begnaud (@DavidBegnaud) July 25, 2019
While returning from a news event, a WTVG 13abc news crew van was shot at on July 13, 2019 in Toledo, Ohio.
13abc reported that the crew member was heading back to the station at around 8:30 p.m. following an event at the Toledo Museum of Art when multiple shots were fired at the station’s vehicle.
Investigative reporter Shaun Hegarty posted a photo of the damage to the vehicle to Twitter following the incident. Hegarty later told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that there were two members of the WTVG 13abc news crew in the van.
Shot fired at 13abc news vehicle. No members of our news team were injured https://t.co/XeXDwWa5Jx #13abc pic.twitter.com/TicgZSkdoM
— Shaun Hegarty (@Shaun_Hegarty) July 14, 2019
The Toledo Blade, 13abc’s media partner, reported that police at the scene collected multiple shell cases. No members of the 13abc team were injured.
Hegarty later posted to Twitter that the police believe they’ve identified the silver Ford Mustang involved in the shooting.
The Toledo police department was not immediately available for comment. The department’s investigation is ongoing.
While returning from a news event, a WTVG 13abc news crew van was shot at on July 13, 2019 in Toledo, Ohio.
13abc reported that the member of the news crew was heading back to the station at around 8:30 p.m. following an event at the Toledo Museum of Art when multiple shots were fired at the station’s vehicle.
Investigative reporter Shaun Hegarty posted a photo of the damage to the vehicle to Twitter following the incident. Hegarty later told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that there were two members of the WTVG 13abc news crew in the van.
Shot fired at 13abc news vehicle. No members of our news team were injured https://t.co/XeXDwWa5Jx #13abc pic.twitter.com/TicgZSkdoM
— Shaun Hegarty (@Shaun_Hegarty) July 14, 2019
The Toledo Blade, 13abc’s media partner, reported that police at the scene collected multiple shell cases. No members of the 13abc team were injured.
Hegarty later posted to Twitter that the police believe they’ve identified the silver Ford Mustang involved in the shooting.
The Toledo police department was not immediately available for comment. The department’s investigation is ongoing.
Larry Curtis, a web editor for KUTV 2News was assaulted on July 9, 2019, while covering a protest in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Matthew Michela, a photojournalist for KUTV filmed a verbal confrontation as it escalated into a physical scuffle. “It was my job to capture the good and the bad; that’s when the man approached me and put his hand on the lens,” Michela told KUTV.
In the video Michela captured, the man is heard saying, “Stop fucking filming! Turn around!” Michela responds, “I have a right to be here, sir.” The man, holding his hand over the lens, responds, “Fuck you, no. No!”
Curtis wrote in an account published by the outlet, that he “was also at the protest doing a live video on Facebook and rushed into the fray” when he saw Michela surrounded by protesters. In a photo taken by Harmon, Curtis can be seen inserting himself between Michela and some of the protesters.
Photos and video taken during the incident show a woman attempting to pull out the cord from the back of Michela’s camera and an arm reaching behind him to pull the camera off his shoulder.
Michela told the Tracker, “Larry came over and broke up the fight before it got too involved.” In the process, Curtis wrote in his account, his credentials were pulled off from around his neck and his shirt was ripped.
According to the Tribune, eight people were ultimately arrested over the course of the protest.
Larry Curtis, a web editor for Salt Lake City’s KUTV 2News, attempts to protect his colleague, photojournalist Matthew Michela, during a protest near City Hall on July 9, 2019.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,protest,,,,, Two journalists assaulted while covering a protest in Salt Lake City,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/two-journalists-assaulted-while-covering-protest-salt-lake-city/,2019-07-15 18:18:45.084341+00:00,2021-10-21 16:57:50.861663+00:00,2021-10-21 16:57:50.813365+00:00,,Assault,,,,Matthew Michela (KUTV 2News),,2019-07-09,False,Salt Lake City,Utah (UT),40.76078,-111.89105,"Matthew Michela, a broadcast photojournalist for local KUTV 2News, was assaulted on July 9, 2019, while covering a protest in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Michela told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he and his team had been covering the protest over Utah’s planned inland port, a logistics and distribution hub, for a couple of hours when a man came up to protesters gathered outside City Hall and began antagonizing them.
Jeremy Harmon, director of photography at the Salt Lake Tribune, told the Tracker that he had arrived at the protest right as the incident began. “There was some guy who had ridden up on his bike and he was shouting at some of the protesters who had just been pushed across the street,” Harmon said. “This guy just kept ratcheting up with more racism, more bile, more transphobia, so I started taking pictures of the interaction.”
Michela also filmed the verbal confrontation as it escalated into a physical scuffle. “It was my job to capture the good and the bad; that’s when the man approached me and put his hand on the lens,” Michela told KUTV.
In the video Michela captured, the man is heard saying, “Stop fucking filming! Turn around!” Michela responds, “I have a right to be here, sir.” The man, holding his hand over the lens, responds, “Fuck you, no. No!”
The man approached Michela from the blindspot on his right created by the camera equipment, and was the first of several people to attempt to prevent Michela from filming. Michela told the Tracker that he was jostled enough to cause the camera to zoom erratically and the recording to stop and start multiple times.
Photos and video taken during the incident show a woman attempting to pull out the cord from the back of Michela’s camera and an arm reaching behind him to pull the camera off his shoulder.
At one point, Michela said, he felt “the camera being thrown from my shoulder towards the ground. I was able to catch it and prevent it from hitting the ground. It felt like people were pulling at me and at the camera.”
The incident left him shaken, Michela told the Tracker. “At the time I certainly felt threatened and I told the officers that I’d press charges if they ever found the guy,” Michela said. “Normally, to most people, my height is a deterrence. I’ve done this job 10 years and I’ve never had someone lay hands on me.”
During the same incident, Harmon also had to maneuver around protesters who were attempting to block him from documenting the scene, though he told the Tracker that he was not harmed and did not feel threatened.
According to the Tribune, eight people were ultimately arrested over the course of the protest.
Larry Curtis, a web editor for Salt Lake City’s KUTV 2News, attempts to protect his colleague, photojournalist Matthew Michela, during a protest near City Hall on July 9, 2019.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,protest,,,,, Judge dismisses defamation suit against Kansas City Star,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/judge-dismisses-defamation-suit-against-kansas-city-star/,2019-07-11 18:04:09.539317+00:00,2019-11-06 19:49:45.257068+00:00,2019-11-06 19:49:45.180024+00:00,"(2019-07-30 16:19:00+00:00) Kansas judge dismisses defamation lawsuit against newspaper’s guest columnist, (2019-10-30 14:48:00+00:00) Judge sets amount of legal fees awarded to newspaper in dismissed defamation suit",Other Incident,,,,Steve Rose (The Kansas City Star),,2019-07-02,False,Johnson County,Kansas (KS),None,None,"On July 2, 2019, a Kansas district judge threw out a defamation suit against The Kansas City Star brought by Kansas Sen. Majority Leader Jim Denning, which The Star had argued violated its First Amendment rights as a publisher.
According to news reports, Denning and his lawyer failed to prove the “actual malice” threshold required for defamation set out by the Supreme Court in its landmark 1960 free speech case New York Times vs. Sullivan. Kansas also has an additional state law that further protects free speech on issues of public concern.
“Denning had not met the requirements of the Kansas Speech Protection Act, which is designed to end meritless lawsuits that target the exercise of free speech,” according to the local NPR news station, KCUR.
“With this decision, the judge affirmed that Sen. Denning’s claim against The Star was entirely without merit, and more importantly, he protected the First Amendment rights of The Star and all journalists,” Colleen McCain Nelson, The Star’s editorial page editor, told KCUR.
The judge also ordered Denning to pay the newspaper’s legal fees, which its lawyer estimated to be around $40,000.
The suit stems from an opinion page article published in January regarding Medicaid expansion in the state. Steve Rose, the article’s author, was a contributing guest columnist and resigned shortly after the suits were filed.
The judge in the case deferred ruling on the defamation suit against Rose as an individual.
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
Andy Ngo, an independent photojournalist and editor for Quillette, was attacked and had his equipment stolen while documenting an antifa counter-protest in Portland, Oregon, on June 29, 2019.
Ngo is an out-spoken critic of antifa and has covered antifa demonstrations and protests since 2016, primarily publishing the videos taken on his GoPro to Twitter and YouTube. Ngo told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he does not wear press identification or badges while covering protests, but openly films and identifies himself as media to those who ask. He also said that he has become well-known to the antifa community in Portland and has “come to expect” their hostility against him.
The far-right group The Proud Boys originally announced the Portland rally for June 29, almost exactly one year after the “Battle of Portland.” That event was marked with street fights and dueling protesters, and was ultimately classified as a riot by the Portland Police Department.
In planning an opposition rally, local antifa demonstrators called the Proud Boy rally an “attack,” and published a ”call to defend” the city. The post mentioned Ngo in a section labeled “Violent and Racist Proud Boy Propaganda,” and described him as a “local far-right Islamophobic journalist.”
The day before the rally, Ngo tweeted out screenshots from the post, writing, “I am nervous about tomorrow’s Portland antifa rally. They’re promising ‘physical confrontation’ & have singled me out to be assaulted.”
Ngo and the public relations firm he has contracted to handle his media requests following the incident did not respond to requests for comment.
The Guardian reported that early on the day of the protest and counter-protests, Ngo was filming when protesters dumped a milkshake on him. Later video taken by Oregonian journalist Jim Ryan showed Ngo being hit and sprayed with silly string by masked individuals who appeared to be antifa demonstrators at around 1:30 p.m.
First skirmish I’ve seen. Didn’t see how this started, but @MrAndyNgo got roughed up. pic.twitter.com/hDkfQchRhG
— Jim Ryan (@Jimryan015) June 29, 2019
Ngo tweeted that he “was beat on face and head multiple times in downtown in middle of street with fists and weapons” and that he was taken to an emergency room. Ngo also posted photos of his facial abrasions.
In a Wall Street Journal opinion piece, Ngo said that he was diagnosed with a brain hemorrhage.
A Vox explainer article outlines the history between Ngo, The Proud Boys and antifa, and how Ngo is considered by some to be more of a provocateur than journalist. Some have pointed out that Ngo was the only journalist targeted.
For the purposes of the Tracker, Ngo identifies as a journalist, has a track record of publication and was in the process of documenting when he was attacked. For more about how the Tracker counts incidents, see our frequently asked questions page.
Portland protests have become a dangerous beat over the past year: the Tracker has documented multiple journalists covering the demonstrations and riots being injured by far-right and antifa protesters, as well as by Portland police.
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
In a video opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal, Andy Ngo shows images and describes being beaten at a protest rally in Portland that involved both right-wing and antifa groups.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"protest, robbery",,,,, An order limiting photography outside Arizona appellate courts gets scaled back after criticism,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/order-limiting-photography-outside-arizona-appellate-courts-gets-scaled-back-after-criticism/,2019-11-19 20:40:14.759634+00:00,2019-11-19 20:40:14.759634+00:00,2019-11-19 20:40:14.684002+00:00,,Denial of Access,,,,,,2019-06-28,False,Phoenix,Arizona (AZ),33.44838,-112.07404,"The court of appeals in Phoenix, Arizona, issued an order limiting recording and photography outside of the courthouse on June 28, 2019.
The order stipulated that, “All types of video recording, photography, including sharing video or live-streaming to social media sites, or other types of broadcasting… are prohibited in any facility during its use as for Court-connected purposes, including building entrances, exits, and adjacent restricted parking areas.”
It also added a provision by which individuals could receive permission to record in restricted areas by applying for approval two days in advance.
A few months later, on Oct. 16, state Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert Brutinel issued an almost identical order that would apply to the appellate court buildings in both Phoenix and Tucson, the Associated Press reported. The order also expanded restrictions of photography and recording to include steps and stairways, patios, hallways and sidewalks, which were not in the original order.
Supreme Court spokesman Aaron Nash told the AP that the photography ban was intended to reduce disruptions and protect the privacy and security of individuals attending the court, not hinder journalists’ ability to do their jobs. The policy appears to have been issued to unify appellate court policies.
Brutinel’s order received backlash from reporters and attorneys, the Arizona Republic reported, who claimed the broad rule would hamper the media and the public’s access to newsworthy cases.
National Press Photographers Association lawyer Mickey Osterreicher told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, “It goes far beyond what their authority, I believe, should be. It’s one thing to control what goes on inside the courtroom, but not necessarily what goes on in what is traditionally a public forum outside.”
The court issued a narrower order on Nov. 6, maintaining the restrictions of recording and livestreaming, but limiting the scope to within the appellate court buildings. The Republic reported that the revised order also removed wording allowing court officials to demand individuals delete photos or videos taken of them without their permission.
The order also revised stipulations from barring recording in outdoor areas to prohibiting “any activity that threatens any person, disrupts court operations, or compromises court security.”
Maria Polletta, state government and politics reporter for The Republic, told the Tracker that reporters on the beat were taken aback by the first order, and they’re waiting to see how the scaled back version is implemented.
“It’s obviously less sweeping than the first version,” Polletta said. “But as First Amendment attorneys have said, ‘disruptive’ is very subjective and it could still end up being applied to media while they’re just doing their jobs.”
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 for why he was flagged.
While detained, the officers asked Stegmaier for permission to search his computer.
“It is possible that I could have avoided five months of psychological stress with three words: GET A WARRANT,” Stegmaier wrote. “But I was sleep-deprived, and innocent of any crime. So I let them.”
The officers took his phone and camera as well. Stegmaier wrote that he waited 4 ½ hours — causing him to miss his connecting flight to Cincinnati, Ohio — before an officer read him his Miranda rights. The officer proceeded to ask questions about why he was in the U.S., where he was planning on traveling next and whether he had had sex with children while abroad.
The questions presumably stemmed from photos Stegmaier had taken on his reporting trip. In a petition in support of Stegmaier dated Sept. 3, the ACLU of Ohio wrote, “In Manila, he captured numerous images of abject poverty and desperate conditions. He observed and photographed children swimming in filthy water and industrial waste, surrounded by heaps of plastic garbage and fecal matter.”
The ACLU went on to contextualize the photos: that the presence of unclothed children in public in the Philippines is “unremarkable” and images of such scenes routinely appear in journalistic and other publications.
When Stegmaier attempted to explain all of this to the CBP officers, he wrote, they were skeptical of his point-and-shoot camera and asserted that he should have “papers” showing that he is a “real” photographer. Stegmaier also wrote that the officers told him that he should consider himself lucky because the supervisory officer believed him enough not to arrest him.
At the end of his detention, Stegmaier wrote that the officers retained possession of his computer, camera and smartphone, along with the tens of thousands of photographs contained therein.
“It ruined my trip, as I was forced to halt the planned work that I was going to do in the U.S.,” Stegmaier told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. “I also felt that the seizure damaged my credibility with a couple people that I was in the process of delivering work to. It was debilitating to not have access to my equipment.”
A month later, Stegmaier received an official Notice of Seizure notifying him that his equipment had been seized because it contained “visual depictions of sexual exploitation of children.”
In addition to the formal petition on Stegmaier’s behalf, a coalition of First Amendment organizations — including the National Press Photographers Association and National Coalition Against Censorship — wrote a letter to CBP urging the return of his equipment.
“The possible disregard by DHS of federal and state level constitutional protections granted to Mr. Stegmaier strike at the heart of the most vital rights we strive to defend,” the letter reads. “The seizure of Stegmaier’s laptop, camera, and iPhone has caused untold damage to his professional life, forcing him to halt all of his work activities.”
Three months after his equipment was seized, Stegmaier wrote that CBP sent him a letter admitting that there was nothing illegal about his photos. The agency promised to return the equipment on the condition that Stegmaier sign a release waiving his right to sue for the wrongful detention and seizure, or else go through a formal hearing process that could take multiple months.
Stegmaier arranged to pick up his equipment in Detroit, during which CBP stopped him again and asked to search his belongings.
“Luckily, I carry the ACLU’s petition letter with me, right next to CBP’s letter admitting I did nothing wrong,” Stegmaier wrote. “I showed these letters to them, and eventually they let me go.”
He wrote that when he left Detroit, he took his equipment and his pictures with him.
“I don’t have a problem going to other countries to work,” Stegmaier told the Tracker. “I only have a problem returning home to a place where I am supposed to have civilian rights.”
The state of New Mexico agreed to a settlement with the weekly Santa Fe Reporter on June 27, 2019, following a lengthy lawsuit that accused a former governor of violating the state’s public records law and discriminating against the outlet in retaliation for its critical coverage.
The Reporter had filed a lawsuit against then-Gov. Susana Martinez in 2013 over five requests for records related to pardons, emails and the governor’s calendar under the state Inspection of Public Records Act.
The complaint, which was reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, alleged that the governor failed to release documents within the mandated time frame and either did not conduct a comprehensive search for or did not provide all responsive documents. The Reporter asked the court for injunctive relief in the form of new policies and procedures for handling IPRA requests.
The Reporter suit included a separate claim alleging that the administration denied the newspaper access to information provided to other outlets, violating the state constitution’s Free Press Provision.
“The press must be free to report on public affairs and officials’ conduct without reprisal,” the complaint reads. “A free press and public access to information are undermined if the access of members of the press to facts relating to public business is limited because they present a certain viewpoint or perspective that the Governor does not like.”
In December 2017, state District Judge Sarah Singleton ruled that, in regards to the denial of access, the governor had not violated the state constitution. Julie Ann Grimm, the Reporter’s editor and publisher, told the Tracker that Singleton’s ruling legitimized politicians giving outlets preferential treatment.
“The judge in her ruling and in some things that she said in court really made it clear that she felt like it was OK for public officials to pick and choose and to only talk to friendly press,” Grimm said.
Singleton did find that Martinez violated the state’s open records act three times in its tardy or non-existent responses to public records requests.
"It is the Court's opinion that if people create public documents on private email accounts, then when an IPRA request is made, the governmental body for whom those people are employed has an obligation to search or at least attempt to search those private accounts,” Singleton said, according to the Reporter.
“To hold otherwise would make it too easy to hide from inspection the very types of public records which are most in need of disclosure," Singleton said.
The Reporter was awarded attorneys’ fees totaling nearly $400,000 but no damages on the three counts. Grimm told the Tracker that no new IPRA policies or procedures were developed or implemented in response to the outlet’s request for an injunction.
Martinez’s attorney Paul Kennedy appealed the decision in 2018 on the grounds that the verdict was a split decision, according to the Santa Fe New Mexican.
In a compromise to avoid further litigation after Martinez left office, her successor, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, agreed to drop the appeal and pay a $360,000 settlement in June 2019. The agreement became public in January 2020 after the expiration of the legally-mandated confidentiality period.
Grimm told the Tracker that she was grateful the Reporter was able to fully litigate the case, in large part because its lawyers represented the newspaper on contingency, or accepting payment only in the case of a favorable result.
“It requires a great deal of energy to litigate, especially when you’re up against the highest office in the state,” Grimm said. Grimm added that the Reporter is still waiting on records from Martinez’s administration, and access to public records continues to be “an ongoing battle in New Mexico at every level of government.”
The director of communications for Gov. Lujan Grisham, Tripp Stelnicki, told the Tracker that the governor’s administration has endeavored to communicate with the press without bias and to improve access to public information.
“We would not have been interested in continuing to defend the previous administration’s obstruction of information to that particular outlet,” Stelnicki said. “That’s not how the governor does things.”
Stelnicki added that the current administration’s approach is to disclose or provide everything that can be released.
A portion of the 2013 lawsuit filed on behalf of the Santa Fe Reporter against then-Gov. Susana Martinez
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,Santa Fe Reporter,public records,,,,,Gov. Susana Martinez Newsday reporter threatened and ordered out of the locker room following Mets loss in Chicago,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/newsday-reporter-threatened-and-ordered-out-locker-room-following-mets-loss-chicago/,2019-06-25 17:47:00.463235+00:00,2022-03-09 20:50:48.766040+00:00,2022-03-09 20:50:48.704122+00:00,,Other Incident,,,,Tim Healey (Newsday),,2019-06-23,False,Chicago,Illinois (IL),41.85003,-87.65005,"A New York Mets beat reporter was physically threatened by one of the team’s pitchers and ordered out of the briefing room by the team’s manager following a loss to the Chicago Cubs on June 23, 2019.
Newsday reporter Tim Healey was in the locker room in Chicago’s Wrigley Field for the after-game press conference alongside other journalists covering the game. Healey told Newsday that when Manager Mickey Callaway came out of his office, “I thought he was leaving for the day, so I said, ‘See you tomorrow, Mickey.’” Callaway reportedly responded, “Don’t be a smart-ass.”
The New York Daily News reported that Callaway called Healey a “motherfucker” under his breath before walking into another room. When Callaway returned after a few minutes, he continued to confront the reporter about the comment, which Healey assured him wasn’t made maliciously.
“Shut the fuck up, get out of my face. Get out of here,” Callaway said in response, according to The Daily News. Callaway then told a team public relations official, “Get this motherfucker out of here, he’ll be here tomorrow.”
Newsday reported that this exchange caught the attention of pitcher Jason Vargas. When Healey noticed that Vargas had been staring at him, he asked if everything was OK or if there was something he wanted to say. In response, Vargas threatened him.
“He said, ‘I’ll knock you out right here’ and then took a couple of steps toward me,” Healey told Newsday. “Some people said charged—charged is super-strong.”
Mets media relations manager and several teammates got between Healey and Vargas and ensured that the pitcher remained at a distance. No punches were thrown, and Healey said at that moment he removed himself from the locker room.
In a statement released that evening, the Mets wrote that they “sincerely regret the incident that took place with one of our beat writers following today’s game in the clubhouse. We do not condone this type of behavior from any employee. The organization has reached out and apologized to this reporter and will have further discussions internally with all involved parties.”
Deadspin reported that Callaway and Vargas were each fined $10,000 and had to give statements addressing the incident. In one of his statements, Callaway said that he had spoken privately with Healey and apologized.
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
New York Mets Manager Mickey Callaway, here at Wrigley Field, and pitcher Jason Vargas were each fined $10,000 after a heated interaction with Newsday reporter Tim Healey following a loss to the Chicago Cubs.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, "Photojournalist arrested while covering climate demonstration, equipment seized",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-arrested-while-covering-climate-demonstration-equipment-seized/,2019-07-09 21:22:06.278720+00:00,2022-05-12 22:26:35.687913+00:00,2022-05-12 22:26:35.585886+00:00,(2019-07-15 11:11:00+00:00) NYPD drops charges against journalist arrested while covering protest,"Arrest/Criminal Charge, Equipment Search or Seizure",,"camera: count of 1, mobile phone: count of 1, press pass: count of 1",,Michael Nigro (Independent),,2019-06-22,False,New York,New York (NY),None,None,"On June 22, 2019, independent photojournalist Michael Nigro was arrested in New York City while covering a demonstration calling for aggressive action on climate change outside the headquarters of The New York Times.
Protesters from the group Extinction Rebellion had staged a direct action on 41st Street and Eighth Avenue in midtown Manhattan, Nigro said, with some protesters blocking traffic on Eighth Avenue and others scaling the Times building to unfurl banners.
“I, as a journalist, was covering the action and was looking for a good vantage point,” he told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
Nigro went to the third floor of the Port Authority Bus Terminal, a busy transit station located across the street from the Times building, to document the protest. Port Authority police officers responding to the protest then arrived and asked him to leave.
Nigro said that he was wearing two press badges around his neck — one from the National Press Photographers Association and one given to accredited journalists by the NYPD. He showed the badges to the officers and asserted his right to film the protest. After some back-and-forth discussion with the officers, he agreed to leave the area. Unexpectedly, the officers then arrested him for trespassing.
“While we were leaving, their radio went off and they were told to arrest me,” he said. “They apologized.”
Nigro was then taken to the Port Authority police station and handcuffed to a wall, and both his phone and camera were seized as evidence. He estimates that he was handcuffed to the wall for about two hours before Port Authority police officers escorted him to an interrogation room, where he was chained to a bench, read his Miranda rights, and questioned by detectives. Nigro said that he refused to answer any questions without his lawyer present. He was then fingerprinted and brought to a holding cell.
Nigro said that while he was detained in the holding cell, an officer from the NYPD’s media relations office — known as the Office of the Deputy Commissioner, Public Information, or DCPI — visited him in his cell to inform him that the NYPD was revoking his official press badge.
Nigro was eventually issued a desk appearance ticket and released, but his arresting officer refused to return his camera and phone. The police returned his equipment and press badge to him a week later.
The desk appearance ticket lists a single charge against Nigro — criminal trespass in the third degree, a Class B misdemeanor — and requires him to appear in New York City criminal court on Aug. 22.
CNN reported that more than 60 protesters were also arrested during the demonstration and charged with disorderly conduct.
This is not the first time that Nigro has been arrested while working as a journalist. In 2018, he was arrested and charged with “failure to obey” while covering a civil disobedience action in Jefferson City, Missouri. The charges were later dropped. Before that, in 2016, he was arrested while documenting an anti-Trump march in New York City.
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
Demonstrators calling for aggressive action on the climate gather in front of The New York Times building in Manhattan.
",arrested and released,charges dropped,New York Police Department,None,None,False,None,[],None,returned in full,False,law enforcement,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,protest,,trespassing: criminal trespass in the third degree,,, "New York Knicks fined $50,000 for barring NY Daily News from press event",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/new-york-knicks-fined-50000-barring-ny-daily-news-press-event/,2019-06-26 17:29:11.757798+00:00,2019-06-26 17:29:11.757798+00:00,2019-06-26 17:29:11.670181+00:00,,Other Incident,,,,,,2019-06-21,False,New York,New York (NY),None,None,"The National Basketball Association announced that the New York Knicks have been fined $50,000 for denying the New York Daily News reporters access to a press conference on June 21, 2019.
By not allowing the Daily News access to the team’s post-draft press conference when all other credentialed media covering the team were permitted to attend, the NBA determined that the Knicks had violated the league’s rules regarding equal access for media.
FWIW, The Daily News was not invited to this presser for @RjBarrett6 and @_iggy_braz but every other NYC outlet covering the team was.
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) June 21, 2019
Jim Dolan doesn't like the coverage and has effectively banned them from covering the team.
“The actions of willful discrimination taken by the New York Knicks against reporters from the New York Daily News are an abridgment of the First Amendment and not befitting a team in the National Basketball Association,” Todd Adams, president of the Associated Press Sports Editors, said in a statement released on June 24.The NBA fined the team later that day.
The New York Post reported in February that the Knicks and the Daily News “have been feuding for more than a decade,” stemming from Knicks owner James Dolan’s perception of bias and “ill will” in the newspaper’s coverage of the team.
The team released a statement responding to the fine, acknowledging they failed to comply with the media policy, citing “an error in interpreting Friday’s announcement as an invite only event.” They pledged to adhere to the rules moving forward.
This incident is the only one to be acknowledged by the NBA with a fine for the organization. However, Daily News beat writer Stefan Bondy was banned from covering Knicks press conferences in December and January, according to the Daily News and the Post, respectively.
R.J. Barrett, the No. 3 draft pick for the New York Knicks, was part of a press conference that pointedly excluded the New York Daily News, an outlet with a combative history with the team. The Knicks were fined $50,000 for the exclusion.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,New York Daily News,,,,,, "Journalist assaulted, pushed to the ground while covering protest in Memphis",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-assaulted-pushed-to-the-ground-while-covering-protest-in-memphis/,2021-10-21 17:18:11.960314+00:00,2022-08-05 19:12:33.830110+00:00,2022-08-05 19:12:33.771976+00:00,,Assault,,,,Luke Jones (WREG-TV),,2019-06-19,False,Memphis,Tennessee (TN),35.14953,-90.04898,"WREG-TV reporter Luke Jones was hurt while covering protests over a fatal officer shooting in Memphis, Tennessee, on June 12, 2019.
U.S. marshals shot and killed Brandon Webber, a 20-year-old Black man, in the Memphis community of Frayser, sparking violent protests. In a Facebook post in response to the protests, Memphis Mayor John Strickland wrote that “At least 24 officers and deputies were injured---6 were taken to the hospital. At least two journalists were injured.”
Jones wrote on Twitter that a man ran up and hit him in the head, and then knocked him to the ground. Eight hours later, Jones tweeted again, and said that he was leaving the hospital and received a contusion.
Had to change locations. Guy just ran up, hit me on the side of my head and knocked me to the ground. @3onyourside
— Luke Jones (@LukeJonesTV) June 13, 2019
Just left the hospital and all is well. Only a contusion. Thanks for the well wishes.
— Luke Jones (@LukeJonesTV) June 13, 2019
Jones told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he did not have any equipment with him at the time he was attacked, and that he had been walking to meet a photographer when it felt like someone punched him in the side of his head.
Jones said he filed a police report over the incident on the evening of June 12.
Mayor Strickland’s media office did not immediately respond to a request for comment by the Tracker.
A Florida man was charged with battery after assaulting an Orlando Sentinel reporter on June 18, 2019, at the Amway Center in Orlando, where President Donald Trump was hosting a rally to launch his bid for re-election in 2020.
Sentinel reporter Michael Williams was filming at least three individuals with his cell phone as they were removed from the building. One of the men, later identified as Daniel Kestner, appeared to be engaged in a dispute with a second man, but his ire turned to Williams when he noticed that the journalist was filming the altercation.
Kestner then began to approach Williams, hurling curses and demanding that he stop filming them. When Williams didn’t comply with his demands, Kestner can be heard saying, “I promise you I’ll kick you in the nuts.”
The Sentinel reported that Williams retreated backward, but Kestner caught up to him and smacked his hand, attempting to knock the cell phone to the ground.
In the video, security officers can be seen immediately coming between Kestner and Williams, ordering Kestner to immediately leave the property.
Orange County Clerk records obtained by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker show that Kestner was later arrested and charged with battery for “willingly striking” Williams. A first-degree misdemeanor, Kestner could face up to one year in jail if convicted.
According to a police report obtained by the Sentinel, Kestner was intoxicated during the altercation.
Julie Anderson, editor in chief of the Sentinel, told Newsweek that ahead of the rally the newsroom spoke with the reporters and photographers covering the event, “telling them to be careful and vigilant about their own personal safety.”
Anderson told the Tracker that her staff has faced intimidation, threats and name-calling at Trump rallies since 2016.
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
People chant “Fake News” as U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign kickoff rally in Orlando, Florida.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,unknown,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,,Donald Trump rally,,,,, New Yorker staff writer subpoenaed for testimony in civil rights lawsuit,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/new-yorker-staff-writer-subpoenaed-testimony-civil-rights-lawsuit/,2019-11-08 18:22:34.962239+00:00,2022-08-12 17:32:26.399612+00:00,2022-08-12 17:32:26.266241+00:00,,Subpoena/Legal Order,,,,Nicholas Schmidle (The New Yorker),,2019-06-18,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"In June, attorneys representing the City of Chicago subpoenaed New Yorker staff writer Nicholas Schmidle to testify about his sources for an article published in 2014. A federal judge in Washington, D.C., then quashed the subpoenas in October.
A separate subpoena for documents was served to Schmidle in February.
In 2014, Schmidle wrote a feature story for the New Yorker about Tyrone Hood, who had been convicted of murder in 1996 and sentenced to 75 years in prison. Schmidle’s article included evidence strongly suggesting that Hood was innocent.
In January 2015, outgoing Illinois governor Pat Quinn commuted the prison sentences of a number of prisoners, including Hood, on his last day in office. Because Hood received a commutation, not a pardon, he was let out of jail early but the murder conviction stayed on his record.
At the time, a spokeswoman for Cook County State Attorney Anita Alvarez told CBS 2 Chicago that Alvarez was “deeply disappointed” with the governor’s decision to commute Hood’s sentence.
Just a month later, though, Alvarez’s office announced that its Conviction Integrity Unit had completed a two-year investigation into Hood’s case, which concluded that Hood’s conviction should be vacated. Alvarez then asked a court to vacate Hood’s conviction, which the court did. Hood was now out of prison and cleared of the murder conviction.
In 2016, Hood filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city of Chicago and a number of Chicago police officers, accusing them of pressuring witnesses into falsely accusing him of murder.
On June 18, 2019, the reporter Schmidle was served with a subpoena to testify in the case. The subpoena ordered him to submit to a deposition at a “TBD” location on July 12. About a week later, a process server tried to drop off a new copy of the subpoena (which included the location of the deposition) but Schmidle refused to open his door.
Attorneys for both Hood and Schmidle have opposed the subpoenas for the reporter, arguing that a journalist’s documents and testimony are not relevant to a case that concerns the alleged behavior of Chicago police officers in the early 1990s.
Attorneys for the city of Chicago’s attorneys and the other defendants in Hood’s civil rights have argued that Schmidle’s testimony is essential, using a theory that puts Schmidle at the center of the action.
The defendants’ attorneys have argued that Hood’s civil rights were not violated because he actually is guilty of murder and his murder conviction should not have been vacated. They argue that journalists like Schmidle were tricked into writing a false narrative, which in turn prompted Governor Quinn to commute Hood’s sentence and pressure the state attorney’s office to get Hood’s conviction thrown out.
On July 23, Schmidle’s attorneys asked a federal judge in Washington, D.C. to quash the two deposition subpoenas, on the grounds that the subpoenas were improperly served, Schmidle’s testimony was unnecessary and Schmidle could not be forced to testify because he was a journalist.
The defendants’ attorneys defended their decision to subpoena Schmidle’s testimony, filing a response to Schmidle’s motion to quash that detailed their quasi-conspiratorial theory about Schmidle’s central role in getting Hood’s conviction tossed out.
“Defendants seek to take Schmidle’s deposition to explore his role in Hood’s coordinated media campaign, because that campaign was critical to Hood convincing Gov. Quinn to grant clemency,” the defendants’ attorneys wrote.
On Oct. 18, Judge Amit Mehta of the District of Columbia District Court ordered the two deposition subpoenas quashed. Mehta found that, while the subpoenas had been properly served, the defendants had not shown that they had “exhausted every reasonable alternative source of information,” which they must do before forcing a journalist to testify. If the defendants wanted to learn about Schmidle’s communications with his sources, Mehta said, then they should subpoena those sources, rather than Schmidle.
Through a New Yorker spokeswoman, Schmidle declined to comment.
A portion of the subpoena seeking testimony from reporter Nicholas Schmidle about a 2014 article published in The New Yorker
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,other testimony,['QUASHED'],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, BuzzFeed receives first subpoena in ongoing Unsworth-Musk defamation lawsuit,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/buzzfeed-receives-first-subpoena-ongoing-unsworth-musk-defamation-lawsuit/,2019-10-01 17:59:22.831625+00:00,2022-04-06 18:03:57.851448+00:00,2022-04-06 18:03:57.790192+00:00,,Subpoena/Legal Order,,,,,,2019-06-14,False,San Francisco,California (CA),37.77493,-122.41942,"BuzzFeed News was issued its first subpoena in the unfolding case between caver Vernon Unsworth and Tesla CEO Elon Musk on June 14, 2019. The outlet and one of its reporters subsequently received four additional subpoenas.
Unsworth is suing Musk for defamation, alleging that the tech executive repeatedly labeled him a pedophile without evidence on Twitter and in communications with BuzzFeed senior tech journalist Ryan Mac, the latter of which were published by the outlet.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker reviewed the subpoena, which was filed by counsel for Musk. The subpoena ordered BuzzFeed to produce copies of two articles published by the outlet in August and September 2018, BuzzFeed’s communications with Unsworth and Musk, and documentation of BuzzFeed’s policies concerning “off the record” or “on background” conversations.
The subpoena also requested all documents concerning any payments, income, stipends, or gifts BuzzFeed received in exchange for the two articles containing Musk’s statements about Unsworth.
Lawyers representing BuzzFeed filed objections to the demand for the outlet’s communications with Musk and Unsworth on July 1, citing both parties’ access to these documents and the public availability of BuzzFeed’s News Standards and Ethics Guide. They also wrote that, consistent with the ethics guidelines, the outlet does not accept any form of payment or gifts to publish articles and therefore no documents are responsive to that request.
A portion of the first subpoena BuzzFeed received as part of a defamation case between Tesla CEO Elon Musk and the caver Vernon Unsworth.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,journalist communications or work product,['IGNORED'],None,None,None,None,None,None,BuzzFeed News,,,,,, Journalist assaulted while covering protest in Memphis,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-assaulted-while-covering-protest-in-memphis/,2019-06-19 17:00:37.191021+00:00,2022-08-05 18:53:15.281748+00:00,2022-08-05 18:53:15.198357+00:00,,Assault,,,,Patrick Niedzwiedz (WATN-TV),,2019-06-12,False,Memphis,Tennessee (TN),35.14953,-90.04898,"WATN-TV photographer Patrick Niedzwiedz was struck while covering protests over a fatal officer shooting in Memphis, Tennessee, on June 12, 2019.
U.S. marshals shot and killed Brandon Webber, a 20-year-old Black man, in the Memphis community of Frayser, sparking violent protests. In a Facebook post in response to the protests, Memphis Mayor John Strickland wrote that “At least 24 officers and deputies were injured---6 were taken to the hospital. At least two journalists were injured.”
Rebecca Butcher, a WATN-TV reporter tweeted that Niedzwiedz had been struck while filming the protest.
The crowd at Overton Crossing was too volatile. My photographer sadly was hit by someone in the crowd. Thankfully he is okay! We have now moved to Durham Street—where tonight’s officer-involved shooting took place. We’re live at 10. @LocalMemphis
— Rebecca Butcher 🦋 (@RebeccaB_TV) June 13, 2019
Butcher told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that after their third live broadcast for the 9 p.m. show, Niedzwiedz was still filming when he was struck in the side of his face by someone in the crowd. The video he was filming during the altercation shows a group of protesters pushing into the frame, and one attempting to grab the microphone from Butcher’s hand.
Butcher said that since Niedzwiedz’s eye was still to the camera he did not see who struck him. The blow did not break the skin and his camera equipment was not damaged.
Mayor Strickland’s media office did not immediately respond to a request for comment by the Tracker.
A person attempts to wrestle the microphone from WATN-TV reporter Rebecca Butcher during protests on June 12, 2019, following a fatal officer shooting in Memphis, Tennessee. At least two journalists were injured.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, protest",,,,, Freelance photographer attacked after Stanley Cup by man yelling support of Trump,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/freelance-photographer-attacked-after-stanley-cup-man-yelling-support-trump/,2019-10-25 20:18:10.852280+00:00,2021-10-20 20:49:07.184188+00:00,2021-10-20 20:49:07.141585+00:00,,Assault,,,,Scott Eisen (Freelance),,2019-06-12,False,Boston,Massachusetts (MA),42.35843,-71.05977,"Scott Eisen, a freelance photographer on assignment for Getty Images, said he was punched in the face on the street in Boston, Massachusetts, on June 12, 2019, by an unidentified man who seemed to support President Donald Trump and his anti-press rhetoric.
Eisen had just completed an assignment covering fan reaction to the final game of the Stanley Cup, in which the Boston Bruins lost to the St. Louis Blues, when he was attacked at around 11:30 p.m. on the edge of downtown Boston, Eisen recounted in an email to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. He had taken the subway back to where his car was parked, and while he was busy putting his photo equipment into the back of his car, a man approached him and punched him in the face.
That evening, he shared his story on Twitter, noting he was “minding his own business” when the attack occurred.
Got punched in the face loading my photo equipment into my car after the Stanley Cup game tonight in #Boston. Absolutely ridiculous, minding my own business. pic.twitter.com/RJAI782GFc
— Scott Eisen (@scotteisenphoto) June 13, 2019
The next day, he added further details:
Adding on to my post from last night about getting punched in the face while loading my equipment into my car after the Stanley Cup game in #Boston. The person who hit me yelled “fake news, trump 2020” before punching me. I included it in my Facebook post but not here originally.
— Scott Eisen (@scotteisenphoto) June 13, 2019
Eisen — who also freelances for the Boston Globe, Bloomberg and the Associated Press — provided further details about the incident on his Instagram account. "A man came behind me, put me in a choke hold and yelled 'fake news! Trump 2020' and punched me right in the face," Eisen wrote in a Instagram caption accompanying a photo of his face, which was left swollen and scratched by the attack.
"It goes to show it doesn’t matter where you are as a journalist these days...the climate is such that you need to always watch your back. Sad times. I’m fine. the funniest part is calling a wire photog 'fake news' is so ridiculous because all we do is make REAL photographs," Eisen continued.
In an email to the Tracker, Eisen explained how the attack has changed how he goes about his job. “I’m more cautious in places that I am used to being around as you never know who may be following you or in the area. We tend to let our guard down in familiar areas,” he wrote. “We are in a climate where media gets a lot of flack for doing our jobs and part of me hopes this man was just heavily intoxicated and not making the right decisions that evening.”
A St. Louis Blues hockey player celebrates with a fan after winning the Stanley Cup Final in June. Photographer Scott Eisen, who was covering the game for Getty Images, says he was attacked after the game while putting his equipment away.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, Marine Corps denies veteran and Newsweek reporter interview in apparent retaliation for prior reporting,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/marine-corps-denies-veteran-and-newsweek-reporter-interview-apparent-retaliation-prior-reporting/,2019-08-16 17:50:36.578185+00:00,2022-04-06 17:37:13.592483+00:00,2022-04-06 17:37:13.529849+00:00,,Other Incident,,,,James LaPorta (Newsweek),,2019-06-07,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"James LaPorta, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and reporter for Newsweek, was denied an interview with the Marine Corps’ top general and told on June 7, 2019, that it was because of his previous reporting.
LaPorta told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he has been attempting to get an interview with Gen. Robert Neller, the commandant of the Marine Corps, since 2016 or 2017, but his requests have been repeatedly denied. When it was announced that Neller would be retiring in July 2019, LaPorta said he again filed interview requests pushing to have an exit interview.
“I keep asking, ‘Hey, can I get this exit interview?’” LaPorta told the Tracker, “And they’ve told me, ‘He doesn’t have availability right now’ or ‘He’s traveling’ or ‘Your request right now isn’t supportable.’”
LaPorta placed a final request to interview Neller on April 1, and followed up by email on April 3. LaPorta told the Tracker that he received no response from the Marine Corps.
When he sent another email on April 22, LaPorta said that he received a response three days later telling him that the general was “flooded with interview requests” and was unavailable, but they would keep his as a standing interview request.
However, LaPorta saw that NPR published an exclusive interview with Neller on June 4. LaPorta told the Tracker he reached out to the NPR reporter to ask what he had written in his interview request and when he had filed it: the reporter told him April 24, nearly a month after LaPorta filed his request and one day before he was told Neller had no availability.
In an email shared with the Tracker, LaPorta asked Col. Riccoh Player, a public relations officer for Neller, why NPR’s request was granted while Newsweek’s was found “unsupportable.” In an emailed response, Player wrote, “Your request has been staffed, discussed, re-looked, risk-assessed and denied.”
Player’s response specifically mentioned an article published shortly after LaPorta’s interview request was filed, which cited two anonymous Pentagon sources. Player wrote to LaPorta that “this ‘un-named [sic] sources’ technique you incorporated was not helpful in making a case on your behalf.”
The email additionally cited his “Military ID Card Stunt” at Camp Lejeune, a major Marine Corps base in North Carolina. The “stunt” involved LaPorta using his military ID to access the base in February 2017 in order to speak with a source who said he did not trust the base’s public affairs office. Because LaPorta did not alert the office or receive its approval to conduct an interview, he was indefinitely barred from the base. This denial of access was documented by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
Following Neller’s retirement in July, LaPorta told the Tracker he filed multiple interview requests to speak with the new commandant, but those requests have also been denied or ignored. LaPorta told the Tracker that on July 26 he received an email from Player denying his most recent request because “[The Marine Corps] leaders have a long memory.”
Newsweek reporter James LaPorta was denied an interview request with Gen. Robert Neller, shown here testifying during a 2017 Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,military,,,,,United States Marine Corps New York County Supreme Court judge quashes subpoena for HBO documentary outtakes,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/new-york-county-supreme-court-judge-quashes-subpoena-hbo-documentary-outtakes/,2019-06-07 20:30:15.035851+00:00,2019-06-07 20:30:15.035851+00:00,2019-06-07 20:30:14.986110+00:00,,Subpoena/Legal Order,,,,"Dwayne ""The Rock"" Johnson (HBO)",,2019-06-05,False,New York,New York (NY),None,None,"New York County Supreme Court Judge Carol Edmead quashed a subpoena for outtakes from the HBO documentary “Rock and a Hard Place” on June 5, 2019, citing New York’s shield law.
Christy Laster, a former correctional officer who appeared in the documentary, stands charged of bribery, grand theft and extortion, but alleged the footage she sought through the subpoena would exonerate her, according to the ruling. Laster argued that because Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson appeared in and produced the documentary, it was rendered a “celebrity reality TV show” and therefore would not be protected under the statute.
Edmead dismissed this categorization, writing in her decision that Laster “cites no authority for the notion that the mere involvement of a celebrity in a project renders it somehow incapable of being classified as a documentary, or that a celebrity known for other endeavors cannot be deemed a ‘journalist’ under the [shield law].”
In addition to his credit as an executive producer for “Rock and a Hard Place,” Johnson was the executive producer of the episode “Stand Your Ground” in the “Finding Justice” series and of the feature documentary “Racing Dreams.”
The New York County Supreme Court ruled that the state’s shield law applies to Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in his role producing the 2017 documentary film, “Rock and a Hard Place.”
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,journalist communications or work product,['QUASHED'],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, "Pennsylvania journalist barred from publishing document mistakenly made public, order vacated",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/pennsylvania-journalist-barred-publishing-document-mistakenly-made-public-order-vacated/,2019-06-05 20:17:02.183606+00:00,2022-08-12 17:34:51.997631+00:00,2022-08-12 17:34:51.910826+00:00,,Prior Restraint,,,,"Reid Frazier (Allegheny Front, StateImpact Pennsylvania, 90.5 WESA)",,2019-05-30,False,Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania (PA),40.44062,-79.99589,"A Pittsburgh-based reporter was ordered on May 30, 2019, not to publish details of a sealed settlement that he was mistakenly able to access. At a hearing on June 4, the order was vacated by Washington County Common Pleas President Judge Katherine Emery.
Range Resources Appalachia LLC had reached a settlement in August 2018 with families who alleged they had experienced serious health problems due to exposure to leaks, spills and air pollution emanating from a nearby Range well.
The settlement was sealed, only coming to the attention of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in January while reporting on a related story. Upon learning of the confidential settlement, the Post-Gazette filed a court action seeking to unseal it.
A hearing on the newspaper’s petition to intervene was scheduled for May 28, Post-Gazette reporter Don Hopey told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. “[Judge Emery] deferred ruling,” he said, “instead taking the case under advisement.”
Reid Frazier, a reporter for The Allegheny Front, StateImpact Pennsylvania and WESA 90.5, was in Washington, Pennsylvania, that day to cover the hearing. Hopey told the Tracker that in the course of conducting background research on the case, Frazier discovered the sealed settlement in the Washington County Prothonotary’s Public Case File Database.
County prothonotary Joy Ranko later told the Washington Observer-Reporter that the document was available due to a software glitch.
When Range lawyers became aware that Frazier had obtained the settlement and planned to air a story about it on May 30, they sent him a cease-and-desist letter and alerted the judge, the StateImpact reported. Emery issued an injunction barring Frazier, The Allegheny Front or StateImpact from “directly or indirectly publishing, circulating, disseminating, disclosing, describing, duplicating, or otherwise sharing in any way contents of the Sealed Documents.”
Frazier reported that at the June 4 hearing for the injunction, Range did not ask for a continuation of the order and told Emery it would publicly release the settlement terms. Emery vacated the injunction order.
Range Resources attorneys announced in court today that they will release terms of the Haney-Range settlement. Said they were seeking "peace".
— Reid Frazier (@reidfrazier) June 4, 2019
In the course of the Post-Gazette petitioning to unseal the settlement, Range lawyers also attempted to subpoena and depose two reporters and an editor at the newspaper. In early May, Emery denied Range’s attempt to uncover sources and view confidential notes and documents, citing the state’s shield law.
Reporter Reid Frazier was ordered to not publish the contents of this settlement agreement, which had been sealed but mistakenly made public.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,struck down,,,,,,, Broadcast journalist threatened at gunpoint in Texas,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/broadcast-journalist-threatened-gunpoint-texas/,2019-06-10 18:25:54.421287+00:00,2019-06-10 18:25:54.421287+00:00,2019-06-10 18:25:54.360591+00:00,,Assault,,,,Emani Payne (KCEN-TV),,2019-05-30,False,Killeen,Texas (TX),31.11712,-97.7278,"KCEN-TV reporter Emani Payne wrote on Facebook that she was threatened at gunpoint while reporting outside an apartment complex in Killeen, Texas, on May 30, 2019.
“Yesterday was the most frightening experience of my reporting career thus far,” wrote Payne in a Facebook post. “I went to a bad area of Killeen to an apartment complex to follow up on a story.”
Payne wrote that since she was alone, she recognized that it was time to leave once she saw violent activity erupting at the complex.
“As I tried to head back to my news car I was approached by a man who pulled a gun out on me in an attempt to harm me and prevent me from leaving with the car. I left the car behind and ran and didn’t stop until I found a store to hide out in and call for help.”
Payne did not respond to request for comment by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, but she wrote that she had filed a police report and that a detective has been assigned to the case.
“We are not invincible,” Payne wrote. “I’m thankful that I was able to run for help and that this didn’t end much worse and that I did not become the story yesterday.”
Journalists were expelled from the Kansas Senate in Topeka after protesters disrupted a Medicaid expansion hearing on May 29, 2019. News reporters and photojournalists from multiple outlets were ordered to leave under threat of losing access to future Senate proceedings before the protesters were detained.
Senate President Susan Wagle attempted to return order to the Senate floor after nine Medicaid supporters began singing and chanting in the gallery above. After approximately 20 minutes, at which point many senators had left the chambers, Wagle chief of staff Harrison Hems and a Capitol police officer approached the assembled reporters and ordered them to leave the floor.
At least four journalists posted publicly about being asked to leave or had been recording in the Senate chambers until media were removed, including Alec Gartner of KSNT News, John Hanna of the Associated Press, Jonathan Shorman of The Kansas City Star and The Wichita Eagle and Sherman Smith of The Topeka Capital-Journal. When reporters refused, Hems threatened them and said that they were giving an audience to the protesters, the Topeka Capital-Journal reported.
“I’m just telling you it’s a privilege to have a press pass, to be on the floor, to document,” Hems said. “When I’m trying to get people out to restore order to the chamber so we can conduct our business and you guys just sit there with a camera in their face and give them an audience, that makes my job incredibly difficult. I’m not trying to silence the press.”
Hems was reportedly acting at the direction of Wagle, and the journalists acquiesced to leaving the floor.
So we have been removed from the Senate. We don’t know what they’re doing in the chamber #ksleg
— Jonathan Shorman (@jonshorman) May 29, 2019
Once they were outside, the chamber doors were locked and police escorted protesters out of the gallery. At least one demonstrator received a summons to appear in court on a possible misdemeanor charge of illegally interfering with public business, Patrol Lt. Stephen Larow told WRAL News.
Journalists were allowed to reenter the chambers after approximately 45 minutes, and the gallery was reopened once Wagle received notice that the protesters had left the Capitol building.
The Kansas Association of Broadcasters, the Kansas Sunshine Coalition and the Kansas Press Association filed a formal complaint with Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt, arguing that the unprecedented removals of the journalists violated the Senate Chamber’s rules and the Kansas Open Meetings Act, which establishes that all committee and subcommittee meetings must be open, with few exceptions.
The Kansas City Star and The Wichita Eagle sent a letter to Wagle on May 29, calling the implied threats unconstitutional.
In an email to The Kansas City Star editorial board, communications director Shannon Golden said that the press was never denied access to government proceedings as the hearing was halted when the protesters began their demonstration. “Removal was purely due to safety reasons, and any other account is an embellished story,” Golden wrote.
Golden also repeated the threat made by Hems, writing that a press pass is a privilege, not a right.
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
The Kansas State Capitol in Topeka, Kansas.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, Miami freelancer has phone and camera seized by police,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/miami-freelancer-has-phone-and-camera-seized-police/,2019-06-11 19:20:49.681875+00:00,2022-08-12 17:35:13.819517+00:00,2022-08-12 17:35:13.755687+00:00,,Equipment Search or Seizure,,"camera: count of 1, mobile phone: count of 1",,Jacob Katel,,2019-05-25,False,Miami,Florida (FL),25.77427,-80.19366,"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 a reporter, and even offered to leave the scene, but he was detained and questioned by police. He was released without charge, but police retained his equipment, claiming that they were “evidence.”
Miami New Times reported that Katel was able to retrieve the cell phone and camera on May 30.
"I feel if they did this to me, it happens to a lot of people," Katel told Miami New Times. "I feel if I was anybody except me, I might have gotten kicked in the head or shot."
Katel filed complaints with the Miami Police Department internal affairs office, and with the city’s independent police oversight board.
Nate Abaurrea, a freelance reporter and radio journalist, was stopped and pulled aside for additional screening by U.S. Customs and Border Protection while crossing into Mexico at the San Ysidro border crossing on May 24, 2019. During the screening, Abaurrea was questioned about his work and an officer photographed his passport card.
Abaurrea, an American citizen, primarily covers sports, immigration and life on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. He told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that crossing the border has been a regular part of his life for years, and has been crossing at the same time and day—Friday morning at 9:15—for the past 10 weeks.
While he’s seen one or two officers, maybe with a dog, standing on the pedestrian crossing on the east side of the port of entry, he was surprised to see five CBP officials standing behind a blind corner.
“I’ve seen officers there before but never in that formation, never like that,” Abaurrea said.
As he rounded the corner and walked past the officers, they stopped and ordered him into “a little side cage area,” Abaurrea tweeted that day. He said that they directed him to be quiet, turn around and place his hands down on a metal table. Two of the officers emptied his pockets of all of his belongings, including his phone, but did not attempt to search his electronic devices.
Abaurrea asked the officers why he was being stopped. “What’s the probable cause here?” he quoted himself as saying in an account of the incident.
“We don’t need probable cause, sir,” an officer responded. “We can stop and search whoever we want.”
Officers asked how much money Abaurrea was carrying, where he was going and why. When he told them he was on his way to a work meeting, they asked him what he did and, when he said he was a writer, who he worked for. An officer Abaurrea identified as “CBP Officer West” then aggressively patted him down, snapping the waistline of his underwear. He was then ordered to show them his passport card.
As West checked the legitimacy of his card and entered numbers into a machine, Abaurrea wrote, a young female officer told him, “If you just cooperate, this will be over. You need to familiarize yourself with the rules, sir.”
When Abaurrea again asked to be told why he was stopped, he wrote that West smiled and asked him to take off his shoes, which were also thoroughly searched. He was then told he was free to go, and began gathering up his belongings. Abaurrea reported that at the moment he noticed West still had his passport card, the officer pulled out a cell phone and took a picture of the card. Abaurrea asked why he did that, to which West responded it was “for [his] records.”
CBP was not immediately available for comment on whether the officer used a government or personal phone, why the photo was taken or where the image is now.
Abaurrea told the Tracker that he has been in contact with multiple nonprofits and organizations that are providing him advice and legal aid as he pursues next steps, including filing for a redress number, a FOIA on his name in CBP and Department of Homeland Security records and a possible lawsuit.
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
Freelance journalist Nate Abaurrea, who often crosses the U.S.-Mexico border for work, was pulled out for secondary screening, during which a border official photographed his passport card with a cell phone.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,San Ysidro,True,U.S. citizen,False,False,no,no,no,yes,no,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,,migrant caravan,,,,, "Student journalist subpoenaed for documents and reporting materials as part of dispute between university, foundation",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-journalist-subpoenaed-documents-and-reporting-materials-part-dispute-between-university-foundation/,2019-06-11 17:31:41.144615+00:00,2019-08-07 17:04:21.344572+00:00,2019-08-07 17:04:21.243921+00:00,,Subpoena/Legal Order,,,,Euirim Choi (The Chicago Maroon),,2019-05-22,False,Chicago,Illinois (IL),41.85003,-87.65005,"Student journalist Euirim Choi was served a subpoena on May 22, 2019, in connection with a lawsuit between The Thomas L. Pearson and The Pearson Family Members Foundation and the University of Chicago. Choi is the former editor of the university’s student newspaper, The Chicago Maroon, and has been asked for documents and communications pertaining to an article he wrote as editor.
On March 5, 2018, The Maroon published Choi’s article on the unravelling of relations between the university and the foundation over the course of a year. The foundation and university had filed a lawsuit and countersuit, respectively, contesting a $100 million donation pledged by the foundation.
The article was based on documents included in a 66-page stack found in a subway trash can in northern Chicago and brought to the newspaper’s office in the summer of 2017, The Maroon reported. While The Maroon published a summary of some of the documents that August, it did not include documents connected to the Pearsons or the Institute they were funding.
“The Maroon decided not to publish or mention the Pearson Institute documents, which were marked ‘privileged and confidential attorney-client communication,’ in order to avoid escalating a still-nascent dispute,” Choi wrote in his report the following March. But, as the lawsuit moved forward, the paper decided to publish the documents to provide context on the dispute.
Some handwritten notes were redacted from the documents shared with the piece, Choi wrote, in order to obscure the identity of the source. Even though the newspaper was unaware of the original owner’s identity, they did not know whether the documents had been intentionally leaked.
The foundation filed a subpoena against The Maroon on May 17, asking not only for the unredacted document, but “all other documents and communications related thereto or obtained in connection therewith, including without limitation the ‘66 pages of internal university documents’ referenced” in Choi’s article.
Choi told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the current editors at The Maroon reached out to him once they received the subpoena, as he was the only remaining person with access to the documents. Though they had made six copies, Choi said, the original documents were lost and all but his digital copy were deliberately destroyed.
When the foundation was informed that it would have to pursue the documents through Choi, it issued him a subpoena on May 22. In addition to the unredacted documents, the subpoena requested information on Choi’s reporting process, including any documents or evidence on how The Maroon obtained the documents and the identity of the author, if known. The deadline for response was June 3.
Peter Scheer, board president of the First Amendment Coalition, told CNN Business that the fact Choi is a student journalist “could complicate matters.”
“It could be up for debate whether a student journalist is granted the same protections as a journalist reporting as their full-time job,” Scheer said.
Matt Topic, a government transparency and media lawyer who is representing Choi pro-bono, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he is confident that the qualified privilege granted by Illinois’ Shield Law applies to Choi.
The statute defines a reporter as “any person regularly engaged in the business of collecting, writing or editing news for publication through a news medium on a full-time or part-time basis.”
Choi told the Tracker that he and Topic had filed a response to the subpoena and are continuing to fight it.
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
Euirim Choi was served with a subpoena for documents and work product from his time as editor of the student newspaper at the University of Chicago.
,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,journalist communications or work product,['PENDING'],None,None,None,None,None,None,,student journalism,,,,, Alaska radio reporter attacked while covering abortion demonstration,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/alaska-radio-reporter-attacked-while-covering-abortion-demonstration/,2019-05-28 20:09:35.741103+00:00,2022-08-12 17:35:49.713977+00:00,2022-08-12 17:35:49.654357+00:00,,Assault,,,,Jennifer Williams (KSRM 920AM),,2019-05-21,False,Soldotna,Alaska (AK),None,None,"KSRM Radio Groups News Director Jennifer Williams was assaulted while covering a Planned Parenthood rally on May 21, 2019, in Soldotna, Alaska.
Williams was covering the rally and speaking to both pro-choice advocates and anti-abortion counter-protesters. According to Craig Medred, an independent journalist in Alaska, Williams had finished interviewing an anti-abortion protester, and walked across the street to speak to a pro-choice advocate when she felt an object hit her face.
She told Craig Medred News that she saw a car speed past and someone tell her she was “going to hell.” Williams did not initially realize that she had seriously been hit, and she and the person she was interviewing moved closer to the large group of protesters.
When Williams got into her truck to leave later, she realized that she was bleeding and the hit was more serious than she thought initially.
Later that evening, Williams tweeted that she had been attacked.
While covering the #StopTheBan rally in Soldotna I was struck by unknown items out of a moving vehicle while being told I was going to hell. Battle wounds of a journalist. @Ksrm pic.twitter.com/jqixlwkFxs
— Jennifer Williams (@JenniferKSRM) May 22, 2019
Williams told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she does not know who attacked her, but she has filed “a police report with the Soldotna Police Department in hopes of getting some information on who made the attack and hopefully prevent it from happening again.”
Craig Medred News reported that Williams had received an outpouring of support from anti-abortion and pro-choice advocates since the attack.
“Both rallies, the pro- and the anti- have been great,” Williams said. “We live in a small community where people are generally pretty tolerant.”
On May 23, Williams tweeted a video thanking her supporters and emphasizing that she hopes the attack will not deter journalists from covering the news, or activists from voicing their opinions.
Just an update and a huge thank you for all of the kind words and support ❤️ pic.twitter.com/sVCpWrUBHB
— Jennifer Williams (@JenniferKSRM) May 23, 2019
“I was out there just trying to do my job, and they were out there just trying to stand up for what they believe in,” she said. “We all have one common goal in this life.”
Jennifer Williams, News Director for Alaska-based KSRM Radio Groups, shows the lacerations and bruising she received when an object was thrown at her while she was reporting.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,unknown,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"protest, reproductive rights",,,,, Student newspaper subpoenaed for documents and reporting materials as part of $100 million dispute,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-newspaper-subpoenaed-documents-and-reporting-materials-part-100-million-dispute/,2019-06-11 17:17:39.665354+00:00,2019-08-07 17:03:14.631846+00:00,2019-08-07 17:03:14.552560+00:00,,Subpoena/Legal Order,,,,,,2019-05-17,False,Chicago,Illinois (IL),41.85003,-87.65005,"The Chicago Maroon, the University of Chicago’s student newspaper, was served a subpoena on May 17, 2019, in connection with a lawsuit between The Thomas L. Pearson and The Pearson Family Members Foundation and the university.
On March 5, 2018, The Maroon published an article written by then-editor Euirim Choi on the unravelling of relations between the university and the foundation over the course of a year. The foundation and university had filed a lawsuit and countersuit, respectively, contesting a $100 million donation pledged by the foundation.
The article was based on documents included in a 66-page stack found in a subway trash can in northern Chicago and brought to the newspaper’s office in the summer of 2017, The Maroon reported. While The Maroon published a summary of some of the documents that August, it did not include documents connected to the Pearsons or the Institute they were funding.
“The Maroon decided not to publish or mention the Pearson Institute documents, which were marked ‘privileged and confidential attorney-client communication,’ in order to avoid escalating a still-nascent dispute,” Choi wrote in his report the following March. But, as the lawsuit was moving forward, the paper decided to publish the documents to provide context on the dispute.
Some handwritten notes were redacted from the documents shared with the piece, Choi wrote, in order to obscure the identity of the source. Even though the newspaper was unaware of the original owner’s identity, they did not know whether the documents had been intentionally leaked.
The foundation filed a subpoena against The Maroon on May 17 asking not only for the unredacted document, but “all other documents and communications related thereto or obtained in connection therewith, including without limitation the ‘66 pages of internal university documents’ referenced” in Choi’s article.
When the foundation discovered that only Choi, and not the student newspaper, has access to the documents, it filed a subpoena against him on May 22. Choi said the foundation’s subpoena against The Maroon has been left active, however, to satisfy that the foundation is using all avenues of discovery.
As is the case with Choi, some First Amendment scholars are concerned that Illinois’s shield law may not be applicable to The Maroon as it is a student newspaper.
The statute defines a news medium in part as, “any newspaper or other periodical issued at regular intervals whether in print or electronic format and having a general circulation.” The Maroon appears to meet this definition.
Choi told the Tracker that the current editors at The Maroon informed the Pearson Foundation that they cannot provide the requested documents because they are no longer in possession of any copies. The University of Chicago told WBEZ News in a statement that it has reached out to staff at The Maroon to help find capable legal counsel and that they recognize the editorial independence of the paper and its staff.
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
The independent student newspaper of the University of Chicago, The Chicago Maroon, has been subpoenaed by a private foundation for documents used in reporting.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,journalist communications or work product,['PENDING'],None,None,None,None,None,None,The Chicago Maroon,student journalism,,,,, Hawaii reporter denied access to cover Army meeting,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/hawaii-reporter-denied-access-cover-army-meeting/,2019-05-23 17:56:08.310173+00:00,2022-04-06 17:38:01.854050+00:00,2022-04-06 17:38:01.788720+00:00,,Denial of Access,,,,Nancy Cook Lauer (West Hawaii Today),,2019-05-16,False,Hilo,Hawaii (HI),19.72991,-155.09073,"West Hawaii Today county and government reporter Nancy Cook Lauer was barred from attending a U.S. Army meeting that the newspaper contends was opened to the general public in Hilo, Hawaii, on May 16, 2019.
Lauer was attempting to cover a meeting that outlined the Army’s resource management plants at Pohakuloa Training Area and the Kawaihae Military Reservation outside an Aupuni Center meeting room.
Lauer wrote in a West Hawaii Today article that she was told “the participating parties might not feel comfortable expressing their opinions in the presence of the media,” and that the meeting was not a media event, despite the public being allowed to attend. She told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she pushed back, and asked for a citation of the legal authority that would allow the public to attend a meeting, but not the press.
“[The event] was originally set for those who had signed up as consulting parties to the process, but then members of the public insisted they be allowed in and I went in as well,” Lauer told the Tracker.
Pohakuloa Training Area Public Affairs Officer Mike Donnelly said that the event was not open to the public, and that some consulting parties and signatories to a training programmatic agreement that were present did not want the meeting recorded. However, he said that “to avoid conflict and to show good faith,” the meeting was opened to non-consulting attendees to fill open seats.
“Notably, only one journalist showed for the meeting in Hilo,” wrote Donnelly. “As a result, we did state that it was not open to the public, however, as a concession and out of respect for the journalist and 20+ years of working with media, I requested the reporter and our subject matter expert to move into a separate room where they could talk and have a Q & A session so the reporter gathered content and context for her story.”
Lauer said that any time she spent with an official focused on gaining access to the meeting rather than on gathering information for reporting.
“If it were an interview for a story, I would have asked them about the details of the project, not about the meeting,” she said.
Lauer said that she left after being told by both Donnelly and a cultural resource manager for U.S. Army Garrison Pohakuloa that she could not remain.
West Hawaii Today reported that an activist who attended the meeting said that attendance was initially to be limited to a list of consulting parties, but was later opened to the public altogether — before Lauer was told to leave.
Lauer told the Tracker that on the Monday following the incident the Army commander called her to apologize and claimed he was not aware that his staff had taken the action to ban her from the event. She said that the commander was present at the meeting, near the front of the room.
“In retrospect, the PTA Team could have certainly done things differently, however, we were following the established process and respecting those who are consulting parties and signatories,” wrote Donnelly, the public affairs officer. “We will continue to engage the media in an open and transparent manner.”
Although Lauer was not able to attend the meeting, she said she was later given video footage by one of the attendees, which she said could aid future reporting.
On May 19, West Hawaii Today published an opinion piece arguing that the Army was wrong to boot its reporter from the event. It expressed concern about how extreme press freedom violations — such as those by President Trump — can seep into the conscious of everyday people.
“Some of it, like booting the media from a public gathering, we cannot write off as simply silly,” the piece reads. “Kicking a reporter out of a public meeting is a serious issue. It cannot become the norm. The United States military is a first-rate operation. If it says it wanted to err on the side of privacy and caution, we can take that at face value this time around, but still disagree with its decision. The information inside that meeting is meant for the public and WHT will get it and share it, regardless.”
Lauer said this was the first time she had been denied access to an event open to the public.
“As a reporter with more than 25 years of experience, I am accustomed to various barriers being thrown up as I go about my job informing the public,” she told the Tracker. “This is the first time, however, I have been ousted from a meeting otherwise open to the public. It's sad that I, who have worked diligently to portray all sides and prevent bias in my coverage, now have to rely on a video from a source with a known point of view in order to write about government actions that our readers deserve to know about. The media is not the enemy.”
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
After arriving on a flight from Mexico City on May 13, 2019, Rolling Stone journalist Seth Harp was stopped for secondary screening by border authorities in Austin, Texas. Over the course of four hours, the officers aggressively questioned him about his reporting and searched his electronic devices.
Harp, an Austin-based reporter, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he has traveled extensively for work, reporting from Mexico and as a war correspondent in the Middle East.
In an account of the incident he published in The Intercept, Harp wrote that he is usually waved through immigration after a few questions. This time, the questions were more aggressive than usual, and after Harp told the officer that he had spent a week in Mexico on a reporting trip, the officer asked what the piece was about.
“[That] didn’t sit right with me,” Harp wrote. “I tried to skirt the question, but he came back to it, pointedly.”
Harp recalled saying something to the effect of not having a legal obligation to disclose the content of his reporting. Shortly after, a supervisor told him that if he refused to answer the question he would not be allowed into the United States. Customs and Border Protection officials also repeatedly denied Harp’s requests to contact a lawyer, stating that he wasn’t under arrest.
When CBP officers returned to ask again about the content of his reporting, Harp wrote that he gave a glib, joking response.
“From then on out, the officers made it clear that I was in for a long delay,” he wrote.
Though Harp ultimately told the officers that he was finishing a piece for Rolling Stone about men gunrunning from Texas and Arizona to the Mexican cartel, the officers searched his suitcase and carefully read his journal containing personal and professional notes.
The officers then asked Harp to unlock his electronic devices so they could be searched as well.
“When the officers told me they only wanted to check my devices for child pornography, links to terrorism, and so forth, I believed them,” Harp wrote in his account. “I was completely unprepared for the digital ransacking that came next.”
Harp told the Tracker that while wary of compromising his cell phone and laptop, he decided to unlock them after being denied access to a lawyer in order to prevent officers from confiscating his devices. Over the next three hours, the officers combed through his photos, videos, emails, business correspondence and internet history. They also examined his text messages, including encrypted messages on WhatsApp, Signal and Telegram.
The officers frequently took his devices out of the room for long periods of time, and Harp told the Tracker that he suspects they may have made copies. They also wrote down his laptop’s serial number and three or four numbers and alphanumeric sequences found deep in his phone’s settings, including the phone’s IMEI number, a 15 digit identity code that can be used to track a phone’s physical location.
Over the subsequent hours, Harp wrote, the officers questioned him about all aspects of his work, his conversations with editors and colleagues and his political views.
“Interestingly,” Harp wrote, “they didn’t ask me anything about CBP itself. I had told them my current story was about gunrunning, but they didn’t think to ask if I’d done any reporting on their employer, which I had. In fact, my laptop contained hardwon documents on CBP.”
Harp told the Tracker that while he can’t be certain the officers didn’t review those documents, he didn’t see them reading the files and they didn’t ask him questions about them.
On three occasions during the course of his secondary screening, Harp wrote, an officer he identifies as Pomeroy “pronounced words to the effect that he was subjectively forming a reasonable belief that I might grab his service weapon.” Harp wrote that the “rhetorical move” and Pomeroy’s clapping his hand to his sidearm was an “implicit death threat.”
Four hours after he was pulled into secondary, an officer told him he was free to pack up his luggage and go.
Harp told the Tracker that the point of writing The Intercept article about his ordeal was to demonstrate the unchecked power that CBP has been accumulating. “CBP has gotten less reigned in and more aggressive, and with few checks on them they can do this to anybody for any reason.”
Harp wrote that when asked for comment on his article, CBP sent him a statement which read, in part, “CBP has adapted and adjusted our actions to align with current threat information, which is based on intelligence… As the threat landscape changes, so does CBP.”
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
While returning from a reporting trip in Mexico to Austin, Texas, Rolling Stone journalist Seth Harp was aggressively questioned by Customs and Border Protection agents for multiple hours.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,Austin-Bergstrom International Airport,True,U.S. citizen,False,True,yes,unknown,unknown,yes,yes,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,United States,, "Military prosecutor embeds secret tracking code in email to journalist, defense attorneys",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/military-prosecutor-embeds-secret-tracking-code-email-journalist-defense-attorneys/,2019-06-14 16:05:50.605105+00:00,2022-04-06 17:44:47.883946+00:00,2022-04-06 17:44:47.819864+00:00,,Equipment Search or Seizure,,,,Carl Prine (Navy Times),,2019-05-12,False,San Diego,California (CA),32.71571,-117.16472,"A journalist covering the court martial of a Navy SEAL platoon leader accused of war crimes received an email from the prosecutor embedded with a hidden tracking code.
On May 12, 2019, Navy Times Editor Carl Prine received the email containing the code, which was embedded in an image of a bald eagle atop the scales of justice. The code was designed to collect IP addresses and other information from his computer and network.
Prine has written extensively about the case of Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher, who is accused of stabbing and killing a wounded 17-year-old ISIS militant and shooting two unarmed civilians during a 2017 deployment to Iraq.
The prosecutor, Cmdr. Christopher Czaplak, also sent emails containing the code to 13 members of Gallagher’s defense team.
Gallagher’s lawyers filed a motion to dismiss the prosecutor for his actions on May 27. “This case has been hopelessly plagued by misconduct by prosecutors,” the filing stated, according to the Navy Times. “This misconduct has taken many forms but has culminated in the inexcusable and unethical use of an email tracking beacon to monitor the emails of opposing counsel in direct contravention of multiple states’ ethics opinions, including CDR Czaplak’s licensing state of New York.”
In this filing, Gallagher’s defense counsel also argued that the judge in the case, Capt. Aaron Rugh, had met with Czaplak and an NCIS agent to discuss their desire to determine from where leaks in the case were originating.
At a hearing on that motion, “Navy law enforcement staff detailed how they created a plan to monitor emails sent to Chief Gallagher’s lawyers, while giving the judge in the case the false impression that the Navy had permission to do so from the Justice Department. No warrant or any other sort of permission was issued,” the New York Times reported.
On June 3, Rugh issued an order removing Czaplak as prosecutor in the case, according to the New York Times. That order is sealed.
Prine declined to comment further on the case.
Gabe Rottman, director of the Technology and Press Freedom Project at the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, said that this was “one of several incidents in recent weeks that raise great concerns about press freedom.”
“It is certainly very concerning,” Rottman told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. “There have been reports that the tool that was used here could have accessed the contents of emails.”
If the Justice Department were handling the case, Rottman said, approval from the attorney general would have to be procured before any such tracking code were deployed, and there would also have been a notice requirement to the reporter.
An NCIS spokesman, when asked about the email to Prine, told the Military Times, “during the course of the leak investigation, NCIS used an audit capability that ensures the integrity of protected documents. It is not malware, not a virus, and does not reside on computer systems. There is no risk that systems are corrupted or compromised.”
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
Th defense attorney representing a Navy SEAL platoon leader speaks with reporters in May. A prosecutor for the case was removed after embedding a tracking device in emails sent to defense team members and a journalist.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,military,,,,, "San Francisco police use search warrant to raid home, office of independent journalist",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/san-francisco-police-use-search-warrant-raid-home-office-independent-journalist-source-material/,2019-05-14 16:31:23.663401+00:00,2022-08-12 17:39:38.461859+00:00,2022-08-12 17:39:38.364621+00:00,"(2019-05-21 14:02:00+00:00) Equipment seized in raid returned to Carmody, (2019-08-02 16:15:00+00:00) San Francisco judges quash three more warrants used in raid of independent journalist Bryan Carmody's home, office and phone records, (2020-03-03 10:29:00+00:00) San Francisco to pay $369,000 following raids of journalist Bryan Carmody, (2020-05-26 14:52:00+00:00) San Francisco police agree to inform officers of press protections following raid","Equipment Search or Seizure, Arrest/Criminal Charge",,"camera: count of 2, mobile phone: count of 1, laptop: count of 1, USB flash drive: count of 1, notebook: count of 1, CD: count of 1",,Bryan Carmody,,2019-05-10,False,San Francisco,California (CA),37.77493,-122.41942,"On May 10, 2019, San Francisco police officers raided the home and office of freelance journalist Bryan Carmody as part of an investigation into one of Carmody’s confidential sources.
Carmody told the Los Angeles Times that he awoke to 10 or so officers from the San Francisco Police Department banging on his front gate with a sledgehammer. He said he allowed them in after being shown a search warrant signed by a state court judge. The SFPD officers then handcuffed him and searched his house with guns drawn.
Carmody was not formally arrested or charged with any crime, but he was detained for more than five hours. When he was finally released, the SFPD gave him a receipt showing that he had been in police custody from 8:22 a.m. to 1:55 p.m.
While Carmody was in SFPD custody, two FBI agents asked to interview him, but he refused and requested an attorney. An FBI spokeswoman later told the Times that the FBI agents were not involved in the search of Carmody’s house. Technically speaking, Carmody was only raided by the SFPD, not by federal agents.
During the raid on Carmody’s house, the SFPD learned that Carmody also used a separate office space for his independent media company, North Bay News, and quickly obtained a search warrant for the office space, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
In the end, the officers who searched Carmody’s house ended up seizing multiple notebooks, computers, phones, and cameras, while those who searched his office seized a USB thumb drive, multiple CDs, and a copy of a confidential police report into the death of San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi.
A source had leaked that police report to Carmody shortly after Adachi died unexpectedly on Feb. 22. The police report included salacious details about Adachi’s drug use and possible extramarital affair, and Carmody used the leaked report as the centerpiece of a story about Adachi’s death. Carmody sold his story on Adachi’s death to local TV news stations, who ran segments about it.
Progressive politicians roundly condemned the sensationalist coverage of Adachi’s death and accused the SFPD of deliberately leaking the police report to the media in order to smear Adachi, who had been a frequent critic of the police department. The SFPD also condemned the leak and pledged to track down the source of the police report.
According to the Chronicle, SFPD Captain William Braconi testified during a special hearing in April that the police department had launched both an internal administrative probe and a criminal investigation into the leak.
A few weeks before the May 10 raid, two San Francisco police officers visited Carmody and asked him to identify the source who had leaked him a copy of the police report. Carmody refused. Carmody told the California Globe that when he refused, the officers warned him that if he did not identify his source, then he could be subject to a federal grand jury subpoena.
But Carmody never received a subpoena, either from a federal grand jury or a state prosecutor, which he could have contested in court. Instead, a state court judge secretly authorized the SFPD to raid his house and seize his devices.
David Stevenson, a spokesman for the SFPD, said that the raid on Carmody was part of the SFPD’s criminal investigation.
“The citizens and leaders of the City of San Francisco have demanded a complete and thorough investigation into this leak, and this action represents a step in the process of investigating a potential case of obstruction of justice along with the illegal distribution of confidential police material,” he told the Times.
According to the Times, two judges of the San Francisco Superior Court — Gail Dekreon and Victor Hwang — approved the warrants to search Carmody’s house and office, respectively.
It is not clear who requested the warrants. A spokeswoman for the San Francisco district attorney’s office told the Times that the office was not involved in preparing the warrants.
Nor is it clear whether Dekreon and Hwang knew that Carmody was a journalist when they authorized the searches of his house and office space
Thomas Burke, an attorney at Davis Wright & Tremaine who is representing Carmody, said that the raid violated Carmody’s First Amendment rights. He told the Times that the investigators should have issued a subpoena for the records they wanted from Carmody, rather than raiding his newsroom and seizing documents unrelated to the investigation.
“So much information has nothing to do with the purpose of their investigation,” he said. “If you are looking for one piece of information, that’s why you issue a subpoena.”
San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi, who died in February, speaks with reporters. Police raided the home and office of journalist Bryan Carmody, seeking the source of a confidential police report about Adachi’s death.
",detained and released without being processed,not charged,San Francisco Police Department,None,None,False,None,[],None,returned in full,True,law enforcement,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, Former intelligence analyst charged with leaking classified documents to reporter,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/former-intelligence-analyst-charged-leaking-classified-documents-reporter/,2019-05-10 13:48:24.826627+00:00,2021-10-20 17:51:03.994179+00:00,2021-10-20 17:51:03.957294+00:00,"(2021-07-27 11:33:00+00:00) Former intelligence analyst sentenced to 45 months in prison under the Espionage Act, (2021-03-31 10:15:00+00:00) Former intelligence analyst pleads guilty to leaking classified documents to reporter",Leak Case,,,,,,2019-05-09,False,Alexandria,Virginia (VA),38.80484,-77.04692,"Former intelligence analyst Daniel Everette Hale was arrested on May 9, 2019, and charged with leaking classified information about drone warfare and other counterterrorism measures to a reporter.
Hale has been charged with five crimes related to the disclosure of military-related information, and could face up to 50 years in prison if convicted.
The Justice Department indictment details alleged contact with a reporter dating back to April 2013, at which time Hale is accused of meeting with the reporter at a bookstore in Washington, D.C. The indictment lists 36 total documents Hale is alleged to have printed, 11 of which are classified.
While the reporter to whom Hale is accused of leaking is not named in the indictment, the description and timing of the reporting described in the document suggest it is Jeremy Scahill, who co-founded The Intercept and has reported extensively on U.S. military activities. The Intercept said it does not comment on anonymous sources in its statement on the indictment.
James Risen, director of First Look Media’s Press Freedom Defense Fund and The Intercept’s senior national security correspondent, also released a statement:
“Like previous prosecutions of alleged journalistic sources, the prosecution of Daniel Everette Hale amounts to an abuse of the Espionage Act to criminalize the process of reporting. Everyone who cares about press freedom should reject the government’s outrageous crackdown on whistleblowers, which accelerated dramatically under President Barack Obama and has escalated further under Donald Trump, targeting the very people who are working the hardest to hold the government accountable for abuses and to protect our democracy.”
Hale is the seventh person to be investigated by the Trump Justice Department for allegedly sharing confidential information with the press. The Trump administration is on pace to surpass the Obama administration’s record of the most prosecutions of alleged journalistic sources. During President Obama’s eight years in office, the Department of Justice brought charges against eight people accused of leaking to the media.
Included in the indictment against Daniel Everette Hale is a chart of secret and top secret documents that he is accused of acquiring and printing.
,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,True,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,Espionage Act,,,,, Connecticut reporter arrested and briefly detained while covering demonstration,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/connecticut-reporter-arrested-and-briefly-detained-while-covering-demonstration/,2019-05-13 18:59:02.466968+00:00,2022-08-12 17:41:09.405308+00:00,2022-08-12 17:41:09.336689+00:00,(2019-10-22 12:53:00+00:00) Connecticut police chief issues written apology for arrest of Hearst reporter,Arrest/Criminal Charge,,,,Tara O'Neill,,2019-05-09,False,Bridgeport,Connecticut (CT),41.17923,-73.18945,"Hearst Connecticut Media reporter Tara O’Neill was arrested while covering a demonstration in Bridgeport and briefly held in police custody on May 9, 2019.
According to her first-person account for the Connecticut Post, O’Neill was handcuffed by Bridgeport police while she was reporting on a protest commemorating the two-year anniversary of the fatal police shooting of teenager Jayson Negron. O’Neill was held for about 30 minutes, and then released without charges.
O’Neill shared video footage of her arrest on Twitter.
Footage of me getting arrested in #Bridgeport while covering a #JusticeforJayson protest on the two-year anniversary of his death. pic.twitter.com/4zEFIHSKj9
— Tara O'Neill (@Tara_ONeill_) May 10, 2019
“I was standing on the sidewalk when they were asking people to get off the street and as I was being handcuffed I said, ‘I’m on a public sidewalk. I’m the press,’” O’Neill told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in an email. “All I heard the arresting officer respond was ‘Ok,’ before he told me to sit down on the ground and not move.”
She said she was wearing her press badge on a lanyard around her neck, and that after being handcuffed, she attempted to explain to the officers that she was a reporter.
“It didn’t seem to make any difference to them at that point,” she said.
O’Neill was put in the back of a police car and taken to the police station, but never placed in a holding cell. The arresting officer, according to O’Neill, later apologized and said he did not know she was a reporter.
The New England First Amendment Coalition quickly condemned her arrest and detention. The Coalition called on Bridgeport police to issue a formal apology, release the name of the arresting officer, and review the department’s internal policies to prevent the future infringement on journalistic rights.
“Looking back at what happened, I’m frustrated to know that there might not have been anything I could have done to prevent it — other than not showing up and doing my job,” O’Neill wrote in the Connecticut Post.
Bridgeport, Connecticut, police line up in response to a protest around the second anniversary of the shooting death of Jayson Negron. Reporter Tara O’Neill was detained and 11 others were arrested during the protest.
",detained and released without being processed,not charged,Bridgeport Police Department,2019-05-09,2019-05-09,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, protest",,,,, "Florida man arrested for assaulting journalist, shattering windshield",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/florida-man-arrested-assaulting-journalist-shattering-windshield/,2019-05-28 17:20:32.855572+00:00,2019-06-10 14:45:49.376622+00:00,2019-06-10 14:45:49.305553+00:00,,"Assault, Equipment Damage",,,,Albert “David” Bodden (WOFL Fox 35),,2019-05-03,False,Altamonte Springs,Florida (FL),28.66111,-81.36562,"A man was arrested in Altamonte Springs, Florida, on May 3, 2019, for assaulting a FOX 35 News journalist and shattering his windshield with a beer bottle.
Reporter and anchor Albert “David” Bodden was covering an armed burglary that had taken place earlier that day when he was confronted by a nearby resident identified as Christopher Davis. Davis, who was not involved in the burglary, accosted Bodden and demanded that he leave the area, the Orlando Sentinel reported.
The Seminole County Sheriff’s Office arrest report states that Davis appeared to be drunk—slurring his words, smelling of alcohol and carrying a bottle of Bud Light—and followed Bodden back to the FOX 35 vehicle while shouting profanities. When Bodden got into the passenger-side seat of the vehicle and closed the door, Davis threw the bottle he was carrying at the car, shattering the driver’s side windshield.
A man was just arrested for throwing a bottle at @Fox35News vehicle, shattering the windshield. #orlando pic.twitter.com/PkFl68Tapk
— Troy Campbell (@TroyLeeCampbell) May 3, 2019
According to the report, Davis then entered the vehicle from the driver’s side of the car. The report quotes Davis telling Bodden, “I’m going to fuck you up,” as he raised a clenched fist toward him. Bodden, fearing for his safety, exited the vehicle on the passenger side to avoid a possible blow.
Approximately $500 of damage was done to the vehicle’s windshield, and Bodden gave deputies a sworn statement and informed them that he wished to pursue charges.
Davis was arrested at the scene on the charges of simple assault, burglary of an occupied conveyance, criminal mischief and disorderly intoxication. His arraignment has been scheduled for June 4.
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
A man was arrested for damaging the windshield of a news car and assaulting the reporter inside it. The shattered windshield was captured by another reporter also at the scene of an earlier burglary.
,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, Pennsylvania judge denies energy company’s subpoena of Pittsburgh Post-Gazette staff,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/pennsylvania-judge-denies-energy-companys-subpoena-of-pittsburgh-post-gazette-staff/,2019-06-06 14:55:26.942635+00:00,2019-06-06 14:55:26.942635+00:00,2019-06-06 14:55:26.889249+00:00,,Subpoena/Legal Order,,,,"David Templeton (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette), Don Hopey (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette), Sally Stapleton (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)",,2019-05-03,False,Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania (PA),40.44062,-79.99589,"A Pennsylvania judge denied a request by Range Resources Appalachia LLC on May 3, 2019, to subpoena and depose two Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporters and a former editor who were attempting to unseal a private settlement against the gas drilling company.
Range reached a settlement in August 2018 with families who alleged they had experienced serious health problems due to exposure to leaks, spills and air pollution emanating from a nearby Range well.
The settlement was sealed, only coming to the attention of the Post-Gazette in late January of this year while reporting on a related story. Upon learning of the confidential settlement, the newspaper filed a court action seeking to unseal it. Range fought the petition to intervene, claiming that since the case was settled the request was no longer timely. According to the opinion filed by Washington County Common Pleas Court President Judge Katherine Emery in the case, Range also claimed the information was “being sought for an improper purpose.”
In mid-March, Range lawyers attempted to subpoena and depose former Post-Gazette Managing Editor Sally Stapleton and reporters Don Hopey and David Templeton to uncover the reporters’ sources and obtain their notes and documents related to the case, the Post-Gazette reported.
Emery denied this attempt, citing Pennsylvania’s Shield Law.
“The Shield Law must be liberally construed in favor of the news media,” Judge Emery wrote in her order and opinion. “Under this law, the employees of the newspaper cannot be required to disclose any information that could lead to the disclosure of their sources.”
The Post-Gazette also asked Emery to order Range to cover the newspaper’s legal fees in its motion to quash the subpoenas, alleging that they were “a brazen and legally abusive attempt to harass and intimidate the Post-Gazette.” Emery denied that request.
Pittsburgh-based reporter Reid Frazier was covering a hearing on the Post-Gazette’s petition to unseal the settlement when a software glitch granted him access to the document in question at the clerk’s office. When notified of this disclosure, Emery issued an injunction barring Frazier from directly or indirectly publishing the details of the settlement.
Frazier reported that at a June 4 hearing, Range did not ask for a continuation of the injunction order and told Emery it would publicly release the settlement terms, effectively ending the Post-Gazette’s court action to unseal it and the prior restraint injunction against Frazier.
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
A notice of deposition to Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporter Don Hopey, one of three people in the newsroom to receive deposition and subpoena orders for work product, stemming from the paper's request to unseal a private settlement.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,journalist communications or work product,['QUASHED'],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, "Two reporters forced out of restaurant, equipment attacked",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/two-reporters-forced-out-restaurant-equipment-attacked/,2019-05-21 20:27:58.111748+00:00,2019-05-21 20:27:58.111748+00:00,2019-05-21 20:27:58.053140+00:00,,Assault,,,,Dimitri Lotovski (WGCL-TV CBS46),,2019-05-01,False,Lithonia,Georgia (GA),None,None,"Two members of an Atlanta, Georgia-based news crew were forced out of a restaurant and had their camera equipment repeatedly attacked while reporting a story on May 1, 2019.
CBS46 photographer Dimitri Lotovski and reporter Adam Murphy were in a Denny’s in Lithonia asking employees about the restaurant’s failing inspection score when, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, one employee became aggressive.
In raw video footage of the incident posted by CBS46, a Denny’s employee can be heard yelling at the reporters to get the camera “out of my face,” screaming profanities, and threatening to call the police.
Two employees shoved the camera, which was held by Lotovski, and then aggressively forced both reporters out of the restaurant.
Another employee can be seen repeatedly slapping the camera. Soon after, officers with the DeKalb County Police arrived at the scene and confirmed that the reporters had the right to be on the premises and ask the restaurant employees questions.
CBS46 published the statement it received from Denny’s corporate office:
“We are disappointed by the inappropriate and unacceptable behavior by employees at our restaurant in Lithonia, Georgia earlier this week. As a family dining restaurant, Denny's expects the highest ethical and personal behavior from our team members, and we do not tolerate this type of behavior. We have spoken to the franchisee at this location and he has taken immediate action to ensure the restaurant meets our high brand standards and has taken appropriate action with employees.”
Murphy told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that in years of covering restaurant inspection stories, this incident was the most aggressive altercation he had experienced.
“We’ve had a hand in the camera before,” he told the Journal-Constitution, “but not numerous punches like that. It was the most violent encounter I’ve ever experienced.”
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
Andy Ngo, who identifies as an independent journalist and photographer, says he was sprayed with bear repellent and assaulted while recording during a May Day protest and its aftermath in Portland, Oregon.
Ngo, who primarily publishes his videos on Twitter and YouTube, says he was documenting rising tensions between members of antifa, who had scheduled a gathering at local bar Cider Riot, and members of far-right groups, including Patriot Prayer, who arrived at the bar seemingly to confront antifa members.
When he arrived in front of the bar at approximately 7:30 p.m., Ngo told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that members of antifa who had covered their faces with bandanas and masks started shouting, “Camera! Camera!” Ngo said that the antifa protesters were familiar with him and his work, as he has been covering antifa critically since November 2016.
While standing outside, Ngo said he was approached by a woman from the antifa side who said that she had applied for a job at his mother’s flower shop and a man who recited the shop’s address, which Ngo said felt like a pointed threat.
Patriot Prayer members arrived at the bar shortly after.
“[The two groups] were standing at the bar and across the street yelling at each other and eventually it did become physical,” Ngo said. “There was a brawl that involved what looked like pepper spray, mace and bear mace being sprayed, back-and-forth objects being thrown—glasses, bottles—and things were hitting cars and breaking on the ground.”
About 10 minutes after he arrived, Ngo said he noticed that the interaction was becoming very hostile and decided to move a bit further back.
“I stood behind a van that was on the street and peaked around the corner with my camera,” Ngo told the Tracker. “And then a masked individual ran from the property of the bar and sprayed the chemical directly in my face.”
In his video of the incident, a woman wearing sunglasses and a bandana covering her face can be seen coming from the opposite side of the van spraying what appears to be bear spray at members of Patriot Prayer before turning and spraying Ngo directly.
Ngo told the Tracker that the chemical burned his skin and eyes, and he had to be led across the street by a woman nearby to sit down. “I could still hear the fight and it sounded like it was getting closer and closer to me,” Ngo said. “The people around me said, ‘You’ve got to go, you’ve got to go now.’” Struggling to open his eyes, Ngo said he went to the nearest establishment, a wine bar, to use their restroom to wash what was left of the spray.
At approximately 8:20 p.m., he called the police non-emergency line to report the incident. Ngo said the operator informed him that all available officers were currently engaged in policing the riot, and that no one would be available to take his statement for several hours. Ngo returned home, and just after 11 p.m. an officer came by to take his statement.
This was not the only incident Ngo reported to the police that day: He told the Tracker that he was punched while he was covering a protest earlier on that day, which he reported to officers at the scene. Ngo told the Tracker that protesters had recognized him when he arrived at a publicly announced protest just after noon.
“Immediately, they were hostile to me, although I’ve come to expect that,” Ngo said. “The ones that knew me flipped me off and cursed at me. The ones who didn’t know me went up to me and said, ‘I don’t give you permission to record me.’ I didn’t respond to that: it was in a public park.”
At approximately 2:20 p.m. a man with his face covered and wearing sunglasses approached Ngo and sprayed his camera with silly string. An Oregonian reporter stepped between them, admonishing the man and prevented him from spraying Ngo or his gear further.
It was shortly after, as the protesters’ march stopped in front of Portland’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement offices at around 2:45 p.m., that Ngo says an antifa protester punched him in the stomach.
In an email, a Portland Police Bureau public information officer said that the investigations into the two assaults reported by Ngo are ongoing and therefore the bureau cannot provide comment or details.
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
In a screenshot from his video, Andy Ngo is sprayed with a chemical while filming May Day protests in Portland, Oregon.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"anti-fascist protest, chemical irritant, Patriot Prayer, protest",,,,, Colorado newspaper denied access to cover horse roundup,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/colorado-newspaper-denied-access-cover-horse-roundup/,2019-05-02 17:23:23.012349+00:00,2022-08-12 17:41:53.837239+00:00,2022-08-12 17:41:53.769808+00:00,,Denial of Access,,,,,,2019-04-24,False,None,Colorado (CO),None,None,"Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado denied the press access to cover a horse roundup and removal, a process that in the past has been open to the media.
Colorado-based newspaper The Cortez Journal sought access to cover the process, but Park Superintendent Cliff Spencer sent an email to The Journal on April 24 that banned media coverage of the roundup. Spencer stated that representatives of the horse roundup did not want any distractions present that “would negatively affect the behavior of the horses.”
According to The Journal, Tim McGaffic, a horse wrangler who will be part of the roundup, said the paper’s proposal to have a reporter and photographer document and observe the process “seems more or less fine.”
Despite this, Spencer’s email forbade public or media access altogether, on the grounds that the groups involved with the roundup were “adamant” that only those directly involved should be present.
Attorney Steve Zansberg represented The Journal in an April 26 letter to Spencer seeking access, emphasizing that the public access to government activities protected under the First Amendment includes operations on federal land — like horse roundups.
“Accommodating a single reporter and pool photographer for a limited period of time at a considerable distance from the wrangler-horse interactions is a constitutionally appropriate way to protect the public’s First Amendment right to access a National Park and to engage in protected newsgathering activities there,” the letter reads. “It is certainly a far ‘less restrictive means’ than a blanket ban on coverage of this federal operation.”
Zansberg also noted that other government agencies have allowed the press to cover roundups of horses on federal property.
The Journal reporter Jim Mimiaga told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker on May 1 that the roundup has been approved, but has not yet taken place. Mimiaga said he was not aware of other news outlets that sought to cover the roundup.
Zansberg said that no substantive response from Spencer had been received as of May 1, and if the request continued to be denied, he would confer with the paper about next steps.
The National Park Service did not immediately reply to request for comment.
Wild horses run in Utah as they are gathered by the Bureau of Land Management in 2010. Unlike this roundup and others, Mesa Verde National Park has denied access to press seeking to cover an upcoming Colorado roundup.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,The Cortez Journal,,,,,, Baltimore court denies reporters access to courtroom audio recordings,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/baltimore-court-denies-reporters-access-courtroom-audio-recordings/,2019-05-07 19:04:43.411411+00:00,2022-04-04 20:45:32.377769+00:00,2022-04-04 20:45:32.308823+00:00,,Denial of Access,,,,"Justine Barron (Independent), Paul McGrew (WBFF Fox 45)",,2019-04-24,False,Baltimore,Maryland (MD),39.29038,-76.61219,"The Baltimore City Circuit Court released an order dated April 24, 2019 that denies reporters the ability to obtain courtroom audio recordings. Independent journalist Justine Barron sued the judge that signed the order and Baltimore’s chief court reporter in response on May 2, alleging that it violates state law protections of public courtroom access.
Barron has covered numerous stories involving the city’s police department. She sought access to court audio recordings on April 17 as part of a case she is investigating.
Barron told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the circuit court was getting ready to fulfill her request, and told her she needed a check or money order. On April 23, Court Technologist Christopher Metcalf sent an email to Barron that she could pick up the record the next day.
The next day, Barron was abruptly informed that the court would restrict “access of court audio to parties from now on.” Now, she said, she’ll have to return the money order she obtained to the post office and hope it will be refunded.
Barron noted that in Maryland, only parties to the case can obtain courtroom video, but anyone can obtain audio or transcripts.
“I kept being told that I’d have to view it in the office,” she said. “But I was wondering if he [Metcalf] was confused, because I wasn’t looking to view anything. And then it was clarified that they aren’t letting anyone get audio recordings, but didn’t say anything about an order at first.”
Metcalf’s supervisor, Trish Trikeriotis, wrote to Barron on April 25 that the court had ordered that only parties or counsel representing a party were permitted to receive copies of recordings, although Barron could review the proceedings on site.
On April 29, Barron was sent a copy of a one-sentence order — dated April 24, the day she had originally been told she would be able to pick up the record — signed by Judge W. Michel Pierson:
“Pursuant to the terms of Maryland Rule 16-504(h)(1)(C), it is, this day of April 24, 2019, ORDERED, that no copies of audio recordings maintained by the Office of the Court Reporter shall be made available to persons other than parties to the relevant proceeding or counsel to the relevant proceeding.”
Although courts in Maryland have historically granted the public access to audio recordings, broadcasting these recordings is prohibited. Several podcast producers have done so anyway, and a local journalist that Barron has worked with in the past has challenged the legality of prohibiting broadcasting the recordings.
A litigator with the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection at Georgetown University Law Center told The Intercept that denial of access to these audio recordings was “trying to replace one unlawful policy with another.”
Barron said that although the order initially appeared to target her specifically, it has affected other Baltimore reporters.
“After I was denied, at least one other person was able to get his CD,” she said. “The next day, someone was able to get one. So it seemed to be about me at first, but now, they’re punishing everyone.”
Paul McGrew, a Fox45 investigative reporter in Baltimore, wrote on social media that he was also denied access to courtroom audio recordings under the new order.
We requested court audio from Balt. City Circuit Court and have been told Administrative Judge W. Michel Pierson is no longer allowing media to acquire court audio per the Recorders’ Office at Circuit Court.
— Paul McGrew (@McGrewFox45) April 29, 2019
Barron’s lawsuit alleges that Judge Pierson’s order violates Maryland state law, which makes audio recordings of all trial court proceedings open to the public.
“...[A] local administrative order cannot override a State Rule,” it states. “Moreover, the ‘order’ that the Court Reporter’s office cited remains shrouded in mystery: the Court has not identified its reasons or authority for issuing the ‘order,’ nor has it posted the order publicly. These events paint a disturbing picture—that of local court officials seeking to stymie the State’s goal of shining a light on the judiciary and, worse yet, seeking to do so in the dark.”
Terri Charles, Assistant Public Information Officer for the Government Relations and Public Affairs Division of the Maryland Judiciary, provided the Tracker with a statement:
“The Judiciary does not comment on pending litigation. The media and the public can still listen to the court proceedings at the courthouse. The order states that copies are no longer available.”
Barron told the Tracker that courtroom recordings are critical in shedding important context on a case so that the press and lawyers can better understand what happened — which a transcript of the audio could not provide.
“Transcripts are not always accurate,” she said. “They are often full of typos. And a transcript is a document that the court has decided we can see — so we have to trust that they haven’t made a decision to edit it in some way. And the nuance of what happens in courtrooms is very important — like if someone stalls before answering or laughs, these details are important.”
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
Journalist Justine Barron has sued in Baltimore for access to audio recordings of court proceedings.
The Tennessee Highway Patrol threatened several reporters with arrest and blocked them from continuing reporting while they were covering a sit-in protest outside Gov. Bill Lee’s office in Nashville on April 16, 2019.
According to The Tennessean, state troopers told the reporters present that they would be “arrested if they didn't immediately leave the building, despite remaining out of the way and identifying themselves as working members of the media attempting to cover the news unfolding.” The reporters ultimately complied with the order.
Four protesters remained from a larger demonstration in the Capitol building demanding a meeting with Lee to discuss Republican Rep. David Byrd, who has retained his office since sexual assault allegations became public.
The journalists were unable to continue their coverage of the protest, even though the protesters continued sitting outside of the office into the evening and spent the night. The remaining protesters were ultimately arrested.
The Tennessean/USA Today reporter Natalie Allison wrote on Twitter that she was one of numerous journalists — including fellow The Tennessean reporter Joel Ebert, Nashville Public Radio reporter Sergio Martínez-Beltrán, and NewsChannel 5 reporter Kyle Horan — that were threatened with arrest and blocked from continuing to cover the news.
Reporters, including @joelebert29, @SergioMarBel, @KyleHoranNC5 and me, should not have faced threats of arrest today for trying to do our jobs in the Capitol. This was the second time this session troopers have attempted to block us from covering news. https://t.co/5kwkeR3Tdi
— Natalie Allison (@natalie_allison) April 17, 2019
Allison’s colleague Ebert further noted that although the Capitol building does have hours of access, credential press historically have had access beyond that.
This is 100 percent wrong and is a break from all previous governors in recent memory. The building has hours of access but reporters have always had access beyond said hours. This is the second time this year that state troopers have stopped reporters from doing our jobs https://t.co/Wzwc6AXUaq
— Joel Ebert (@joelebert29) April 16, 2019
The Tennessean article quotes Gov. Lee’s communications director, Chris Walker, as defending the troopers’ actions as standard protocol. "However, we do not condone threatening of arrest to reporters while they are doing their jobs in trying to cover news," Walker said.
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
The state capitol building in Nashville, Tennessee, was the site of a sit-in protest that resulted in reporters being asked to leave and threatened with arrest.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,,State Troopers WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange arrested and charged with conspiracy,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/wikileaks-founder-julian-assange-arrested-and-charged-conspiracy/,2019-04-11 20:34:11.567547+00:00,2022-06-17 15:53:54.393683+00:00,2022-06-17 15:53:54.319562+00:00,"(2019-05-23 16:13:00+00:00) WikiLeaks founder indicted on Espionage Act charges, raising press freedom concerns, (2020-06-24 18:50:00+00:00) Justice Department announces new indictment against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, (2022-06-17 11:53:00+00:00) British home secretary signs extradition papers for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange",Other Incident,,,,Julian Assange (WikiLeaks),,2019-04-11,False,Alexandria,Virginia (VA),38.80484,-77.04692,"On April 11, 2019, federal prosecutors unsealed an indictment against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, charging him with one count of conspiring with Chelsea Manning, a WikiLeaks source, to violate a federal anti-hacking law. The charge was unsealed just hours after Ecuador terminated Assange’s political asylum and British police arrested Assange inside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.
The indictment — originally filed under seal in the Eastern District of Virginia on March 6, 2018 — focuses on Assange’s communications with Manning in 2010, when she was an Army intelligence analyst looking to leak classified documents to WikiLeaks.
According to the indictment, between January 2010 and May 2010, Manning downloaded hundreds of thousands of internal government documents — including significant activity reports from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, diplomatic cables, and Guantanamo Bay detainee reports — and leaked them for publication on WikiLeaks.
The indictment alleges that in March 2010, after Manning had already leaked large caches of documents to Assange, she asked Assange to help her cover her tracks in order to avoid being detected as WikiLeaks’ source. Specifically, she wanted help breaking a hashed password so that she could use a different user account to access the government databases from which she was downloading documents. The indictment alleges that Assange agreed to help Manning decrypt the password, though it does not mention whether he actually did so.
Assange is being charged with one count of conspiracy to violate provisions of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, a broad anti-hacking law that prohibits unauthorized access to computer systems. If convicted, he could face up to five years in prison.
The indictment specifically alleges that Assange entered into a conspiracy with Manning to “facilitate Manning’s acquisition and transmission of classified information related to the national defense of the United States so that WikiLeaks could publicly disseminate the information on its website.” It alleges that Assange tried to further this conspiracy by agreeing to try and crack the password for Manning.
The indictment also lists different “ways, manners, and means” that Assange and Manning allegedly used to carry out the conspiracy, some of which are typical of interactions between sources and reporters:
19. It was part of the conspiracy that Assange and Manning took measures to conceal Manning as the source of the disclosure of classified records to WikiLeaks, including by removing usernames from the disclosed information and deleting chat logs between Assange and Manning.
20. It was part of the conspiracy that Assange encouraged Manning to provide information and records from departments and agencies of the United States.
21. It was part of the conspiracy that Assange and Manning used a special folder on a cloud drop box of WikiLeaks to transmit classified records containing information related to the national defense of the United States.
The indictment alarmed some press freedom groups.
“The indictment and the Justice Department’s press release treat everyday journalistic practices as part of a criminal conspiracy,” Jameel Jaffer, executive director of the Knight First Amendment Institute, said in a statement about the charges. “Whether the government will be able to establish a violation of the hacking statute remains to be seen, but it’s very troubling that the indictment sweeps in activities that are not just lawful but essential to press freedom — activities like cultivating sources, protecting sources’ identities, and communicating with sources securely.”
Manning is currently imprisoned for refusing to testify in front of a grand jury. Assange is currently in British police custody in London, and it is unclear whether he will be extradited to the United States to face these federal charges.
“We can confirm that Julian Assange was arrested in relation to a provisional extradition request from the United States of America,” the UK Home Office said in a statement.
Assange will have the opportunity to challenge his extradition at a May 2 hearing held at the Westminster Magistrates’ Court.
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is seen in a police van in London, England, after his extradition from the Ecuadorian Embassy and arrest by British police.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, "School district demands prior review, threatens job of adviser over profile in student publication",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/school-district-demands-prior-review-threatens-job-adviser-over-profile-student-publication/,2019-05-03 13:33:24.768637+00:00,2020-03-20 19:16:14.300788+00:00,2020-03-20 19:16:14.217984+00:00,,Other Incident,,,,,,2019-04-11,False,Stockton,California (CA),37.9577,-121.29078,"Administrators with the Lodi Unified School District in California demanded a student newspaper adviser submit an article for review prior to publication, under threat of discipline and dismissal.
The latest edition of Bear Creek High School’s student newspaper, The Bruin Voice, is set to include a profile of an 18-year-old student who is active in the porn industry.
“This young woman has quite a story to tell,” the paper’s adviser, Kathi Duffel, told The Washington Post. “She has every right to tell her story, and we have every right to report it.” Duffel said the administrators do not seem to understand that First Amendment rights must be respected.
Word about the profile spread around the school, and Bear Creek High School Principal Hillary Harrell delivered a letter by Lodi Unified School District Superintendent Cathy Nichols-Washer to Duffel on April 11, 2019.
“You are hereby directed to refrain from publishing the article prior to the District’s review and approval,” Nichols-Washer wrote. “Should you fail to provide a copy of the article as directed, you may be subject to discipline, up to and including dismissal.”
As longtime adviser of the Bruin Voice, Duffel has won awards for her leadership — including in previous fights over censorship with Bear Creek High School.
Lilly Lim, a managing editor, sports editor, and photography editor at The Bruin Voice, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that newspapers containing the student profile will be distributed on May 3.
“As an editorial staff, we unanimously decided to continue with writing the story and submit it into publication,” Lim, a junior, said. “Soon after we notified the district of our decision, the request turned into a mandate whereby we were demanded to send a review. Since then, everything has been a back-and-forth battle.”
In a statement released by Lodi Unified School District on May 1, the district stated it will not continue to seek to prevent the article’s publication
“The District has determined that it will rely on the promises Mrs. Duffel’s personal attorney has made on her behalf regarding the content of the article and on that basis will not prevent its publication. However, the District does not agree with all aspects of the legal opinion provided by the attorney and is disappointed that an independent review was not provided as agreed to by the District and Mrs. Duffel. Moreover, because the District has been denied an opportunity to preview the article, the District does not endorse it. Because we are charged with the education and care of our community’s children, we will always be diligent in our efforts to provide a safe learning environment for all students, while complying with our obligations under the law.”
The Washington Post reported that Duffel emphasized that in her decades as a student newspaper adviser, she has “never buckled and provided the administration with a copy of a story in advance.”
Lim said Duffel has had a significant impact on her life during her tenure at Bear Creek High School. “Ms. Duffel is, in my opinion, the most renowned and influential teacher on Bear Creek's campus,” she told the Tracker.
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
A reporter and multimedia editor for The Harvard Crimson, the university’s daily paper, was issued a subpoena on April 10, 2019, to testify in a deposition and provide communications and reporting materials.
Shera Avi-Yonah was one of The Crimson reporters who had written on activities around and including a defamation lawsuit brought by Harvard College staff members Carl and Valencia Miller against Gail O’Keefe, a faculty dean.
The defamation suit stemmed from interactions with a student activist and another faculty dean’s decision to represent Harvey Weinstein, the Hollywood producer who is facing multiple allegations of sexual assault. Other journalists involved in the reporting did not receive subpoenas.
The Crimson reported that the subpoena specifically requested all of Avi-Yonah’s communications and documents “concerning” the Millers, as well as communications and documents related to the faculty deans and student activist Danu Mudannayake, who is also on staff at The Crimson.
The subpoena also required Avi-Yonah to testify at a May 14 deposition.
Robert Bertsche, an attorney representing The Crimson, filed a written objection to the subpoena on April 19. The Millers’ attorney, George Leontire, emailed a statement on his clients’ behalf a few days later communicating their intention to bring a motion to compel Avi-Yonah’s testimony.
Leontire also stated that he anticipated issuing “numerous other subpoenas,” and would not hesitate to depose other Crimson staff.
“If I believe other individuals at the Crimson have relevant or probative information relative to Dean Gal O’keefe’s [sic] defamation of the Millers I will seek to subpoena such individuals,” wrote Leontire, according to The Crimson.
Crimson President Kristine Guillaume wrote in an emailed statement to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the paper would resist the subpoena because the reporter is not a party to the suit, citing the First Amendment.
Massachusetts does not have a shield law in place, though courts have recognized reporter’s privilege to protect their sources and reporting material under “common law.”
The president for The Harvard Crimson, the university’s daily newspaper, said the paper would resist a subpoena directed at a reporter’s communications.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,journalist communications or work product,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,,student journalism,,,,, California Congressman Devin Nunes files defamation suit against newspaper for its coverage,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/california-congressman-devin-nunes-files-defamation-suit-against-newspaper-its-coverage/,2019-04-17 16:01:12.509970+00:00,2022-04-06 18:22:06.946704+00:00,2022-04-06 18:22:06.863985+00:00,,Other Incident,,,,,,2019-04-09,False,Charlottesville,Virginia (VA),38.02931,-78.47668,"California Representative Devin Nunes is targeting The McClatchy Company, which owns The Fresno Bee, in a $150 million defamation lawsuit, arguing that its reporting on the congressman constituted “character assassination.”
The lawsuit focuses on an exposé The Bee published May 23, 2018, about a yacht party in which Napa Valley wine investors took cocaine. Nunes claims that the story was defamatory because it implied that he was involved in the cocaine and sex worker-fueled party. The article does not state that Nunes was present, but it does name him as a partial investor in the company.
Nunes’ lawsuit also accuses McClatchy and Mays of unethical journalism:
“The Defendants in this case abandoned the role of journalist, and chose to leverage their considerable power to spread falsehoods and to defame the Plaintiff for political and financial gain.”
The McClatchy California Opinion Editors authored a piece in The Bee on April 10 refuting many of Nunes’ core allegations.
The lawsuit also accuses Republican consultant Liz Mair of conspiring with reporter MacKenzie Mays — who previously wrote for the Fresno Bee — to derail Nunes’ work and “smear” him.
Mair is also a defendant in a secondary defamation lawsuit by Nunes against Twitter and several of its users over parody accounts that he made. Nunes is accusing the social media company of “shadow banning” his tweets, or curtailing the reach of his social media presence.
Mair responded to the Twitter litigation in a USA Today column on April 5.
“It’s vitally important that the entire nation understands what this lawsuit is really about: A sitting member of the U.S. government, specifically, a congressman, is trying to stifle free speech — mine, yours and every other American’s — by using litigation as a cudgel to bully and intimidate,” Mair wrote.
During an April 10 interview on the Fox news show Fox & Friends, Nunes accused McClatchy of being the “biggest perpetrator of fake news,” and said that he intended to “go after” other news outlets with defamation outlets.
“McClatchy is one of the worst offenders of this,” Nunes said. “But we're coming after the rest of them.”
The same day, CNN reported on an internal memo and statement from McClatchy, which vowed to defend The Bee.
“The lawsuit represents a baseless attack on local journalism and a free press,” read McClatchy’s statement. “At a time when local journalism is facing more pressing and urgent challenges, the lawsuit is an unproductive distraction and a misuse of the judicial system.”
Nunes’ office did not respond to request by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker for comment.
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) speaks in March at the Conservative Political Action Conference. Nunes is suing newspaper company McClatchy in a $150 million defamation lawsuit.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,The McClatchy Company,,,,,, Pastor threatens Greenville News during sermon,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/pastor-threatens-greenville-news-during-sermon/,2019-04-08 15:31:27.524108+00:00,2020-04-14 22:13:50.574865+00:00,2020-04-14 22:13:50.504342+00:00,,Other Incident,,,,,,2019-04-02,False,Greenville,South Carolina (SC),34.85262,-82.39401,"Pastor Hope Carpenter appeared to threaten Greenville News during a sermon at a South Carolina church on April 2, 2019.
Toward the end of Carpenter's monologue at Relentless Church in Greenville, she expressed gratitude to the church leadership before targeting Greenville News.
"I cut people. I got a knife right in that pocketbook," Carpenter told the congregation, according to the Washington Post. "Greenville News, come on. We done went through this. I'm still here, and guess who else is still going to be here?" Carpenter ended, pointing to controversial pastor John Gray.
Relentless Church's new leaders, pastors John and Aventer Gray, had recently been the subjects of investigative reporting by Greenville News, which wrote in January 2019 how John Gray lives in a nearly $2 million home funded by the church. In another piece, Greenville News covered lavish personal purchases he made for his wife.
Carpenter did not respond to request by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker for comment.
"The Greenville News strives to cover every organization in our community in a fair and unbiased way and also aggressively and comprehensively,” said Greenville News Executive Editor Katrice Hardy. “Our robust coverage of Relentless church has included stories ranging from the church's assistance in helping launch an emergency homeless shelter in Pickens County to the way that the church has used its resources."
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
The journalism adviser at a high school in Katy, Texas, has resigned after a prolonged conflict with school administration, which originated over how the yearbook should cover LGBTQ content. In the wake of this conflict, the principal also changed campus policy so that future issues of the yearbook will be subject to prior review.
The Seven Lakes High School teacher, Katie Moreno, declined to speak with the U. S. Press Freedom Tracker about the situation, citing the conditions of her employment contract with the Katy Independent School District. But she consulted with the legal team at the Student Press Law Center, and a staff attorney there, Sommer Ingram Dean, provided to the Tracker a 30-page document in which Moreno details her interactions with Seven Lakes principal Kerri Finnesand.
“When a school district forces an award-winning journalism teacher to resign, you have to think there’s something more to the story than what school officials may be stating. Time and time again we see fearless journalism advisers teaching their students sound, responsible journalism, and winning awards for it, but still struggling to keep a job,” Dean said. “Every adviser that is bullied out of a job and every student that is pressured into silence is a threat to free speech. I hope Seven Lakes understands the gravity of this situation.”
Moreno, who has taught at Seven Lakes since January 2014, was awarded the Journalism Education Association’s “Rising Star” award in November 2018, according to an article published by the Katy Times in January.
According to Moreno’s account, in November 2018 she brought a yearbook page for the Pride Club, the school’s group for LGBTQ students, to Finnesand for her review. The yearbook content had never been subject to prior review before, but Moreno showed it to Finnesand out of respect for a former administrator, whose child was featured on the page. Finnesand wrote in an email to Moreno that the administrator's child “will not be featured in the year book with the Pride Club” and ordered her to contact the parent of every student featured “about their child’s quote and the context of the club.” Finnesand did not respond to a request for comment.
Moreno drafted a permission slip for parents to sign and let the adviser of the Pride Club know about it. The adviser protested, saying that no other clubs faced such a requirement, so it could be construed as discriminatory. When the adviser brought it up directly with Finnesand, the principal told Moreno she was being “insubordinate” by broaching the topic with the Pride Club adviser.
On Dec. 5, a yearbook student sent a private message on social media, writing that the principal wanted to change the publication layout for several groups, and have the parents of all Pride Club members sign a permission slip. The student lamented that “[a]ll the work we’ve done to build these clubs, all the memories, all the growth, will all be excluded from the yearbook if we don’t use our voice now in whatever ways possible.” Another student reposted the message, and Moreno brought the message to Finnesand’s attention, who viewed it as a “personal attack,” according to Moreno’s documentation.
The next afternoon, Finnesand came into Moreno’s classroom and confronted her within earshot of her students. “She said I’m not doing my job, and that I clearly can’t control my kids. And I ‘let’ them go to social media to slander her. And because of that I don’t need to be the yearbook adviser here,” Moreno wrote.
A meeting between Finnesand and Moreno’s journalism students took place on Dec. 7, where they agreed on a plan on how to cover non-curriculum clubs in the yearbook going forward.
After the students left that meeting, Finnesand spoke with Moreno again where she expressed that she never has problems dealing with leaders of other organizations. Moreno, in her document, wrote her interactions with Finnesand left her feeling belittled: “[d]ue to the nature of student publications, there will be times she needs to have a conversation with the adviser and with the editors. Every single time I have contacted her with a question or an update, I am met with animosity, condescension, and judgement. This is an unfair comparison, as issues regarding censorship do not arise from service organizations or athletics.”
The print edition of the school’s newspaper, The Torch, has always operated under prior review. Moreno’s students dropped off a proof of the December issue for review by Finnesand on Dec. 3, and it was returned to Moreno without any comments. The issue’s cover included an edited image of a girl surrounded by a cloud of smoke, accompanying an article about vaping titled “A Fatal Fad.” The photograph was taken using dry ice. The cover was included in the approved proof binder, but after the issue was distributed, Moreno was given a performance review memorandum to sign for the image appearing on the cover.
Following a series of interactions with Finnesand, Moreno sent a grievance letter to Jeff Stocks, assistant superintendent of the Katy ISD, in which she outlined the communication difficulties she was having with Finnesand. At a meeting with Stocks and Finnesand on Jan. 8, 2019, Moreno was giving a document that stated that “campus administration will approve all pages of the SLHS yearbook,” a departure from the previous policy that did not require prior review. At the conclusion of that meeting, Finnesand informed Moreno that she would not be the yearbook or newspaper sponsor next school year, according to Moreno’s account.
According to Moreno’s account, after a series of meetings with a school district Human Resources representative where the future of Moreno’s teaching contract was called into question, she opted to resign on April 1.
Moreno will teach through the end of the school year, and in her resignation cited her intention to find a teaching position in another school district, Ingram Dean at the SPLC told the Tracker.
Justin Graham, the general counsel for Katy ISD, told the Tracker in an email that Moreno resigned “unilaterally and voluntarily” from her job at Seven Lakes.
Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly identified Jeff Stocks as superintendent of Katy Independent School District. Stocks is assistant superintendent.
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
Journalism adviser Katie Moreno, left, works with Seven Lakes High School students in Katy, Texas. In April, Moreno resigned from her position following a series of disagreements with school administration around content.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,,student journalism,,,,, Judge limits media access to evidence in Minnesota police shooting trial,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/judge-limits-media-access-evidence-minnesota-police-shooting-trial/,2019-04-04 20:20:59.122542+00:00,2021-09-16 14:19:39.708180+00:00,2021-09-16 14:19:39.660820+00:00,,Denial of Access,,,,,,2019-03-29,False,Minneapolis,Minnesota (MN),44.97997,-93.26384,"The judge presiding over the murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor ruled on March 29, 2019, that media and members of the public will be restricted from viewing “graphic evidence”—including body cam footage and photographs from the crime scene and medical examiner’s office—in the case that will be displayed for the jury.
At a final pretrial hearing, Hennepin County District Judge Kathryn L. Quaintance said she was blocking this evidence from being seen by anyone aside from the jury and attorneys in the case because “there’s privacy interest involved,” according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. She called airing this evidence publicly “inflammatory, potentially” as it “shows the deceased in extremely compromising situations.”
Noor is accused of fatally shooting Justine Ruszczyk Damond, an Australian woman who had called police to alert them to a possible assault taking place in the alleyway behind her home. Noor allegedly shot and killed her when she approached his police cruiser. Jury selection in the case began on April 1.
A coalition of media representatives including the Minneapolis Star-Tribune and Minnesota Public Radio filed a motion on April 2 objecting to Quaintance’s ruling barring media from viewing evidence, arguing it amounts to a unconstitutional “de facto closure of the courtroom.”
“Excluding the press and public from viewing evidence presented to the jury and other trial participants violates the Constitutional and common law rights of press and public access to criminal proceedings,” wrote Leita Walker, an attorney for the media coalition, in a memorandum supporting the motion.
As of publication, the motion had not been scheduled for a hearing. Jury selection in the case is ongoing.
Courts have upheld the notion that media outlets and the public have a right to “contemporaneous access” to evidence during a trial, Walker argued, citing the Second Circuit case ABC v. Stewart, where the court found “[t]he ability to see and to hear a proceeding as it unfolds is a vital component of the First Amendment right of access—not . . . an incremental benefit.” Additionally, Quaintance’s argument is invalid, Walker wrote, as the state of Minnesota “does not recognize a posthumous right to privacy.”
The judge’s decision to limit access to evidence “clearly crossed a constitutional boundary,” Mark Anfinson, an attorney for the Minnesota Newspaper Association, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
In an order issued on March 27, Quaintance wrote that to preserve “order and decorum” in the courtroom, space devoted to the media will be limited to eight seats, of which four will be available to local media outlets and four to national and international outlets. Four seats each will be reserved for the family members of the victim and defendant, one for a sketch artists, which leaves only 11 seats for the public, according to Joe Spear, the president of the Minnesota Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune noted that other courtrooms in the building contain double the amount of seating.
The judge’s initial order stated that overflow seating will be available in another courtroom, where an audio feed of the proceedings will be played. But after media outcry, Quaintance issued an amended order the next day stating that a video feed would be available in that overflow courtroom as well.
Walker, the attorney for the media coalition, in a March 29 letter to Judge Ivy Bernhardson, the Chief Judge of Minnesota’s Fourth Judicial District, asked that the trial be moved to a larger courtroom, or a second overflow room be reserved for media. “The Coalition is dismayed that, on the eve of trial, uncertainties remain about whether the press and public will be able to adequately monitor one of the highest profile trials the State of Minnesota has ever seen,” Walker wrote. In response, Judges Bernhardson and Quaintance on April 1 added seven more media seats to the existing courtroom, according to the Star Tribune.
Quaintance’s order also banned all electronic or recording devices, including cell phones, tablets, and laptops, from the entire floor of the courthouse where the trial was taking place.
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
Mohamed Noor, far right, enters the courthouse with his attorneys prior to the start of the murder trial against the former Minneapolis, Minnesota, police officer, charged in the 2017 fatal shooting of Justine Ruszczyk Damond.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,"Minneapolis Star Tribune, Minnesota Public Radio",,,,,,Judge Kathryn L. Quaintance Reporter assaulted by heavyweight boxer during on-camera interview,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-assaulted-heavyweight-boxer-during-camera-interview/,2019-07-25 20:42:37.653895+00:00,2019-10-16 16:06:18.905974+00:00,2019-10-16 16:06:18.739827+00:00,,Assault,,,,Jennifer Ravalo (Vegas Sports Daily),,2019-03-23,False,Costa Mesa,California (CA),33.64113,-117.91867,"A heavyweight boxer forced a kiss on a reporter during an on-camera interview following a match in Costa Mesa, California, on March 23, 2019.
Jennifer Ravalo, a Vegas Sports Daily contributor and web host who uses the byline Jennifer SuShe, was conducting a video interview following Bulgarian Kubrat Pulev’s knockout victory when he grabbed her face, reached around her back and kissed her on the lips.
In the video of the incident, Ravalo initially appears to laugh it off, saying, “All right, thank you,” as Pulev walks away. Ravalo later lodged a complaint with the California State Athletic Commission asserting that the kiss was without her consent and unwelcome. Ravalo also said Pulev sexually harassed her a second time, moments after the interview.
“I was immediately shocked and embarrassed, and didn’t know how to respond,” Ravalo said while reading from a prepared statement at a press conference following the incident. “Next, I walked to the table to put my items in my backpack. He grabbed both of my buttocks and squeezed with both of his hands. Then he walked away without saying anything to me and laughed.”
The commission suspended Pulev’s boxing license for six months in May, the New York Daily News reported, citing him for violating rules prohibiting conduct considered a “discredit to boxing.” Pulev was also fined $2,500 and ordered to attended a sexual harassment awareness course.
On July 22, the commission voted unanimously to lift the suspension on Pulev with the caveat that another violation could result in a lifetime suspension.
“It’s disappointing he didn’t do the full six months,” Ravalo said. “I don’t know if he’s really sorry. I won’t know until I see how he acts.”
Attorney Gloria Allred, who is representing Ravalo, has also spoken out against comments made by Pulev’s promoter, Bob Arum, Reuters reported. In an interview on iFL TV posted to YouTube on June 15, Arum claimed that Ravalo had been “fooling around” with Pulev ahead of the fight in March and that Pulev’s suspension was “totally crazy” as he “did nothing wrong.”
Allred called the statement “blatantly false,” pointing to the fact that both Pulev and Ravalo testified before the commission that they first met at the weigh-in the day before the fight, The Washington Post reported.
Ravalo told KPBS that the incident and subsequent fallout has negatively impacted her career. Arum and his promotion company, which represents almost 100 boxers, will not allow her to cover their events and some boxers have been standoffish about providing interviews, she said.
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
The California State Athletic Commission recently reinstated the boxing license of Kubrat Pulev, seen here at a 2017 press conference, following his suspension for forcibly kissing and groping a reporter.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,public figure,yes,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,,sexual assault,,,,, Pennsylvania borough settles lawsuit after punitively withdrawing advertising from local newspaper,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/pennsylvania-borough-settles-lawsuit-after-punitively-withdrawing-advertising-local-newspaper/,2019-04-05 17:59:11.309012+00:00,2020-03-20 19:08:12.568001+00:00,2020-03-20 19:08:12.485575+00:00,,Other Incident,,,,,,2019-03-19,False,Borough of Middletown,Pennsylvania (PA),None,None,"On March 19, 2019, the Borough of Middletown in Pennsylvania agreed to a settlement on a lawsuit filed by the Press & Journal, a local weekly. The newspaper sued after the mayor and borough council sent an official policy letter withdrawing advertising dollars from the Press & Journal in retaliation for the paper’s reporting and editorializing.
Joseph Sukle, publisher and vice president of the Press & Journal, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that there had been contentions with the borough over the last year or so.
“I guess they didn’t like what we were reporting or the editorial viewpoints that we expressed, and then they just cut off all communications and not talking to us or our reporters, not commenting,” Sukle said.
Sukle said he noticed that the borough stopped publishing public notices in the newspaper in June 2018. When he reached out to the borough to see if there was a problem, he was told he would shortly receive an official communication.
Mayor James Curry III and six out of seven of the Middletown Borough Council members sent Sukle a signed policy letter the next month. The letter claimed that the newspaper’s reporting and editorials had been “detrimental to the efforts and initiatives of the Borough” and that it has contained “disheartening and demoralizing instances of distasteful sensationalism, misrepresentation of information and statements, unfounded speculation, questionable sourcing and observable bias.”
The letter ended: “Should the Press and Journal demonstrate reliability to professionally and responsibly report on the actions and statements of Borough Council and Management, as well [sic] critiquing us from a founded and balanced position, we will be happy to patron your newspaper again.”
In an editorial following the settlement, the Press & Journal wrote that the letter took no pains to hide the meaning of the advertising ban: “In short, the letter was evidence of an unapologetic retaliation aimed at speech protected by the First Amendment.”
In an effort to resolve the issue out of court, Aaron Martin, the newspaper’s attorney, appeared at a Sept. 18 borough council meeting to read a letter requesting a retraction of the policy letter. It argued that the council’s withdrawal of the borough’s advertising after a decades-long business relationship was a First Amendment violation.
“This attempted punishment of a member of the free press—requiring a kind of probationary penitence prior to restoration—is a naked attempt to coerce favorable press coverage,” the letter reads.
The Press & Journal provided copies of the letter to each council member and Mayor Curry.
“While our attorney was standing there, and just about the time he was finished reading it,” Sukle said, “the mayor actually takes the letter, takes it in his hands, rips it apart, and tosses it on the desk in full view of everybody: fellow councilors, our attorney. It was just an incredible action by an elected official.”
In this photo collage from a recording, Borough of Middletown Mayor James Curry III, back left, rips a letter from the Press & Journal during the Sept. 18, 2018, borough council meeting. The recording can be found at: https://middletownborough.com/event/borough-council-meeting-16/
The paper asked that the council respond within seven days to its request in an effort to resolve the dispute out of court. Sukle told the Tracker that, in the end, they waited more than two weeks.
On Oct. 23, 2018, the law firm of Mette, Evans & Woodside filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the borough on the newspaper’s behalf, asserting violations of the Press & Journal’s rights to free speech and free press under the First Amendment.
Within days, Council President Angela Lloyd issued a press release stating, “The global services offered by the Press and Journal do not meet the Borough’s needs.” She also charged that the suit had “no merit in fact or law.”
On Nov. 14, the borough attempted to have the suit dismissed. However, U.S. District Court Judge Christopher Conner ruled against the borough and denied its request for dismissal on Dec. 13, stating that while no formal contract existed between the borough and the Press & Journal, the borough had placed more than 200 notices over the previous 10 years, establishing a reasonable expectation of future business.
Though government bodies are required to publish certain public notices in publications available to the populations they serve, there are no federally mandated guidelines. In order to not violate the first amendment rights of publications, government entities cannot take into account the content or viewpoint of the news service as a criteria for placing public notices.
“Judge Conner’s decision will likely provide support to other media outlets facing retaliatory action by government for their reporting and editorializing,” Martin, the newspaper’s attorney, said in the Press & Journal’s editorial.
Under the terms of the settlement reached in March, the borough is required to spell out its criteria for placing advertisements on bases that are “content-neutral and viewpoint-neutral consistent with the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.” Of the six council members who signed the official letter to the Press & Journal, five remain on the council that established these criteria through a resolution.
Sukle, however, told the Tracker that the criteria are written in a way that excludes the Press & Journal because it is a weekly publication. Further, Sukle said, the mayor has continued to restrict the newspaper’s access, most significantly to the police department.
“It’s gone so far that our staff—almost all of our staff—is blocked from the mayor’s Facebook pages, so we can’t access those,” Sukle said.
The newspaper did not ask for damages in the suit, though the settlement did require that Middletown Borough pay $22,000 to the Press & Journal’s law firm for legal costs.
In the editorial discussing the settlement, the Press & Journal wrote that it is undeterred by the borough council and mayor’s attempts to sway the newspapers reporting or editorializing: “We are not the borough council’s enemy. And we are not its PR firm.”
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
A signed letter from Borough of Middletown, Pennsylvania, council members and mayor explicitly links withdrawal of the borough's advertising dollars to what it considers "detrimental" editorial content.
The State Department barred the department’s press corps from a briefing call with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on March 18, 2019, stating that only “faith-based media” were permitted to participate. The department also took the unusual step of refusing to release a full transcript or a list of attendees.
The phone briefing was to discuss “international religious freedom” ahead of the secretary’s five-day trip to Beirut, Jerusalem, and Kuwait City. CNN reported that one member of the department’s press corps was invited, but was un-invited after RSVPing. CNN also attempted to RSVP to the call, but received no reply from the department.
Despite repeated inquiries and complaints from members of the press corps, The State Department announced that it would not provide a transcript of the call, a list of the faith-based media outlets allowed to participate, the criteria used to determine which outlets would be invited nor answer if the media outlets invited included a range of faiths.
Religion News Service reported that it was invited to participate in the call, though it stated that the publication “is not a faith-based media organization, but rather a secular news service that covers religion, spirituality and ethics.”
RNS also included a list of publications that asked questions during the briefing call: the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Algemeiner (which covers Jewish and Israel news), World Magazine (which publicizes its content as “reporting the news from a Christian worldview”), America Magazine (“the Jesuit perspective on news, faith and culture”) and The Leaven, the newspaper of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas. CNN reported that a reporter with EWTN Global Catholic Television said the outlet was not originally invited but asked permission to participate.
In a statement sent to CNN, a State Department spokesperson said that while some press engagements, including department press briefings, teleconferences, briefings and sprays are open to any interested domestic or international press, that is not always the case. “Other engagements are more targeted or designed for topic, region, or audience-specific media. This has always been the case,” they said.
Former State Department spokesperson John Kirby, now a global affairs analyst for CNN, told the outlet that he has “certainly seen times when particular journalists or columnists have been targeted for inclusion on given topics.” However, “to exclude beat reporters from something as universally relevant as religious freedom in the Middle East strikes me as not only self-defeating but incredibly small-minded.”
Kirby also tweeted in response to news that no transcript of the briefing would be released. “This is absolutely not OK. Cabinet officials are public servants. They work for us. When they speak to reporters on the record everything they say—in its entirety—needs to be released at the earliest appropriate time,” he wrote.
This is absolutely not OK. Cabinet officials are public servants. They work for us. When they speak to reporters on the record everything they say — in its entirety — needs to be released at the earliest appropriate time. That’s proper accountability. That’s what we deserve. https://t.co/OBJht2BaAK
— John Kirby (@johnfkirby63) March 19, 2019
Standard norms are that when it concerns Cabinet-level officials like Pompeo, the department is expected to provide a transcript of the meeting remarks and a list of who attended to any interested journalist.
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
The same day the State Department barred members of the press corps from an earlier briefing call with him, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks to the media on his plane after departing for the Middle East.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,"CNN, Press Corps",press briefings,,,,,"Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, U.S. State Department" "Judge orders ProPublica Illinois, other media, not to publish details of juvenile court case",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/judge-orders-propublica-illinois-other-media-not-publish-details-juvenile-court-case/,2019-03-27 17:42:06.855461+00:00,2020-02-28 17:51:57.402974+00:00,2020-02-28 17:51:57.336264+00:00,(2019-04-15 13:33:00+00:00) Judge lifts some restrictions on publishing ban,Prior Restraint,,,,,,2019-03-14,False,Chicago,Illinois (IL),41.85003,-87.65005,"On March 14, 2019, a Cook County Juvenile Court judge ordered ProPublica Illinois and other news organizations not to publish certain details about an ongoing child welfare case in the Chicago-based juvenile court.
In the course of reporting on child welfare issues, a ProPublica Illinois reporter had learned about the case. On March 7, after the reporter tried to attend a hearing in the case, the hearing was closed to the public and press.
Bruce Boyer — a Loyola University law professor whose legal clinic represents the foster children in the case — then requested that the court issue an order prohibiting news outlets from publishing details about the case. On March 14, Patricia Martin, the presiding judge of the juvenile court’s child protection division, granted the request and issued a prior restraint order.
Documents related to the juvenile court case, including Martin’s prior restraint order, have not been made public. But on March 19, ProPublica Illinois reported on the existence of the prior restraint order, describing it as an order “forbidding news organizations from publishing the names, addresses or any demographic information that would identify the children or the foster parents in a case ProPublica Illinois has been investigating.”
ProPublica Illinois was not initially a party to the case, but it asked the court to intervene in order to oppose the prior restraint order. On March 19, the court granted ProPublica Illinois’ motion to intervene, and on March 22, the news organization filed its opposition to the prior restraint order. A court hearing on the prior restraint order is now scheduled for April 5.
Prior restraint orders are relatively unusual and should not be confused with sealing orders, which are far more commonly employed by courts. A sealing order is used when a court needs to allow attorneys and parties to a case access to sensitive information; the sealing order just prohibits the attorneys and parties from turning around and disclosing that information to the public. A prior restraint order is much more serious, since it prohibits a third party with no connection to the case (often a news organization) from publishing information that they learned on their own.
ProPublica Illinois is opposing Martin’s prior restraint order because it sees it as an unconstitutional attempt by the government to interfere in its editorial process.
“The Supreme Court has made it very clear that courts are not supposed to be editors,” ProPublica President Richard Tofel told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. “One of the Constitution’s guarantees is that editors should be editors.”
Tofel is correct that legal precedent is on ProPublica Illinois’ side. In 1971, the Supreme Court famously ruled that the government’s attempts to prevent The New York Times and the Washington Post from publishing a classified history of the Vietnam War violated the news organizations’ First Amendment rights. This “Pentagon Papers” case established the precedent that, except in extreme circumstances, prior restraints on the press are unconstitutional.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
Cleveland political reporter Seth Richardson was removed from the Ohio Democratic Party press release mailing list by staff in March 2019.
Richardson posted a thread on Twitter that he had apparently been “frozen out” from covering the Ohio Democratic Party, and suggested he may have been removed from the press distribution list in response to his reporting.
So I normally hate threads like these, but I've tried solving this privately and it feels like it deserves to be out there in the open. @DavidPepper and @kirstinalv are apparently trying to freeze me out of covering the @OHDems 1/
— Seth A. Richardson (@SethARichardson) May 7, 2019
Richardson, who reports for Cleveland.com, noted that not receiving the press releases made it difficult for him to do his job.
Ohio Democratic Party Chair David Pepper responded to Richardson on Twitter, and told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was not aware of the problem until he saw the tweets. Pepper confirmed that Richardson was added back to the press release list immediately.
Seth, I was not aware of this and have already made clear you should be on the press list.
— David Pepper (@DavidPepper) May 7, 2019
Take care.
“Any suggestion that I requested a reporter be removed from an email list because of a story, general coverage or any other reason is false,” he said.
“We pride ourselves on not only being open to the press, but in supporting the freedom of the press at all levels,” Pepper wrote to the Tracker. “This was a poor decision made at a staff level that I immediately reversed when it came to my attention.""
Pepper said that while there is not a written policy for removing reporters from the distribution, he said that practically, “we do not remove people from our press list,” and would never ask anyone to be removed. Pepper emphasized that the Ohio Democratic Party welcomes press coverage.
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
A Sacramento police officer shoved Sacramento Bee Senior Photographer Hector Amezcua to the ground with his bicycle during a protest on March 4, 2019, breaking his equipment and interrupting his broadcast.
More than 100 people gathered in a Trader Joe’s parking lot around 6:30 p.m. that day to protest the district attorney’s decision not to bring criminal charges against the officers who shot and killed Stephon Clark, a 22-year-old black man, last March. After about two hours, the march circled back to the parking lot where it had begun.
Police spokesperson Sgt. Vance Chandler told NPR that officers gave 10 orders to disperse over a two-hour period. “Shortly after we started monitoring the group at [approximately] 7:30 p.m., we established the group was unlawfully assembling by standing in the street,” Chandler said.
Protest organizers also encouraged people to leave, NPR reported, and many did. Soon after that, a row of officers in riot gear formed a line and began slowly advancing, leaving only one exit for those remaining: Down 51st Street.
Amezcua told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was broadcasting a livestream as officers on bicycles began pushing marchers into a flower bed next to a large Trader Joe’s sign. “As I hugged the corner of the sign with my right shoulder I felt bicycle officers closing in on me. I felt an officer hit me with his bike from my left side,” Amezcua said. “I lost my balance for a second and looked into [the] officer’s face as I turned. He screamed, ‘I told you to get out of the way,’ I assume as motive for hitting me.”
He wasn’t aware that his camera had been damaged in the collision until his colleague Sam Stanton walked up to him to tell them they were no longer broadcasting live. The HDMI port and cable on his Nikon Z-6 camera were broken.
The Bee reported that the assault was witnessed by National Lawyers Guild legal observers at the scene as well as Bee journalists.
Amezcua stayed behind at the shopping center where his company car was parked as officers on bikes and in riot gear began circling the protesters and forcing them on to 51st Street. When he and Stanton switched the live feed to his cell phone they continued reporting, staying around 20 feet behind the officers who continued cordoning the protestors onto the Highway 50 overpass. A line of officers, initially out of view of the protesters, was waiting at the end of the bridge.
Police had received reports that at least five cars had been keyed, according to a tweet from Sacramento Police Department Capt. Norm Leong, and shortly after 10 p.m. officers began arresting those that had not dispersed.
“As we walked closer we observed a large group of people on the overpass at 51st Street and Highway 50 surrounded by police officers on bikes and riot police with nowhere to go,” Amezcua said. “At this point I noticed our colleague Dale Kasler among those in the group.”
The Bee reported that 84 people were arrested over the next four hours. The Tracker documented the arrests of three journalists, including Bee reporter Kasler, Sacramento Business Journal reporter Scott Rodd and student journalist William Coburn.
Amezcua told the Tracker that he believes that he, Stanton, and other journalists from Univision, KCRA, NPA and ABC 10 were not arrested because they had not stayed with the group that was corralled at the end of the overpass.
Kettling — surrounding protesters in order to prevent any exit, often followed by indiscriminate detentions and arrests — is used across the country as a protest response despite the risk it poses to journalists covering the protest.
“I’m very disappointed the protest ended the way it did. I have many questions about what went on that precipitated the order to disperse and the subsequent arrests,” Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg tweeted in the early morning on March 5. “No matter the reason an order to disperse was given, no member of the press should be detained for doing their job.”
Sacramento's police department and public safety accountability office are conducting ongoing internal investigations into the police tactics used during the protest, The Bee reported.
Amezcua told the Tracker that people have asked him why they stayed after orders were given to disperse. “My response has been Section D of California PC 409.5,” Amezcua said.
That section of the penal code allows for any member of the news media to remain after orders to clear an area have been given.
Sacramento police officers watch protesters in March 2018 following the funeral of Stephon Clark, a young black man. Protests broke out in 2019 after the announcement that officers involved in his shooting won’t be charged.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, court verdict, protest",,,,, Three journalists arrested while covering Stephon Clark protest in Sacramento,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/three-journalists-arrested-while-covering-stephon-clark-protest-sacramento/,2019-03-13 16:32:58.972095+00:00,2022-08-05 18:51:24.769921+00:00,2022-08-05 18:51:24.700540+00:00,(2019-04-25 11:55:00+00:00) Sacramento Police Department changes arrest status to detention,Arrest/Criminal Charge,,,,Scott Rodd (Sacramento Business Journal),,2019-03-04,False,Sacramento,California (CA),38.58157,-121.4944,"Sacramento Business Journal reporter Scott Rodd was one of three journalists arrested on March 4, 2019, in Sacramento, California, as police blocked off exits and began arresting those remaining at a protest march.
Sacramento Bee reporter Dale Kasler and California State University student reporter William Coburn were also arrested. A Bee photojournalist, Hector Amezcua, was shoved to the ground by a bike officer when police began to cordon protesters.
About 100 people gathered around 6:30 p.m. in East Sacramento to protest the district attorney’s decision not to bring criminal charges against officers in the 2018 shooting death of Stephon Clark, a 22-year-old black man. The march proceeded uneventfully and eventually circled back to where it had begun, in a Trader Joe’s parking lot in the Fab 40s neighborhood.
Police spokesperson Sgt. Vance Chandler told NPR that officers gave 10 orders to disperse over a two-hour period. “Shortly after we started monitoring the group at [approximately] 7:30 p.m., we established the group was unlawfully assembling by standing in the street,” Chandler said.
Protest organizers also reportedly encouraged attendees to leave, and many did. Soon after, however, a row of riot gear-clad officers formed a line and began slowly advancing while vans of bicycle officers blocked all side roads, leaving the only exit down 51st Street.
In a video Rodd shared on Twitter, police officers informed those present that they would be able to leave if they continued down 51st toward the overpass.
The DA's office said it won't pursue charges against the 80+ people arrested at last week's #StephonClark protests.
— Scott Rodd (@SRodd_CPR) March 10, 2019
But the city and PD are pursuing several investigations into what happened. I captured the protests at a pivotal moment when riot police were deployed.
(🔊 ON) pic.twitter.com/wuu3YkX26M
Police had received reports that at least five cars had been keyed, according to a tweet from Sacramento Police Department Capt. Norm Leong, and shortly after 10 p.m. officers began arresting those that had not dispersed.
The Bee reported that 84 people were arrested over the next four hours.
Rodd and Coburn were among those zip-tied and left sitting on a curb for 2 ½ hours before police loaded them into vans heading to Cal Expo, a state fair ground, to be processed. The Bee’s Kasler was also zip-tied and detained, but released with a certificate of “arrestee exonerated.”
I also captured when police encircled protesters on the Highway 50 overpass after directing the group down 51st Street.
— Scott Rodd (@SRodd_CPR) March 10, 2019
The video shows the moment police began arresting protesters--starting with several clergy members--and ends with my own arrest.
(🔊 ON) pic.twitter.com/VROrCXKcNO
Rodd was wearing a black T-shirt with “PRESS” in bold, white letters across the front and back, and a hat displaying Sacramento Business Journal credentials. Rodd told his arresting officer and a second officer at the scene that he was a reporter, but neither reacted. Then, he said, he tried to continue doing his job.
“I started asking one of the officers questions about what precipitated the arrest, what situation made them decide that they needed to arrest people,” Rodd told the Tracker. “After a few questions the officer said, ‘I can’t answer those questions because you’re a member of the press and I’m not at liberty to talk about it.’ He acknowledged that I was a member of the press and I was there, I was in flexicuffs, I was detained, and it looked like I was going to be processed.”
After more than four hours in detention, Rodd was released around 2:30 a.m. on March 5 with a ticket for failure to disperse and a court hearing scheduled on June 4.
The Sacramento County district attorney’s office announced a few days later that it would not charge those arrested at the protest, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. Sacramento's police department and public safety accountability office are conducting ongoing internal investigations into the police tactics used during the protest, The Bee reported.
“I’m very disappointed the protest ended the way it did. I have many questions about what went on that precipitated the order to disperse and the subsequent arrests,” Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg tweeted in the early morning on March 5. “No matter the reason an order to disperse was given, no member of the press should be detained for doing their job.”
Kettling — surrounding protesters in order to prevent any exit, often followed by indiscriminate detentions and arrests — is used across the country as a protest response despite the risk it poses to journalists covering the protest.
Journalist Scott Rodd created a map of the events around the protest and subsequent arrests. Key coloring and descriptions updated by the Tracker.
A Nevada state court judge issued an order on March 4, 2019, to compel an online journalist to reveal his confidential sources, ruling that because he did not work for a print publication he did not qualify as a journalist—and was thus not covered by Nevada's shield law at the time.
Sam Toll founded the online news site the Storey Teller, covering Storey County, Nevada, in February 2017 and joined the state press association in August 2017. Toll was sued for defamation in December 2017 by Lance Gilman, a Storey County commissioner and owner of the Mustang Ranch, a legal brothel. In five stories, published between April and December 2017, Toll published claims that Gilman lives outside of Storey County, meaning he fails to meet the residency requirement to hold county office under Nevada law. The defamation suit demands Toll produces the sources of any information he procured before August 2017.
Nevada's shield law—considered to be one of the most robust in the nation—states that "[n]o reporter, former reporter or editorial employee of any newspaper, periodical or press association ... may be required to disclose the source of any information procured or obtained by such person, in any legal proceedings, trial or investigation." But because this law was passed in 1969, some 14 years before the inception of the internet, it does not explicitly extend this protection to reporters for online publications.
In what has been criticized as an unduly narrow reading of the law, Judge James Wilson found that "[b]ecause Toll was not a reporter for a newspaper or press association before August of 2017 he was not covered by the news media privilege before August 2017, and therefore, the motion to compel must be granted as to any source of information obtained or procured by Toll before August of 2017."
Wilson ruled that because the Storey Teller is an online-only publication, it "is not a newspaper and, therefore the news media privilege is not available to Toll under the 'reporter of a newspaper' provision of [Nevada's shield law]."
In at least two other instances, Nevada courts have ruled that web-only publications were covered by the shield law, according to the Reno Gazette Journal. “My understanding is that it’s the first ruling of its kind and actually conflicts with other rulings,” Richard Karpel, executive director of the Nevada Press Association, told the newspaper.
Toll's lawyers filed a petition for writ of prohibition with the state Supreme Court on March 18. "While we respect Judge Wilson, we fundamentally disagree that an online journalist should be compelled to reveal their sources because they publish news articles in an online newspaper instead of traditional print newspaper," Luke Busby, one of Toll's attorneys, wrote in a statement. "Such a ruling undermines the protection of fundamental Constitutional principles of freedom of speech and of the press and stifles the free flow of information that is essential for any free society to exist."
On March 22, the Supreme Court stayed Gilman’s discovery request, pending review of Toll’s writ of prohibition. A deposition had been scheduled for March 25.
Other critics opined that Judge Wilson was splitting hairs in his order. "Unlike too many jobs in this country there is no such thing as a licensed journalist," newspaper columnist Thomas Mitchell wrote in the Elko Daily Free Press.
Toll told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he would go to jail, if necessary, to protect his sources. But he worried that if this ruling stands, it could have a chilling effect on online media in Nevada.
"It would be potentially devastating for people who report on matters of public interest to not be able to protect whistleblowers," Toll said. "Do I relish going to jail? No. But for the people behind me, who currently have an online-only presence, I owe it to them to stand my ground."
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
A Nevada judge has ruled that journalist Sam Toll is not protected under the state's shield laws because he publishes exclusively online.
William Coburn, a reporter for the California State University student newspaper, The State Hornet, was one of three journalists arrested while covering a protest march on March 4, 2019, in Sacramento, California.
Then-Sacramento Business Journal reporter Scott Rodd and Sacramento Bee reporter Dale Kasler were also arrested that night. A Bee photojournalist, Hector Amezcua, was shoved to the ground by a bike officer when police began to cordon protesters.
About 100 people gathered around 6:30 p.m. in East Sacramento to protest the district attorney’s decision not to bring criminal charges against officers in the 2018 shooting death of Stephon Clark, a 22-year-old black man. The march proceeded uneventfully and eventually circled back to where it had begun, in a Trader Joe’s parking lot in the Fab 40s neighborhood.
Coburn told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the march had started uneventfully, and that fewer people had gathered than in the days after Clark was killed. After about two hours, the march circled back to the parking lot where it had begun.
“It looked to me like the protest was winding down,” Coburn said.
Police spokesperson Sgt. Vance Chandler told NPR that officers gave 10 orders to disperse over a two-hour period. “Shortly after we started monitoring the group at [approximately] 7:30 p.m., we established the group was unlawfully assembling by standing in the street,” Chandler said.
Protest organizers also encouraged people to leave, Coburn said, and many did. Others were still mingling in the Trader Joe’s parking lot, including a few photographers, and Coburn joined them to conduct a few final interviews. Then, he said, a row of riot gear-clad officers formed a line and began slowly advancing, leaving the only exit down 51st Street.
“The police just started marching forward, taking a few steps and then stopping,” Coburn told the Tracker. “By stepping forward, we all started moving along 51st Street looking for places to get out, but all of them were blocked off, either by vans or by a few bike cops. It looked like it was just the two bike cops going over the overpass, so we assumed they just wanted us out of this neighborhood.”
A line of officers, unseeable at first, waited for them at the end of the bridge.
Police had received reports that at least five cars had been keyed, according to a tweet from Sacramento Police Department Capt. Norm Leong, and shortly after 10 p.m. officers began arresting those that had not dispersed.
The Bee reported that 84 people were arrested over the next four hours.
Coburn told the Tracker that he had a professional camera around his neck, and when officers came to arrest him he said repeatedly that he was a reporter.
“After a while I just stopped saying [that I was a journalist] because they just didn’t know what to do about it,” he said.
While he was originally in handcuffs, Coburn told the Tracker that once officers sat him down on the curb they switched him into flexi-cuffs. He sat that way for 2 ½ hours before police loaded all those arrested into vans heading to Cal Expo, a state fair ground, to be processed.
After more than four hours in detention, Coburn was released around 2:30 a.m. on March 5 with a ticket for failure to disperse and a court hearing scheduled on June 4.
The Sacramento County district attorney’s office announced a few days later that it would not charge those arrested at the protest, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. Sacramento's police department and public safety accountability office are conducting ongoing internal investigations into the police tactics used during the protest, The Bee reported.
“I’m very disappointed the protest ended the way it did. I have many questions about what went on that precipitated the order to disperse and the subsequent arrests,” Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg tweeted in the early morning on March 5. “No matter the reason an order to disperse was given, no member of the press should be detained for doing their job.”
Kettling—surrounding protesters in order to prevent any exit, often followed by indiscriminate detentions and arrests—is used across the country as a protest response despite the risk it poses to journalists covering the protest.
Editor's Note: William Coburn originally reported to the Tracker that he was wearing university-issued press credentials when he was arrested, but it was later confirmed that he was not. This article was updated March 3, 2020.
A line of police officers follow Sacramento, California, protesters who gathered in response to the district attorney’s decision to not prosecute officers after the shooting death of a young black man.
",arrested and released,charges dropped,Sacramento Police Department,2019-03-05,2019-03-04,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, court verdict, kettle, protest, student journalism",,rioting: failure to disperse,,, Sacramento Bee reporter detained while covering protest march,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/sacramento-bee-reporter-detained-while-covering-protest-march/,2020-03-12 15:56:38.779285+00:00,2022-08-05 18:55:35.365069+00:00,2022-08-05 18:55:35.305688+00:00,,Arrest/Criminal Charge,,,,Dale Kasler (The Sacramento Bee),,2019-03-04,False,Sacramento,California (CA),38.58157,-121.4944,"Sacramento Bee reporter Dale Kasler was one of three journalists arrested on March 4, 2019, in Sacramento, California, as police blocked off exits and began arresting those remaining at a protest march.
Then-Sacramento Business Journal reporter Scott Rodd and California State University student reporter William Coburn were also arrested. A Bee photojournalist, Hector Amezcua, was shoved to the ground by a bike officer when police began to cordon protesters.
About 100 people gathered around 6:30 p.m. in East Sacramento to protest the district attorney’s decision not to bring criminal charges against officers in the 2018 shooting death of Stephon Clark, a 22-year-old black man. The march proceeded uneventfully and eventually circled back to where it had begun, in a Trader Joe’s parking lot in the Fab 40s neighborhood.
Police spokesperson Sgt. Vance Chandler told NPR that officers gave 10 orders to disperse over a two-hour period. “Shortly after we started monitoring the group at [approximately] 7:30 p.m., we established the group was unlawfully assembling by standing in the street,” Chandler said.
Protest organizers also reportedly encouraged attendees to leave, and many did. Soon after, however, a row of riot gear-clad officers formed a line and began slowly advancing while vans of bicycle officers blocked all side roads, leaving the only exit down 51st Street toward an overpass.
Kasler told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that a line of officers, unseeable at first, waited for them at the end of the bridge.
Police had received reports that at least five cars had been keyed, according to a tweet from Sacramento Police Department Capt. Norm Leong, and shortly after 10 p.m. officers began arresting those that had not dispersed.
The Sacramento Bee reported that 84 people were arrested over the next four hours.
Kasler was live-streaming when two officers approached him and zip-tied his hands behind his back, placing his phone in his pants pocket. “I had held up my Bee badge and explained that I was a journalist but was taken into custody anyway,” Kasler wrote in an account for The Bee.
Within an hour, The Bee’s publisher and editor had made calls to have Kasler released. “Some higher-ups were summoned, I was pulled out of the line and my zip-ties were cut,” Kasler recounted.
Kasler told the Tracker that after giving a brief statement to a sergeant he was given a certificate of release, on which the officer had checked the box for “arrestee exonerated.”
Reporters Rodd and Coburn were also zip-tied, and waited on a curb for 2 ½ hours before police loaded them onto vans heading to Cal Expo, a state fair ground, to be processed.
The Sacramento County district attorney’s office announced a few days later that it would not charge those arrested at the protest, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. Sacramento's police department and public safety accountability office are conducting ongoing internal investigations into the police tactics used during the protest, The Bee reported.
“I’m very disappointed the protest ended the way it did. I have many questions about what went on that precipitated the order to disperse and the subsequent arrests,” Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg tweeted in the early morning on March 5. “No matter the reason an order to disperse was given, no member of the press should be detained for doing their job.”
Kettling—surrounding protesters in order to prevent any exit, often followed by indiscriminate detentions and arrests—is used across the country as a protest response despite the risk it poses to journalists covering the protest.
“I thought I had made it clear to them as they were detaining me that I was a reporter,” Kasler told the Tracker. “I was telling them that I’m with The Sacramento Bee and my colleagues on the other side of the police line, who were not detained, were shouting, ‘This is a reporter! This is a reporter! This is a reporter!’ And it didn’t seem to matter.”
Editor’s Note: While Kasler told the Tracker that he was not told that he was under arrest nor read his Miranda rights, and his experience is widely considered a detainment, the Tracker documents it as an arrest. In our methodology, his detainment for an hour in a context where police had announced that those failing to disperse would be arrested — and were indiscriminately detaining those present ahead of processing — coupled with the certificate noting “arrestee exonerated,” categorizes his experience as an arrest.
Sacramento Bee reporter Dale Kasler, center, was live-streaming a planned protest when officers put him in flexible cuffs. Police arrested more than 80 people in conjunction with the march.
",detained and released without being processed,charges dropped,Sacramento Police Department,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, court verdict, kettle, protest",,,,, San Francisco police seize multiple phone records of independent journalist Bryan Carmody,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/san-francisco-police-seize-multiple-phone-records-independent-journalist-bryan-carmody/,2019-06-11 14:04:17.351126+00:00,2020-06-16 18:51:56.527398+00:00,2020-06-16 18:51:56.433811+00:00,"(2020-05-26 14:51:00+00:00) San Francisco police agree to inform officers of press protections following raid, (2019-07-18 12:00:00+00:00) Judge quashes warrant used to seize phone records, (2019-08-16 12:31:00+00:00) Judge quashes final warrant used in search of Bryan Carmody’s phone records, (2020-03-03 10:36:00+00:00) San Francisco to pay $369,000 for illegal raids of journalist Bryan Carmody, (2019-08-02 16:20:00+00:00) San Francisco judges quash three more warrants used in raid of independent journalist Bryan Carmody home, office and phone records",Subpoena/Legal Order,,,,Bryan Carmody,,2019-03-01,False,San Francisco,California (CA),37.77493,-122.41942,"In March and April 2019, San Francisco police seized phone records for freelance journalist Bryan Carmody as part of an investigation into one of Carmody’s confidential sources.
On May 31, the San Francisco Police Department formally notified Carmody that it had obtained a warrant to seize his mobile phone records. In a letter to Carmody, SFPD Sgt. Joseph Obidi wrote: “Mr. Carmody is being investigated as a co-conspirator in the theft of the San Francisco Police report, involving the death investigation of Jeff Adachi.”
Adachi, the San Francisco Public Defender, died unexpectedly on Feb. 22. Shortly after, Carmody obtained a copy of an SFPD report into Adachi’s death. The police report included salacious details about Adachi’s drug use and possible extramarital affair, and Carmody used the leaked report as the centerpiece of a story about Adachi’s death. Carmody sold his story on Adachi’s death to local TV news stations, who ran segments about the police report.
Sgt. Obidi’s May 31 letter to Carmody stated that the SFPD had executed a search warrant on March 1 to compel Verizon to turn over Carmody’s mobile phone records, including “subscriber information, call detail records, SMS usage, mobile data usage, cell tower data,” for the period of time between 8:33 p.m. on Feb. 22 and 10:44 p.m. on Feb. 23.
On June 1, Carmody received two more letters from Sgt. Obidi, notifying him that police had executed further warrants on March 13 and April 16 for his mobile phone records.
The March 13 warrant, like the earlier one executed on March 1, requested Verizon hand over Carmody’s mobile phone records for the same time period—between 8:33 p.m. on Feb. 22 and 10:44 p.m. on Feb. 23.
The April 16 warrant was served on both Verizon and AT&T and requested that the two carriers hand over mobile phone records for three different phone numbers for the time period between 1:13 p.m. on April 12 and 11:59 p.m. on April 15.
In addition to the warrants to seize Carmody’s mobile phone records, the SFPD obtained search warrants for Carmody’s home and office. On May 10, SFPD officers raided Carmody’s home and office and the reporter’s notebooks, computers, phones, and cameras.
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
Through a certified letter after the fact, independent journalist Bryan Carmody learned of three separate search warrants executed on his phone records by the San Francisco police department.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,"Verizon, AT&T",telecom company,warrant,None,,,,,,, "White House bars four print reporters from covering dinner between U.S., North Korea leaders",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/white-house-bars-four-print-reporters-covering-dinner-between-us-north-korea-leaders/,2019-03-04 15:40:01.934331+00:00,2020-03-19 15:20:05.581661+00:00,2020-03-19 15:20:05.389910+00:00,,Denial of Access,,,,"Eli Stokols, Jeff Mason, Jonathan Lemire, Justin Sink",,2019-02-27,False,Hanoi,Vietnam,None,None,"One day into President Trump’s diplomatic trip to Vietnam, the White House banned four U.S. journalists traveling in the press pool from covering the president’s dinner with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, The Washington Post reported.
On Feb. 27, 2019, shortly before the dinner was to take place in Hanoi, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told the press pool that only the photographers and news camera crews would be allowed to cover the dinner. After boisterous protests, including from pool photojournalists, Sanders conceded that one print reporter would be permitted to attend: Vivian Salama of The Wall Street Journal.
The four pool reporters who were barred: Jonathan Lemire of The Associated Press, Jeff Mason of Reuters, Justin Sink of Bloomberg News, and Eli Stokols of the Los Angeles Times.
The Washington Post reported that when Sanders was asked why the journalists representing the three largest wire services and a major newspaper were excluded, she said that it was because of “sensitivities over shouted questions in the previous sprays.”
During two brief photo opportunities on Wednesday night, American reporters—including Lemire and Mason—directed four questions at Trump; They asked Kim none. Trump and his aides have often complained about reporters asking the president questions during photo opportunities, particularly in the presence of foreign leaders.
In November, the White House issued new press conduct guidelines and has occasionally punished reporters for their questioning, most notably CNN reporters Jim Acosta and Kaitlan Collins, the latter of whom was banned from attending an event in retaliation for trying to ask President Trump a question during a photo-op.
Traditionally the White House has upheld the rights of journalists while a president is traveling overseas, particularly in instances where the president is meeting with leaders of a country where press freedom is limited or absent.
LA Times Executive Editor Norman Pearlstine said in a statement, “Previous administrations have often intervened to protect press access when foreign leaders have tried to limit coverage of presidential meetings abroad. The fact that this White House has done the opposite and excluded members of the press provides another sad example of its failure to uphold the American public’s right to see and be informed about President Trump’s activities.”
In a statement, Olivier Knox, White House Correspondents’ Association president, called the decision to exclude some of the journalists “capricious.” “This summit provides an opportunity for the American presidency to display its strength by facing vigorous questioning from a free and independent news media, not telegraph weakness by retreating behind arbitrary last-minute restrictions on coverage.”
Members of the press pool repeatedly asked Sanders whether North Korea was responsible for the restricted access, but she would not provide a direct answer. The ban came a day after the press pool was booted from the hotel where the White House had booked conference facilities to be used as a press workspace because Kim’s delegation had decided to stay at the same hotel.
In an emailed statement, Sanders said, “We are continuing to negotiate aspects of this historic summit and will always work to make sure the U.S. media has as much access as possible.”
The summit ended prematurely on Feb. 28.
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
President Donald Trump, accompanied by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, speaks at a news conference in Hanoi, Vietnam on Feb. 28. One day before, the White House barred four journalists from covering an event with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,,Donald Trump Undercover police threaten to arrest journalist after he films the search of a black man,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/undercover-police-threaten-arrest-journalist-after-he-films-search-black-man/,2019-04-04 17:27:07.090303+00:00,2020-03-20 19:06:36.512390+00:00,2020-03-20 19:06:36.444344+00:00,,Other Incident,,,,Mike Elk (Payday Report),,2019-02-26,False,Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania (PA),40.44062,-79.99589,"An undercover Pennsylvania State Police officer threatened to arrest a journalist when he noticed that the reporter was recording three officers’ search of a black man at an Amtrak station in Pittsburgh on Feb. 26, 2019.
Mike Elk, a reporter and founder of Payday Report, was returning to his hometown after a trip and had disembarked at the Pittsburgh station. In an account of the incident, Elk wrote for the labor publication that he was heading toward the exit when he noticed three undercover state police officers corner and begin searching a black man. He said he followed his journalistic instinct and began to record the interaction.
After the officers finished searching the man’s bags and released him, Elk told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that an officer saw that he was recording and approached him, demanding to see his identification while the two other undercover officers “hovered” nearby. Elk identified himself as a journalist and told the officer that he felt within his rights to record them in a public space.
“The undercover cop told me that I was illegally wiretapping him,” Elk wrote in his account. The officer noted that Elk’s breath smelled of alcohol—Elk wrote that he had three Bud Lites on the train—and that he could be arrested for public intoxication as soon as he stopped outside the station.
When the officer repeated his demand that Elk show him identification, Elk handed the officer his passport, which Elk said was in his back pocket as he had just returned from Portugal. Elk wrote that the officer mocked him as “fancy” for having a passport, demanded to see his driver’s license and repeated his threat to arrest Elk once he left the train station.
“I showed [my driver’s license] to him and he said we are gonna check to see if they [sic] are any warrants out for your arrest,” Elk recounted.
Elk volunteered to erase the video he had taken of the officers’ interaction with the black man. “I informed the officer that I would erase the recording. Three cops crowded around me and watched as I deleted it,” Elk wrote. However, he continued, “the threats continued even after I erased the recording.
Elk wrote that after a few minutes he and the officer threatening arrest came to an agreement to walk away. A different officer approached him then and told Elk, “Why do you fuck with us? Don’t fuck with us and we won’t fuck with you.”
Elk said he was able to leave the station approximately five minutes after he had disembarked from the train. Elk wrote that he has reached out to the American Civil Liberties Union and plans to take legal action in order to assert the rights of journalists, and the public generally, to record incidents involving the police in public spaces.
“This is my hometown and I am not gonna be intimidated for standing up for racial justice,” Elk wrote.
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
Inside this Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Amtrak station journalist Mike Elk filmed undercover state police interaction with a black man, seen in the left corner.
Joe Vazquez, a reporter for San Francisco-based local CBS KPIX 5 News was robbed at gunpoint early in the evening on Feb. 24, 2019, while covering the Oakland teachers’ strike.
Having just finished gathering interviews around 5 p.m., Vazquez was standing outside his news van with photographer John Anglin when two men pulled up in a car, KPIX reported. The men got out and one held a gun to Anglin’s head, demanding their camera.
According to a tweet from Vazquez the men took cover in the news van with Vazquez, telling him to get down.
Thank you, friends, for your well wishes. Our guard was shot today in Oakland while we were on assignment covering the Oakland teachers strike. We believe his wounds are not life threatening, thank God. Photographer John Anglin was robbed at gunpoint. 1/3 pic.twitter.com/TP225CUJNQ
— Joe Vazquez (@joenewsman) February 25, 2019
In July 2015, NBC Bay Area reported that two of their journalists and a reporter from KTVU were attacked and robbed in the early morning while preparing to go on air at Pier 14, a popular tourist designation, in San Francisco. A KPIX photojournalist was also attacked and robbed by a group of young men after broadcasting live in front of a school in Oakland in November 2012.
Watson confirmed that multiple suspects have been arrested in connection with the Feb. 24 robbery, but neither the names of the suspects nor charges will be released until the District Attorney’s Office formally files charges.
Watson told the Tracker that at 5:15 p.m. on that day a suspect walked into a nearby hospital seeking treatment for several gunshot wounds and was arrested in connection with the robbery and shooting. Later that evening Oakland police pursued another suspect driving a car connected with the robbery and detained the driver.
As a result of the arrests, the stolen camera was recovered, and the investigation is ongoing.
Update: The Oakland Police Department can confirm at least 2 arrests have been made in conn. with the armed robbery of a Bay Area news crew and the shooting of the crew’s security guard (2/24/19). Film camera recovered. Guard treated for gunshot wound & released from hospital. pic.twitter.com/Ptpr0c7Sr0
— Oakland Police Dept. (@oaklandpoliceca) February 25, 2019
“We heard a flurry of loud gunshots. Very close! More shots, I saw a guy drag the camera away and saw our guard Matt was hit,” Vazquez wrote.
Matt Meredith, a retired Berkeley police officer, was accompanying the news crew as a private security guard. Meredith exchanged fire with the suspect and was shot in the upper leg before the suspects fled.
“The security guard says he turned to run to retreat, there were no words exchanged, the gunman came straight up and shot him,” Vazquez told KPIX.
Meredith was transported to Highland Hospital where he was treated. He has since been released and is expected to recover, Oakland Police spokesperson Johnna Watson told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
This is not the first time that a news crew has been targeted for theft in the San Francisco area. Violent robberies targeting news crews became a consistent problem beginning in 2011 during the Occupy Wall Street movement, KPIX reported, which has motivated many Bay area television stations to hire private security to accompany their teams in the field.
As a result of the arrests, the stolen camera was recovered, and the investigation is ongoing.
This screenshot from California-based KPIX 5 reporter, Joe Vazquez, shows the news team's security guard being transported after receiving a gunshot wound to the leg. He is expected to recover.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,robbery,,,,, "CBS San Francisco photographer robbed at gunpoint, security guard shot",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cbs-san-francisco-photographer-robbed-at-gunpoint-security-guard-shot/,2021-10-22 17:53:00.617276+00:00,2022-03-10 21:38:29.254745+00:00,2022-03-10 21:38:29.199319+00:00,,Assault,,,,John Anglin (KPIX 5),,2019-02-24,False,Oakland,California (CA),37.80437,-122.2708,"John Anglin, a photographer for San Francisco-based local CBS KPIX 5 news, was robbed at gunpoint early in the evening on Feb. 24, 2019, while covering the Oakland teachers’ strike.
Having just finished gathering interviews around 5 p.m., Anglin was standing outside his news van when two men pulled up in a car, KPIX reported. The men got out and one held a gun to Anglin’s head, demanding their camera.
In a video posted online, Anglin states, “He came out of the car with a gun in hand, basically saying, ‘Give up the camera, I want the camera.’ I just walked away and said, ‘Take it, it’s yours.’”
Anglin surrendered the equipment, according to a tweet from KPIX 5 reporter Joe Vazquez, and took cover in the news van.
Matt Meredith, a retired Berkeley police officer, was accompanying the news crew as a private security guard. Meredith exchanged fire with the suspect and was shot in the upper leg before the suspects fled.
Meredith was transported to Highland Hospital where he was treated. He has since been released and is expected to recover, Oakland Police spokesperson Johnna Watson told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
This is not the first time that a news crew has been targeted for theft in the San Francisco area. Violent robberies targeting news crews became a consistent problem beginning in 2011 during the Occupy Wall Street movement, KPIX reported, which has motivated many Bay area television stations to hire private security to accompany their teams in the field.
In July 2015, NBC Bay Area reported that two of their journalists and a reporter from KTVU were attacked and robbed in the early morning while preparing to go on air at Pier 14, a popular tourist designation, in San Francisco. A KPIX photojournalist was also attacked and robbed by a group of young men after broadcasting live in front of a school in Oakland in November 2012.
Watson confirmed that multiple suspects have been arrested in connection with the Feb. 24 robbery, but neither the names of the suspects nor charges will be released until the District Attorney’s Office formally files charges.
Watson told the Tracker that at 5:15 p.m. on that day a suspect walked into a nearby hospital seeking treatment for several gunshot wounds and was arrested in connection with the robbery and shooting. Later that evening Oakland police also pursued another suspect driving a car connected with the robbery and detained the driver.
As a result of the arrests, the stolen camera was recovered, and the investigation is ongoing.
In February, attorneys representing the city of Chicago subpoenaed The New Yorker staff writer Nicholas Schmidle to produce documents in relation to an article published in the magazine in 2014.
A set of separate subpoenas for the reporter’s testimony was served in June and quashed in October.
In 2014, Schmidle wrote a feature story for the New Yorker about Tyrone Hood, who had been convicted of murder in 1996 and sentenced to 75 years in prison. Schmidle’s article included evidence strongly suggesting that Hood was innocent.
In January 2015, outgoing Illinois governor Pat Quinn commuted the prison sentences of a number of prisoners, including Hood, on his last day in office. Because Hood received a commutation, not a pardon, he was let out of jail early but the murder conviction stayed on his record.
At the time, a spokeswoman for Cook County State Attorney Anita Alvarez told CBS 2 Chicago that Alvarez was “deeply disappointed” with the governor’s decision to commute Hood’s sentence.
Just a month later, though, Alvarez’s office announced that its Conviction Integrity Unit had completed a two-year investigation into Hood’s case, which concluded that Hood’s conviction should be vacated. Alvarez then asked a court to vacate Hood’s conviction, which the court did. Hood was now out of prison and cleared of the murder conviction.
In 2016, Hood filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city of Chicago and a number of Chicago police officers, accusing them of pressuring witnesses into falsely accusing him of murder.
On Feb. 22, 2019, the defendants’ attorneys mailed the reporter Schmidle a document subpoena. The extremely broad subpoena ordered him to turn over, among other things, “All Documents Nicholas Schmidle received from any person or entity in connection with researching, investigating, preparing or publishing any of the Articles” about Hood. Schmidle’s attorneys objected to the subpoena on March 13, and the defendants seemed to drop it.
In June 2019, Schmidle was served with a subpoena to testify in the case and a second, more complete copy of the same subpoena a week later.
Attorneys for both Hood and Schmidle have opposed the subpoenas for the reporter, arguing that a journalist’s documents and testimony are not relevant to a case that concerns the alleged behavior of Chicago police officers in the early 1990s.
Attorneys for the city of Chicago’s attorneys and the other defendants in Hood’s civil rights have argued that Schmidle’s testimony is essential, using a theory that puts Schmidle at the center of the action.
The defendants’ attorneys have argued that Hood’s civil rights were not violated because he actually is guilty of murder and his murder conviction should not have been vacated. They argue that journalists like Schmidle were tricked into writing a false narrative, which in turn prompted Governor Quinn to commute Hood’s sentence and pressure the state attorney’s office to get Hood’s conviction thrown out.
The current status of the Feb. 22 document subpoena is somewhat unclear. After Schmidle’s attorneys objected to the subpoena in March, the defendants never moved to compel Schmidle to turn over the documents. In effect, they dropped the subpoena. But on July 10, Schmidle received another copy of the document subpoena by email. Once again, Schmidle refused to turn over the documents and the defendants didn’t bother to press the matter.
Schmidle’s attorneys did not ask the judge to quash the document subpoena, but only because it seemed like the defendants had already given up on that one.
“Defendants have not moved to compel responses to the Document Subpoena, and therefore it is not at issue in this motion,” they wrote in the July 23 motion to quash the deposition subpoenas. That motion to quash was granted in October.
Through a New Yorker spokeswoman, Schmidle declined to comment.
A portion of the subpoena outlining broad requests for reporter Nicholas Schmidle's work product
,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,journalist communications or work product,['DROPPED'],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, Second subpoena issued for content of Illinois watchdog’s Dropbox account,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/second-subpoena-issued-for-content-of-illinois-watchdogs-dropbox-account/,2020-02-25 21:23:39.708099+00:00,2020-02-25 21:23:39.708099+00:00,2020-02-25 21:23:39.643943+00:00,"(2019-07-10 16:08:00+00:00) Judge quashes subpoena for third-party work product, citing the state's reporter's privilege",Subpoena/Legal Order,,,,,,2019-02-22,False,Algonquin Township,Illinois (IL),None,None,"A lawyer representing Algonquin Township, Illinois, filed a second subpoena to compel the file-hosting service Dropbox to produce information on an account belonging to the Edgar County Watchdogs, an Illinois-based government watchdog blog.
The subpoena, issued on Feb. 22, 2019, requested much of the same information as the first subpoena filed in January — the content, IP and email addresses of all users, users’ access histories, payment information and comments of the account.
The outlet is currently suing Algonquin Township for failing to provide records in response to 16 different public records requests, and the subpoena was issued in the context of that lawsuit.
Edgar County Watchdogs reported it filed a motion to quash the subpoena, which was heard in March.
“Illinois law protects media and reporters from things like this, but the Township Board has decided to keep piling on and incurring more legal bills,” blog co-founder John Kraft wrote. “Not just their own legal bills, but the township will also pay our legal bills when they lose this FOIA lawsuit.”
In March, a McHenry County Court judge granted a stay in the production of the requested materials until a ruling could be made on the motion to quash, Edgar County Watchdogs reported. The judge also confirmed that the first subpoena was quashed.
Edgar County Watchdogs shared court documents with the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that show the motion to quash was denied on April 16, but the outlet filed a motion for the judge to reconsider.
Kraft told the Tracker that the subpoenas would have a serious impact on the outlet if it weren’t for the support of other organizations, like the Press Freedom Defense Fund.
“We do not have the money to hire an attorney and do the paperwork to fight these subpoenas. Without these grants we wouldn’t be able to do it,” Kraft said. “We’d have to roll over and give them what they ask for.”
A portion of a subpoena for the Edgar County Watchdog's Dropbox account information
,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,journalist communications or work product,['QUASHED'],None,None,Dropbox,tech company,subpoena,None,Edgar County Watchdogs,,,,,, Trump uses Twitter to endorse Covington student’s lawsuit against The Washington Post,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/trump-uses-twitter-endorse-covington-students-lawsuit-against-washington-post/,2019-03-04 19:00:53.209658+00:00,2021-10-05 20:08:17.012437+00:00,2021-10-05 20:08:16.946340+00:00,"(2019-07-26 13:31:00+00:00) Judge dismisses libel suit against The Washington Post, (2019-10-28 15:07:00+00:00) A previously dismissed libel suit against the Washington Post is reinstated with narrowed scope, (2020-07-24 16:34:00+00:00) Washington Post settles defamation suit",Chilling Statement,,,,,,2019-02-20,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"A Kentucky teen and his family have sued The Washington Post, seeking $250 million in damages for its coverage of his involvement in an encounter with a Native American advocate at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., in January 2019.
Filed on Feb. 19, the complaint alleges that the Post “targeted and bullied” 16-year-old Nicholas Sandmann because he was white, Catholic and wearing a “Make America Great Again” cap in order to advance the paper’s biased agenda against President Donald Trump.
“In a span of three days in January of this year commencing on January 19, the Post engaged in a modern-day form of McCarthyism by competing with CNN and NBC, among others, to claim leadership of a mainstream and social media mob of bullies with attacked, vilified, and threatened Nicholas Sandmann, an innocent secondary school child,” states the complaint.
The complaint cites seven articles published by the Post between Jan. 19 and 21, as well as the tweets posted to promote the articles. On March 1, the Post released an editor's note about its coverage around Sandmann and his Covington Catholic High School schoolmates, saying additional reporting, statements and video allowed for “a more complete assessment of what occurred.”
The day after the suit was filed, President Trump tweeted out his support for the lawsuit and repeating his refrain that the Post is “fake news.”
“The Washington Post ignored basic journalistic standards because it wanted to advance its well-known and easily documented biased agenda against President Donald J. Trump.” Covington student suing WAPO. Go get them Nick. Fake News!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 20, 2019
Trump has had a combative relationship with the Post since at least December 2015, referring to it as a “scam,” “phony” and “fake news.” The president has also repeatedly maligned the news outlet indirectly by referring to it as the “#AmazonWashingtonPost” and targeting the newspaper’s owner, Jeff Bezos.
The family is seeking $250 million in damages because, the complaint states, that is the amount Bezos paid for the newspaper when he purchased it in 2013.
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us
A school marker for Covington Catholic High School in Park Hills, Kentucky, where one of its students and his family is suing The Washington Post, a move endorsed by President Trump on social media.
Illinois-based government watchdog blog Edgar County Watchdogs has been subpoenaed for communications and documents relating to articles involving College of DuPage, a community college in Illinois.
As part of a civil lawsuit brought by former College of DuPage president Robert Breuder against the college, the Feb. 19, 2019, subpoena ordered Edgar County Watchdogs to produce communications between co-founders of the group, Kirk Allen and John Kraft, and numerous other entities including news organizations the Daily Herald and Chicago Tribune. It also orders the group to turn over copies of relevant Freedom of Information Act requests and records received.
“We wrote a lot of articles on the College DuPage and the former president and contractors, as well as change orders that were made without proper board approval and crazy expenses by the college president,” Kraft told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. “[Breuder] is suing the board members of the college for various civil rights violations, like his age and alleging lack of due process. They are working through discovery, and they’re trying to get communications between us, the board of the college, and various media outlets.”
Kraft noted that the FOIA requests and responsive records — which comprise thousands of pages — are already public records, so it isn’t necessary to order the group to produce them. “They can get them from the college,” he said.
The subpoena ordered the documents produced by April 1, but Kraft said that with the help of the group’s attorney, government transparency and media lawyer Matt Topic, they had secured an extension on compliance.
Topic confirmed that the group was granted an extension until May 1 to respond to the subpoena, and that that they will be opposing the order.
“[The subpoena] makes us spend time, money, and effort fighting this, instead of writing like we should be doing,” Kraft said.
Attorneys for Breuder did not immediately respond to request for comment.
In an unrelated case, Edgar County Watchdogs received a subpoena on Jan. 23 for information relating to the group’s Dropbox. The motion to quash that subpoena was granted on Feb. 11.
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
A portion of the subpoena for communications from Edgar County Watchdogs.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,journalist communications or work product,['PENDING'],None,None,None,None,None,None,Edgar County Watchdogs,,,,,, "Town marshal stops young journalist in Arizona, threatens to arrest her",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/town-marshal-stops-young-journalist-arizona-threatens-arrest-her/,2019-03-05 18:56:04.620543+00:00,2020-03-20 19:04:50.305042+00:00,2020-03-20 19:04:50.251640+00:00,,Other Incident,,,,Hilde Kate Lysiak,,2019-02-18,False,Patagonia,Arizona (AZ),None,None,"Hilde Kate Lysiak, a 12-year-old reporter and publisher of Orange Street News, was stopped and threatened by an Arizona town marshal while she was reporting a story on Feb. 18, 2019.
At around 1:30 p.m., Lysiak was chasing down a lead on her bicycle when Joseph Patterson, the town marshal in Patagonia, Arizona, stopped her and asked for her identification. Lysiak told Patterson her name and phone number, and mentioned that she is a journalist.
Lysiak reported in OSN that Patterson told her, “I don’t want to hear about any of that freedom-of-the-press stuff.” He added that he would arrest her and send her to juvenile detention. Later, Lysiak ran into Patterson again, but this time she was recording.
In the video, which Lysiak published to YouTube and OSN, she can be heard saying, “You stopped me earlier and you said that I can be thrown in juvie. What exactly am I doing that’s illegal?”
Patterson began to respond, but interrupted himself to ask if she was recording the encounter. “You can tape me, OK,” he is heard saying, “but what I’m going to tell you is if you put my face on the internet, it’s against the law in Arizona.”
There is no such law and recording a law enforcement officer in a public place is protected under the First Amendment, a fact noted by Lysiak in her article about the incident.
Patterson told her that he had noticed her trailing him as he responded to urgent calls around town, and accused her of disobeying his commands and lying about heading to a friend’s house (which she disputed). He also said that his concern was that she would be harmed by the mountain lion that had been seen wandering through that area of town. Finally, he told her, “I’ll be getting a hold of your parents,” and drove off.
Lysiak, whose father is also a journalist, knew her rights and published the video anyway.
The Nogales International reported that the town of Patagonia posted a statement to its website on Feb. 24, after receiving “many comments” regarding the interaction between Lysiak and Patterson. “The matter has been carefully reviewed and we have taken action we believe to be appropriate for the situation,” it said. The statement also noted that the town does not disclose personnel actions, including disciplinary actions, and would provide no further comment on the incident.
On Feb. 27, the town issued an apology during a Town Council meeting. In a video of the meeting published by Lysiak, Patagonia Mayor Andrea Wood said, “The governing body of the town of Patagonia would like to apologize for the First Amendment rights violation inflicted upon Hilde Lysiak, a young reporter who is in our community. We are sorry Hilde, we encourage and respect your continued aspirations as a successful reporter.”
Lysiak made a name for herself in 2016, when she was the first to report on a grisly murder in her hometown of Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania. Her continued reporting on local crime has garnered her many supporters, but also resulted in some threats. In January, Lysiak received threatening messages following her reporting on text message exchanges between an alleged drug dealer and his alleged accomplice in a car theft.
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
Manuel Rapalo, a freelance journalist, was stopped and pulled aside for additional screening measures while entering the United States on Feb. 16, 2019. During the screening, Rapalo was questioned about his work, and specifically his reporting along the U.S.-Mexico border. It was the third time in 2019 he was stopped by border patrol while on a reporting trip.
Rapalo, an American citizen, covered the migrant caravan from Tijuana, Mexico for Al-Jazeera. Every time he has re-entered the U.S. since the beginning of 2019, he says, he has been pulled aside for a secondary screening. Rapalo believes that a flag or marker has been placed on his travel documents because border officials have consistently stopped him only after scanning his passport.
He said he was pulled aside in February when re-entering the U.S. in Miami from Haiti. He was previously stopped for secondary screening measures when returning from Mexico on Jan. 5, when his notebooks were searched, and Jan. 26, when his notebooks and photos on his camera were searched.
“When coming into Miami, an officer scanned my passport and immediately said, ‘Hmm, I guess we have to pull you aside, Mr. Rapalo,’” he said of the Feb. 16 stop.
Although Rapalo was returning from Haiti, he was questioned about his work and reporting on the migrant caravan along the Mexican border. Then his notebooks were searched.
One of his reporter notebooks included notes and information about the process of filing a Freedom of Information Act request, which he intended to do for his work.
“The officer took exception to this, and asked me why I was interested in filing FOIAs,” Rapalo said. “I told him, because I’m a journalist, and it’s one of the tools we have.”
Rapalo said during this border stop in Miami, an official who seemed to “like him” indicated that these stops would be an ongoing problem. “He said I could try Global Entry to make this go faster next time.”
Global Entry is a government program for expediting international travel.
Like the previous incidents, Rapalo said the secondary screenings began with about 30 minutes of questioning, then he was held for 1-2 hours while his luggage was searched. During this search, however, Rapalo said a large amount of attention focused on the paper receipts in his bag and wallet.
Rapalo said that he has changed his behavior due to concerns about protecting his sources and reporting materials. He now brings new memory cards with him each time he travels for work.
CBP did not immediately respond to request for comment.
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
A journalist captures the movement of migrant children around the U.S.-Mexico border on Dec. 31, 2018.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,"Miami, FL",True,U.S. citizen,False,False,no,no,no,yes,no,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,migrant caravan,,,,, "Media figures, politicians among alleged targets of Coast Guard officer indicted for firearm and drug possession",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/media-figures-politicians-among-alleged-targets-coast-guard-officer-indicted-firearm-and-drug-possession/,2019-03-06 14:37:22.879277+00:00,2020-02-05 16:43:29.035430+00:00,2020-02-05 16:43:28.752874+00:00,(2020-01-31 11:40:00+00:00) Former Coast Guard officer sentenced to 13 years in jail for planned attack that included media,Other Incident,,,,,,2019-02-15,False,Silver Spring,Maryland (MD),38.99067,-77.02609,"A Coast Guard officer was indicted by a grand jury on Feb. 27, 2019, following a search of his apartment that uncovered a cache of weapons and a hit list of “traitors” that he intended to attack, including prominent politicians and media figures.
Federal authorities said that Christopher Paul Hasson, a Coast Guard lieutenant who has served for more than two decades, was taken into custody at work on Feb. 15. A computer program used to identify insider threats flagged suspicious activity on his work computer last fall, Lieutenant Commander Scott McBride, a service spokesman, told the Baltimore Sun.
McBride said that Hasson was arrested once Federal Bureau of Investigation and Coast Guard investigators were “confident in the strength of the evidence supporting the criminal complaint and warrant,” the The Sun reported.
Law enforcement officers executed a search warrant on his basement apartment in the Washington, D.C. suburb of Silver Spring, Maryland, and seized 15 firearms, two silencers, over 100 pills of the opioid painkiller tramadol, and more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition. Officers also found a spreadsheet listing potential targets, including MSNBC’s Chris Hayes and Joe Scarborough and CNN’s Don Lemon, Chris Cuomo and Van Jones.
Prosecutors say Hasson used his government computer to plot an assault, researching potential locations to target politicians and studying the writings of domestic terrorists including the Unabomber and the Virginia Tech shooter, The Washington Post reported.
In documents recovered from Hasson’s computer, he described himself as a “long time White Nationalist.” The Post reported that according to court documents, Hasson called for “focused violence” to “establish a white homeland.”
“The sheer number and force of the weapons recovered from Mr. Hasson’s residence in this case, coupled with the disturbing nature of his writing, appear to reflect a very significant threat to the safety of our community,” Robert Hur, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, told The Sun, “particularly given the position of trust that Mr. Hasson held with the United States government.”
A grand jury indicted Hasson on Feb. 27 on charges of illegal possession of firearm silencers, possession of firearms by a drug addict and unlawful user, and possession of a controlled substance. His court hearing has not yet been scheduled, but Hasson has been detained since his arrest on Feb. 15.
Prosecutors told The Post that Hasson could face up to 31 years in prison if convicted: 10 years for each of the weapons charges and one year for the possession of tramadol.
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
A cache of guns and ammunition was uncovered in February by U.S. federal investigators in the home of U.S. Coast Guard lieutenant Christopher Paul Hasson in Silver Spring, Maryland.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, NPR reporter shoved by U.S. Capitol Police while trying to interview senators,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalists-trying-interview-senators-shoved-capitol-police/,2019-03-11 20:17:36.664537+00:00,2021-10-22 18:00:49.350288+00:00,2021-10-22 18:00:49.306397+00:00,,Assault,,,,Kelsey Snell (NPR),,2019-02-14,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"On Feb. 14, 2019, U.S. Capitol Police officers pushed and shoved NPR reporter Kelsey Snell and other journalists while they were trying to interview U.S. senators in the basement of the Senate building.
“It was happening to everyone who tried to get close to a senator,” Paul McLeod, a BuzzFeed News reporter who witnessed the altercations, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
McLeod said that the Capitol Police officers physically prevented reporters from interviewing senators, even though the senators were willing to talk to the press.
McLeod said that the Capitol Police officers’ aggressive tactics were unprecedented.
The Feb. 14 altercation came in the midst of heated confrontations between members of Congress and journalists.
The day before, Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez accused Henry Rodgers, a reporter from the right-wing news site The Daily Caller, of harassing him and threatened to call the police.
“I won’t answer questions to the Daily Caller, period!” Menendez said, according to Rodgers’ recording of the conversation. “You’re trash … Don’t keep harassing me anymore or I’ll race to the Capitol Police!”
Menendez did not follow through on his threat to involve the Capitol Police.
McLeod said that the presence of the political tracker shouldn’t excuse the Capitol Police’s aggressive treatment of the press in the Senate basement.
“Looks like it was all an absurd over-reaction because this [political tracker] was apparently somewhere around,” he said. “But the thing is he can't get into the actual capitol and that is where this took place. We were in an area past a security checkpoint where you needed to have ID or be a guest of someone to get in. So the whole thing made no sense.”
The National Press Club also released a statement criticizing the Capitol Police response as an over-reaction.
“Capitol Police dramatically over-reacted on Thursday and did more harm than good when they prevented accredited reporters from doing their job and further obstructed senators from communicating with the press,” NPC President Alison Fitzgerald Kodjak said in a statement.
“There was no call for the police to shove or place their hands on the reporters.”
A U.S. Capitol Police officer patrols the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. In February, Capitol Police were involved in an altercation with journalists in the basement of the Senate building.
Civil liberties and First Amendment YouTuber Zhoie Perez was shot on Feb. 14, 2019, while live-streaming outside of a synagogue and high school in Los Angeles.
Perez, who goes by “Furry Potato” on YouTube, was filming a security guard and his gun outside of the Etz Jacob Congregation and Ohel Chana High School in the Fairfax neighborhood of Los Angeles while the guard repeatedly asked her why she was recording.
Perez did not answer, but said on the livestream that the guard threatened to shoot her if she moved. Minutes later, after a loud bang, the camera falls to the sidewalk.
Police officers arrived to the scene shortly after, and Perez was brought to a hospital for treatment of a graze wound to the leg.
Perez performs “First Amendment audits,” a method of filming law enforcement without explaining why to assert one’s constitutional rights and test an officer’s response to those rights. Civil liberties advocates hope to illuminate how agencies respond to First Amendment activities by engaging in the “audits” without notice or warning to law enforcement.
“It turned into an impromptu First Amendment audit because the security guard almost immediately was getting really aggressive with the filming and putting the hand on the gun,” Perez told the Washington Post.
According to NBC, the security guard, 44-year-old Edduin Zelayagrunfeld, was charged with assault with a deadly weapon.
Perez did not respond to an email request for comment.
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
On Feb. 14, 2019, U.S. Capitol Police officers pushed and shoved NBC reporter Leigh Ann and other journalists while they were trying to interview U.S. senators in the basement of the Senate building.
“It was happening to everyone who tried to get close to a senator,” Paul McLeod, a BuzzFeed News reporter who witnessed the altercations, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. “I can tell you I witnessed [Leigh Ann] Caldwell of NBC get smashed out of the way when she was walking side-by-side with a senator. A bunch of people were yelling about getting shoved.”
McLeod said that the Capitol Police officers physically prevented reporters from interviewing senators, even though the senators were willing to talk to the press.
“I have never seen them do what they did today, which was forming a protective circle around senators to keep press away,” he said. “The senators were just walking in to a vote like normal and the police were doing it to everyone. There was no sign the senators were requesting it.”
McLeod said that the Capitol Police officers’ aggressive tactics were unprecedented.
“There were no more reporters there than there are any day of any week,” McLeod said.
The Feb. 14 altercation came in the midst of heated confrontations between members of Congress and journalists.
The day before, Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez accused Henry Rodgers, a reporter from the right-wing news site The Daily Caller, of harassing him and threatened to call the police.
“I won’t answer questions to the Daily Caller, period!” Menendez said, according to Rodgers’ recording of the conversation. “You’re trash … Don’t keep harassing me anymore or I’ll race to the Capitol Police!”
Menendez did not follow through on his threat to involve the Capitol Police.
McLeod said that the presence of the political tracker shouldn’t excuse the Capitol Police’s aggressive treatment of the press in the Senate basement.
“Looks like it was all an absurd over-reaction because this [political tracker] was apparently somewhere around,” he said. “But the thing is he can't get into the actual capitol and that is where this took place. We were in an area past a security checkpoint where you needed to have ID or be a guest of someone to get in. So the whole thing made no sense.”
The National Press Club also released a statement criticizing the Capitol Police response as an over-reaction.
“Capitol Police dramatically over-reacted on Thursday and did more harm than good when they prevented accredited reporters from doing their job and further obstructed senators from communicating with the press,” NPC President Alison Fitzgerald Kodjak said in a statement.
“There was no call for the police to shove or place their hands on the reporters.”
On Feb. 14, 2019, U.S. Capitol Police officers pushed and shoved Capitol Hill reporter Matt Laslo and other journalists while they were trying to interview U.S. senators in the basement of the Senate building.
“It was happening to everyone who tried to get close to a senator,” Paul McLeod, a BuzzFeed News reporter who witnessed the altercations, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
McLeod said that the Capitol Police officers physically prevented reporters from interviewing senators, even though the senators were willing to talk to the press.
“I have never seen them do what they did today, which was forming a protective circle around senators to keep press away,” he said. “The senators were just walking in to a vote like normal and the police were doing it to everyone. There was no sign the senators were requesting it.”
Laslo gave a similar account to the political news site Roll Call.
“[Sen. Dianne] Feinstein was doing an interview with one reporter, and she just stopped and her jaw just dropped,” Laslo said. “She was confused. She was just unable to keep doing an interview that she wanted to do because the officers were creating such a mess.”
Roll Call, which obtained a recording of the altercation, reported that a Capitol Police officer could be heard telling journalists that they were violating the law.
“That’s a violation,” the Capitol Police officer reportedly said to the reporters walking alongside the senators. “Surrounding them — we lock people up for that. If the public does that, they get locked up.”
Laslo said that the Capitol Police officers’ aggressive tactics were unprecedented.
“There were no more reporters there than there are any day of any week,” McLeod said.
“This was first time any officer put their hands on me or my co-workers in front of me, so it was really disheartening,” Laslo told Roll Call.
The Feb. 14 altercation came in the midst of heated confrontations between members of Congress and journalists.
The day before, Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez accused Henry Rodgers, a reporter from the right-wing news site The Daily Caller, of harassing him and threatened to call the police.
“I won’t answer questions to the Daily Caller, period!” Menendez said, according to Rodgers’ recording of the conversation. “You’re trash … Don’t keep harassing me anymore or I’ll race to the Capitol Police!”
Menendez did not follow through on his threat to involve the Capitol Police.
On Feb. 14, Roll Call reports, the Capitol Police were on high alert after receiving reports that a certain individual — a former journalist and political tracker with a reputation for aggressively confronting conservative politicians — had been spotted in the area.
McLeod said that the presence of the political tracker shouldn’t excuse the Capitol Police’s aggressive treatment of the press in the Senate basement.
“Looks like it was all an absurd over-reaction because this [political tracker] was apparently somewhere around,” he said. “But the thing is he can't get into the actual capitol and that is where this took place. We were in an area past a security checkpoint where you needed to have ID or be a guest of someone to get in. So the whole thing made no sense.”
The National Press Club also released a statement criticizing the Capitol Police response as an over-reaction.
“Capitol Police dramatically over-reacted on Thursday and did more harm than good when they prevented accredited reporters from doing their job and further obstructed senators from communicating with the press,” NPC President Alison Fitzgerald Kodjak said in a statement.
“There was no call for the police to shove or place their hands on the reporters.”
School officials prohibited students at East High School in Denver, Colorado, from sharing their photographs and video of local teacher strikes with the press, in what some attorneys allege could be a violation of the First Amendment.
Student journalists at East High had been documenting a city-wide teachers strike since it began in February. Some shared content on social media platforms, and others shared their photographs and video with the press, including the Denver Post, which used the students’ work in its reporting on the strike.
Some students, according to the Denver Post, received pushback from school officials for sharing media with the press.
On Feb. 12, 2019, the Denver Post had reported that the executive producer of East High’s student broadcast team, Toby Lichtenwalter, said he was told that he was only permitted to film in a personal capacity. The Post reported at that time that East High School Principal John Youngquist said students who sent information to the press were acting “as agents of that media source.”
The next day, the Post reported that Lichtenwalter, 17, said he was given an ultimatum by the school principal — that he must either refrain from filming and taking photos inside the school, or leave. He chose to leave.
Other students at East High were also reprimanded for taking photos during the strike, including East High senior and student journalist Joe McComb, who was escorted out of a classroom for doing so.
On Feb. 14, Denver teaches ended the strike after reaching a deal that included a pay raise.
“The Supreme Court has long held that students in public schools do not shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate,” Gregory Szewczyk, a private attorney, said in a statement published by the Denver Post. In at least the Lichtenwalter case, Szewczyk said he believes that “East High School’s position violates Mr. Lichtenwalter’s First Amendment rights.”
Mark Silverstein, ACLU of Colorado Legal Director, said that students have the right to document what is happening inside their schools.
“One cannot help but suspect that Denver Public Schools wants to hide from the public and the news media what’s actually going on inside the schools and inside the classrooms,” Silverstein said.
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
Teachers, students and members of the community march across from the Colorado State Capitol during a Denver public school teacher strike rally in February 2019.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,student journalism,,,,, "Cameraman, other reporters attacked at Trump rally",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cameraman-other-reporters-attacked-trump-rally/,2019-02-22 16:52:02.978036+00:00,2020-02-28 17:01:01.606974+00:00,2020-02-28 17:01:01.532537+00:00,,Assault,,,,Ron Skeans (BBC News),,2019-02-11,False,El Paso,Texas (TX),31.75872,-106.48693,"A man wearing a red “Make America Great Again” hat attacked a group of reporters, including BBC News cameraman Ron Skeans, during a Trump rally in El Paso, Texas, on Feb. 11, 2019.
Video of the altercation shows the man, whose identity has not been released, running onto the press risers and then pushing journalists and cameras, while shouting, “Fuck the media!” After security restrains the man and begins escorting him out of the rally, the crowd begins chanting, “Let him go!”
Skeans told BBC News that the man gave him a “very hard shove” and tried to knock him and his camera over. BBC News later broadcast a report on the attack narrated by Gary O’Donoghue, the network’s Washington correspondent.
“At first, he pushes the camera from behind into my cameraman,” O’Donoghue said in the segment. “As he passes, he shoves violently once again, before being restrained.”
O’Donoghue reported that Trump appeared to notice the commotion in the press area and asked, “Everything OK?” but did not condemn the attack.
Although the man was forcibly escorted out of the rally, he was not arrested or charged with any crime.
“We have not reviewed any material from law enforcement for charges at this time,” an El Paso district attorney spokesperson told The Daily Beast. "No charges will be filed until we do."
After the White House Correspondents Association called on Trump to condemn attack, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders issued a statement: “President Trump condemns all acts of violence against any individual or group of people — including members of the press. We ask that anyone attending an event do so in a peaceful and respectful manner."
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
This article has been updated to reflect the correct year of the incident.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally in El Paso, Texas, on Feb. 11. During the rally, one of his supporters violently shoved members of the press. No charges have been filed.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,Donald Trump rally,,,,, Unprecedented criminal complaint filed for violations of the Georgia Open Records Act,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/unprecedented-criminal-complaint-filed-violations-georgia-open-records-act/,2019-02-26 16:23:47.273002+00:00,2022-03-10 16:46:43.432530+00:00,2022-03-10 16:46:43.368892+00:00,(2019-12-19 16:00:00+00:00) Atlanta mayor’s former press secretary found guilty of violating state’s Open Records Act,Other Incident,,,,,,2019-02-11,False,Atlanta,Georgia (GA),33.749,-84.38798,"The Georgia state attorney general filed the first-ever criminal complaint in connection with the Georgia Open Records Act on Feb. 11, 2019. Jenna Garland, press secretary for former Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, was cited with two violations of the act and is accused of ordering a subordinate in the city’s Department of Watershed Management to delay handing over public records containing information damaging to Reed and other city officials in March 2017.
On March 7, 2017, WSB-TV Channel 2 Action News filed a records request for “billing, payment and usage records,” according to the citation. It alleges that Garland “knowingly and willingly attempt[ed] to frustrate the access to records not subject to exemption” by instructing then-watershed spokeswoman Lillian Govus via text message to “[d]rag this out as long as possible [a]nd provide information in the most confusing format available.”
The second citation alleges that Garland similarly obstructed a second records request from Channel 2, filed on March 21, 2017, when Garland instructed Govus to “‘[h]old all’ documents responsive to the request until the requestor asked for an update” via text message on April 7, 2017.
The texts were obtained and reported on by Channel 2 and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in May 2018.
It is exceedingly rare for a public official to face consequences for obstructing public records requests, Jonathan Peters, media law professor at the University of Georgia, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. “It’s not uncommon for state records laws to have those penalties built in to them,” he said. “What is really uncommon is to see a prosecutor actually use them.”
Peters said public records law violations aren’t often worthwhile for prosecutors to pursue given the challenge of securing a conviction under one of the criminal provisions of the law. “Good faith” is a defense built into many open records laws, including Georgia’s ORA.
“A good faith defense is so elastic and subjective that it’s not a terribly difficult defense for a public official to make,” Peters said.
When cases are pursued, he said, it is when the violations are so flagrant that they can’t be ignored.
“I think it’s the particularly bad facts of this case, where screenshots of the actual text messages are so clearly evidence of an effort to frustrate the public records law, that it is reasonably impossible to look at the behavior of Jenna Garland and see anything resembling good faith,” Peters said.
Violations of the ORA are misdemeanors, and if convicted Garland faces up to a $1,000 fine. She could also face up to a $2,500 fine for the second citation, depending on how the judge decides to hear the allegations.
“Openness and transparency in government are vital to upholding the public trust,” Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr said in a news release on the citations on Feb. 11, 2019. “I am confident that this action sends a clear message that the Georgia Open Records Act will be enforced.”
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
A portion of one of two citations issued in connection with violating Georgia's Open Records Act.
A Cook County judge ordered the the Better Government Association, an Illinois investigative government watchdog, not to publish records released by Chicago Public School lawyers during a lawsuit brought by the BGA. BGA detailed the context of this order in an article published on Feb. 7, 2019.
The article reported that a CPS lawyer supplied BGA with requested investigative files and internal records on Jan. 24. Four days later, the school’s lawyers asked for their return and the destruction of any copies that had been made, claiming that their release had been a mistake.
The lawsuit and files pertained to a 2017 BGA and Chicago Sun-Times investigation which revealed that a 14-year-old boy with autism was permitted to enter a school pool with neither direct supervision nor a life vest. They reported that the boy drowned within minutes.
When BGA refused to return the released files, CPS attorney Mara Warman asked Circuit Court Judge Peter Flynn during a hearing on Feb. 4 to “claw back” the records. Flynn ruled in their favor, ordering that BGA delay publishing the records until at least Feb. 20. Following an emergency request from BGA to vacate that order, Flynn reaffirmed his ruling on Feb 6.
“Just hold your horses,” Flynn said during the second hearing, BGA reported. “There is no emergency here in any meaningful way… I don’t think it’s a prior restraint. I think it’s efficient management of a case.”
BGA attorney Matt Topic disagreed. “You have the press, which has a highly relevant, important document that they obtained through nothing illegal and you are restraining them from publishing that document where they have an ethical and professional obligation,” Topic said.
Bob Secter, senior editor for BGA, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that Topic reached out to the deceased child’s parents to have them sign a paper authorizing the release of the materials. Based on that release, Flynn vacated his order to delay publication. Some of the documents did have the names of child witnesses to the incident redacted, as well as their social security numbers and other private information.
BGA published an article on Feb. 8 about the judge vacating the original order and what was in the documents.
“This started as a simple FOIA case,” Secter told the Tracker about BGA’s use of the Freedom of Information Act. “We wrote a story with the Chicago Sun-Times reconstructing that incident and how it came about and who might have been responsible and who made mistakes. As part of the reporting on that, we issued a FOIA… As the Chicago Public School does, they basically blanket deny everything, so we filed a lawsuit, and they fought us for well over a year.”
The child’s parents had also sued CPS for wrongful death, reaching a $4 million settlement which was approved by the Illinois Board of Education the day before the documents requested in the FOIA were released to BGA.
“[The prior restraint] was entirely out of the ordinary. Outside of national security cases this doesn’t happen, and, not to minimize what we did, but it was an everyday case about a tragic accident and the subsequent legal case,” Secter said.
U.S. Supreme Court precedent has held that prior restraint—in which government officials seek to block information from becoming public—is unconstitutional in all but the most extreme circumstances.
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
Details around the Chicago public school pool drowning death of 14-year-old Rosario Israel Gomez were at the heart of documents sought by the Better Government Association and the Chicago Sun-Times.
As part of a defamation lawsuit against Gizmodo Media Group, journalist J. Arthur Bloom has received a subpoena for his communications — including Facebook messages and emails — from legal counsel for a former Trump adviser, Jason Miller. Bloom is pushing back on the subpoena, claiming that reporter’s privilege protects him from disclosure of unpublished materials.
The subpoena, dated Feb. 4, 2019, orders Bloom to produce numerous reporting materials, communications, and documents by Feb. 22.
The subpoena was issued as part of a $100 million lawsuit filed by Miller against Gizmodo Media Group and its reporter Katherine Krueger over an article Kruger authored for Splinter News. The article cites court documents filed by A.J. Delgado, another former Trump adviser who was in a relationship with Miller, alleging that Miller had gotten another woman pregnant and drugged her. Later, Chapo Trap House podcast co-host Will Menaker was added to the lawsuit.
The subpoena orders Bloom to produce communications he may have had with Krueger or Delgado. It also demanded any of Bloom’s reporting materials on investigations into Miller’s sexual relationships, including notes, memos, or records created during his research.
Bloom was served the subpoena at his home on the evening of Feb. 5. He responded to the subpoena with an objection letter, writing that any subpoenas requiring the disclosure of privileged or otherwise protected material should be quashed.
“Any information I may have relating to the material requested in Exhibit A would have been developed in my capacity as a professional journalist (as defined by Section 90.5015 of the Florida Statutes) at the time, investigating a story I did not run with,” his objection reads.
Miller’s attorney Shane B. Vogt of Bajo Cuva Cohen & Turkel PA did not respond to request for comment.
In an interview with the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, Bloom took particular issue with the subpoena’s demand for relevant social media posts, including tweets. He noted that Miller had blocked Bloom on Twitter, so if Miller wanted copies of his tweets, he could simply unblock him and view the posts.
When a process server called him, Bloom said he was asked if he knew where to find reporter Yashar Ali, indicating that he would also receive a subpoena.
Ali did not immediately respond to requests for comment and questions as to whether he was also served a subpoena by Miller’s legal team.
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
A portion of the subpoena issued to journalist J. Arthur Bloom for his work product and social media communications.
An IRS employee, John Fry of San Francisco, was charged by the Department of Justice with “unlawful disclosure of Suspicious Activity Reports” involving overseas financial transactions of President Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen to a prominent attorney and at least one reporter.
Fry is at least the sixth government employee charged by the Trump administration in connection with giving information to news organizations. The DOJ has indicated they have dozens more leak investigations active, and the Trump DOJ is on pace to prosecute more sources of journalists than any other administration before it.
According to the criminal complaint unsealed on Feb. 21, 2019, DOJ has accused Fry of searching for Cohen’s name and company in two government financial databases, downloading “suspicious activity reports,” or SARs, and sending information he found to attorney Michael Avenatti, who has represented adult entertainer Stormy Daniels in her accusations against President Trump, as well as an unidentified reporter at the New Yorker.
In May 2018, the New Yorker’s Ronan Farrow published an investigation into Cohen’s suspicious overseas financial transactions that may have related to 2016 election activities, titled “Missing Files Motivated Leak of Michael Cohen’s Financial Records.” The title and quotes from the article match those cited in the complaint.
In the article, an unidentified source is quoted by Farrow justifying why it was important that the public know about Cohen’s suspicious financial transactions: “‘I have never seen something pulled off the system. . . . That system is a safeguard for the bank. It’s a stockpile of information. When something’s not there that should be, I immediately became concerned.’ The official added, ‘That’s why I came forward.’”
The DOJ claims it obtained WhatsApp messages between Fry and the unidentified reporter, assumed to be Farrow. It is unclear how the DOJ obtained these messages, or whether the DOJ has attempted to access communications records directly from Farrow or any other reporters potentially connected to this case.
Fry was charged on Feb. 4, but the criminal complaint was not unsealed until several weeks later. According to the Washington Post, Fry’s lawyer did not respond to requests for comment.
Freedom of the Press Foundation has previously stated that leak investigations threaten the ability of journalists to speak with sources about information in the public interest.
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
The leaked financial records of Michael Cohen, former personal attorney to President Trump, were at the center of an investigation by the Department of Justice that resulted in probation for a former IRS analyst.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,Ronan Farrow, BuzzFeed News reporter aggressively questioned about reporting at passport checkpoint,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/buzzfeed-news-reporter-aggressively-questioned-about-reporting-passport-checkpoint/,2019-02-06 16:13:52.349565+00:00,2021-07-07 21:06:48.862738+00:00,2021-07-07 21:06:48.818277+00:00,,Border Stop,,,,David Mack (BuzzFeed News),,2019-02-03,False,New York,New York (NY),None,None,"A Customs and Border Protection agent aggressively questioned Australian BuzzFeed News reporter David Mack about his work at a passport checkpoint in New York City on Feb. 3, 2019. Days later, a CBP official apologized for the “inappropriate remarks made to him.”
Mack arrived at JFK airport from the United Kingdom, where he was renewing his U.S. work visa. According to BuzzFeed, Mack said the CBP agent at passport control saw BuzzFeed listed as his employer on his visa, and began to ask him questions.
That evening, Mack tweeted a thread about the incident:
the immigration agent at JFK just saw that i work for buzzfeed and just grilled me for 10 minutes about the cohen story which was fun given he gets to decide whether to let me back into the country
— David Mack (@davidmackau) February 4, 2019
The line of aggressive questioning focused mostly on BuzzFeed’s reporting on Robert Mueller's investigation into the Trump campaign's connections with Russia, and in particular, a Jan. 17 article about Attorney Michael Cohen.
BuzzFeed reported that CBP Assistant Commissioner for Public Affairs, Andrew Meehan, apologized to Mack directly in a telephone call on Feb. 5, and stated that “The officer’s comments do not reflect CBP’s commitment to integrity and professionalism of its workforce. In response to this incident, CBP immediately reviewed the event and has initiated the appropriate personnel inquiry and action."
Mack did not respond to request for comment, but according to BuzzFeed, Mack was grateful for the apology.
BuzzFeed News spokesperson Matt Mittenthal said: "We appreciate the government's prompt response and apology for this unfortunate incident... Customs agents do not get to weaponize their political opinions against residents legally entering the United States."
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
BuzzFeed's company headquarters in New York (file).
Jenna Kurzyna and Susan Ardis, reporters for local ABC affiliate WLTX, were arrested at a public housing complex in Columbia, South Carolina. The reporters were attempting to receive additional public records concerning a carbon monoxide gas leak in the complex that killed two in mid-January.
On the morning of Jan. 29, 2020, Kurzyna and Ardis knocked on the door to the office where public documents released by the Columbia Housing Authority are kept, seeking additional information about the ongoing gas issues at the CHA facility, WLTX reported. When there was no response and the office appeared to be closed, the two reporters returned to their car, intending to leave the property.
However, according to a video recorded by Ardis during the incident, a pair of private security officers blocked the exit from the parking lot and approached the journalists’ vehicle.
In the video, an officer can be heard saying, “You are being charged with trespassing after you’ve been asked to leave off the premises several times.”
Kurzyna responded to the officer, “We were in the process of leaving, though.”
Both reporters stepped out of the car as directed and were handcuffed and detained on the premises, despite clearly identifying themselves as reporters, WLTX President and General Manager Rich O’Dell told The State.
A third WLTX reporter seen in the video said that the officers were unhappy that she was filming the incident. The unidentified reporter also recounted that officers informed her that if she crossed onto the housing complex property she, too, would be detained.
Kurzyna and Ardis were released from custody the same day, shortly after 11 a.m.
Bob Coble, Columbia Housing Authority attorney and former City of Columbia Mayor, told The State, “I couldn’t imagine why a reporter was arrested if they identified as a reporter.”
Later that day, the CHA released a public statement, saying, “We, at the Columbia Housing Authority, apologize for the unfortunate incident that occurred earlier today with WLTX reporters, Jenna Kurzyna and Susan Ardis.”
The Housing Authority also stated that they would be holding a meeting with all security personnel later that day to review the incident. “Procedures are being put in place immediately to ensure that this does not happen again.”
WLTX accepted the apology that afternoon, and said, “We are looking forward to working together with the Housing Authority to immediately go through all the public records for the benefit of the residents.”
Kurzyna and Ardis returned to work, and WLTX reported that their Deep Dive team is continuing to review other CHA documents.
We have been sifting through hundreds of maintenance request here at Allen Benedict Court all day today - more on what we found tonight @WLTX #deepdive pic.twitter.com/ivNInD3n5D
— Jenna Kurzyna (@JkurzynaTV) January 24, 2019
O’Dell told The State that, to his knowledge, neither of the journalists were charged nor given a trespass warning.
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
Private security officers block the exit as South Carolina WLTX reporters Jenna Kurzyna and Susan Ardis attempt to leave a public housing complex.
Therese Bottomly, editor of The Oregonian/OregonLive, was stalked, harassed, and threatened by a Portland man who repeatedly stated Bottomly had published false information.
Kevin Michael Purfield was arrested and indicted on charges that he stalked and harassed Bottomly on Jan. 29, 2019, according to OregonLive.
Purfield reportedly sent numerous emails and phone calls to the newsroom alleging that Bottomly had published false information — including about the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary mass shooting.
Purfield, who repeatedly called the newsroom to say that various mass shootings had never occurred, sent Bottomly “her home address and ‘symbols of death’” after the editor told him to stop calling, OregonLive reported.
Purfield had previously pleaded guilty in 2013 to making hoax bomb threats to the Multnomah County Probation Office and the downtown jail building. He is being held at the Multnomah County Detention Center and bail has been set at $2 million, according to OregonLive.
A federal judge reportedly ordered the Chicago Sun-Times not to publish the details of a court document, which the newsroom downloaded when it was mistakenly made public. The Sun-Times used this information in a story published on Jan. 29, 2019.
The Sun-Times article revealed that the FBI had secretly recorded Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan pitching the use of his own private law firm’s services to a developer, in a questionable practice of merging personal and political business. The meeting was arranged by Alderman Danny Solis, who chairs the Chicago City Council Zoning Committee.
The story cites a federal court affidavit: “The details of the allegations against Solis are contained in a 2016 search warrant application filed by federal prosecutors seeking to search Solis’ City Hall office, campaign and ward office, homes and a North Side massage parlor where Solis allegedly received free sex acts.”
A week after the Sun-Times article, the business news site Chicago Business published a story behind the story. Citing anonymous sources, Chicago Business outlines how the affidavit was filed as part of an FBI request for a search warrant on Solis, a request that should have been sealed. Instead, it was mistakenly posted on PACER, a site through which the public can access federal court records. While it was temporarily available, the Sun-Times seemingly downloaded the document after it was published on PACER.
Chicago Business reports that Magistrate Judge Young Kim ordered the Sun-Times not to publish the details of the document, “presumably on grounds that premature publicity could undermine what appears to be an extremely wide-ranging federal probe into City Hall that has been underway for four years or longer.”
The Sun-Times reportedly defied this court order, and published the information contained in the document anyway. The Sun-Times declined to comment on the Chicago Business report.
Chicago Business added that “whether [Magistrate Judge] Kim will take further action” in response to the Sun-Times publishing the details of the affidavit is not known.
Courts have generally found cases of prior restraint — in which government officials seek to block information from becoming public — to be unconstitutional.
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
The secret recording of Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, here in a 2017 file photo, was part of the findings from a seemingly accidentally-unsealed court document — the details of which the Chicago Sun-Times was ordered not to publish.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra’s office and the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, or POST, sent letters to two Berkeley-based reporters threatening them with legal action — including criminal charges — if they did not destroy a document obtained through a public records request.
Reporters Jason Paladino and Robert Lewis, both affiliated with UC Berkeley’s Investigative Reporting Program, received a list on Jan. 8, 2019, in response to California Public Records Act requests to POST, filed December 2018. The list included 12,000 names of current and former California police officers, as well as police applicants, who were convicted of crimes.
On Jan. 29, Becerra’s office and POST sent Paladino and Lewis very similar letters only hours apart. The letters said the list they received was “confidential” and disclosed “inadvertently”. It also stated that the possession of the spreadsheet was a misdemeanor, and demanded that the records be destroyed.
“If you do not intend to comply with our request, the Department can take legal action to ensure that the spreadsheets are properly deleted and not disseminated,” reads the letter from Becerra’s office.
Both Lewis and Paladino confirmed to Freedom of the Press Foundation that they have no intention of destroying the list.
David Snyder, an attorney at the First Amendment Coalition, noted the presence of two distinct legal threats in the letter: criminal charges for possessing the list, and a court order, such as an injunction, to prevent publication of it.
“As for the first, which says that it’s a misdemeanor to possess the list, the Supreme Court has made clear that if a journalist or anyone else lawfully receives information, they are protected from civil liability for publishing it,” Snyder said.
In a statement provided to Freedom of the Press Foundation, a spokesperson for the California Department of Justice repeated that the information Paladino and Lewis obtained is confidential and was released only inadvertently.
“It’s not like someone clicked ‘send’ on the wrong thing! They did that the first time!” Paladino told Freedom of the Press Foundation, noting that POST released an unrelated document to the reporters before correcting the mistake and sending the responsive record.
Paladino and Lewis have not published the list itself, though a report in the East Times Bay about the legal threat used several examples of California police officers convicted of crimes.
“Part of the reason we haven’t published is to do due diligence,” Lewis said.
Freedom of the Press Foundation followed up with the attorney general’s office to clarify whether it recognized any of the serious First Amendment concerns with the letter, and received a statement through a spokesperson from Attorney General Becerra. His response included no reference to the First Amendment:
“We always strive to balance the public’s right to know, the need to be transparent and an individual’s right to privacy. In this case, information from a database that’s required by law to be confidential was released erroneously, jeopardizing personal data of individuals across our state. No one wants to shield criminal behavior; we’re subject to the rule of law.”
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
The office of California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, shown in an August 2018 file photo, has threatened two reporters with legal action for possessing a document obtained through a public records request.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, South Carolina Housing Authority arrests two reporters,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/south-carolina-housing-authority-arrests-two-reporters/,2020-03-11 16:08:56.540711+00:00,2021-11-18 19:54:03.914248+00:00,2021-11-18 19:54:03.861665+00:00,,Arrest/Criminal Charge,,,,Susan Ardis (WLTX News 19),,2019-01-29,False,Columbia,South Carolina (SC),34.00071,-81.03481,"Two reporters for ABC affiliate WLTX were arrested while leaving a public housing complex in Columbia, South Carolina, on Jan. 29, 2019. Susan Ardis and Jenna Kurzyna were at the complex to gather public documents about a carbon monoxide gas leak there that killed two people earlier in the month.
WLTX reported that Ardis and Kurzyna had knocked on the door to the office where documents released by the Columbia Housing Authority are kept. When there was no response, the two reporters returned to their car to leave the property.
As they left, Ardis recorded video as a pair of private security officers blocked the exit from the parking lot and approached the journalists’ vehicle.
In the video, an officer can be heard saying, “You are being charged with trespassing after you’ve been asked to leave off the premises several times.”
Kurzyna responded to the officer, “We were in the process of leaving, though.”
Both reporters stepped out of the car as directed and were handcuffed and detained, despite clearly identifying themselves as reporters, WLTX President and General Manager Rich O’Dell told The State.
Kurzyna and Ardis were released from custody shortly after 11 a.m. that same day.
O’Dell told The State that to his knowledge, neither of the journalists were charged nor given a trespass warning.
Bob Coble, Columbia Housing Authority attorney and former City of Columbia Mayor, told The State, “I couldn’t imagine why a reporter was arrested if they identified as a reporter.”
Later that day, the CHA released a public statement, saying, “We, at the Columbia Housing Authority, apologize for the unfortunate incident that occurred earlier today with WLTX reporters, Jenna Kurzyna and Susan Ardis.”
The Housing Authority also stated that they would be holding a meeting with all security personnel later that day to review the incident, and that procedures were being put in place to prevent the incident from happening again.
In accepting the apology, WLTX said it was looking forward to working with the Housing Authority to review the public documents.
Manuel Rapalo, a freelance journalist, was stopped and pulled aside for additional screening measures while entering the United States via Washington, D.C. on Jan. 26, 2019. During the screening, Rapalo was questioned about his reporting along the U.S.-Mexico border and had his notebooks and camera searched.
Rapalo, an American citizen, covered the migrant caravan from Mexico for Al-Jazeera. Every time he has re-entered the U.S. since then, he says, he has been pulled aside for a secondary screening. Rapalo believes that a flag or marker has been placed on his travel documents because border officials have consistently stopped him only after scanning his passport.
The first time this happened, Rapalo said, was Jan. 5, when Customs and Border Protection officials questioned him about his work and searched through his notebook. When he returned from another reporting trip on the migrant caravan on Jan. 26, he was stopped again.
“It was more intensive [than the previous incident],” Rapalo said. “This time they went through everything in my bag, including through my camera.”
Similar to the first incident, Rapalo said the secondary screening began with about 30 minutes of questioning, then he was held for 1-2 hours while his luggage was searched.
Rapalo said that border authorities did not request that he delete photographs, but that he has changed his behavior due to concerns about protecting his sources and reporting materials. He now brings new memory cards for his equipment with him when he travels for work.
“I said that I felt really uncomfortable with [the border officials] going through my pictures,” Rapalo said of this incident. “I’m concerned with all of the names that I have in my notebooks of sources, and photographs of migrants, that [border officials] should not have.”
Rapalo said that U.S. authorities have screened him during other trips, including searching the photos on his camera and questioning him about public records requests he intends to file.
CBP did not immediately respond to request for comment.
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
A journalist captures the movement of migrants around the U.S.-Mexico border on Dec. 31, 2018.
On Jan. 26, 2019, reporter Tina-Desiree Berg was interviewing people outside of a regional meeting of the California Democratic Party when a woman upset by her questions stole her phone and hit her.
Berg is the West Coast correspondent for Washington Babylon, an investigative journalism site founded by veteran reporter Ken Silverstein in 2016.
Berg had gone to East LA Rising, a community center in east Los Angeles, where Democrats from the state’s 51st Assembly District were voting to elect a slate of delegates to represent them at the California Democratic Party’s state convention.
Berg told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she interviewed some of the delegate candidates and then began talking to voters outside East LA Rising. Tensions increased after a woman leading a group of voters into East LA Rising instructed them not to talk to Berg. One of the voters told Berg that they did not live in the district — leading Berg to suspect the possibility of voter fraud.
Berg said that she was asking what part of the district they were from and whether they supported the incumbent representative for the 51st District, when a woman stole her phone.
“This girl just literally comes out of nowhere and grabbed my phone and ran down the street,” Berg said. “Then she just punched me.”
Berg said that she did not see whether the woman struck her with an open or closed fist, but that the attack left a bruise and later a blood blister on her face. The screen of her iPhone was also cracked.
Her phone continued to stream throughout the altercation, and she later published an excerpt of the video on Washington Babylon.
“Hey, give me back my phone, lady!” Berg says in the video. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
“I think you’re being a dick,” the woman says.
“I don’t care, you don’t get to run away with my phone,” Berg says.
Berg then reaches for the phone and the woman strikes her.
“You don’t get to grab my hand like that!” the woman says.
“You don’t get to slap me and steal my phone!” Berg says.
Berg said that a bystander called the police, and she provided a statement to the officers but did not seek to press charges against the woman.
Berg’s suspicions about voter fraud proved to be correct. A subsequent investigation by the California Democratic Party’s Compliance Review Commission found that nearly 100 votes had been cast by people who were either not registered as Democrats or not registered in the 51st Assembly District. On March 27, the California Democratic Party vacated results of the disputed Jan. 26 election and ordered that a new election be held on April 27.
Reporter Tina-Desiree Berg shows the blood blister left after a woman took Berg's iPhone and then hit her while she was interviewing at a regional meeting of the California Democratic Party.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"election, robbery",,,,, "Trump stops regular press briefings, citing unfair media treatment",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/trump-stops-regular-press-briefings-citing-unfair-media-treatment/,2019-01-23 19:24:36.281975+00:00,2022-04-06 20:03:15.639792+00:00,2022-04-06 20:03:15.560834+00:00,"(2019-04-23 13:19:00+00:00) Under Sanders' tenure, White House breaks record for longest stretch without press briefing",Denial of Access,,,,,,2019-01-23,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"President Trump revealed in a tweet on Jan. 22, 2019, that the lack of regular White House press briefings was the result of directions he gave to press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. “I told her not to bother, the word gets out anyway!” the tweet reads. “Most will never cover us fairly & hence, the term, Fake News!”
The reason Sarah Sanders does not go to the “podium” much anymore is that the press covers her so rudely & inaccurately, in particular certain members of the press. I told her not to bother, the word gets out anyway! Most will never cover us fairly & hence, the term, Fake News!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 22, 2019
Press briefings have become increasingly rare over the past year, The Hill reported, with only one each in November and December. With the last formal press briefing held by Sanders on Dec. 18, 2018, the National Journal reported that this is not only the longest period without a briefing since Trump took office, but the longest since broadcasting of the briefings began in 1955. Trump’s tweet exposes the decline in briefings as a retaliatory measure for press covering Sanders and his administration “rudely” and “inaccurately.”
Though the press briefing has become a tradition, it is not mandated by law. However, White House Correspondents’ Association President Oliver Knox said in a statement, “While other avenues exist to obtain information, the robust, public back-and-forth we’ve come to expect in the James A. Brady briefing room helps highlight that no one in a healthy republic is above being questioned.”
The Press Freedom Tracker is following this case as reporting continues.
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders holds a press briefing in October of 2018. The administration's last formal briefing was Dec. 18, 2018, marking a record lack of briefings since 1955.
A lawyer representing Algonquin Township, Illinois, subpoenaed Dropbox to compel the California-based tech company to produce information about an account belonging to the Edgar County Watchdogs, an Illinois-based government watchdog blog.
The subpoena, issued on Jan. 23, 2019, requested detailed information about a Dropbox folder belonging to the watchdog group titled “Algonquin Township,” including content, IP and email addresses of all users, payment information, and comments.
John Kraft, one of the co-founders of Edgar County Watchdogs, found the request alarming. “In our opinion they are trying to chill public speaking. If they were successful, sources would be reluctant to contact reporters or fear they should be outed with a subpoena,” Kraft told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
In their emergency motion to quash, the lawyer for Edgar County Watchdogs, Denise M. Ambroziak, wrote that the subpoena both “violates the reporter’s privilege” and “lacks relevance to the subject matter of the FOIA suit, is outside of the scope, and fails to comply with local rules.”
Edgar County Watchdogs is currently suing Algonquin Township for failing to provide records in response to 16 different public records requests, and the subpoena was issued in the context of that lawsuit. “Instead of just answering our FOIA requests they’re spending all this money to try and find out who is feeding us information,” Kraft said.
Ambroziak argued in the motion that Algonquin Township had not met the threshold to divest reporter’s privilege. Under Illinois law, the party seeking to do so must prove such information being sought would be relevant to the proceeding, that such information is in the public interest, and that they have exhausted all other means of obtaining that information. “There is no public interest supported by disclosing the contents of the Plaintiff’s Dropbox Account other than to simply go on an improper fishing expedition for some undisclosed and unknown reason,” the motion continues.
Neither Kraft nor his attorney received a copy of the subpoena via electronic or postal mail, and did not become aware of its existence until a third party provided it to them on Feb. 8, according to the motion. Also on that day, James Kelly, the lawyer for Algonquin Township, wrote a letter to the lawyer for Edgar County Watchdogs stating that the subpoena was “rejected and cannot be served,” and so there was no need to file the emergency motion to quash the subpoena. They opted to file the motion anyway, and it was granted on Feb. 11, according to Kraft and an article in the Cook County Record.
Kelly and Township Clerk Karen Lukasik did not return multiple requests for comment.
Edgar County Watchdogs is a investigative blog based in southern Illinois that focuses on local government transparency. According to the National Review, the investigative work conducted by Kraft and co-founder Kirk Allen has resulted in "seven ongoing federal investigations."
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
A portion of the subpoena from Algonquin Township, Illinois, to Dropbox for access to the contents of a folder belonging to Edgar County Watchdogs.
A Jefferson County, Colorado, sheriff and county attorney obtained an order prohibiting local CBS station, CBS4, from publishing a story on the grounds that an affidavit used in the report should not have been released.
A Jefferson County District Court Judge struck the order down on Jan. 27, 2019, finding it an unconstitutional case of prior restraint.
According to its own report, CBS4 requested a court file in the case of a sheriff’s deputy that had been charged for an alleged relationship with an inmate at a local jail. On Jan. 22, it received both the file and a copy of an affidavit.
The affidavit, according to the report, outlines how Myriah Lovato, a deputy working in the jail as part of the gang unit, had struck up a relationship an inmate, a “known gang member.”
On Jan. 23, a Jefferson county sheriff and the county attorney obtained a signed order from a judge that the affidavit had been disclosed inadvertently and should have been sealed.
“The Sheriff is deeply concerned that the release of this information, as well as additional details contained in the affidavit but not yet released by CBS, will compromise related criminal investigations throughout the State of Colorado, the prosecution of Lovato’s case, and the safety of individuals involved in these investigations,” reads the order.
The newsroom initially complied with the order and removed the report while CBS attorneys fought to challenge it. It re-published following the judge’s order to vacate.
U.S. Supreme Court precedent has held that prior restraint — in which government officials seek to block information from becoming public — is unconstitutional in all but the most extreme circumstances.
On Jan. 22, 2019, the North Dakota state senate passed a bill that would amend its open records law to limit the release of information around protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline. The North Dakota state assembly is expected to vote on the bill, known as SB 2209.
The bill would amend a section of North Dakota’s open records act, making records related to pipeline projects exempt from disclosure, The Intercept reports. News organizations have relied on the state’s strong open records laws to obtain information about how state law enforcement agencies have aggressively responded to the anti-pipeline protests.
The current version of North Dakota’s open records act includes a relatively narrow exemption (44-04-24) for any “security system plan” related to “critical infrastructure,” which the law defines as “public buildings, systems, including telecommunications centers and computers, power generation plants, dams, bridges, and similar key resources.”
SB 2209 proposes to amend that provision of the law, most notably by expanding the definition of “critical infrastructure” to include “systems related to utility services, fuel supply, energy, hazardous liquid, natural gas, or coal.” This subtle tweak could allow the state to deny open records requests for information about law enforcement surveillance of pipeline protesters, on the grounds that oil pipeline projects are “critical infrastructure” and therefore largely exempt from the open records law.
Jeffrey Haas, a civil rights attorney who has provided support to pipeline protesters, told The Intercept that SB 2209 seems designed to prevent the public from learning about law enforcement’s response to pipeline protests.
“I think this is clearly a response to what you learned through freedom of information requests,” he told The Intercept, which has extensively reported on law enforcement’s surveillance of protesters. “They did not like to have to disclose that information. This is an effort to prevent that in the future.”
SB 2209 is currently in committee in the North Dakota assembly, which ends on May 2. The state assembly is also currently considering a similar bill, SB 2044, that would make intentionally interfering with the construction of a “critical infrastructure facility,” such as a pipeline, a Class C felony.
As Freedom of the Press Foundation reported last year, an increasing number of state legislatures around the country have passed or are considering bills that designate oil pipelines as “critical infrastructure,” which allows the state to bring felony charges against pipeline protesters and the journalists who cover them.
In March 2018, members of the Standing Rock Sioux Nation and Indigenous leaders participated in a protest march and rally in opposition to the Dakota Access and Keystone XL pipelines in Washington, D.C.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,pipeline,,,,, Photojournalist questioned by CBP in Detroit after being denied entry to Mexico,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-questioned-by-cbp-in-detroit-after-being-denied-entry-to-mexico/,2022-01-14 14:40:32.348102+00:00,2022-01-14 14:40:32.348102+00:00,2022-01-14 14:40:32.277203+00:00,,Border Stop,,,,Kitra Cahana (Freelance),,2019-01-18,False,Detroit,Michigan (MI),42.33143,-83.04575,"Freelance photojournalist Kitra Cahana was questioned about her journalistic work by U.S. Customs and Border Protection authorities in Detroit, Michigan, on Jan. 18, 2019.
Cahana was one of many journalists covering the Central American migrant caravan’s arrival to Mexico. According to a lawsuit in which Cahana is a plaintiff, the photojournalist was flagged for secondary screening by CBP at a preclearance location in Montreal while traveling from Canada to Mexico City via Detroit on Jan. 17. Cahana was ultimately denied entry to Mexico and put on a return flight to Detroit the following day.
According to the lawsuit, when Cahana landed and passed through customs the machine printed out a ticket with a picture of her face with a large “X” on it, indicating that she had been flagged for secondary screening.
Two plainclothes officers questioned Cahana in a private room, asking about her denial of entry to Mexico and her interactions with the Mexican authorities. The officers also asked her to confirm details of an incident that took place the day after Christmas.
“This suggested to Ms. Cahana that the officers knew more about her and her journalism work in Mexico in December 2018 than Ms. Cahana had revealed during questioning by them,” the lawsuit states.
On March 6, NBC 7 in San Diego broke the story that Department of Homeland Security officials in San Diego had created a database of journalists, activists and attorneys who were involved in some way with the migrant caravan, including Cahana. The anonymous whistleblower who brought the documents to NBC 7 told the news outlet that the DHS had created dossiers on each individual in the database.
“We are a criminal investigation agency, we’re not an intelligence agency,” the anonymous source said. “We can’t create dossiers on people and they’re creating dossiers. This is an abuse of the Border Search Authority.”
DHS confirmed to NBC 7 that the seal on the documents indicates that “the documents are a product of the International Liaison Unit (ILU), which coordinates intelligence between Mexico and the United States.”
“In the current state of journalism, it's really freelancers who are bringing so much news to the public,” Cahana told NBC 7. “And the uncertainty of having an alert placed on your passport and not knowing where and when that's going to prevent you from doing your work is really problematic.”
On Nov. 20, Cahana and four other photojournalists — all of whom were questioned about their work covering the migrant caravan and documented in the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker — filed a lawsuit against the heads of DHS, CBP and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“This lawsuit challenges U.S. border officers’ questioning of journalists about their work documenting conditions at the U.S.-Mexico border,” the suit begins “The border officers’ questioning aimed at uncovering Plaintiffs’ sources of information and their observations as journalists was unconstitutional.”
The suit seeks a ruling that such questioning violates the First Amendment and an injunction requiring the agencies to expunge any records or files about the photojournalists. The suit remains ongoing and discovery is underway.
Freelance photojournalist Kitra Cahana had an alert placed on her passport and was entered into a database authorized by the U.S. government, which collected information about her and other journalists. Cahana was ultimately denied entry into Mexico multiple times.
Cahana was one of many journalists covering the Central American migrant caravan’s arrival to Mexico. While traveling from Canada to Mexico City on Jan. 17, 2019, Cahana was pulled aside at U.S. Customs and Border Protection preclearance in Montreal due to a “flag” on her passport, she said.
According to a lawsuit in which Cahana is a plaintiff, officers questioned Cahana about her work, how it was funded, whether she was covering the caravan on assignment and how she obtained assignments. After approximately 10 minutes, she was allowed to board her flight, but upon arrival was pulled aside again due to the alert on her passport — this time, by Mexican authorities, who Cahana said separated her from her phone.
According to the lawsuit, Cahana repeatedly asked the officers why she was being held and if it was because she is a journalist. An officer responded that she was being held because of a flag with Interpol by U.S. authorities.
She was ultimately denied entry to Mexico and was forced to return to Detroit; upon landing, she was once again flagged for secondary screening.
On March 6, NBC 7 in San Diego broke the story that Department of Homeland Security officials in San Diego had created a database of journalists, activists and attorneys who were involved in some way with the migrant caravan. The anonymous whistleblower who brought the documents to NBC 7 told the news outlet that the DHS had created dossiers on each individual in the database.
“We are a criminal investigation agency, we’re not an intelligence agency,” the anonymous source said. “We can’t create dossiers on people and they’re creating dossiers. This is an abuse of the Border Search Authority.”
DHS confirmed to NBC 7 that the seal on the documents indicates that “the documents are a product of the International Liaison Unit (ILU), which coordinates intelligence between Mexico and the United States.”
“In the current state of journalism, it's really freelancers who are bringing so much news to the public,” Cahana told NBC 7. “And the uncertainty of having an alert placed on your passport and not knowing where and when that's going to prevent you from doing your work is really problematic.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented other journalists covering the migrant caravan who were targeted by U.S. authorities for additional border screening measures. Some, including Go Nakamura and Ariana Drehsler, are listed in the database.
Editor's Note: This article has been updated with information detailed in a lawsuit Kitra Cahana filed in November 2019.
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
Marzieh Hashemi, the American-born journalist working for Iranian state TV, was released last night, after being arrested last week and held for 10 days by the U.S. Department of Justice.
As NPR reports, Hashemi was held to testify in a grand jury case under the material witness statute, though no other details of the case have been released.
Hashemi was arrested on Jan. 13, 2019, and remained in jail for a week and a half, despite not being charged with a crime. The DOJ had previously refused to answer reporters questions about the details of Hashemi’s arrest and detainment. While the Justice Department contends federal law allows it to detain people as material witnesses who are a threat to flee the country, the constitutionality of the statute has been called into question by legal experts. As CBS News reported on Jan. 17:
The constitutionality of the material witness law has "never been meaningfully tested," said Ricardo J. Bascuas, a professor at the University of Miami School of Law. "The government only relies on it when they need a reason to arrest somebody but they don't have one."
The uncertainty around her detainment, including whether or not it had to do with her work as a journalist from Iranian state television, had press freedom groups in the U.S. and abroad speaking out.
In a statement earlier in the week, Reporters Without Borders condemned her detention without charge and the lack of transparency.
“The opaqueness surrounding her detention is unacceptable,” Reza Moini, the head of RSF’s Iran desk, said. “Marzieh Hashemi’s fundamental rights must be guaranteed.”
The Committee to Protect Journalists expressed similar sentiments, saying in a statement late last week: "We are concerned by the arrest of a journalist for Iranian state TV, Marzieh Hashemi, and call on the U.S. Department of Justice to immediately disclose the basis for her detention.”
Following Hashemi’s release, her family released a statement saying she would remain in Washington, D.C. for planned protests and that they still had grievances with her detention without charge.
We will update this post when more information becomes available, including whether or not Hashemi was explicitly targeted for her journalistic work, or whether it was unrelated.
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
Journalist Marzieh Hashemi, in an undated photo provided by Press TV.
Meaghan Mackey, a reporter for KRCR News Channel 7, was attacked while broadcasting a Facebook Live from the scene of a mass overdose in Chico, California, on Jan. 12, 2019.
The news station has removed the video from its Facebook page, though numerous outlets have posted it, either edited or in raw version, such as here. In it, Mackey can be seen describing the scene before lifting up the camera to move closer.
While Mackey is out of view, a female voice can be heard.
“This is disrespectful, do you understand that,” the unidentified woman asks. “It’s dis-f---ing-respectful, b----. Get the f--- out of here!”
Mackey screams and is apparently knocked to the ground as her attacker continues to shout obscenities at her. A male voice can be heard intervening in the attack just before the video cuts out.
The station released a statement on Twitter following the attack:
As many of you know, our reporter Meaghan Mackey was attacked while at the scene of a mass overdose in Chico tonight. Meaghan is very shaken up but is okay. We are thankful law enforcement was right there and handled the situation quickly. We appreciate all your kind words.
— KRCR News Channel 7 (@KRCR7) January 13, 2019
The following day, Mackey released an official statement on Twitter:
Official Statement: As many of you know, I was attacked and assaulted at the scene of a mass overdose in Chico, California last night. I was doing my job, reporting the facts on a major incident during a Facebook live for my news station @KRCR7 (1/3)
— Meaghan Mackey (@KRCRMeaghan) January 13, 2019
I am thankful for the quick response from law enforcement. I am also very appreciative of all the support I’ve received from colleagues, viewers, friends and family. I am still shaken up, but am doing okay. I stand with all journalists working in defense of the truth. (2/3)
— Meaghan Mackey (@KRCRMeaghan) January 13, 2019
Thank you to anyone who has reached out or expressed their concerns. I appreciate your kind words of support. I will not live in fear of doing my job. I value the freedom of the press & will continue to report on the truth and inform the public, even during times of tragedy (3/3)
— Meaghan Mackey (@KRCRMeaghan) January 13, 2019
According to the Chico Police Department, no arrests have been made at this time.
Twelve people were hospitalized as a result of the mass overdose and one man was pronounced dead at the scene, according to The Associated Press.
Meaghan Mackey, in a screenshot from her Facebook Live for KRCR News Channel 7, was attacked while broadcasting from the scene of a mass overdose in Chico, California.
On Jan. 11, 2019, journalist Davin Eldridge was found guilty of criminal contempt; sentenced to a year-long probation; and required to write an essay about respect for the court, submit it for court approval, publish it online and censor negative comments.
Eldridge, publisher of the news site and Facebook page Trappalachia, recorded and livestreamed a criminal proceeding in the Macon County Courthouse in Franklin, North Carolina, in November 2018 despite posted signs stating that recording was not permitted in the courtroom and a warning from a bailiff, the News & Observer reported.
The presiding judge, William Coward, reiterated his rule against recording and, after viewing Eldridge’s Facebook posts, ordered the journalist to return to the courtroom later that day. Eldridge did not comply with that order.
Eldridge did not respond to requests for comment.
Eldridge was later charged with criminal contempt by Coward, who ordered the journalist to appear for a hearing on Jan. 11, 2019. That day, Eldridge objected to Coward overseeing his case and asked for his recusal, which Coward denied.
Coward found Eldridge guilty of criminal contempt and sentenced him to 30 days in jail. The sentence was suspended, and the trial court placed Eldridge on probation for one year with certain conditions, which included writing a 2,000-to-3,000-word essay on the subject “Respect for the Court System is Essential to the Fair Administration of Justice” and not attending “any court session in Judicial District 30A unless and until his essay has been approved and posted.”
Eldridge immediately appealed the ruling, but in December 2019, the North Carolina Court of Appeals upheld the trial court’s decision. A dissenting opinion was entered by Judge Christopher Brook, who agreed that Coward had the right to restrict recording in the courtroom and find Eldridge guilty of contempt but found that the conditions of his probation had “deeply troubling constitutional problems.”
“Although we generally do not review constitutional questions that have not first been raised in the trial court … suffice it to say that the sentencing judge has not only compelled Defendant [Eldridge] to speak within the meaning of the First Amendment, he has compelled Defendant to then continue speaking by censoring the viewpoints of other expressed in response to speech compelled by the court,” Judge Brook wrote in his dissent. “This compelled speech silencing third-party viewpoints expressed in response to compelled speech raises serious First Amendment concerns.”
On March 12, 2021, the North Carolina Supreme Court affirmed the Appeals Court’s decision without any explanation.
A political blogger in Iowa has been denied press access to the Iowa Legislature two years in a row, despite the lack of a clear policy that would disqualify her.
Laura Belin, who runs the independent news site Bleeding Heartland, covers Iowa politics and has been critical of the Republican-led House and Senate. Belin told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she first sought information about press credentials in the Iowa House of Representatives in early 2019. Since then, officials have denied her requests for credentials or access to press work areas multiple times, each time citing different reasons that did not align with written policies in place. Both the House and the Senate have also changed press qualification criteria since her first application.
When Belin first sought credentials in the House, the clerk at the time, Carmine Boal, told her by email on Jan. 3, 2019, that credentials “are not issued to members of the public.”
Boal referenced Iowa House rules, which did not elaborate on qualifications for the press. She also told Belin the House consulted U.S. congressional press gallery rules, which would not appear to disqualify Belin. Boal never responded to multiple requests for further explanation from Belin.
Boal stood by the denial of Belin’s credentials in a statement to The Associated Press but did not elaborate on why she did not meet the chamber’s rules that restricted access to the press box to “representatives of the press, radio, and television.”
After the Iowa Freedom of Information Council wrote to Boal expressing concerns about Belin’s rejection, Boal responded on Feb. 5 that House rules “do not offer a definition” of members of the media, and again pointed to congressional rules. In a copy of the response letter provided to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, she wrote that online outlets are not excluded and said that credentials are not denied based on content. However, she also said that the House has not “credentialed any ‘non-traditional media’ since 2015,” a policy that did not appear in writing.
Belin also applied for access to desks reserved for members of the press in the Iowa Senate in January 2019. She was initially told that she could access vacant spaces on day passes. However, Belin said she was never issued a day pass, even when the desks were not in use
Both the House and the Senate updated their press policies after Belin’s initial inquiries, according to the AP. The House updated its policy in February 2019 to include requirements that credentialed press be “bona fide correspondents of repute” and a “paid correspondent.” Bleeding Heartland is editorially independent and a registered business. Belin, as its owner, is entitled to any proceeds.
Belin applied for press credentials for the 2020 legislative session. She was denied credentials from the House on Jan. 10, 2020. House Clerk Meghan Nelson told her in an email that the House does not credential “outlets that are nontraditional/independent in nature.” This requirement is not included in the Iowa House press policy.
The Senate abolished media credentials and adopted a new reserved work space policy, in place for the 2020 legislative session, which guides access to desks in the Senate chamber reserved for media and Senate staff.
On Jan. 10, Belin received an email from Secretary of the Senate Charlie Smithson notifying her that “it has been determined that you do not meet the criteria to be a ‘member of the media’” under the Senate’s work space policy. Correspondence provided by Belin shows that Smithson did not respond to her multiple requests for further explanation of what criteria she did not meet under the policy.
Belin told the Tracker that press freedom protections are not just for journalists pulling a full-time salary. She suspects she was denied access because her approach differs from the “traditional objectivity stance.”
“I don’t think it’s constitutional for them to exclude me because they don’t like the opinions on my website,” Belin said.
Iowa House and Senate officials did not respond to requests for comment.
Political blogger Laura Belin has been repeatedly denied press access to the Iowa Statehouse. "I don’t think it’s constitutional for them to exclude me because they don’t like the opinions on my website,” Belin said.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, Judge quashes subpoena of New York Post reporter,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/judge-quashes-subpoena-new-york-post-reporter/,2019-11-22 20:05:22.458030+00:00,2019-11-22 20:05:22.458030+00:00,2019-11-22 20:05:22.379227+00:00,,Subpoena/Legal Order,,,,Susan Edelman (New York Post),,2019-01-07,False,New York,New York (NY),None,None,"Veteran New York Post reporter Susan Edelman was subpoenaed on Jan. 7, 2019, in an ongoing lawsuit between a former New York firefighter and the department. A federal magistrate judge quashed the subpoena on Aug. 9, and a federal district court judge affirmed that decision on Nov. 12.
Michael Johnson, the plaintiff, alleges in his civil lawsuit filed in November 2016 that he was discriminated against at FDNY due to his status as an African American "priority hire" who joined the department in 2014. He was hired following a court order to remedy historically discriminatory hiring practices at FDNY. Johnson alleges that he was the subject of strategic leaks to the media intended to portray him as a coward who refused to fight fires.
Edelman was the co-author of a May 2015 New York Post story titled "Firefighters fear colleague who routinely flees fires." The piece began, "He's a firefighter in name only. Michael D. Johnson won't fight fires. Instead, he stays on the sidelines as his Engine Company 257 colleagues rush into burning buildings, FDNY insiders told the Post."
The 2019 subpoena was issued demanding Edelman appear at a Jan. 29 deposition at the New York office of one of Johnson's attorneys. After negotiations with Johnson's attorneys and several extensions granted by the court, Edelman's attorneys filed a motion to quash the subpoena on June 4.
Edelman penned an affidavit in support of the motion, in which she argues the importance of keeping the identities of her sources confidential. "My reporting for the Post includes investigating corruption, waste, and misconduct within government agencies in New York City," she writes. "The municipal government sources who provide me information on these and other issues could be subject to serious professional discipline—or even lose their job—for speaking with me. It is therefore absolutely critical that my sources trust that I will maintain their confidentiality."
Lawyers for Johnson argued in court filings that Edelman had waived her reporter's privilege because she, in a 2015 phone call with one of Johnson’s attorneys, mentioned she was getting a call on another line from Jake Lemonda, a FDNY battalion chief. Edelman's attorney, Robert Balin, disagreed, writing in a filing, "Ms. Edelman said nothing about the substance of any conversations she had with Mr. Lemonda, whether he provided her with any information, or if he did, whether any information he provided was used in—or even connected to—the Article."
Vera M. Scanlon, a federal magistrate judge, granted the order quashing the subpoena on Aug. 9. The plaintiff’s counsel filed an objection to Scanlon's order, writing that the judge "erred when she found that all of Edelman's discussions with her sources were confidential" and that the "standard for non-confidentiality ought to apply."
On Nov. 12, U.S. District Court Judge Kiyo A. Matsumoto affirmed Scanlon's order granting Edelman's motion to quash the subpoena. "Judge Scanlon properly exercised her discretion when she held that Edelman's sources and other newsgathering information with respect to the Article were confidential and that plaintiff did not overcome his burden to compel disclosure of Edelman's information," she found.
A portion of the 2019 subpoena seeking information on confidential sources from New York Post reporter Susan Edelman.
,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,testimony about confidential source,['QUASHED'],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, "Independent filmmaker stopped for second time while crossing U.S.-Mexico border, car and phone searched",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-filmmaker-stopped-second-time-while-crossing-us-mexico-border-car-and-phone-searched/,2019-09-06 13:39:46.531989+00:00,2021-11-16 20:12:50.754602+00:00,2021-11-16 20:12:50.695314+00:00,,"Border Stop, Equipment Search or Seizure",,,,Anonymous documentary journalist 2,,2019-01-06,False,San Diego,California (CA),32.71571,-117.16472,"An independent documentary filmmaker was stopped at the U.S.-Mexico border twice by U.S. officials while following the migrant caravan for a film project. The second stop included a search of his equipment.
The filmmaker, a foreign citizen who is based in the U.S., told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that in December 2018 he was crossing the San Ysidro border near San Diego, California, when he was stopped and held for several hours after being recognized for his work by a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent.
Not quite a week later, he said, he was stopped at the same border point while re-entering Mexico to continue his work.
About 1 a.m. on Sunday, Jan. 6, 2019, a CBP agent took the passports of the filmmaker and a friend with whom he was traveling.
Usually, the filmmaker said, a secondary screening has a specific protocol: The agent puts the passport in an orange slip and tucks the slip under a wiper on the front windshield. This time, he said, the protocol was very different.
The agent kept the two passports, asked the filmmaker for his wallet and told him and his friend to leave the car. The filmmaker was then taken inside the CBP office, where he waited for 30-40 minutes.
Plainclothes officers began asking questions, he said, most notably about if he’d been in any face-off with officers or if he had any involvement in a specific New Year’s Eve incident. On Dec. 31, 2018, CBP agents fired tear gas across the border near Tijuana, Mexico.
The filmmaker also said the agents asked if he “knew of any group or people who were agitators.”
The filmmaker said he answered the questions and then the agents asked him to unlock his phone. He did so, he said, because he didn’t want to escalate the situation and get into a confrontation with the agents.
“By this time it’s almost 2 a.m.,” the filmmaker said, “And the whole situation is intimidating.”
After about 15 minutes with his phone, the agents returned and asked him to unlock it again. They also asked for his email and phone number.
“I don’t think anything was missing from my phone,” the filmmaker said, “But they had full access to everything — my contacts, my photos, my social media.”
All told, he said, he was held for about 2 hours. His friend’s car was searched and she was brought in and questioned as well.
The filmmaker said he has no plans to go back because he is done filming. He did ask that his name not be used for fear of reprisal.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has detailed nearly a dozen border stops of journalists following the migrant caravan. In March, San Diego’s NBC 7 investigative news team received leaked documents showing the U.S. government had been tracking and keeping dossiers on American journalists, lawyers and activists involved with the caravan. The news station also received an internal email showing the order to increase surveillance came from the head of the city’s Department of Homeland Security.
Manuel Rapalo, a freelance journalist, was stopped and pulled aside for additional screening measures while entering the United States via Washington, D.C. on Jan. 5, 2019. During the screening, Rapalo was questioned about his reporting along the U.S.-Mexico border and had his notebook searched.
Rapalo, an American citizen, covered the migrant caravan from Tijuana, Mexico, for Al-Jazeera. Every time he has re-entered the U.S. since then, he says, he has been pulled aside for a secondary screening, in what Rapalo calls his “new routine.”
Rapalo believes that a flag or marker has been placed on his travel documents because border officials have consistently stopped him only after scanning his passport. The Jan. 5 secondary screening was his first time to be pulled aside—he was also stopped for additional screening on Jan. 26 and Feb. 16, where the photos on his camera were searched and he was questioned about public records requests he intends to file.
“The first question was, ‘Why did you have trouble at the border?’” Rapalo said, referring to his reporting on the US-Mexico border. “I don’t know how he could have even known that. And then they asked me about my work along the border.”
According to Rapalo, the secondary screening began with about 30 minutes of questioning, then he was held for 1-2 hours while his luggage was searched.
“They go through my reporter notebooks, receipts, and ask me about the nature of my work, and how long I’ve been doing the job and whether I do fake news,” he told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. “I tell them to Google me. It seems like they are trying to get information out of me related to the border, like gathering intelligence on why the media is interested in the border.”
Rapalo said that while reporting from Tijuana on New Year’s Eve 2018, officials with Customs and Border Protection accused him and other journalists of exploiting migrants for stories and even “bringing them here from the shelters.”
“CBP tells people at the border hoping to cross that the journalists are taking advantage of them, and that they are there to make money off of them,” Rapalo said.
He said he responded to these accusations by stating that, “I can’t speak for everyone else, but I’m just here to watch and witness.”
CBP did not immediately respond to request for comment.
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us
Journalists for Al-Jazeera report on Jan. 1 in Mexico while covering activities along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Mark Abramson, a freelance photojournalist, was pulled into secondary screening by U.S. border officials while returning from Mexico on Jan. 5, 2019.
Abramson, a U.S. citizen, told the Committee to Protect Journalists that border agents looked through his belongings, including his notebook, at the El Chaparral port of entry at San Diego, California.
A U.S. Customs and Border Protection official then brought Abramson into a separate room, where he was asked to leave his bag and phone behind. The Intercept reported that in there, he was questioned for about 30 minutes about assignments and payments he received as a freelancer. The official also asked a series of questions related to the migrant caravan, including whether Abramson knew “who is stirring up stuff in the camp” or of groups helping the migrants.
Abramson told CPJ he was disturbed by the line of questions. “I’m not an informant, my job is to inform the public,” he said.
CBP 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 tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
A U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer watches a group of migrants, part of a caravan from Central America who are seeking asylum, as they search for a place to cross over the U.S. border wall in Tijuana, Mexico, in December 2018.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,1:19-cv-06570,['ONGOING'],Civil,None,False,None,El Chapparel,True,U.S. citizen,False,False,no,no,no,yes,unknown,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,migrant caravan,,,,, "Photojournalist questioned at San Ysidro border, separated from camera",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-questioned-san-ysidro-border-separated-camera/,2019-02-21 19:36:46.461277+00:00,2022-01-14 16:11:03.547344+00:00,2022-01-14 16:11:03.490228+00:00,"(2019-11-20 00:00:00+00:00) Photojournalist sues DHS, agencies after questioned about caravan coverage","Border Stop, Equipment Search or Seizure",,,,Ariana Drehsler (Freelance),,2019-01-04,False,San Diego,California (CA),32.71571,-117.16472,"On Jan. 4, 2019, freelance photojournalist Ariana Drehsler was stopped at the U.S.-Mexico border and subjected to secondary screening measures for the third time over the course of several weeks.
Drehsler had been covering the migrant caravan and seekers of asylum status in the United States. When she crossed over from Mexico on Dec. 30, 2018, she was stopped and told that her passport had been “flagged,” and she was again stopped for additional screening on Jan. 2.
“I was sent to secondary screening again,” she said of the Jan. 4 incident. While she was waiting to be questioned at the San Ysidro port of entry in San Diego, she said border agents chatted with her about her photography gear.
“One asked if I would show him my photos, but I declined, and he said something like, ‘Yeah, I kind of figured.’”
Unlike her two previous border stops, during which she was questioned by officials wearing civilian clothing, this time she was questioned by uniformed U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents.
She was patted down, and then her belongings were searched in front of her, she said. “I didn’t have my laptop because I felt paranoid doing so at that point,” referring to the two previous border stops.
“They took me into a hall and they told me to leave my bag and phone there, and they took me to another room.”
Drehsler said she felt uncomfortable being separated from her belongings.
During questioning, she said she was asked about background as a journalist and her previous work-related travels to the Middle East as well as details about the migrant caravan.
“The agents that questioned me said, ‘You’re on the ground and we’re not,’ which is why they were asking me those questions. They wanted to know what I was seeing and hearing about the new caravan and organizers.”
Drehsler said that before December 2018 she did not have any problem entering the United States when reporting from Mexico.
CBP did not immediately respond to request for comment.
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
A man holds an American flag at the Contra Viento y Marea shelter, a private warehouse converted into a shelter for migrants who traveled from Central America to near the US-Mexico border, in Tijuana, Mexico, on Jan. 4, 2019.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,1:19-cv-06570,['ONGOING'],Civil,None,False,None,San Ysidro,True,U.S. citizen,False,False,yes,no,no,yes,unknown,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,migrant caravan,,,,, Photojournalist questioned at U.S.-Mexico border for second time,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-questioned-us-mexico-border-second-time/,2019-02-21 18:50:06.678337+00:00,2022-01-14 16:08:06.887323+00:00,2022-01-14 16:08:06.832865+00:00,"(2019-11-20 00:00:00+00:00) Photojournalist sues DHS, agencies after questioned about caravan coverage",Border Stop,,,,Ariana Drehsler (Freelance),,2019-01-02,False,San Diego,California (CA),32.71571,-117.16472,"Freelance photojournalist Ariana Drehsler was stopped for a secondary screening and questioned while entering the United States from Mexico on Jan. 2, 2019.
Drehsler arrived around 11 p.m. on Jan. 2 at San Diego’s San Ysidro port of entry from Mexico, where she had been documenting the caravan of Central American immigrants seeking asylum in the U.S. for wire service United Press International.
Similar to a border stop at the same port of entry just days before, she was stopped and questioned by three officials wearing civilian clothes.
“They were the same two people from the first time, as well as another,” Drehsler said. “They said, ‘Oh, we brought a new person,’ and they were like, ‘We mentioned you to this other guy.’” She said the officials made a point to say she would not have to wait as long as last time.
“Before they started asking me questions, I said I was not in Tijuana on New Year’s Day, because I had a feeling this would happen,” she said, referring to an incident the day before, where U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents had fired at migrants attempting to climb a wall to enter into the U.S.
Drehsler said that one of the officials replied, “You took the words right out of my mouth.”
In an attempt to shift the conversation away from the journalists covering the migrant caravan, Drehsler said she brought up the presence of activists, such as those present in Tijuana from Seattle.
“[Border officials] mentioned the new caravan, and asked if the people in the new one understand how hard it is for people to seek asylum at the border. I said I had no idea. They asked about the organizers and activists and said their presence has dropped off. I didn’t say anything, I didn’t know.”
Just before leaving the secondary screening and entering the U.S., Drehsler said the border agents asked her whether she rented or owned her home.
Drehsler told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she was confused about the relevance of the question. “[The agent] said she just wanted to know for yourself,” she said. “I said I rented.”
Like her previous border stop on Dec. 30, 2018, none of her belongings, notes, or devices were searched. A few days after this incident, Drehsler would be stopped a third time.
“I didn’t have anything to hide, but I still felt weird answering their questions,” she said. “I felt like an informant.”
CBP did not immediately respond to request for comment.
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
In early December 2018, El Barretal shelter in Tijuana, Mexico, housed more than 3,000 migrants from Central America.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,1:19-cv-06570,['ONGOING'],Civil,None,False,None,San Ysidro,True,U.S. citizen,False,False,no,no,no,yes,no,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,migrant caravan,,,,, Photojournalist stopped and questioned at US-Mexico border,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-stopped-and-questioned-us-mexican-border/,2019-02-15 18:01:00.013345+00:00,2021-11-09 22:18:36.128680+00:00,2021-11-09 22:18:36.084525+00:00,,Border Stop,,,,Emilio Fraile,,2019-01-01,True,San Diego,California (CA),32.71571,-117.16472,"Spanish freelance photojournalist Emilio Fraile was questioned in secondary screening by U.S. authorities while traveling from Tijuana, Mexico, to San Diego, California in January 2019.
Fraile told the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) that he had been working in Mexico for several months, three weeks of which was spent reporting from Tijuana on the migrant caravan. While attempting to enter the United States, Fraile was stopped and questioned about his work for approximately a half hour.
The questions, Fraile told CPJ, included whether or not Americans were “collaborating” with the migrant caravan. “They were always trying to get information from us,” he said.
When border officials asked to see his photographs, Fraile said that he had already deleted them.
Fraile told CPJ about an additional interaction with U.S. border authorities during his time working in Mexico, in which an agent asked him how many migrants were hidden in a certain area.
In another case, a group of border agents and several others, wearing what Fraile said appeared to be military outfits, approached a group of photojournalists around New Years. Shining a light at them, the agents repeatedly asked, “Where is Emilio?”
Fraile told CPJ he was not sure how they knew his name, and that he felt it was an attempt to intimidate him.
The Intercept reported that Fraile and other Spanish photojournalists had their passports photographed on Jan. 3 by Mexican authorities, who informed the journalists that they share information with the U.S. police.
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
RM Broadcasting and RIA Global LLC — U.S.-based news organizations funded by the Russian government — were ordered to register as foreign agents under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
RIA Global, which produces content for the Russian state-owned news outlet Sputnik, was ordered to register under FARA in January 2018. RM Broadcasting was also ordered to register around the same time, but the outlet’s owner Arnold Ferolito filed a lawsuit over the order.
On May 7, 2019, a federal judge rejected RM Broadcasting’s lawsuit, finding with the Justice Department.
"This Court acknowledges, as have others, that the language of FARA is broad," wrote the judge in that case. "Nevertheless, the Court must apply the statutory language as written; it is not for the Court to rewrite the statute."
Under the FARA legislation, the entities in question must include disclaimers about their connections with the Russian government in their reporting, and provide details about their operations and funding to the Justice Department.
Several other news organizations are registered under FARA — including RT America, Japanese TV news channel NHK, the Korean Broadcasting Service, and the Chinese newspapers China Daily, People’s Daily, and Xinmin Evening News. After the Justice Department ordered RT America to register in September 2017, the Russian government retaliated by expanding its own foreign agent law to include foreign media organizations and labeled nine U.S. news outlets as foreign agents.
Beverly Hunt, Director of Communications for Sputnik News, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that registration under FARA limits the possibilities of what their journalism can do.
“First of all, under this pretext we were denied Senate media credentials, which automatically makes it impossible to get credentialed with the White House,” Hunt said in an email. “Also, our radio programming is accompanied by a disclaimer at the top of each hour stating that this show was produced at the request of Rossiya Segodnya and that additional information is with the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. Obviously, this scares off potential listeners as well as guests and experts we reach out to. In addition to this, it allows corporate media to refer to us as ‘foreign agents’ without clarifying what that means, which again creates a notion that we are spies of sort and not journalists.”
In a 2018 article for Columbia Journalism Review, staff at the Committee to Protect Journalists wrote that “in invoking FARA, Congress is relying on a notoriously opaque unit within the Department of Justice to draw an impossible line between propaganda and journalism. Source protection, media access, and the US promotion of press freedom abroad may all be compromised.”
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
While covering the migrant caravan in Mexico, freelance photojournalist Ariana Drehsler has been stopped for secondary screenings each time she has re-entered the United States since December 2018.
At around 12:15 a.m. on Dec. 30, 2018, Drehsler arrived at the San Ysidro port of entry in San Diego to cross back into the United States. She had been covering the migrant caravan for wire service United Press International. She would be stopped again on Jan. 2 and Jan. 4.
Drehsler said that the U.S. border agent who had her passport asked her a couple of questions before informing her that she would need to go to secondary screening.
“A man and a woman in civilian clothes came up to me and took me into another room. They asked me what I was doing in Tijuana, who I work for, what other outlets I’ve worked for, my editor’s phone number,” Drehsler said. “They also asked about my background as a photographer.”
She said that she was asked about what she knew about the caravan, people crossing the border illegally, and details about the shelters for migrants in Mexico.
“I didn’t hide anything, but I also didn’t give them information like the names of fellow journalists. And they also didn’t ask me for specific names.”
Drehsler told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the border officials informed her that her passport had been “flagged,” but they did not know why, and they indicated that she might want to budget more time for border crossings since she could be stopped again.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents did not search Drehsler’s notes, electronic devices, or baggage, and she was permitted to bring her phone into questioning. She left the port of entry and entered the United States around 1:25 a.m.
CBP did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
Unlike the U.S. side, where onlookers are supposed to keep a distance, those at Las Playas de Tijuana in Mexico are allowed to get close to the border wall that separates the two countries.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,1:19-cv-06570,['ONGOING'],Civil,None,False,None,San Ysidro,True,U.S. citizen,False,False,no,no,no,yes,no,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,migrant caravan,,,,, Cyberattack disrupts Tribune newspaper computer systems and delivery across the U.S.,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cyberattack-disrupts-tribune-newspaper-computer-systems-and-delivery-across-us/,2019-01-03 22:39:40.110435+00:00,2022-06-14 19:39:04.307447+00:00,2022-06-14 19:39:04.203618+00:00,,Other Incident,,,,,,2018-12-29,False,Multiple,None,None,None,"Tribune Publishing, the parent company of Los Angeles Times and many other regional newspapers in the United States, was targeted with a cyberattack on Dec. 29, 2018, that disrupted its computer systems and delayed delivery of newspapers for several news outlets.
The Los Angeles Times, one of the outlets impacted by the attack,reported that what originally arose as a server outage was ultimately identified as a malware attack. According to the Times, a virus “spread through Tribune Publishing’s network and reinfected systems crucial to the news production and printing process.”
Citing sources with knowledge of the Tribune situation, the Times reported that the attack came in the form of ransomware called “Ryuk.”
The Times further reported:
“We believe the intention of the attack was to disable infrastructure, more specifically servers, as opposed to looking to steal information,” said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly. The source would not detail what evidence led the company to believe the breach came from overseas.
Several news outlets share a production platform under Tribune Publishing, which owns papers including Chicago Tribune, Baltimore Sun, Capital Gazette, Hartford Courant, New York Daily News, South Florida Sun Sentinel and Orlando Sentinel.
The Times and San Diego Tribune are no longer owned by Tribune, but were also impacted because they continue to share its production software.
It’s unclear precisely how many news readers were impacted by the delayed deliveries, but the Times reported that a majority of its subscribers received their papers, albeit hours late.
The motive for the cyberattack remains unclear. The Times reported that the Tribune “suspected the cyberattack originated from outside the United States,” but did not elaborate further on whether a foreign government was involved, or why Tribune may have been targeted.
Bing Guan and Go Nakamura, American photojournalists, were pulled into secondary screening on Dec. 29, 2018, while driving through the San Ysidro point of entry, a border crossing between San Diego, California and Tijuana, Mexico.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers separated Guan, who was driving his car, and Nakamura and questioned them individually. Guan told the Committee to Protect Journalists that he was questioned by two plainclothes CBP agents, one of whom produced a tear sheet with photographs of people who had been around the caravan. Guan told CPJ that the agents showed him two or three sheets of photo arrays “with between 9 and 12 photos” on each page. These included some photos that appeared like mugshots and others that seemed like surveillance photos.
Guan told The Intercept that he recognized two individuals as anti-migrant activists and thought that a third was associated with Pueblo Sin Fronteras, an immigrant rights group. Guan said that the CPB agents referred to the people in the photos as “instigators.”
Guan was asked to open his camera and show photographs, which he did, reasoning that it would be too dark to identify anyone, according to the account in The Intercept.
Likewise, Nakamura told CPJ that a CBP officer asked him to show his photographs to prove he was a photographer. The officer then showed Nakamura photographs of 20 people and asked whether he had seen them in Mexico. Nakamura said that he was not given an explanation of who the people were.
Two days prior to the secondary screening, Nakamura and Guan were stopped by Mexican municipal police officers who photographed their passports.
A few weeks before he was pulled into secondary screening, Guan had driven through the same San Ysidro port of entry without any issues, he said.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents look toward the Mexican border at the San Ysidro border in San Diego, California in November 2018.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,1:19-cv-06570,['ONGOING'],Civil,None,False,None,San Ysidro,True,U.S. citizen,False,False,no,no,no,yes,yes,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"migrant caravan, student journalism",,,United States,, Photojournalist stopped at US-Mexico border for secondary screening,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-stopped-at-us-mexico-border-for-secondary-screening/,2022-01-14 15:59:14.344475+00:00,2022-01-14 16:42:28.456941+00:00,2022-01-14 16:42:28.406415+00:00,"(2019-11-20 00:00:00+00:00) Photojournalists sue DHS, agencies after questioned about caravan coverage","Border Stop, Equipment Search or Seizure",,camera: count of 1,,Go Nakamura (Freelance),,2018-12-29,False,San Diego,California (CA),32.71571,-117.16472,"Go Nakamura and Bing Guan, American photojournalists, were pulled into secondary screening on Dec. 29, 2018, while driving through the San Ysidro point of entry, a border crossing between San Diego, California and Tijuana, Mexico.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers separated Guan, who was driving his car, and Nakamura and questioned them individually. Guan told the Committee to Protect Journalists that he was questioned by two plainclothes CBP agents, one of whom produced a tear sheet with photographs of people who had been around the caravan. Guan told CPJ that the agents showed him two or three sheets of photo arrays “with between 9 and 12 photos” on each page. These included some photos that appeared like mugshots and others that seemed like surveillance photos.
Guan told The Intercept that he recognized two individuals as anti-migrant activists and thought that a third was associated with Pueblo Sin Fronteras, an immigrant rights group. Guan said that the CPB agents referred to the people in the photos as “instigators.”
Guan was asked to open his camera and show photographs, which he did, reasoning that it would be too dark to identify anyone, according to the account in The Intercept.
Likewise, Nakamura told CPJ that a CBP officer asked him to show his photographs to prove he was a photographer. The officer then showed Nakamura photographs of 20 people and asked whether he had seen them in Mexico. Nakamura said that he was not given an explanation of who the people were.
Two days prior to the secondary screening, Nakamura and Guan were stopped by Mexican municipal police officers who photographed their passports.
A few weeks before he was pulled into secondary screening, Guan had driven through the same San Ysidro port of entry without any issues, he said.
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents participate in a readiness exercise in January at the San Ysidro port of entry with Mexico in San Diego, California.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,1:19-cv-06570,['ONGOING'],Civil,None,False,None,San Ysidro,False,U.S. citizen,False,False,no,no,no,yes,yes,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,migrant caravan,,,United States,, Subject of reporting attempts to force journalist to reveal a source,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/subject-reporting-attempts-force-journalist-reveal-source/,2019-03-25 18:31:09.577385+00:00,2019-03-25 19:31:24.309570+00:00,2019-03-25 19:31:24.244031+00:00,,Subpoena/Legal Order,,,,Teri Buhl (Smashmouth Investigative Journalism),,2018-12-28,False,New York,New York (NY),None,None,"A New York State Supreme Court judge allowed a lawsuit to proceed under seal for more than three months under which investigative journalist Teri Buhl was asked to disclose a confidential source. The judge ultimately ruled that she could not be forced to reveal the source’s identity.
Bruce Bernstein, an employee at Rockmore Capital and the subject of a story by Buhl on securities fraud, filed a lawsuit alleging that Buhl had use a document in her reporting from his divorce filings that was under seal.
“Bernstein is entitled to pre-action discovery that will allow him to determine who - the Binn Parties, their counsel, Aufrichtig or a party currently unknown to Bernstein - sent the Document and email to Buhl,” reads the pre-discovery petition filed December 2018.
Manhattan Judge W. Franc Perry sealed the lawsuit, preventing the public from ascertaining the details of the lawsuit for months after it was filed.
“I was still reporting on securities fraud, but I couldn’t report that they were suing me and bullying me,” Buhl told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
On Jan. 18, Buhl wrote on her news website, Smashmouth Investigative Journalism, that a subject of her reporting was attempting to force her to disclose a source, and that she was fighting back.
Buhl’s attorneys filed an opposition to the application to seal the records, and filed in support of the motion to dismiss the pre-action disclosure petition on Jan. 28.
“In a desperate bid to keep potentially damaging information from public view, Petitioner seeks to upend bedrock constitutional principles protecting both the public’s right to access the courts and the free exchange of ideas,” the opposition reads. “Petitioner has brought this special proceeding under CPLR 3102(c), in part, to compel Ms. Buhl, a seasoned investigative journalist, to reveal confidential source information relating to her reporting on Petitioner’s possible SEC violations.”
On March 5, the judge ruled that Buhl could not be forced to disclose her confidential source. Buhl said that on the Friday before, March 1, the judge had ruled in favor of a motion by Buhl’s attorneys to unseal the case.
The dismissal of Bernstein’s petition for pre-discovery cites reporters’ ability to protect their sources: “...[G]iven New York’s long tradition of protecting freedom of the press and recognizing the critical role that the press plays in our democratic society, Ms. Buhl, as a professional journalist, is protected by the Shield Law, which was enacted to provide the highest level of protection in the nation for those which gather and report the news and to promote the free flow of dissemination.”
On March 4, Buhl updated the post on her website to note that numerous news organizations and press freedom groups, including the New York Times and Reporters without Borders, had joined an amicus brief in support.
“This is an important win because it confirms that the New York shield law applies to freelance journalists like Teri Buhl, who self-publish on their own news sites,” said Sarah Matthews, staff attorney for Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, which submitted its own friend-of-the-court brief in January. “Unsealing this case was particularly important because it involved an attempt to force a journalist to reveal her source.”
The Press Freedom Defense Fund provided the legal funding for Buhl’s case. (Full disclosure: Matthews provides intake for the Fund and sits on the steering committee for the Tracker.)
Buhl agreed that the judge’s ruling helps all freelancers in New York.
“It’s alarming that a state court judge even agreed to seal this case before any hearing took place, based on what one Wall Street lawyer said in his motion,” said Buhl said. “Pre-action discovery cannot be used as a fishing expedition to get reporters’ sources.”
Buhl also told the Tracker that she could think of no circumstance under which she would comply with such a legal order and reveal the identity of a source.
“I would rather be held in contempt,” she said.
Bernstein did not respond to request for comment by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
This article was updated to reflect that Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press submitted its own amicus brief in the case.
Attorneys Mark Bailen, left, and Peter Shapiro celebrate a favorable decision for their client, journalist Teri Buhl, who had been sued to reveal a confidential source.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,other,None,,,,,,, Independent filmmaker stopped while crossing U.S.-Mexico border,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-filmmaker-stopped-while-crossing-us-mexico-border/,2019-09-06 13:37:36.207400+00:00,2021-11-16 20:11:45.389227+00:00,2021-11-16 20:11:45.332805+00:00,,Border Stop,,,,Anonymous documentary journalist 2,,2018-12-28,False,San Diego,California (CA),32.71571,-117.16472,"An independent documentary filmmaker was stopped at the U.S.-Mexico border twice by U.S. officials while following the migrant caravan for a film project.
The foreign-born citizen is based in the U.S. and asked to not have his name used for fear of reprisal.
The filmmaker told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that on Dec. 28, 2018, he was crossing the San Ysidro border near San Diego, California, by car when Mexican authorities pointed out that his temporary work visa had been mis-stamped. The authorities let him cross, however, into the United States.
On the U.S. side, the filmmaker went into the U.S. Customs and Border Protection office to show an officer the error, and asked him to correct it. The officer started to until another agent said of him, “I know that guy—he’s in the video at the border.”
The officer was referring to a video taken of the journalist filming at the border. The video seemed to have been taken from a car, and in it, the filmmaker was clearly recognizable.
“I was following a family of migrants,” the filmmaker said, “And border patrol was trying to trip me up, trying to get me away from the family I was following.”
When CBP took away the family and pushed the filmmaker back, he said he gave them no resistance.
While inside the Customs office, a CBP officer told the filmmaker to sit down, that he’d “be there for hours,” and “a special team was going to come in.”
The officers continued re-watching the video, and the filmmaker waited for nearly 2 hours. Finally, he said, there was a shift change in the office and the next officer on duty cleared him to go.
A week later, while returning to Mexico through the same San Ysidro border, the filmmaker was stopped again, and the car he was in and his phone were searched.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has detailed nearly a dozen border stops of journalists following the migrant caravan. In March, San Diego’s NBC 7 investigative news team received leaked documents showing the U.S. government had been tracking and keeping dossiers on American journalists, lawyers and activists involved with the caravan. The news station also received an internal email showing the order to increase surveillance came from the head of the city’s Department of Homeland Security.
While flying from the United Kingdom into the United States on Dec. 23, 2018, filmmaker and director Saeed Taji Farouky was stopped by border authorities, who questioned him about his work and family and asked him to unlock his cellphone.
Farouky, who is based in the UK, had obtained a visa for this trip, and was checking in at the airport. At the check-in counter, Farouky heard the employee who had his paperwork tell another employee, “I’ve got someone here relating to those two words that I can’t say.”
“I was like, what are those two words?” Farouky said. “Why would you say that in front of me?”
Whatever those two words were, Farouky was pulled aside for an interview by the Department of Homeland Security. He said the interview didn’t surprise him. While securing his visa for the trip, an embassy representative told him he might be interviewed again while traveling. Plus, he said, he is used to it.
“This time,” Farouky said, “This DHS guy showed up and questioned me for 10 minutes. There were some questions about my work, and also strange questions about whether I had family in the United States—he wanted to know if they were ‘OK,’ or if they had medical issues. When I mentioned living in Morocco in the past, he kept bringing up this story in which two Scandinavian hikers were killed by an ISIS affiliate. The story is horrifying, but he kept bringing it up over and over. It felt like maybe he was phishing to see my reaction.”
After he was told by DHS that he was good to go, Farouky said his luggage was given an additional swab to test for explosives, and then he boarded his flight to Florida. But upon landing, he said he was quickly pulled aside again.
“I sat there for a long time while someone asked me questions, and it focused on my travel history. He brought up Syria a lot, which I visited in 2009 before the United States’ cutoff date to visit the country.”
Farouky said a border agent then asked for his phone, and requested him to unlock it. The border officials did not ask him for his passcode.
“I didn’t know what my rights were,” Farouky said. “I asked, ‘What if I am not comfortable with that?’ And they said the only other option was sending my phone to a private company, which meant I wouldn’t get it back for weeks.”
Border agents cannot force travelers to unlock their phones or laptops, but they can ask them to do so and escalate the situation. If travelers refuse, officials can seize the devices and copy the data.
Farouky said he was worried about his contacts, both personal and professional. “If they harvested all of the names and numbers, that’s everyone I have ever interviewed, so my sources could be put in some sort of database. But I didn’t feel like I had a choice.”
He said he felt intensely uncomfortable, but unlocked his phone and gave it to the officials. Farouky said they told him they were just looking for evidence of illegal activity. The border agents then took his phone into another room, returning it after about five minutes, Farouky said. When it was returned, it was on airplane mode.
A 2018 Customs and Border Protection directive requires officials to ensure that prior to a search, devices are not connected to the internet, so that searches only involve content that is stored locally on the device.
Farouky also noted that at no point was he offered a piece of paper detailing his rights in the situation. He also said that he was concerned that pushing back would only spike the authorities’ interest in his devices and work.
“I certainly didn’t want them looking at my laptop. I’m not even doing hardcore investigative work,” he said.
DHS did not respond to a request for comment.
Farouky emphasized that this kind of incident is not uncommon for him, and that he has been questioned by authorities while traveling and asked to unlock his devices at other times. He said in a Tel Aviv airport around 2009, Israeli authorities asked him to unlock his phone and he refused. And a few years ago in New York, he was interrogated in what he called a much ruder and longer fashion. There, his phone was taken but not unlocked.
“I don’t have any doubt that this is because I am a Muslim, a Palestinian, and a journalist. It really pissed me off intellectually,” Farouky said.
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
On Dec. 20, 2018, reporter and activist Andrew Sheets was cited for trespassing after filming inside the city hall building in Punta Gorda, Florida, in violation of a local ordinance.
Sheets, a member of the National Press Photographers Association, is a self-described “copwatch reporter” who runs a YouTube channel focused on police misconduct and corruption.
The local law that Sheets was accused of violating, Ordinance 1872-17, prohibits filming people without permission in certain areas of city-controlled buildings, including Punta Gorda City Hall and City Hall Annex.
Ordinance 1872-17 states:
“Except within the City Council Chambers, conference rooms, and other locations in which a public meeting is being conducted pursuant to a public notice, it shall be unlawful and a violation of this Ordinance to record video and/or sound within City-owned, controlled, and leased property, without the consent of all persons whose voice or image is being recorded. … Any person who refuses to cease the unconsented to video and/or sound recording, and refuses to immediately leave the premises following the request of the City Manager or his designee, shall be considered as a trespasser.”
On Dec. 20, Sheets used a body camera to record himself going to the Punta Gorda City Clerk’s Office and making a records request for a copy of Ordinance 1872-17. Sheets later posted the video recorded by his body camera on YouTube.
The video shows Sheets entering the City Hall Annex building and going to the city clerk’s office, where he makes a request for a copy of the ordinance. Two city hall staffers who appear on the video tell Sheets that they do not have their permission and film them and ask him to stop recording.
“You don’t have our permission to record us,” one of the staffers tells Sheets.
“You’re a public official in a public building,” Sheets replies.
“This is a staff area,” the staffer says. “It’s not a public meeting area.”
Later in the video, Sheets goes to the Punta Gorda police station and asks to speak with the police chief. An officer, later identified as Lt. Justin Davoult, then approaches him in the lobby to inform them that the police chief will not speak with him. Davoult also issues two trespass warnings to Sheets, which ban Sheets from returning to Punta Gorda City Hall and City Hall Annex for one year.
“Before we go any further, this is what we’re going to do,” Davoult tells Sheets in the video. “The chief’s not available to speak to you. OK, so this is what you’ve got. This is a trespass warning for City Hall and City Annex, OK, for both addresses over at City Hall. You are no longer to be at or on that property for a period of one year or you will face arrest.”
Sheets later filed a personnel complaint against Davoult, accusing him of “unlawful trespass issued.” The police department conducted an internal investigation, which cleared Davoult of any wrongdoing.
“The circumstances detailed on Dec. 20, 2018 confirmed that Andrew Sheets was in violation of the city ordinance,” the investigation report states. “This investigation has determined Lieutenant Justin Davoult’s actions were lawful, proper, and consistent with department policy and therefore is Exonerated from the allegation of unlawful trespass issued.”
Sheets believes that the prohibition on filming in Punta Gorda City Hall may be unconstitutional.
In April 2017, the Punta Gorda Police Department asked the Florida State Attorney’s Office to bring wiretapping charges against someone who had been caught filming inside the city hall building. The State Attorney’s Office declined to prosecute, explaining in a felony warrant request disposition notice that “a citizen’s right to film government officials, in the discharge of their duties in a public place is a basic, vital, and well-established liberty safeguarded by the First Amendment.”
The constitutionality of the city ordinance has never been tested in court.
Mickey Osterreicher, the general counsel for the National Press Photographers Association, told Freedom of the Press Foundation that the City of Punta Gorda may have violated Sheets’ First Amendment rights when it issued the trespass warning.
“Aside from being based upon a constitutionally suspect ordinance, the trespass notice issued to Mr. Sheets is a blatant violation of his First Amendment rights and chills his ability to gather and disseminate information on important matter of public concern,” Osterreicher said.
Melissa Reichert, a spokeswoman for the city, told The Port Charlotte Sun, a local newspaper, that the city believes the ordinance is valid and will continue to enforce it.
“The city has enforced Ordinance 1872-17 as provided therein since its adoption in May 2017,” Reichert told the paper. “Unless and until a court of competent jurisdiction determines otherwise, the city staff believes the ordinance is valid.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
Becky Maxwell, publisher at the Journal Express in Knoxville, Iowa, received an email on Dec. 13, 2018, claiming that a bomb had been placed in newspaper’s building that would detonate if she failed to send a ransom in bitcoin by the end of business. The Express was one of 12 newspapers owned by the media company CNHI to receive such a threat that day.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented that at least 27 U.S. media outlets were targeted with the hoax bomb threats, alongside hundreds of schools, businesses and public buildings across the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. In addition to the CNHI (formerly Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc.) papers, eight stations owned by Gray TV and two newspapers owned by McClatchy received the email threats. More may have received the email hoax and not publicized it.
“When I first received [the email],” Maxwell told the Tracker, “I read it a couple of times and I thought, ‘Oh, this is just a scam.’” But, because of previous incidents over the past 15 years, she said, they now take any kind of threat seriously.
After consulting with the chief of police, the Express did not evacuate. Neither did the staff at the Joplin Globe in Joplin, Missouri. When reporters Debby Woodin and Emily Younker each received the threatening email, they brought it to Globe Editor Carol Stark and the publisher, who immediately called the police. While the Globe has policies in place for tornadoes and fires, Stark told the Tracker, on the day they received the threat they lacked a clear procedure to follow.
“We did not evacuate because the police really thought it was a bogus call, but in hindsight now we should have,” she said.
Events over the past year have spurred many newsrooms across the country to reevaluate their security infrastructure and procedures, editors and publishers told the Tracker, and none more so than the June shooting at a newsroom in Annapolis, Maryland. On June 28, Jarrod Ramos entered the Capital Gazette offices and shot to death five people, including four journalists and a sales associate.
Andy Bernhard, publisher for The Park Record in Park City, Utah, said that when his newsroom received the bomb threat they were already in the process of following through with recommendations from the county sheriff for improvements to the office’s physical security.
“It was actually the Annapolis Capital incident that got us moving on evolving our security procedures,” he said. “We’re actively receiving quotes for specifically that: shatterproof glass, keycard entry and new security cameras.”
Media companies, including CNHI and Swift Communications, have also initiated security reviews and updates in the wake of the Annapolis shooting, including conducting active shooter training with the full staff at each of their outlets.
On July 10, McClatchy sent an internal email, shared with the Tracker, informing its newsrooms that all locations would have hostile intruder trainings and that it was evaluating and updating the emergency plans and physical security of all locations. The email stated: “These upgrades may include installing panic buttons, remote entry maglocks, video cameras in entryways, shatter-resistant film coating to windows and additional on-site security guards.”
Jeanne Segal, McClatchy communications director, told the Tracker that all trainings and physical upgrades have been completed.
Al Lancaster, VP general manager at WSAW-TV in Wausau, Wisconsin, was glad that the threat came in in the middle of the day, when four department heads were in the newsroom and able to clear the building in fewer than 10 minutes. Lancaster told the Tracker, “It was pretty clear that we should evacuate whether we thought the threat was legitimate or not.”
Lancaster said that the bomb hoax checked their preparedness for such an event.
“We did just pull our disaster plan which had not been updated for a while,” Lancaster said, “And because of that bomb scare actually we’re looking at it with our department heads and revising and tweaking some things.”
In a year that saw an increase of violence and threats against journalists, this single-day email bomb hoax tested security procedures and trainings that newsrooms across the country have undertaken.
The Tracker has been able to verify the following media outlets were recipients of the hoax bomb threat:
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
Newsrooms across the U.S., plus schools and businesses here and abroad, received bomb threats via email on the same December day.
Davin Eldridge, publisher of the local news site and Facebook page Trappalachia, was charged with contempt of court on Dec. 3, 2018, for recording and livestreaming a criminal proceeding in November 2018 at the Macon County Courthouse in Franklin, North Carolina.
The News & Observer reported that despite posted signs stating that recording was not permitted in the courtroom and a warning from a bailiff, Eldridge allegedly continued to film court proceedings. The presiding judge, William Coward, reiterated his rule against recording and, after viewing Eldridge’s Facebook posts, which included the livestreamed footage, ordered the journalist to return to the courtroom later that day. Eldridge did not comply with that order, according to a subsequent ruling by the North Carolina Court of Appeals.
Eldridge did not respond to requests for comment.
On Dec. 3, Coward issued an order for Eldridge to appear in court on Jan. 11, 2019, to argue why he should not be held in criminal contempt of court. The judge also signed a search warrant granting the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation access to Eldridge’s Facebook account records and several messaging threads.
On the date of the hearing, Eldridge motioned for Coward to recuse himself, arguing that since the inciting incident had taken place in his courtroom, the judge could not be impartial; Eldridge’s motion was denied. Coward subsequently found Eldridge guilty of criminal contempt and sentenced him to 30 days in jail, which was suspended; the journalist was then placed on probation for one year. A condition of Eldridge’s probation, the Free Speech Center reported, was that he write and publish a 2,000-to-3,000-word essay online about respect for the court system and delete any negative comments people may write.
Eldridge immediately appealed the ruling, challenging Coward’s decision not to recuse himself, the charge and the legality of the probation conditions, including the essay writing.
In December 2019, the Court of Appeals upheld Coward’s ruling, stating, “Given defendant’s questionable and intentional conduct, his frequent visits to the courtroom, and his direct willingness to disobey courtroom policies, we discern no abuse of discretion in the trial court’s decision to impose conditions on defendant’s probationary sentence. Such conditions are reasonably related to the necessity of preventing further disruptions of the court by defendant’s conduct, and the need to provide accountability without unduly infringing on his rights.”
A dissenting opinion was entered by Judge Christopher Brook, who agreed that Coward had the right to restrict recording in the courtroom and find Eldridge guilty of contempt but found that the conditions of his probation had “deeply troubling constitutional problems.”
The Tracker has captured Coward’s required pre-approval of the essay and removal of all negative comments in its prior restraint category.
Eldridge again appealed the ruling. On March 12, 2021, the North Carolina Supreme Court affirmed the Appeals Court’s decision without any explanation.
A high school student newspaper in Arkansas was suspended, and its adviser threatened with termination, after student journalists published an article about a story questioning the legitimacy of the transfer of football players to another school.
According to BuzzFeed News, Har-Ber High School in Springdale suspended its student paper on Nov. 27, 2018, after it published an investigative story in October.
In a statement, Springdale district superintendent Jim Rollins called The Herald’s story "intentionally negative, demeaning, hurtful and potentially harmful to the students" as well as "divisive and disruptive" to the community, but did not dispute the accuracy of the reporting.
Springdale school district reportedly requested that the paper’s adviser, Karla Sprague, remove the article from the paper’s website. The article was removed, and the school principal suspended the Herald from publishing at all until new guidelines are implemented. The article has been re-published on the Student Press Law Center's website.
BuzzFeed noted that the principal also threatened Sprague with potential termination if the Herald continued to publish.
Buzzfeed described the investigation conducted by the students:
District policy states that students can’t transfer schools because they’re recruited or want to play on a different team. An academic transfer is one of the few valid exceptions to allow a transfer student to play sports.
So the student journalists — the newspaper class has 10 students and is held in second period every day — got to digging.
An anonymous source gave them a pile of FOIA documents from the Arkansas Activities Association showing that five of the players’ parents wrote letters requesting their sons be allowed to play football because they transferred schools for academic reasons.
However, the Herald had also conducted on-the-record interviews with the transfer students themselves, months earlier.
In those interviews, two of the teens said they were transferring to play football.
The 1995 Arkansas Student Publications Act protects the rights of student publications from censorship from school administrators, except under specific circumstances.
“School officials at this point seem to me to have completely thrown up their hands and said, ‘We’re not going to listen to what the law says in our state, and we’re going to do what we want,’” Mike Hiestand, senior legal counsel for the Student Press Law Center, told BuzzFeed.
Student journalists at the Herald did not immediately respond to requests to comment.
On Dec. 3, 40/29 News reported that students said that the administration announced that the Herald could be reinstated.
“After continued consideration of the legal landscape, the Springdale School District has concluded that the Har-Ber Herald articles may be reposted,” Rick Schaeffer, the communications director for the Springdale School District, wrote on Dec. 4. “This matter is complex, challenging and has merited thorough review. The social and emotional well-being of all students has been and continues to be a priority of the district.”
Schaeffer declined to comment on whether new guidelines will be implemented that govern publishing in Springdale schools.
Freelance multimedia reporter Brooke Binkowski was stopped by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers while she was re-entering the United States on Nov. 24, 2018, the fourth time in six months.
Binkowski told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she was returning from a reporting trip to visit the migrant caravan moving that month, and was crossing later in the day than she normally would, which worried her.
“I knew heading back there was going to be a problem,” she said.
The Tracker has documented other cases where CBP officers targeted journalists covering migrant caravans for questioning about their reporting and sources. Freelance photojournalist Ariana Drehsler told the Tracker that when officers asked about her reporting on the caravan and about organizers and activists, “I felt like an informant.”
Binkowski told the Tracker that while the officers did not ask to search her phone and were less aggressive than during her previous stops, it felt like an “escalation.”
“They kept me: no threats, no yelling. But that was almost worse because if felt like they were just keeping me because they could,” Binkowski said.
CBP officers held her for about an hour, Binkowski said, questioning her about where she had been in Tijuana and about her work as a journalist before letting her cross into the U.S. It was their “mindless exercise of power,” she told the Tracker, that pushed her to stop crossing the border. She hasn’t been back since this trip.
“In the end I stopped crossing not because of myself, though now I think it was prudent,” Binkowski said, “But because I was worried about potentially getting other people’s names on a list, and that kind of responsibility in this time is just too much.”
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
While covering the migrant caravan, freelance multimedia reporter Brooke Binkowski was stopped by U.S. Customs and Border Protection multiple times.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,San Ysidro,True,U.S. citizen,False,True,no,no,no,yes,no,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,,migrant caravan,,,,, Portland mayor’s office requests reporters sign non-disclosure agreement,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/portland-mayors-office-requests-reporters-sign-non-disclosure-agreement/,2019-01-07 18:16:36.968244+00:00,2022-04-06 20:29:57.910138+00:00,2022-04-06 20:29:57.853138+00:00,,Other Incident,,,,,,2018-11-17,False,Portland,Oregon (OR),45.52345,-122.67621,"A representative for Portland, Oregon, Mayor Ted Wheeler invited reporters from three news organizations to sign a non-disclosure agreement as a condition for access to the Portland Police Bureau's Incident Command Post during a protest by the right-wing group Patriot Prayer on Nov. 17, 2018, according to Willamette Week
The agreement prohibits the publication of “confidential” information which it broadly defines to include direct quotes.
“Direct quotes of the assigned employee or any other member interviewed or conversed with are Confidential unless the assigned employee otherwise consents to and authorizes publication of their direct quote,” the agreement states.
“The Receiving Party acknowledges that access to PPB facilities and Confidential Information during an observation and tour is a privilege and not a right. Thus, the Receiving Party agrees to waive any claims and hold City and PPB harmless for any perceived failure of the Disclosing Party to grant the Receiving Party access to Confidential Information, or for any restriction on the Receiving Party’s ability to use, reproduce, or publish Confidential Information.”
Willamette Week, which published a copy of the non-disclosure agreement, reported that journalists from KGW-TV, The Oregonian and the Portland Tribune were offered the deal by the mayor’s communications director Eileen Park.
"It's an effort to provide more access, transparency, and to show the public what goes into the decision making and planning process prior to and during these protests," Park stated in an email to a KGW reporter obtained by Willamette Week. "Lt Craig Dobson will be your liason [sic], and can guide when and what you will be able to tweet and share.”
The Portland Mercury wrote that Park worked with the Portland Police Bureau to select journalists based on their history of “fair and balanced” reporting.
"In hindsight, I can see how this does not look good," Park said. “Ideally, we should open this option up to every media outlet."
“We hear the concerns and hope media sees from our office it was about increasing access,” a spokesperson for the mayor told Willamette Week. "We'll continue to do that no matter what."
According to the Willamette Week, no news organization accepted the offer which was ultimately rescinded. Six people were arrested during the protest.
Jamie Kalven was subpoenaed on Nov. 16, 2018 to testify in the trial of three Chicago police officers accused of lying to protect a fellow police officer who murdered a teenager in 2014.
Kalven is an independent journalist based in Chicago and the founder of the Invisible Institute, a journalistic outlet focused on government accountability.
Three Chicago police officers—David March, Joseph Walsh and Thomas Gaffney—stand accused of falsifying reports about the fatal shooting of teenager Laquan McDonald in 2014. The trial is set to begin Nov. 27, 2018.
The subpoena orders him to appear in court and testify on November 29. Craig Futterman—an attorney and University of Chicago Law School professor who was instrumental in getting video footage related to the shooting released—was also subpoenaed in the case.
In a Nov. 20 motion to quash, his attorneys argue that reporter’s privilege protects Kalven from testifying about his reporting.
“Journalist Jamie Kalven and attorney Craig Futterman have no firsthand knowledge of any events that are possibly relevant to this case; their only connection to the Laquan McDonald shooting or the Defendant’s accused conduct is in reporting on the veracity of the official narrative,” the motion reads.
James McKay—attorney for Chicago police officer on trial David March—did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Kalven was also subpoenaed to testify and reveal details about his sources in October 2017, at a pre-trial hearing in the murder case of former Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke.
Attorneys for Kalven quickly filed a motion to quash it, arguing that as a journalist, he could not be forced to reveal information about his sources except under exceptional circumstances. The judge in that case agreed and found that Van Dyke’s attorneys had not shown the necessity of Kalven’s testimony.
That subpoena was quashed in December 2017, and Van Dyke was ultimately found guilty of murdering teenager Laquan McDonald.
On Nov. 13, 2018, the Facebook account “Wesley Taylor Jr.” posted a bomb threat on the Facebook page of D Magazine, a magazine based in Dallas, Texas. The Facebook post warned that the magazine’s offices could be blown up if the magazine continued to publish columns written by controversial freelance writer Barrett Brown.
Brown told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that Tim Rogers, his editor at D Magazine, first reached out to him the day the bomb threat was posted to tell him about it and ask him whether he knew Taylor. According to Brown, Rogers also said that the Dallas police and the FBI had advised him not to report on the existence of the threat and asked Brown not to publicize it.
Brown was concerned that the police had not contacted him about the threat and suspected that they were trying to cover it up. He tweeted about the threat — without specifying which publication had been targeted — and then asked Philip Kingston, a Dallas city councilman, to try to get more information from the Dallas police department.
On Nov. 18, Dallas Assistant Police Chief Lonzo Anderson emailed Kingston an update on the investigation:
On November 13, 2018, a subject made a veil threat [sic] on social media Facebook to the Dallas Public Library located at 1515 Young Street. The Facebook post reads as follows: “If you Democrats don’t stop this conspiracy shit I’m gonna blow your fucking library up”. Intelligence detectives were immediately notified and also the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force. Dallas Police Fusion monitored the subject’s social media accounts for intelligence. Dallas Police Explosive Ordinance [sic] and Dallas Security conducted a search on the library and no bomb was located.
In addition to the library, the subject made a similar threat to an employee at the D Magazine office. The D Magazine Office received a bomb threat via Facebook. The message stated that if they continued to publish Barrett Brown that he was going to blow up their office. A Terroristic Threat F/3 Charge will be filed for the Dallas City Library and a Misdemeanor class A charge will be filed for the threat made against an employee of D Magazine. A DPD CAD Bolo was entered on the suspect for situational awareness. An information bulletin was also disseminated by Fusion to all DPD officers. On November 15, 2018, DPD took the subject in custody for a DPD alias warrant. The subject was interviewed at headquarters. The investigation is on-going. I will contact Intelligence for any further updates.
Although
Anderson’s email, which the councilman forwarded to Brown, stated that
charges would be filed against Taylor, no charges were ever filed.
On Nov. 26, shortly after Brown tweeted out excerpts of Anderson’s email, D Magazine published a post about the bomb threat. A few days later, the post was abruptly deleted without any explanation. Rogers told the Tracker that he could not comment on what had happened.
For months, Brown continued to try to get more information about the police investigation. On Dec. 5, he spoke at a city council meeting and asked the mayor to explain why he had never been notified about the bomb threat. On Feb. 24, 2019, he sent assistant police chief Anderson copies of more evidence he had dug up on Taylor — screenshots of Facebook messages that Taylor had sent to Brown’s girlfriend asking about him, and photos from Taylor’s Instagram page that shows him posing with a gun. He also posted the photos and screenshots on Facebook and Twitter. In response, a former DPD officer left a comment saying that Brown “has a smug, punchable face.”
On Feb. 26, Brown spoke with Sheldon Smith, a DPD sergeant overseeing the investigation, about the current status of the case. In the conversation, which Brown recorded, Smith told Brown that the DPD investigated the bomb threats against the Dallas library and D Magazine, but ultimately determined that there was not enough evidence to charge Taylor.
“Initially, we believed that we would have enough information to file those charges on the individual that we’re talking about, just based on the preliminary information,” Smith told Brown, according to a recording of the conversation. “But after we conducted a thorough investigation, we didn't have the elements needed in order to actually file the offense for that.”
Smith offered two explanations for why charges could not be brought against Taylor. First, he said, Taylor had never said that he would personally blow up D Magazine’s building, just that “someone” could.
“He didn’t say that he would,” Smith said, according to the recording. “And the element we needed was if he had said, ‘I’m going to blow the building up.’ But when he said ‘someone,’ that’s why we couldn’t physically charge him.”
Brown pointed out that this explanation couldn’t account for the decision not to charge him for the bomb threat against the Dallas library, which contains the explicit statement, “I’m gonna blow your fucking library up.”
To that, Smith offered a second explanation for not charging Taylor. The problem, he said, was that the police could not be sure that Taylor was actually responsible for the threat posted from his Facebook account.
“We did extensive research on his Facebook account and we could not confirm that it was actually him that said that,” Smith said, according to the recording. “It may have been him, but we weren’t 100 percent sure that it was him. It would be as if you left your phone sitting on the counter and someone’s gonna send messages from your number.”
Brown is an independent journalist, essayist, and media critic who is best known for his close association with the online movement Anonymous. Although Brown is not a computer hacker, he embedded himself as a journalist with a hacker collective tied to Anonymous. In 2012, as federal authorities stepped up operations against the hacking group, the FBI raided Brown’s house and his mother’s house.
Later that year, Brown was arrested for allegedly threatening one of the FBI agents who had raided his mother’s house. In 2013, a federal grand jury indicted Brown on a number of charges related to trafficking in stolen information, for allegedly linking to information that hackers had already stolen. Most of the federal charges were later dropped, and Brown ultimately accepted a plea deal and was sentenced to five years in prison. While incarcerated, he wrote a National Magazine Award-winning column on prison life. After being released from prison in late 2016, he briefly covered Dallas city council meetings for D Magazine while living in a halfway house, and he has continued to freelance for the magazine.
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
Barrett Brown, left, is interviewed for the news site Vice at D Magazine offices in Dallas, Texas. A bomb threat was directed at the magazine for running Brown's work late last year.
On Nov. 7, 2018, the White House suspended CNN reporter Jim Acosta's press pass, banning him from setting foot on the White House grounds indefinitely.
The unprecedented move came a few hours after a tense presidential press conference, during which Trump repeatedly insulted Acosta (and other members of the White House press corps) and a White House intern tried to physically remove Acosta's microphone out of his hand. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders later tried to justify the decision to suspend Acosta's press pass by false claiming that Acosta had inappropriately "placed his hands" on the White House intern. The press secretary also tweeted a video of the altercation that had been doctored to make it appear that Acosta had hit the White House intern.
On the morning of Nov. 7, the day after the 2018 midterm elections, Trump held a contentious press conference in the East Room of the White House. CNN's Jim Acosta, a member of the White House press corps who often verbally spars the president during press conferences, asked Trump about why he had stoked fears of a migrant "invasion" of the United States. After a bit of back-and-forth, Acosta tried to ask Trump a second question, about the Russia investigation.
President Donald Trump defended his characterization of the migrant caravan as an "invasion" before attacking CNN's Jim Acosta, calling him a "rude, terrible person," during a White House press conference on Nov. 7, 2018.
CNN
As Trump tried to cut Acosta off and call on NBC News' Peter Alexander, a young woman — later identified as a White House intern — approached Acosta and tried to take the microphone out of his hands.
"Pardon me, ma'am," he told her. "I'm trying..."
"That's enough!" Trump said, cutting him off.
The intern grabbed the microphone that Acosta was holding, but Acosta would not let go of it, so the intern eventually gave up and sat back down.
Acosta continued to ask Trump about the Russia investigation, and Trump finally gave a cursory answer — "I'm not worried about the Russia investigation because it's a hoax" — and told Acosta to sit down.
"That's enough," Trump said, as Acosta tried to ask yet another follow-up question. "Put down the mic."
Trump started to walk away from the lectern, suggesting that he might end the press conference if Acosta did not stop asking questions. Acosta reluctantly let the White House intern take the microphone and then sat down. Trump returned to the lectern and the intern brought the microphone to Peter Alexander of NBC News. But before Alexander could ask a question, Trump went off on a rant about Acosta.
"I'll tell you what, CNN should be ashamed of itself having you working for them," the president said, pointing at Acosta. "You are a rude, terrible person. You shouldn't be working for CNN. ... You're a very rude person. The way you treat [press secretary] Sarah Huckabee is horrible, and the way you treat other people are horrible. You shouldn't treat other people that way."
Alexander stood up for Acosta.
"In Jim's defense, I've traveled with him and watched him," he said. "He's a diligent reporter."
"Well, I'm not a big fan of yours either, to be honest," Trump deadpanned, prompting scattered laughter.
Acosta stood back up and called out the president for continuing to demonize journalists as the "enemy of the American people," even after a Trump supporter had sent pipe bombs to the network.
"When you report fake news, which CNN does a lot, you are the enemy of the people," Trump response.
CNN condemned the president's response.
"This President’s ongoing attacks on the press have gone too far," the network said in a statement. "They are not only dangerous, they are disturbingly un-American. While President Trump has made it clear he does not respect a free press, he has a sworn obligation to protect it. A free press is vital to democracy, and we stand behind Jim Acosta and his fellow journalists everywhere."
Even as mainstream journalists came to Acosta's defense, far-right media and political figures began to adopt a different narrative — that Acosta had been violent toward the intern who tried to grab his microphone.
Paul Joseph Watson, an editor at far-right conspiracy news site Infowars, tweeted an altered video of the altercation between Acosta and the White House intern that appeared to show Acosta striking the intern, which did not actually happen. (In an interview with BuzzFeed News, Watson claimed that he did not deliberately alter the video.)
Although this narrative began on the far-right conspiratorial fringe, it soon moved into the mainstream.
At 7:46 p.m., Acosta tweeted that he had been denied access to the White House grounds and ordered to give up his permanent White House press pass, known as a "hard pass."
I’ve just been denied entrance to the WH. Secret Service just informed me I cannot enter the WH grounds for my 8pm hit
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) November 8, 2018
The US Secret Service just asked for my credential to enter the WH. As I told the officer, I don’t blame him. I know he’s just doing his job. (Sorry this video is not rightside up) pic.twitter.com/juQeuj3B9R
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) November 8, 2018
Minutes later, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced on Twitter that the White House had decided to indefinitely suspend Acosta's White House press credentials.
To justify the suspension of Acosta's press credentials, Sanders falsely accused him of "placing his hands on a young woman just trying to do her job as a White House intern."
President Trump believes in a free press and expects and welcomes tough questions of him and his Administration. We will, however, never tolerate a reporter placing his hands on a young woman just trying to do her job as a White House intern.This conduct is absolutely unacceptable. It is also completely disrespectful to the reporter’s colleagues not to allow them an opportunity to ask a question. President Trump has given the press more access than any President in history.
Contrary to CNN’s assertions there is no greater demonstration of the President’s support for a free press than the event he held today. Only they would attack the President for not supporting a free press in the midst of him taking 68 questions from 35 different reporters over the course of 1.5 hours including several from the reporter in question. The fact that CNN is proud of the way their employee behaved is not only disgusting, it‘s an example of their outrageous disregard for everyone, including young women, who work in this Administration.
As a result of today’s incident, the White House is suspending the hard pass of the reporter involved until further notice.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders statement on Jim Acosta
"This is a lie," Acosta tweeted in response.
In an interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper, Acosta described what happened at the press conference.
"This intern came up to me — they're describing her as an intern, I don't really know who she is — and attempted to take the microphone away from me," he said. "All I can say at that point is I was trying to hang on to the microphone, so I could continue to ask the president questions. Obviously, you know, I didn't put my hands on her or touch her as they're alleging, and it's just unfortunate that the White House is saying this. You know, we all try to be professionals over there, and I think I handled myself professionally."
CNN released a statement reiterating its support for Acosta.
The White House announced tonight that it has revoked the press pass of CNN's Chief White House Correspondent Jim Acosta. It was done in retaliation for his challenging questions at today's press conference. In an explanation, Press Secretary Sarah Sanders lied. She provided fraudulent accusations and cited an incident that never happened. This unprecedented decision is a thread to our democracy and the country deserves better. Jim Acosta has our full support.
CNN statement
Oliver Knox, the president of the White House Correspondents Association, also released a statement criticizing the White House's decision.
The White House Correspondents Association strongly objects to the Trump Administration's decision to use US Secret Service security credentials as a tool to punish a reporter with whom it has a difficult relationship. Revoking access to the White House complex is a reaction out of line to the purported offense and is unacceptable.
Journalists may use a range of approaches to carry out their jobs and the WHCA does not police the tone or frequency of the questions its members ask of powerful senior government officials, including the President. Such interactions, however uncomfortable they may appear to be, help define the strength of our national institutions.
We urge the White House to immediately reverse this weak and misguided action.
We encourage anyone with doubts that this reaction was disproportionate to the perceived offense to view the video of the events from earlier today.
White House Correspondents Association statement
Later that night, Sanders tweeted out a copy of the doctored video that had previously been shared by Infowars. Journalists immediately pointed out that the video had been doctored, and CNN spokesman Matt Dornic Sanders of sharing "actual fake news."
We stand by our decision to revoke this individual’s hard pass. We will not tolerate the inappropriate behavior clearly documented in this video. pic.twitter.com/T8X1Ng912y
— Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) November 8, 2018
this is literally edited and came from Infowars; here’s a quick clip from CSPAN’s own video: https://t.co/rGgywCbfqy https://t.co/8JqUHCAV82
— Claudia Koerner (@ClaudiaKoerner) November 8, 2018
This is a video that Infowars made. They sped it up so that it seems more violent than it is. https://t.co/FH1tsGSSaU
— Nicole Goodkind (@NicoleGoodkind) November 8, 2018
Absolutely shameful, @PressSec. You released a doctored video - actual fake news. History will not be kind to you. https://t.co/v1w9Lj9TlK
— Matt Dornic (@mdornic) November 8, 2018
A White House intern reaches for the microphone held by CNN's Jim Acosta as he questions U.S. President Donald Trump during a news conference at the White House on November 7, 2018.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Donald Trump, Donald Trump administration",,,,,Sarah Huckabee Sanders Protesters threaten Fox News host Tucker Carlson during demonstration outside his house,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/protesters-threaten-fox-news-host-tucker-carlson-during-demonstration-outside-his-house/,2018-11-09 01:15:18.985131+00:00,2020-03-19 19:38:11.280616+00:00,2020-03-19 19:38:11.193900+00:00,,Other Incident,"‘They were threatening me and my family’: Tucker Carlson’s home targeted by protesters (https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2018/11/08/they-were-threatening-me-my-family-tucker-carlsons-home-targeted-by-protesters/?utm_term=.4b24fed3846b) via Washington Post, Police Open Criminal Investigation Into Protest at Tucker Carlson's House (https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/police-open-criminal-investigation-tucker-carlson-house-protest-1159672) via The Hollywood Reporter, Protesters target home of Fox News’ Tucker Carlson (https://www.apnews.com/5aa41068747f4e41b39947f761462f96) via AP, Police called after left-wing activists descend on Fox host Tucker Carlson's home (https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/08/media/tucker-carlson-protestors/index.html) via CNN, MPD definition of ""hate crime"" (https://mpdc.dc.gov/hatecrimes)",,,Tucker Carlson (Fox News),,2018-11-07,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"On the evening of Nov. 7, 2018, a group of anti-fascist protesters staged a demonstration outside the Washington, D.C., home of Tucker Carlson, a controversial Fox News host whose talk show has been accused of normalizing white nationalist ideas.
Carlson was not home at the time of the demonstration, which began around 8 p.m., but his wife was. The Washington Post reports that the protesters repeatedly banged on the Carlsons' door, prompting Carlson's wife to fear for her safety. After locking herself in a pantry, she called the police.
An anti-fascist group called "Smash Racism D.C." took credit for the protest and shared videos of the demonstration on Facebook and Twitter. The social media sites later took down the videos, and Twitter suspended the group's Twitter account.
Protesters affiliated with the group have previously confronted politicians and public figures — including Carlson — in public spaces, but this is the first time that the group has staged a demonstration outside Carlson's private home.
In one of the now-deleted videos posted by Smash Racism DC, a protester can be heard over a bullhorn saying, "Tucker Carlson, we are outside your home." The protester goes on to accuse Carlson of "promoting an ideology that has led to thousands of people dying at the hands of the police [and] trans women being murdered in the streets."
The protesters then break out into a chant: "Tucker Carlson, we will fight! We know where you sleep at night!"
The Post reports that during the demonstration, one of the protesters mentioned that she wanted to bring a "pipe bomb" to Carlson — a reference to Cesar Sayoc, the Trump supporter who sent pipe bombs to prominent critics of the president.
The Post also reports that Smash Racism DC tweeted out Carlson's home address and published a Facebook post encouraging people to go to his home and confront him.
"It wasn’t a protest," Carlson told the Post. "It was a threat. They weren’t protesting anything specific that I had said. They weren’t asking me to change anything. They weren’t protesting a policy or advocating for legislation. ... They were threatening me and my family and telling me to leave my own neighborhood in the city that I grew up in."
Carlson said that he was especially concerned about the protester's reference to pipe bombs.
"If they’re talking about pipe bombs ... how do you live like that?" he said. "I probably won’t open another package sent to our house from now on."
Carlson also told the Post that one protester threw himself into the door, breaking it — an accusation that the protesters deny.
Alex Rubinstein, an independent journalist who contributes to RT and Sputnik, tweeted a photo of the door, which one of the protesters sent to him. He also tweeted a statement from the protesters defending the action against Carlson.
Tucker Carlson has said that activists put a crack in his front door. Organizers sent me this photo as evidence they did not damage his door.
— Alex Rubinstein (@RealAlexRubi) November 8, 2018
The black box covers Tucker Carlson's home address. pic.twitter.com/YE3QJkm3Lb
Here is a statement sent to me from one of the Smash Racism DC organizers involved in the protest at Tucker Carlson's home last night pic.twitter.com/SDkWCiSQjF
— Alex Rubinstein (@RealAlexRubi) November 8, 2018
The Associated Press reports that D.C.'s Metropolitan Police Department is treating the incident as a "suspected hate crime" motivated by "anti-political" bias. The District of Columbia defines a hate crime as a crime "that demonstrates an accused’s prejudice based on the actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, marital status, personal appearance, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, family responsibility, homelessness, physical disability, matriculation, or political affiliation of a victim.”
According to the AP, the officers who responded the incident did not arrest any protesters but did confiscate a number of signs. An MPD police report on the incident does not mention any damage to Carlson's door but does note that protesters vandalized his property by spray-painting an anarchist symbol on his driveway.
In a statement sent to multiple media organizations, MPD said that it had opened a criminal investigation into the incident:
We welcome those who come here to exercise their First Amendment rights in a safe and peaceful manner. However, we prohibit them from breaking the law. Last night, a group of protestors broke the law by defacing private property at a Northwest DC residence. MPD takes these violations seriously, and we will work to hold those accountable for their unlawful actions. There is currently an open criminal investigation regarding this matter.
MPD statement
In a joint statement, Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott and president Jay Wallace condemned the protesters' "violent threats and intimidation tactics."
The incident that took place at Tucker's home last night was reprehensible. The violent threats and intimidation tactics toward him and his family are completely unacceptable. We as a nation have become far too intolerant of different points of view. Recent events across our country clearly highlight the need for a more civil, respectful, and inclusive national conversation. Those of us in the media and in politics bear a special obligation to all Americans, to find common ground.
Statement from Fox News
Iowa congressman Steve King banned several media outlets from covering his election night party on Nov. 6, 2018, refusing to allow at least four reporters to attend—Adam Rubenstein from The Weekly Standard, Tom Cullen from the Storm Lake Times, Christopher Mathias from HuffPost, and Tony Leys from the Des Moines Register.
On Nov. 5, the Des Moines Register — the largest newspaper in Iowa — emailed the King campaign to request press credentials. The campaign refused.
“We are not granting credentials to the Des Moines Register or any other leftist propaganda media outlet with no concern for reporting the truth,” the congressman’s son Jeff wrote in an email to the Register.
In a statement, Register executive editor Carol Hunter condemned the denial of access.
“The Des Moines Register will continue doing everything in its power to cover Rep. King fairly,” she said. “This decision is unfortunate because it not only shuts out the Des Moines Register reporter, but also the people of Iowa.”
Other reporters, like Chris Mathias of HuffPost, did not receive a response to an email request for press credentials. On the night of the election, Mathias went to King’s party to cover it.
“When Jeff King spotted me, he told me to leave," he told Freedom of the Press Foundation. "When I asked why, he told me to check my email, and just minutes before I had just received an email saying that I wasn’t allowed in and that I should refer to the statement given to the Des Moines register about not letting leftist propaganda outlets in."
The reporters banned from covering the election night party had a history of reporting critically on King’s campaign. Mathias has written numerous pieces about King’s nationalist and racist messaging during his campaign, and has argued that King is a white supremacist.
The Weekly Standard's Rubenstein has written about instances in which King has made apparently derogatory comments about Mexicans and Mexican Americans.
Rubenstein later reported that Jeff King had called the editor in chief at The Weekly Standard and demanded the piece be pulled. After the Standard went ahead and published it, Jeff King — who had previously told Rubenstein that he could cover the election-night event — pulled Rubenstein's press credentials.
Rubenstein wrote in a Nov. 13 editorial for the New York Times that it was his critical reporting that got him banned from the party.
“Mr. King will insist that his opposition to the press is political — as in, the press is all left-wing propaganda,” he wrote. “In fact, it’s part of his calculated assault on truth and the ability to determine it. His idea of how the press is supposed to function would be right at home in the Gaza Strip, Iran or Turkey. Favorable coverage gets you open access. Dare to criticize and you are denied.”
HuffPost's Mathias is concerned about the precedent of retaliatory denial of access that King is setting for other representatives.
“People like Steve King are picking up on Trump’s messaging about the press being the enemy of the people, and King has decided to part in it," he said. "It’s a worrying trend if more representatives start to embrace the fake news smear."
On Nov. 6, 2018, the Baxter County Sheriff's Office in Arkansas arrested 39-year-old Benjamin Craig Matthews for allegedly making "terroristic threats" toward CNN employees. According to a police report, Matthews is suspected of making more than 40 threatening phone calls to CNN headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, between Oct. 31 and Nov. 2, 2018.
In an affidavit, Sgt. Brad Hurst of the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office wrote that many of Matthews threats targeted CNN anchor Don Lemon, who is referred to as "DL" in the affidavit. In one phone call, Matthews allegedly said, "could I be directed to DL's dead body hanging from a tree?" In another call, he allegedly asked, "is DL dead yet, can you help me kill that [redacted]?"
According to Hurst, CNN was not Matthews’ only target.
"He has made calls to MSNBC, US Representative Maxine Waters, US Senator Chuck Schumer, Attorney Michael Avenatti, Washington Speakers Bureau, and Planned Parenthood, suggesting a pattern of harassment towards certain political affiliations," Hurst wrote in the affidavit.
On Nov. 10, 2018, Matthews was released on $15,000 bail. He faces 18 counts of terroristic threatening and harassing communications, including five Class D felonies, each of which are punishable by up to six years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.
On Nov. 15, Matthews pleaded not guilty to the charges.
On Nov. 4, 2018, BuzzFeed News reporter Blake Montgomery was arrested in Seattle on suspicion of trespassing.
The Stranger, a Seattle alt-weekly, reports that Montgomery was arrested while in the process of reporting out a story about Tank Hapertefen, a man who died after injecting silicone into his genitals. When Montgomery went to the Seattle home of Tank's former partner, Dylan Hapertefen, to ask him for comment, the occupants of the home called the police. The police arrested Montgomery and took him to jail. After spending almost 24 hours in jail, he was released on $1,000 bail on the evening of Nov. 5.
Dylan and another man living with him, Daniel Balderas Hapertefen, also filed for temporary restraining orders. On Nov. 6, a judge granted both Dylan and Daniel temporary restraining orders against Montgomery.
On Nov. 15, BuzzFeed News published an article about Tank's death. The article — co-written by Montgomery and his BuzzFeed News colleague Katie Notopoulos — mentions Montgomery's arrest.
"Dylan and the four pups who lived with Tank in Seattle until his death initially did not answer multiple requests for comment via emails, calls, and texts," Montgomery wrote in an article about Tank, published on Nov. 15. "When a BuzzFeed News reporter attempted to reach them in person, they called the police. That reporter was arrested and jailed. The following week, Dylan and a pup, Daniel Balderas Hapertefen, filed restraining orders against the same reporter. A week later, Dylan responded to an email from BuzzFeed News, answering a series of questions."
In a statement, BuzzFeed News criticized the Seattle police department.
"This was an outrageous and disproportionate response to a reporter doing his job," the statement reads. "We strongly dispute the Seattle Police Department's account of what transpired, and look forward to reviewing all the available evidence — including camera footage — to understand what warranted the jailing of a reporter for nearly 24 hours."
The Seattle district attorney's office ultimately declined to bring trespassing charges against Montgomery.
On Nov. 2, 2018, President Trump blamed ABC News’ Karen Travers, and other journalists, for “creating violence” by asking him tough questions.
As Trump walked to a helicopter on the White House lawn, Travers asked him about a recent ABC News/Washington Post poll, which found that 49% of respondents believed that Trump had encouraged politically-motivated violence.
Asked about new @ABC News/WaPo poll finding 49% believe he encourages politically motivated violence with the way he speaks, Pres. Trump tells @karentravers, "You're creating violence by your question...A lot of the reporters are creating violence by not writing the truth." pic.twitter.com/pm4YI4VTao
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) November 2, 2018
“Half of Americans think you’re encouraging politically-motivated violence through the way you speak,” Travers said.
“No, no, you’re creating violence by your question!” Trump replied, pointing at Travers. “You are creating — you — and also, a lot of the reporters are creating violence by not writing the truth. The fake news is creating violence.”
“And you know what, the people that support Trump, and the people that support us, which is a lot of people, most people, many people, those people know when a story is true and they know when a story is false,” he added. “And I’ll tell you what, if the media would write correctly, and write accurately, and write fairly, you’d have a lot less violence in the country.”
A KSBW TV Action News 8 production van was set on fire in the station’s parking lot on Oct. 26, 2018, in Salinas, California.
The van was set on fire sometime between 9 and 10 pm on Friday night while the van was parked on Front Street. Firefighters are investigating the incident as arson, and some staff at KSBW are concerned that this could be part of the country-wide increase of attacks on the press.
KSBW covered the incident on air, showing footage of the van, with a badly burnt door and passenger side.
“They know it's arson but nothing more than that, so we can't draw the conclusion but certainly makes you think today that it was an intentional act based on something we've reported,” KSBW President and General Manager Joseph W. Heston said on Oct. 29.
Heston told Freedom of the Press Foundation that there were no witnesses of the incident, and that the Salinas police department had closed the case without identifying any suspects.
This article was re-categorized with the creation of a specific Equipment Damage category.
KSBW
On Oct. 24, 2018, CNN’s New York bureau was evacuated after a pipe bomb was found in the mailroom of the Time Warner Center, which houses CNN’s New York offices.
The package containing the bomb, which also contained an unknown white powder that authorities later determined was part of the bomb, was addressed to “John Brenan, Time Warner Center (CNN).” John Brennan, the former CIA director, is now a paid commentator on MSNBC but has previously appeared as a guest on CNN.
Authorities said that the bomb sent to CNN was similar to explosive devices sent to former president Barack Obama, former vice president Joe Biden, former attorney general Eric Holder, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, Democratic congresswoman Maxine Waters, and major Democratic donor George Soros.
Shortly after 10 a.m. on Oct. 24, as CNN’s Jim Sciutto and Poppy Harlow were anchoring a live segment about the suspicious packages mailed to the Obamas and Clinton, a fire alarm went off inside the CNN newsroom.
“There’s a fire alarm, you might have heard it in the background, we’re going to find out what the latest is here at CNN, and we’re going to be right back,” Sciutto said.
Time Warner Center – where CNN's New York offices are located – was just evacuated. The alarm went off as @jimsciutto and @PoppyHarlowCNN were on air reporting the packages sent to the Clintons and Obamas. @ShimonPro reporting it was over "a suspicious package." pic.twitter.com/EYBsytil0o
— 💀andrew👻kaczynski🎃 (@KFILE) October 24, 2018
As CNN’s New York bureau evacuated, the network switched its broadcast to the Washington bureau. But Poppy, Harlow, and other CNN reporters in New York were soon back on the air, using cell phones to offer live reports from the street outside the Time Warner Center.
The NYPD bomb squad removed the device from the Time Warner Center mailroom shortly before noon, but CNN employees were not allowed to re-enter the building until the NYPD had finished sweeping every floor in the building for the white powder. Finally, CNN employees were able to return to their desks around 3:30 p.m.
President Trump criticized the pipe bomb attacks in very broad terms during an unrelated bill-signing ceremony at the White House on Oct. 24.
“We have to unify,” he said. “We have to come together. Acts or threats of political violence of any kind have no place in the United States of America. This egregious conduct is abhorrent to everything we hold dear. We’re extremely angry, upset, unhappy about what we witnessed this morning and we will get to the bottom of it.”
The president did not mention CNN or any of the other bomb targets by name.
“There is a total and complete lack of understanding at the White House about the seriousness of their continued attacks on the media,” CNN chief executive Jeff Zucker said in a statement released a few hours later. “The President, and especially the White House Press Secretary, should understand their words matter. Thus far, they have shown no comprehension of that.”
When a pipe bomb forced the evacuation of CNN's New York bureau, anchors Poppy Harlow and Jim Sciutto used cell phones to report on the situation from a street corner outside CNN's offices.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,CNN,,,,,, "Man shot after breaking into lobby of local TV station in Washington, D.C.",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/man-shot-after-breaking-lobby-local-tv-station-washington-dc/,2018-10-25 17:12:58.313311+00:00,2022-03-09 20:47:29.010182+00:00,2022-03-09 20:47:28.935922+00:00,,Equipment Damage,Suspect shot by security guard after breaking into FOX 5 building (http://www.fox5dc.com/news/fox-5-security-shoots-man-attempting-to-break-into-building) via Fox 5,,building: count of 1,,,2018-10-22,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"On Oct. 22, 2018, an unarmed man was shot while attempting to break into the WTTG Fox 5 building in Washington, D.C.
The man was recorded by building surveillance cameras kicking and breaking two glass doors leading to the Fox 5 lobby. After entering the lobby, he was shot once by an armed security guard.
Reporters working in the Fox 5 building tweeted that everyone in the newsroom was safe.
We're all okay here at #FOX5DC. Scary. We're going to jump on the air shortly and let you know what's going on.
— Jim Lokay FOX 5 (@LokayFOX5) October 22, 2018
VIDEO: Surveillance footage shows man kicking down glass door to get into FOX 5 building before he was shot by armed security guard https://t.co/HkgXJJmBRH #fox5dc pic.twitter.com/7AuxNB70Hw
— FOX 5 DC (@fox5dc) October 22, 2018
Fox 5 reports that the man had leveled threats against police and Fox 5 executives in the past.
Police said that the man survived the shooting and was taken to George Washington University Hospital for treatment. He has been charged with second degree burglary.
A screengrab from a surveillance video shows a man smashing glass doors to break in to the lobby of the local TV station Fox 5, in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 22, 2018.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,WTTG Fox 5,,,,,, Trump fondly recalls how congressman Greg Gianforte body-slammed a journalist,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/trump-fondly-recalls-how-congressman-greg-gianforte-assaulted-journalist/,2018-10-19 18:30:36.454788+00:00,2022-03-11 14:57:53.559525+00:00,2022-03-11 14:57:53.480710+00:00,,Other Incident,"'He's my guy': Donald Trump praises Gianforte for assault on Guardian reporter (https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/oct/18/trump-greg-gianforte-assault-guardian-ben-jacobs) via Guardian US, At Montana rally, President Trump praises Greg Gianforte for body-slamming reporter (https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/montana-rally-president-trump-praises-greg-gianforte-body/story?id=58596529) via ABC News, UK joins chorus of disapproval after Trump praises assault on Guardian reporter (https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/oct/19/trump-greg-gianforte-guardian-reporter-assault) via Guardian US, Documents show Gianforte misled investigators after assault of reporter (https://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/crime/details-of-gianforte-investigation-released-to-public/article_67894be6-d1e6-5ad6-a8c9-45fa44306b04.html) via Bozeman Daily Herald, Greg Gianforte: Fox News team witnesses GOP House candidate 'body slam' reporter (https://www.foxnews.com/politics/greg-gianforte-fox-news-team-witnesses-gop-house-candidate-body-slam-reporter) via Fox News",,,,,2018-10-18,False,Missoula,Montana (MT),46.87215,-113.994,"During a rally in Montana on October 18, 2018, President Donald Trump praised Republican congressman Greg Gianforte for physically assaulting a journalist in May 2017.
On May 24, the day before a special election for Montana’s open congressional seat, then-candidate Gianforte physically assaulted Guardian U.S. reporter Ben Jacobs, after Jacobs tried to ask him a question about a Republican healthcare proposal. Jacobs suffered minor injuries and the police were called. Although Gianforte reportedly lied to the police about the circumstances of the assault, eyewitnesses confirmed that Gianforte had instigated it and he was charged with misdemeanor assault. A Fox News reporter who witnessed the assault later described it:
At that point, Gianforte grabbed Jacobs by the neck with both hands and slammed him into the ground behind him. Faith, Keith and I watched in disbelief as Gianforte then began punching the reporter. As Gianforte moved on top of Jacobs, he began yelling something to the effect of, "I'm sick and tired of this!"
Fox News report
The day after assaulting Jacobs, Gianforte won the special election. He was sworn into Congress on June 21, 2018. Gianforte ultimately pleaded guilty to one count of misdemeanor assault and was sentenced to community service. He never served any jail time. As part of a civil settlement with Jacobs, Gianforte also agreed to issue a public apology and to sit for an interview with Jacobs (which he never did, according to Jacobs). He also agreed to donate $50,000 to the Committee to Protect Journalists, which the organization earmarked to fund the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
On Oct. 18, Gianforte introduced Trump at a rally in Montana. Trump thanked Gianforte for the introduction and then fondly recalled the congressman's assault on Jacobs.
At Montana rally, Pres. Trump praises Greg Gianforte, who made national headlines during the GOP primaries for assaulting a reporter.
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) October 19, 2018
"Any guy that can do a body slam, he is my type!" Trump said to cheers. https://t.co/pej6aXuf6b pic.twitter.com/ejaSSairnK
“Greg is smart, and by the way, never wrestle him,” Trump said as the crowd laughed and cheered. “You understand that?”
“Any guy that can do a body-slam, he’s my kind of guy,” Trump continued, as he mimed picking someone up and throwing them on the ground.
Trump went on to describe how he reacted after learning that Gianforte, whom he had endorsed in the Montana special election, had assaulted a reporter.
“I shouldn’t say this, but there’s nothing to be embarrassed about,” Trump said. “So I was in Rome with a lot of the leaders from other countries, talking about all sorts of things. And I heard about it — and we endorsed Greg very early — but I heard he had body-slammed a reporter!”
At this point, Trump pointed his finger at the journalists in the press pen covering his rally.
“And he was way up,” Trump continued, referring to polls that showed Gianforte was the front-runner. “And he was way up, and I said — this was like the day of the election or just before — and I said, ‘Oh, this is terrible, he’s going to lose the election.’ Then I said, ‘Well, wait a minute, I know Montana very well. I think it might help him!’ And it did.”
Along with other journalists and press freedom advocates, Guardian US editor John Mulholland condemned Trump’s remarks.
“The president of the United States tonight applauded the assault on an American journalist who works for the Guardian,” he said in a statement. “To celebrate an attack on a journalist who was simply doing his job is an attack on the first amendment by someone who has taken an oath to defend it. In the aftermath of the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, it runs the risk of inviting other assaults on journalists both here and across the world where they often face far greater threats. We hope decent people will denounce these comments and that the president will see fit to apologize for them.”
Trump mimes throwing someone to the ground during a rally in Missoula, Montana, on October 18, 2018. The president fondly recalled how Greg Gianforte, Montana's Republican congressman, had body-slammed a journalist.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,Donald Trump,,,,, California orders reporters not to write about sealed search warrant,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/california-orders-reporters-not-write-about-sealed-search-warrant/,2018-12-07 19:20:31.864499+00:00,2021-11-09 22:31:51.490682+00:00,2021-11-09 22:31:51.437033+00:00,,Prior Restraint,"Newport Beach surgeon, girlfriend plead not guilty to drugging, raping women; charges added as new alleged victims come forward (https://www.ocregister.com/2018/10/17/newport-beach-surgeon-and-girlfriend-plea-not-guilty-to-drugging-and-raping-women-while-7-more-charges-added/) via OC Register, California surgeon, girlfriend face new rape, other charges (https://www.apnews.com/e9be6cf93cf64ef894e3ce36840bc92c) via Associated Press, Judge reverses order on media in alleged surgeon rape case (https://apnews.com/4dbedcca07414ee1b2ed98de2e2a0c24) via Associated Press, Judge reverses order that limited media’s reporting on case involving Newport Beach surgeon’s alleged sex assaults (https://www.ocregister.com/2018/10/23/judge-reverses-order-that-limited-medias-reporting-on-case-involving-newport-beach-surgeons-alleged-sex-assaults/) via OC Register",,,,,2018-10-17,False,Orange County,California (CA),None,None,"On Oct. 17, 2018, Orange County Superior Court judge Gregory Jones ordered members of the media not to report on a sealed search warrant that had previously been made available to the public—an unconstitutional prior restraint. Four days later, he rescinded the order and unsealed the search warrant materials.
The search warrant was executed in January 2018 against Grant Robicheaux, a prominent surgeon suspected of sexually assaulting multiple women. Like most search warrants in California, it was initially filed under seal but was automatically unsealed and made available to the public shortly after it was carried out.
Eight months later, in September 2018, police arrested Robicheaux and his girlfriend, Cerissa Riley, and the Orange County district attorney Tony Rackauckas charged them with sexually assaulting two women. After the arrests were announced, a number of journalists found the January search warrant materials (which were now available to the public) and reported on their contents. In response, both prosecutors and Robicheaux’s defense team asked a judge to re-seal the search warrant materials, which he did.
The next month, as the Associated Press reported, Rackauckas announced that five more women had accused Robicheaux and Riley of sexual assault. At a court hearing on Oct. 17, Rackauckas’ office formally filed additional charges against Robicheaux and Riley, who pleaded not guilty.
According to the OC Register, outside the hearing, Orange County supervisor Todd Spitzer — who is challenging Rackauckas in the election for Orange County district attorney — held a press conference to criticize Rackauckas for taking so long to arrest Robicheaux and RIley. Speaking to a group of reporters, Spitzer said Rackauckas should have had Robicheaux and Riley arrested back in January 2018, right after the search warrant was executed. To prove his point, Spitzer and his assistant handed out copies of the January 2018 search warrant materials to reporters.
Rackauckas objected to Spitzer’s stunt, since the search warrant materials were supposed to be sealed from the public, and the district attorney’s office asked judge Jones do something about it. (Jones was not the judge who originally ordered the search warrant sealed, but he was the judge presiding over the hearing.)
Jones called reporters back into the courtroom and told them to return the copies of the search warrants that they had received. He then told them to remind their news organizations that the search warrant was sealed and they should not publish it.
The Orange County Register and the AP challenged judge Jones’ order, arguing that it amounted to an unconstitutional prior restraint on the press. On Oct. 21, Jones unsealed the search warrant, finding that it could not be re-sealed once it had already been made available to the public.
Natalie Mayflower Sours Edwards, an official in the U.S. Treasury’s financial crimes division (FinCEN), was arrested on Oct. 16, 2018, and charged with giving details about suspicious banking transactions to a reporter at BuzzFeed News.
From October 2017 through October 2018, BuzzFeed News has published a series of investigations into suspicious banking transactions made by Russian diplomats and by Trump associates, including former campaign chairman Paul Manafort. These BuzzFeed News investigations were largely based on so-called “Suspicious Activity Reports” — confidential reports that financial institutions are required to file to alert FinCEN of potential money laundering and other suspicious banking transactions.
Although SARs are not classified, it is illegal to disclose them without authorization:
A Federal, State, local, territorial, or Tribal government authority, or any director, officer, employee, or agent of any of the foregoing, shall not disclose a SAR, or any information that would reveal the existence of a SAR, except as necessary to fulfill official duties consistent with Title II of the Bank Secrecy Act.
31 CFR § 1020.320(e)(2)
On Oct. 16, 2018, Edwards was arrested and charged with one count of unauthorized disclosures of SARs and one count of conspiracy to make unauthorized disclosures of SARs. Each count carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
The criminal complaint against Edwards details the FBI’s investigation of her communications with Jason Leopold, an investigative reporter at BuzzFeed News. Although the complaint does not explicitly name Leopold or BuzzFeed, it specifically references articles written by him, making clear that Leopold is the journalist identified in the complaint as "Reporter-1."
According to the complaint, federal investigators used search warrants to obtain access to both Edwards’ personal email account, which allegedly revealed emails between her and Leopold, and her cell phone records, which allegedly revealed calls and text messages sent between her and Leopold. The complaint also states that federal investigators were able to determine that she and Leopold communicated over an encrypted messaging app, though it is not clear how they were able to do so.
FBI agents finally seized Edwards' phone and placed her under arrest after questioning her on October 16 about her communications with Leopold. Once they seized her phone, investigators were able to read some of the encrypted messages that she had exchanged with Leopold.
The FBI investigation of Edwards may also have exposed another one of Leopold's sources. This second source is referred to in the complaint as “CC-1” and identified as Edwards’ supervisor at FinCEN. According to the complaint, federal investigators seized this person’s phone records and found that they had also exchanged text messages, phone calls, and encrypted messages with the journalist. Unlike Edwards, this second source does not currently face any criminal charges.
The Department of Homeland Security subpoenaed the editor of an immigration law journal in an attempt to identify the source of a leaked internal memo from Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Daniel Kowalski is Colorado-based immigration attorney and the editor of “Bender’s Immigration Bulletin,” an immigration law journal published on LexisNexis. In July 2018, Kowalski published a leaked copy of an internal ICE memo about changes to the government's approach toward asylum claims.
On Oct. 16, 2018, Kowalski received a subpoena from the Department of Homeland Security ordering him to produce:
all information related to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) memorandum with the subject title of “Litigating Domestic Violence-Based Persecution Claims Following Matter of a A-B-“ dated July 11, 2018; including, but not limited to: (1) date of receipt, (2) method of receipt, (3) source of document, and (4) contact information for the source of the document.
DHS summons to Daniel Kowalski
The subpoena also includes a gag provision, which states: “You are requested not to disclose the existence of this summons for an indefinite period of time. Any such disclosure will impede this investigation and thereby interfere with the enforcement of federal law.
The subpoena orders Kowalski to produce the requested material by Oct. 30, 2018, to a special agent in ICE’s Office of Professional Responsibility, suggesting that there is an active internal investigation into the source of the leaked memo.
Kowalski told Freedom of the Press Foundation that he intends to ignore the subpoena, which he believes was not properly served on him.
“I’m planning on ignoring it,” he said. “They also haven’t served me in person; they just faxed and emailed it, so technically they’d need to physically find me.”
If Kowalski does not comply with the subpoena, ICE can try to get a federal judge to compel him to provide information about the source of the memo. But Kowalski is confident that no judge would compel him to comply with the subpoena.
Unlike subpoenas issued by federal courts, the subpoena to Kowalski was a summons issued directly by DHS, in accordance with a federal law (19 U.S.C. § 1509) that allows DHS to issue summons in connection with investigations concerning the importation of merchandise.
ICE’s sister agency, Customs & Border Protection, previously cited the same law to issue a summons to Twitter last year. The summons, which demanded that Twitter reveal the user behind an alt-government account, was later withdrawn, and the DHS Office of Inspector General chastised CBP for misusing the statute.
On Oct. 10, 2018, New York Post reporter Dean Balsamini was punched in the head by a homeless man he was trying to interview, local newspaper the Villager reports.
Balsamini mentioned the assault in an Oct. 13 article for the Post, titled “Post reporter investigating vagrants gets punched in the head.” Balsamini identifies the man who attacked him as “Zeke,” one of a number of young homeless people who congregate near a fenced-off vacant lot in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan. In the article, Balsamini derisively refers to Zeke as a 25-year-old “traveler” from Kansas with “farm-animal musk” and “Charles Manson eyes.”
According to Balsamini, Zeke willingly answered a few of the reporter’s questions but then became upset after seeing Balsamini write his name down in a notebook.
“He screamed that he ‘wanted his name back,’” Balsamini wrote.
Balsamini reported that John O’Connell, the commanding officer of the NYPD’s ninth precinct, personally called him after the attack.
On Oct. 16, O'Connell spoke about the attack at a community council meeting. According to the Villager, O’Connell said that other homeless people in the area regarded Zeke as “emotionally disturbed” and did not want to be associated with him. O’Connell also said that Balsamini did not require medical attention after the attack and did not press charges.
After Balsamini wrote about the attack for the Post, police sweeps and crackdowns on homeless encampments in the East Village increased. The NYPD also installed a light tower next to the vacant lot where Balsamini was attacked.
On Oct. 10, 2018, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Gustavo N. Sztraicher ordered The Los Angeles Times not to publish “descriptors” of a defendant charged with murder — even though journalists watched his proceedings in an open courtroom.
According to The Times, an attorney for Dejone Wright, the defendant charged with the July shooting of anti-gang activist Garry Dorton, objected during a pre-trial hearing to a media request issued by The Times to photograph or describe his client to the public. Wright’s attorney argued that any information about his client’s appearance, if published, “would affect the outcome of a jury trial."
Court documents state Sztraicher agreed with the lawyer’s request and ordered “no descriptors” of Wright be published, citing an “identification issue.”
A sworn declaration by Times reporter Cindy Chang, who was present for the hearing, states no further elaboration of the order was given and that the order was not mentioned in the hearing’s official minutes.
“My understanding is that the Court has prohibited me from publishing any information that visually describes Mr. Wright or Mr. Dixon that I obtained from observing them in open court,” Chang wrote. “However, given the brief exchange in court on Oct. 10 and the lack of any reference to it in the Minute Order, I am uncertain and confused about what the ruling requires.”
On Oct. 12, Dan Laidman, an attorney for The Times, challenged the order, requesting clarification and that the order be vacated as an unconstitutional prior restraint on free speech.
“The Times respectfully requests that this Court clarify the scope of the Order, particularly whether it restricts the publication of any information,” Laidman wrote. “If the Order prohibits The Times from publishing information about Defendants that is obtained through a journalist’s observations in open court (or any lawful source), then it is an unconstitutional prior restraint.”
Laidman also challenged the order on the grounds it was unconstitutionally vague.
“Without further clarification from this Court, the media will be required to steer wide of describing Defendants, who were lawfully observed in open court, and the Oct. 10 Order therefore imposes an unconstitutionally vague prior restraint,” he argued.
Laidman went on to note that Wright’s name and birthdate were released by the Los Angeles Police Department on Oct. 3, and no California court has ever upheld a prior restraint “on publication of lawfully obtained information about criminal court proceedings.”
Sztraicher reversed his ruling on Oct. 12 after acknowledging even he did not fully comprehend the scope of order, according to The Times.
“Any observations made by a reporter who is lawfully in court… may be reported and disseminated,” Sztraicher said in his reversal.
In September, Sztraicher also prohibited reporters from The Times and other outlets from publishing information in a criminal court proceeding over an “identification issue.” That ruling was also reversed.
On Oct. 16 The Times Editorial Board responded to the ruling and its reversal:
It is a settled principle of 1st Amendment law that judges can't bar journalists (or anyone else) from reporting what they see and hear in open court. So it's astounding that a Los Angeles Superior Court judge on Wednesday ordered The Times not to publish information as basic as the physical description of a criminal defendant who was appearing in his courtroom.
A few weeks earlier, the same judge granted permission to photograph another defendant — but then tried to block The Times from publishing the photos. Both gag orders were impermissible and deeply disturbing prior restraints on speech.
Judge Gustavo N. Sztraicher reversed himself in both cases after The Times objected, so one might be tempted to conclude, "No harm, no foul."
But there is indeed serious harm every time a judge disregards or misunderstands the 1st Amendment and the strict limitation it places on the government’s power to prevent a person or news outlet from repeating or reporting what goes on in open court.
Editorial: Note to Judge Sztraicher: ‘Open court’ means open for journalists to report freely
Editor's Note: This article was updated to reflect the correct spelling of Times reporter Cindy Chang's name.
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
Freelance journalist Zachary Siegel was held in criminal contempt of court and arrested on Oct. 2, 2018, while covering a high-profile murder trial in Chicago, Illinois. The judge overseeing the trial said that Siegel had recorded part of the trial, in violation of the judge's decorum order, and ordered him held in jail on a $100 bond.
On Oct. 2, Siegel was one of a number of journalists in attendance for the murder trial of Jason Van Dyke, a former Chicago police officer charged with murder in connection with the 2014 shooting of Laquan McDonald, a black teenager. Siegel, a freelance science journalist, was on assignment for Undark, an online magazine about science journalism funded through the Knight Science Journalism program at MIT. Siegel was working on a feature story about Laurence Miller, a police psychologist who often testifies as an expert witness for the defense in trials involving police use of force.
Shortly after Miller's testimony began, judge Vincent Gaughan spotted Siegel recording the testimony and stopped the trial. After questioning Siegel, judge Gaughan ordered that he be held in "direct criminal contempt" for violating the judge's earlier decorum order. Gaughan's decorum order allowed a defined media pool to record the trial proceedings and then share the footage with other journalists, but prohibited individual journalists (like Siegel) from recording parts of the trial on their own. Siegel was removed from court and taken to jail.
Video recorded by ABC 7 (which was allowed to film the proceedings) shows Gaughan questioning Siegel.
Freelance journalist Zach Siegel is taken into custody after judge Gaughan said he was recording the proceedings, in violation of the judge's decorum order.
ABC 7
"Take your hands out of your pocket," Gaughan scolds Siegel. "All right, state your name. Get up here!"
Gaughan asks Siegel if he was recording testimony (Siegel says he was) and if he knew that recording testimony was a violation of the decorum order (Siegel says he did not).
Gaughan then orders that the person sitting next to Siegel be brought up to the front of the court.
"Before I ask him whether he was sitting next to you when the decorum order was read, I want you to think about your answer, all right?" Gaughan tells Siegel. "Did you see and hear my deputy read my decorum order in this courtroom?"
"Yes," Siegel says.
"All right, take him into custody," Gaughan says. "I find you in direct contempt of court."
Later, Siegel was brought back before judge Gaughan for a brief hearing on the criminal contempt charge.
Gaughan told Siegel to appear at a sentencing hearing on Oct. 31 and ordered him held on a $1,000 D-bond. A D-bond requires that a defendant raise 10% of its amount (in this case, $100) in order to make bail.
Zachary Siegel, the reporter who was held in contempt after recording earlier today, is being held on $1,000 bond.
— Matt Masterson (@ByMattMasterson) October 2, 2018
"I don't want you to stay over there long," Gaughan said, adding "it's bad that you did that."
Zachary Siegel, a freelancer, is in front of Judge Gaughan on his contempt of court charge. He's got a $1000 D-bond, so he'll have to post $100 to get out. We took up a collection in the press aisle.
— Andy Grimm (@agrimm34) October 2, 2018
Siegel was released from jail after other journalists covering the trial took up a collection to raise $100 for his bail.
I was arrested and charged with contempt of court for recording when I wasn't supposed to. I want to thank all the journalists who put up $ for my bond, keeping me out of jail. (If you did put up $, please DM so I can venmo you). I also want to thank @undarkmag for standing w/ me
— Zachary Siegel (@ZachWritesStuff) October 2, 2018
Tom Zeller, Jr., the editor in chief of Undark magazine, told Freedom of the Press Foundation that the judge's decision to hold Siegel in contempt of court was inappropriate.
"Whatever the overall nature or purpose of the judge's 'decorum order,' the decision to arrest a reporter for recording testimony during a highly publicized trial — and one in which other members of the press were permitted to record freely — would seem both absurd and arbitrary on its face," he said. "If the judge's goal was to intimidate other working journalists, it will not work."
Zachary Siegel is taken into custody after being found in direct criminal contempt of court for recording part of a murder trial in Chicago.
",arrested and released,convicted,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,Black Lives Matter protest,criminal contempt of court,,,, Los Angeles County judge orders reporters not to publish courtroom photographs,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/los-angeles-county-judge-orders-reporters-not-publish-courtroom-photographs/,2019-01-15 16:54:13.677429+00:00,2021-10-19 20:56:11.475617+00:00,2021-10-19 20:56:11.426879+00:00,,Prior Restraint,,,,,,2018-09-26,False,Los Angeles,California (CA),34.05223,-118.24368,"On Sept. 26, 2018, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Gustavo N. Sztraicher ordered journalists not to publish images taken during the arraignment hearing of Ramon Escobar, who was charged with the murders of multiple homeless people in Southern California.
According to court documents, Sztraicher gave permission to journalists from The Los Angeles Times, The Associated Press and a television news station to document the proceedings after hearing no objections. However, once reporters began taking photographs, an attorney for Escobar raised an objection, citing an “identification issue.”
Although photographs of Escobar had already been released and published by media outlets, the objection was sustained by Sztraicher, who then ordered reporters to stop taking photos and video. He also ordered a sketch artist to stop drawing.
Dan Laidman, an attorney representing The Times and the AP, provided documents that show the journalists were unsure if the court had simply halted further photography or had prohibited publishing images already taken. Journalists, including Times reporters Gina Ferazzi and James Queally, asked the judge for further instruction.
“When journalists pressed for clarification, the judge ruled that the publication of any images, videos or sketches of Escobar from the court hearing would be considered a violation of a court order,” The Times reported.
At a hearing the following day, Laidman argued the order was “flatly unconstitutional” and asked that it be vacated, noting the Supreme Court has never upheld a prior restraint.
“The Times understands that this Court issued its prior restraint because of concerns about an unspecified ‘identification’ issue concerning Defendant, and out of concern for his Sixth Amendment right to a fair trial. But these interests simply do not justify a prior restraint here,” Laidman wrote in the court brief. “The September 26 Order is at odds with the basic purpose of the First Amendment - namely, to prevent the government from imposing prior restraints against the press. […] The Times, therefore, respectfully requests that the Court vacate the Order immediately.”
Escobar’s attorney argued that because Sztraicher’s permission was granted verbally and not through written order, the photographs were obtained unlawfully.
Sztraicher denied this argument, acknowledging journalists had obtained prior verbal approval, and vacated his order.
“Defense attorneys often argue that publishing their client’s image before trial could improperly sway witnesses, … Once photographs have been taken legally, however, a judgeccccccjfk typically can’t bar news outlets from publishing them,” The Times reported following the hearing.
The AP also published on the successful free speech defense.
“The order should never have been issued in the first place,” David Snyder, executive director of the First Amendment Coalition, told the AP. “I’m glad the court saw the light of day.”
In a statement emailed to the Freedom of the Press Foundation about the decision, The Times’ Executive Editor Norman Pearlstine noted how the judge’s courtroom ruling put the news outlet in a difficult position.
“It is distressing that once again the Los Angeles Times needs to resort to litigation to preserve our rights under the 1st Amendment,” Pearlstine said.
Earlier in the year, The Times filed an emergency petition with the U.S. Court of Appeals to rescind a restraining order against publishing information made public in the criminal case of former narcotics detective John Balian. That order was also reversed after a day.
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
The Ex Parte application to vacate prior restraint
On Sept. 18, 2018, freelance investigative reporter Karen Savage was arrested and charged with trespassing, while reporting on protests against the construction of the Bayou Bridge oil pipeline in Louisiana.
Savage was embedded with a camp of protesters, known as water protectors, who were aiming to defend a piece of land in Louisiana’s Atchafalaya River Basin, a wetlands area co-owned by hundreds of people.
Energy Transfer Partners, the company responsible for the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota, is trying to build its new Bayou Bridge oil pipeline through the area. Although some of the co-owners of the Atchafalaya River Basin property have given the company permission to build the pipeline, hundreds of others have refused to do so. Despite this, the company had already begun making alterations to the land, including removing trees and digging a ditch. It has also asked the state of Louisiana to use eminent domain to seize the land from the co-owners who object to the pipeline.
Savage told Freedom of the Press Foundation that one of the co-owners of the Atchafalaya Basin land who is resisting the pipeline had given her permission to be on the property.
“Some were actively resisting, and I had a letter from a landowner saying we were welcome to be on the property," she said. "For people to visit the property, you only need permission from one landowner.”
Savage had previously been arrested for trespassing while reporting on the pipeline protests on Aug. 18. Once she was released on bail, she returned to the resistance camp at the Atchafalaya River Basin to continue covering the protest movement.
Savage said that on September 3 and 4, she witnessed law enforcement officers treated protesters badly.
“They chased them, tackled them, and allowed pipeline security employees to put their hands on protesters," she said. "It was heavily violence and I got some pictures of law enforcement chasing them.”
She said that a few weeks later, on Sept. 17, she was riding in a vehicle that was pulled over in a different parish in Louisiana. The officers ran the ID's of everyone in the car, but everything came back fine and they were allowed to proceed after receiving a citation.
The next day, sheriff's deputies claimed that Savage had an outstanding warrant dating from Sept. 3.
Savage said that on September 18, she was tipped off by protesters to come to a particular part of the swamp, and when she pulled up in her boat to the ramp, she saw sheriff’s department officers present. As Savage began photographing the scene, the officers came to her and arrested her, allegedly on an outstanding warrant.
“They said they were arresting me for an outstanding warrant,” she said. “But I knew there was nothing out for me.”
Savage said that an individual who witnessed the arrest called the sheriff’s department to inquire why she was arrested and learned that there was no warrant out for her.
Savage was arrested under Louisiana's newly-enacted state law against "unauthorized entry of a critical infrastructure project." The Louisiana state law — which only went into effect on Aug. 1 — makes trespassing on a "critical infrastructure project" like an oil pipeline a felony punishable by up to five years in prison.
She had previously been arrested under the same law on Aug. 18.
Savage contrasted her treatment by the sheriff’s department to her previous arrest while covering the protest in August. Then, she said, the arrest wasn’t violent. But this time, she said the officers grabbed her roughly and pulled her hands back.
"They really hurt me arms, shoulders, and wrists," she said. "It was really unnecessary."
She said that the officers put her in the back of a police car and then drove her around for about an hour, which she found suspicious.
"It’s a 20 minute drive to the station," she said. "But they kept driving around through sugar cane fields, and I had no idea where he was taking me. I thought maybe it was intimidation because they didn’t actually have a warrant."
The St. Martin’s Sheriff Department did not respond to request for comment.
Savage said that, despite her two arrests, the local district attorney has not brought any criminal charges against her.
“I’m doubtful that they ever will," she said. "It was a very clear intimidation tactic to stop me from covering the story.”
“I will go back,” she added. “I’m not going to let them intimidate me. It’s our job to hold these officials accountable.”
Cady Vishniac, former news editor for the student newspaper at the University of Massachusetts Boston, is the only remaining defendant in an ongoing legal case stemming from an article published in 2013.
Mass Media, the university’s independent student newspaper, routinely published information straight from the weekly police blotter, The Boston Globe reported. In March 2013, Mass Media published an entry about an unidentified individual allegedly taking pictures of women on campus without their knowledge or consent under the headline, “Have You Seen This Man?”
The UMass-Boston police released to the newspaper a photo of a man later identified as Jon Butcher. Eventually, after speaking with Butcher and searching his phone images, police closed their investigation into him without filing any charges.
Butcher, a former security engineer in the university’s information technology department, filed a lawsuit against the university, members of the newspaper’s staff and others in January 2014. He argued that the story was defamatory, deliberately hurtful and damaged his relationship with his boss, forcing him to eventually leave his position at the university. Vishniac was the only student editor Butcher was able to serve with court documents, the Globe reported.
Suffolk County Superior Court Judge Douglas Wilkins dismissed all of Butcher’s claims in May 2015, which Butcher appealed in 2017.
A Massachusetts Appeals Court revived only the claims of defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress against Vishniac on Sept. 17, 2018. The three-judge panel concluded that because police never issued a warrant or made an arrest, the information in the police blotter was not protected by fair report privilege.
According to the Digital Media Law Project, fair report privilege provides blanket protections allowing media outlets to report official statements and actions without taking on liability for accusations or charges made therein.
Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey is representing Vishniac in her appeal before the state’s Supreme Judicial Court, the Globe reported, having deemed the case to be in the public’s interest. The case will likely be heard in the fall of 2019.
In a court brief submitted on behalf of Vishniac on July 1, 2019, Deputy State Solicitor David Kravitz argued that police incident logs are crucial for reporters, serving their communities by informing them about possible crimes and the activities of local law enforcement.
The decisions of the appeals court are “significant errors of law,” Kravitz wrote, “that threaten not only to impose unwarranted litigation costs and perhaps liability on the one remaining individual defendant in this case, but also to chill the press from carrying out its crucial, and constitutionally protected, function.”
If the state’s high court upholds the lower court decision, the defamation case against Vishniac will go to trial.
“I am sure that there are greater issues at stake here,” Vishniac told the Globe. “I just don’t for the life of me understand how it got this far.”
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
In September 2018, Associated Press video journalist Josh Replogle was reporting on flooding in rural North Carolina caused by Hurricane Florence when a man punched him in the face.
An AP article published on Oct. 29, 2018, described the assault on Replogle:
Video journalist Joshua Replogle of The Associated Press was filming flooding from Hurricane Florence in North Carolina’s rural Bladen County when a nearby man knocked over his camera and began punching him in the face. His friends muttered, “fake news.” So far no charges have been filed, he said.
“The ironic part is my video would have helped him,” Replogle said. “It would have brought attention to a small town” where there was flooding, he said.
Anger toward media spreads into local communities (AP)
President Donald Trump called for the Department of Justice to investigate the author of an anonymous op-ed within his administration, and said he was considering taking action against the New York Times for publishing it.
On Sept. 5, 2018, the Times published an opinion column titled “I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration.” The anonymous author claimed in the op-ed that he was part of a group of administration staffers who tried to “resist” Trump’s impulsive decisions.
In an editor’s note, the paper said that the person who wrote the op-ed was a “senior administration official” whose identity was known to the Times but who had wished to remain anonymous.
Shortly after the op-ed was published, Trump said on Twitter that the newspaper should reveal the author’s identity to the government.
Does the so-called “Senior Administration Official” really exist, or is it just the Failing New York Times with another phony source? If the GUTLESS anonymous person does indeed exist, the Times must, for National Security purposes, turn him/her over to government at once!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 5, 2018
On Sept. 7, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that he wanted Attorney General Jeff Sessions to direct the DOJ to unmask the identity of the author. Trump said that this was a national security imperative.
“I would say Jeff should be investigating who the author of that piece was, because I really believe it’s national security,” Trump said.
"For somebody to do this is very low, and I think, journalistically and from many different standpoints, and maybe even from the standpoint of national security, we'll find out about that," he added.
In a statement, the Times said that any such investigation by the DOJ would be a “blatant abuse of government power.”
“We’re confident that the Department of Justice understands that the First Amendment protects all American citizens and that it would not participate in such a blatant abuse of government power,” the paper said. “The president’s threats both underscore why we must safeguard the identity of the writer of this Op-Ed and serve as a reminder of the importance of a free and independent press to American democracy.”
Trump also said that he is looking into potentially taking legal action against the Times for publishing the op-ed, according to reports from multiple news outlets.
Trump has frequently vowed to take legal action against news organizations whose coverage he finds unfavorable, but he has not followed through on the vast majority of these threats.
On Sept. 5, 2018, a man repeatedly crashed his pickup truck into the side of the KDFW/FOX 4 television studio in downtown Dallas, Texas.
Just before 7 a.m. that morning, the man rammed into the floor-to-ceiling windows of the local news station, FOX 4 reported. The man then exited the vehicle, began yelling, and placed numerous boxes full of stacks of paper near the building, throwing some of the papers around the street. He was later detained by police.
One of the station’s reporters tweeted a photo of the man holding a piece of paper against a window, and said that the man was yelling something about "high treason."
This was the man who smashed his truck into our station this morning..throwing papers around while yelling "high treason". @FOX4 pic.twitter.com/k7PsosDQIk
— Brandon Todd (@BrandonToddFOX4) September 5, 2018
FOX 4 also reported that the man left behind a "suspicious package," later identified as a bag. A bomb squad was quickly dispatched to the station, and journalists were quickly moved to a "secure location."
A man crashed a truck into the side of our building this morning. He jumped out and started ranting. He’s in custody now but the bomb squad is on its way. He left behind a suspicious bag. Most have been evacuated & a few are working to keep the news on air from a secure location. pic.twitter.com/X3UpLbYk85
— FOX 4 NEWS (@FOX4) September 5, 2018
The bag was ultimately determined to pose no threat. No one was injured as a result of the incident, and staff were allowed to re-enter the building after several hours.
The man involved was arrested, and Dallas police later identified him as Matthew Chadwick Fry.
Luke Kuhn, an independent journalist and contributor to anarchist news outlet It’s Going Down, was served a grand jury subpoena on Sept. 4, 2018. The subpoena, which was later withdrawn, ordered Kuhn to hand over his video footage of Unite the Right II, a far-right protest that took place a few weeks earlier.
Kuhn told Freedom of the Press Foundation that the subpoena was delivered to his mother’s house on Sept. 5. The subpoena ordered him to appear at the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia on the morning of Sept. 11 and to bring:
All recorded images, audio and data of protests near the White House, in Washington, D.C., on August 12, 2018, between the hours 3:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m., that are contained in a hand-held, Canon, flip-screen camera, with a black hand strap, that you possessed within the District of Columbia on August 12, 2018.
Grand jury subpoena to Luke Kuhn
Kuhn said he was notified on the morning of Sept. 11 that the subpoena had been withdrawn.
Kuhn said that he was unsure why the grand jury was interested in his footage, but he speculated that federal prosecutors may wish to identify anti-fascist protesters who were present at the rally.
In 2016, a federal grand jury in the District of Columbia, indicted more than two hundred anti-fascist protesters (and two independent journalists) on federal rioting charges. Much of the evidence in those indictments came from seized video footage of the J20 protests.
“Under no circumstances would I comply with this, or any other, Grand Jury subpoena relating to people involved in social movements,” Kuhn said.
On a solidarity rally on the morning of Sept. 11 in Washington, D.C., Kuhn burned multiple copies of the subpoena.
William Miller, a public information officer at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, declined to comment on the subpoena.
On Aug. 30, 2018, the FBI arrested a man in California who allegedly made repeated threats to kill employees of the Boston Globe newspaper.
Robert Chain allegedly made 12 threatening calls to the Boston Globe newsroom between Aug. 10-17, and two more on Aug. 22.
The calls began on Aug. 10, the same day that the Globe announced a plan for newspapers across the country to simultaneously publish editorials on Aug. 16 standing up for press freedom and criticizing President Donald Trump's relentless attacks on the press.
During the calls, Chain allegedly threatened to shoot and kill the paper's employees. He also repeated Trump's anti-media talking points, referring to the Globe as "the enemy of the people" and "fake news."
"We are going to shoot you motherfuckers in the head, you Boston Globe cocksuckers," Chain said in an Aug. 13 call, according to court documents. "Shoot every fucking one of you."
On Aug. 16, Trump attacked the Globe on Twitter, criticizing the paper for "COLLUSION with other papers on free press" and mentioning that it was once purchased by The New York Times company.
The Boston Globe, which was sold to the the Failing New York Times for 1.3 BILLION DOLLARS (plus 800 million dollars in losses & investment), or 2.1 BILLION DOLLARS, was then sold by the Times for 1 DOLLAR. Now the Globe is in COLLUSION with other papers on free press. PROVE IT!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 16, 2018
Later that day, Chain made another threatening call to the Globe.
"You're the enemy of the people, and we're going to kill every fucking one of you ... I'm going to shoot you in the fucking head later today, at 4 o'clock," he allegedly said.
When Chain called the Globe again on Aug. 22, one of the paper's employees asked Chain why he kept calling and threatening them.
"Because you are the enemy of the people, and I want you to go fuck yourself," he allegedly said. "As long as you keep attacking the President, the duly elected President of the United States, in the continuation of your treasonous and seditious acts, I will continue to [make] threats, harass, and annoy the Boston Globe, owned by The New York Times, the other fake news."
After reviewing firearms records, the FBI found that Chain owns multiple guns and had purchased a new rifle in May 2018.
Chain is charged with one count of making interstate threats, a federal crime.
The Aug. 16, 2018, edition of the Boston Globe newspaper is seen on a newsstand in Massachusetts, with a front-page editorial defending press freedom.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,Boston Globe,,,,,, Journalist questioned at San Ysidro border crossing for third time,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-questioned-san-ysidro-border-crossing-third-time/,2019-08-02 18:39:51.167748+00:00,2019-08-02 18:47:48.434704+00:00,2019-08-02 18:47:48.356980+00:00,,Border Stop,,,,Brooke Binkowski,,2018-08-22,False,San Diego,California (CA),32.71571,-117.16472,"Freelance multimedia reporter Brooke Binkowski was stopped by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers while she was re-entering the United States on Aug. 22, 2018, the third time in two months that she was directed to secondary screening.
Binkowski, a U.S. citizen, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she was crossing the border in the afternoon, around the same time she normally drives back to San Diego. As with previous stops, both she and her car were searched. When she told them she was a journalist, she was questioned about her reporting.
“They made me get out of my car and made me keep my phone in my pocket,” Binkowski told the Tracker. She said that while neither her phone nor any other electronic device has been searched during any of her experiences in secondary screening, it remains “a huge, huge fear.”
“[It’s] something for which I have my stepdad, a lawyer, on speed dial, but which has not yet happened,” Binkowski said. “But, I have not crossed with my laptop since 2017 out of those same concerns.”
Binkowski told the Tracker that her frustration with wait times when crossing the border—which is a mere 15 minute drive from her home in San Diego—pushed her to apply for Global Entry, NEXUS and SENTRI in the early 2000s. Each is a system by which travelers that are deemed low-risk through rigorous background checks or in-person interviews are pre-approved in order to be granted expedited clearance.
Despite having these pre-approvals, Binkowski said she was detained for approximately an hour during this screening before she was permitted to enter the U.S.
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
Freelance journalist Brooke Binkowski, right, remained in secondary screening at the U.S.-Mexico border for more than an hour while she and her car were searched.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,San Ysidro,True,U.S. citizen,False,True,no,no,no,yes,no,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, Freelance reporter Karen Savage arrested for felony trespassing while covering anti-pipeline protest in Louisiana,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/freelance-reporter-karen-savage-arrested-felony-charges-while-covering-anti-pipeline-protest-louisiana/,2018-10-26 19:46:07.826243+00:00,2022-05-12 22:33:21.301371+00:00,2022-05-12 22:33:21.206167+00:00,"(2018-09-18 15:09:00+00:00) Karen Savage arrested again, (2021-07-13 00:00:00+00:00) Charges dropped against investigative journalist who sued following arrests in Louisiana",Arrest/Criminal Charge,"Louisiana Law Enforcement Officers Are Moonlighting For A Controversial Pipeline Company (https://theappeal.org/louisiana-police-arrest-bayou-bridge-pipeline-protesters/) via The Appeal, Four Pipeline Opponents Arrested Under Louisiana Anti-Protest Law (https://theintercept.com/2018/08/22/recent-arrests-under-new-anti-protest-law-spotlight-risks-that-off-duty-cops-pose-to-pipeline-opponents/) via The Intercept, Bayou Bridge Environmental Activists: ‘Anti-Protest Law Is Anti-American’ (https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/bayou-bridge-activists-anti-protest-law-is-anti-american_us_5ba53c4ce4b0181540dcd246) via HuffPost, Landowners sue Bayou Bridge Pipeline over land seizure (https://www.nola.com/environment/index.ssf/2018/09/landowners_sue_bayou_bridge_pi.html) via Nola.com",,,Karen Savage (The Appeal),,2018-08-18,False,St. Martin Parish,Louisiana (LA),None,None,"On Aug. 18, 2018, freelance investigative reporter Karen Savage was arrested under a felony trespassing law, while reporting on protests against the construction of the Bayou Bridge oil pipeline in Louisiana. At the time, Savage was on assignment for The Appeal, a progressive news site focused on criminal justice issues.
Savage was embedded with a camp of protesters, known as water protectors, who were aiming to defend a piece of land in Louisiana’s Atchafalaya River Basin, a wetlands area co-owned by hundreds of people. Energy Transfer Partners, the company responsible for the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota, is trying to build its new Bayou Bridge oil pipeline through the area. Although some of the co-owners of the Atchafalaya Basin property have given the company permission to build the pipeline, hundreds of others have refused to do so. Despite this, the company had already begun making alterations to the land, including removing trees and digging a ditch. It has also asked the state of Louisiana to use eminent domain to seize the land from the co-owners who object to the pipeline.
Savage told Freedom of the Press Foundation that one of the co-owners of the Atchafalaya Basin land who is resisting the pipeline had given her permission to be on the property.
“Some were actively resisting, and I had a letter from a landowner saying we were welcome to be on the property," she said. "For people to visit the property, you only need permission from one landowner.”
On Aug. 18, Savage was with three water protectors, taking pictures and reporting, when she was arrested by sheriff's deputies from the nearby St. Martin Parish.
“I wasn’t even on the contested part of the land,” she said. “Sheriff’s deputies showed up and said I had to leave. I said I had permission to be there. I didn’t think I, or anyone else, would be arrested.”
She showed the officer a photograph of letter she had from a landowner, granting her permission to remain on the property. She said that she urged the officer to call the landowner, but he declined to do so. Officers then arrested her and the three water protectors who were with her.
Savage was one of the first people to be arrested under a newly-enacted Louisiana state law against "unauthorized entry of a critical infrastructure project," which went into effect on Aug. 1. The new Louisiana state law makes trespassing on a "critical infrastructure project" like an oil pipeline a felony punishable by up to five years in prison. (Trespassing on land that is not a "critical infrastructure project" remains a misdemeanor.)
Although Savage was arrested under the law, the local district attorney has not yet brought any criminal charges against her.
After Savage was released on bail, she returned to the area to continue reporting on the protests against the Bayou Bridge pipeline.
“I bonded out, and kept reporting,” she said. “I wasn’t going to be intimidated.”
She later published a piece in The Appeal about her arrest and the way that Energy Transfer Partners employs off-duty law enforcement officers as a private security force, which works closely with uniformed St. Martin Parish sheriff's deputies to arrest pipeline protesters.
The St. Martin’s Sheriff Department did not respond to request for comment.
Gary Cooper, a journalist with North Carolina TV station WTVD, was filming a crowd of demonstrators on Aug. 12, 2018, in Charlottesville, Virginia, when some of the demonstrators cut his camera's audio cable.
Cooper and journalist DeJuan Hoggard were in Charlottesville to cover anti-fascist demonstrations marking the one-year anniversary of the murder of Heather Heyer, who was killed by a white nationalist at the "Unite the Right" rally in 2017.
A group of demonstrators, apparently unhappy with being filmed, got into an altercation with Cooper and Hoggard, during which the demonstrators cut the audio cable connecting Cooper's external microphone to his camera.
Hoggard later tweeted a photo of Cooper holding the broken camera, and Cooper tweeted that he had a spare cable. Hoggard also tweeted a video of an altercation that he had with demonstrators before the cable was cut.
Protestors didn’t want to be filmed and cut my photographer’s audio cable cord. pic.twitter.com/GBLryCjWZs
— DeJuan Hoggard (@DeJuanABC11) August 12, 2018
Thankfully, I have a spare cable.
— Gary Cooper (@GaryCooperWTVD) August 12, 2018
...And a GoPro mounted to the rig that was on the whole time.
:-) https://t.co/sRVcNiUdfD
This is the moment protestors and members of Antifa tried to stop us from filming and then cut our audio cable. pic.twitter.com/yJc4Z77nvS
— DeJuan Hoggard (@DeJuanABC11) August 12, 2018
“Get that out of my face,” one protester says in the video, before blocking the camera with a sign.
CBS News producer Christina Ruffini was shoved by police officers while reporting on a far-right protest in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 12, 2018.
Metropolitan Police Department officers "kettled" a group of protesters and journalists, including Ruffini, forcing them into a small, contained area with no exits. As lines of MPD officers continued to shove them backwards, the group found themselves pushed up against the side of an MPD police car.
Ruffini later tweeted a video showing the kettle.
"Guys, there's a car here," Ruffini can be heard yelling in the video. "Stop pushing! Stop pushing, you're hurting people!"
Officers then grab Ruffini and shove her next to the MPD car.
Ruffini said that she showed the officers her press badge, which identifies her as a journalist, but that did not stop them from manhandling her.
In which @DCPoliceDept shoved us up against a police car, trapping and crushing people, then I showed them my press badge (which you can see in my hand) and they shoved me anyway. Most officers did a great job today. This was not great. pic.twitter.com/qNOADlzzF2
— Christina Ruffini (@EenaRuffini) August 13, 2018
Daily Beast reporter Kelly Weill tweeted a similar video of MPD officers shoving journalists and protesters in the kettle.
Here’s where police unnecessarily kettled media and shoved everyone on their way out. Nbd, but if we’re getting righteous about this from afar, the only people to push me were cops. pic.twitter.com/zcPWof3XuT
— Kelly Weill (@KELLYWEILL) August 13, 2018
A screengrab from a video uploaded to Twitter shows Metropolitan Police Department officers shoving CBS producer Christina Ruffini on August 12, 2018.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,no,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"kettle, protest, white nationalist protest",,,,, DC police officer assaults freelance photographer Craig Ruttle at demonstration,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/dc-police-officer-assaults-freelance-photographer-craig-ruttle-demonstration/,2018-09-06 21:29:56.440747+00:00,2021-10-19 20:19:14.586994+00:00,2021-10-19 20:19:14.539200+00:00,,Assault,,,,Craig Ruttle (Newsday),,2018-08-12,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"Freelance photojournalist Craig Ruttle was documenting a far-right protest in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 12, 2018, when a police officer charged at him and body-slammed him.
Ruttle was covering the white supremacist rally Unite the Right II for Newsday. Ruttle tried to photograph a group of approximately 20 white nationalists, who emerged from the Foggy Bottom metro station and were soon surrounded by Metropolitan Police Department officers.
“The scene was chaotic,” Ruttle told Freedom of the Press Foundation, describing the way that police officers on bicycles and motorcycles formed a “protective envelope” around the group.
Ruttle said that while he followed the marchers, he saw a police officer in front of him tip his bicycle over. Instinctively, Ruttle reached out to help the officer.
“He was having trouble getting back on,” Ruttle said. “To be honest, I’m not sure what was going through my mind, but if someone falls over, I try to reach for them, whether they’re a cop or activist or anyone else.”
Ruttle put his hand on the officer’s back and asked the officer if he was okay. That’s when he spotted another officer running toward him.
“For a split second I saw him running at me at what appeared to be full speed, and then he crashed into me,” Ruttle said. “Getting hit by a bulletproof vest is a hard service. I’ve been hit and shoved before, but that was like a football block. I saw black for a split second.”
“He got me in the chin real hard,” he added.
Although the impact rattled him, Ruttle remained on his feet. He said that he gave the officer who hit him some “choice words” and then explained that he was trying to assist the officer who had fallen off his bike. Ruttle said that the officer who hit him just walked backwards, pointed at him, and told him not to “do that again.” Then the officer disappeared.
At the time he was hit, Ruttle said, he was carrying three cameras and wearing his press credentials.
Ruttle said that he was able to continue his work documenting the rest of the rally, but his jaw remained sore sore for a week after the incident.
Ruttle has not been able to get anyone from the MPD to explain why an officer charged at him and hit him in the chin.
“I tried to engage with [the officer] later in the march, and he refused to make eye contact,” Ruttle said. “The only thing I can say is that he either thought I was trying to push his fellow officer to the ground, or he didn’t like that I had a hand on him.”
Ruttle said that he called the MPD's public relations division in an attempt to understand what happened. Although the department took down his name and number, and promised to call him back, he said that he has not received any further communication from the MPD.
The MPD did not respond to a request for comment from Freedom of the Press Foundation.
Ruttle said the police officers at the Unite the Right II rally used aggressive tactics and seemed to have a “low tolerance threshold.”
“The cops put a group in the front, and they were being very aggressive,” he said. “You’d stop to take a picture, and backwalk, and it was never fast enough. I would try to take some pictures and they would push me, and as I’d walk further away to give them space, they'd shove me more. I got most of my shoves from the back. I was really impressed at how aggressive they were.”
Ruttle noted that freelance journalists in particular have to make difficult decisions about how far they are willing to for their reporting: “Is this day important enough for me as a freelance journalist to find myself in jail with no support? And have to deal with the legal system? Is it worth me risking getting hurt?”
While covering the Unite the Right II protest in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 12, 2018, freelance photojournalist Shay Horse was shoved against a police van and hit in the face by a police officer.
Horse told Freedom of the Press Foundation that police interfered as he and other members of the press followed a group of protesters, including white supremacist Jason Kessler, as they moved from Foggy Bottom to the White House.
“When we got there, police starting shoving everyone because they thought we were too close,” he said. “They shoved us up again the side and hood of a van. They kept screaming, ‘move,’ but I kept thinking, ‘where?’ There was no rhyme or reason to it. I was left to wonder what ‘move’ could possibly mean.”
Horse said that one police officer “decked” him in the face with his hand, making contact with his chin and the left side of his face.
“I was trying to take photos of Kessler,” he said. “Being shoved and hit makes that a little hard.”
Although the hit did not bruise, Horse said that his jaw hurt for days after the incident.
Horse estimated that a total of 10–15 people were pushed up against the side of the van, and that it seemed like all but perhaps one of them were members of the press.
Horse said that the Metropolitan Police Department used aggressive tactics against protesters and the press, adding that it seemed as though the police were preparing for a major confrontation that never materialized.
“They were on top of protesters the whole day,” he said. “It seemed strange that MPD was so eager to kettle people.”
On Aug. 11, 2018, NBC News reporter Cal Perry was covering an anti-racist demonstration in Charlottesville, Virginia, when protesters grabbed his TV camera and pushed it away.
Anti-fascist protesters gathered in Charlottesville to commemorate Heather Heyer, who was murdered during the far-right "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville the previous year.
While covering the demonstration, Perry tweeted that a number of protesters seemed hostile toward him and other reporters.
He later tweeted a video of an altercation with a protester.
“Fuck you, snitch ass news bitch,” a man can be heard saying in the video footage. “Fuck you!” The man then smacks the camera sideways.
Protesters very aggressive with media. #Charlottesville pic.twitter.com/CSYNyvBbeG
— Cal Perry (@CalNBC) August 12, 2018
“Fu** you, snitch ass news bitch. Fu** you”. #Charlotsville pic.twitter.com/JPl3480FUG
— Cal Perry (@CalNBC) August 12, 2018
Dave Weaver, a freelance videographer, was arrested while filming near the scene of a multi-vehicle car crash on Interstate 88 in Illinois, on Aug. 11, 2018.
Weaver is an independent photojournalist who shoots footage of crime scenes and the aftermath of car crashes and fires in the Chicago area, which he learns about by listening to police and fire radio scanners.
At around 6 p.m. on Aug. 11, three cars were involved in a fiery car crash on the Illinois Tollway, part of Interstate 88 in Illinois. Police later said that the crash left two cars totaled and bystanders were barely able to extricate the crash victims from the cars before they burst into flame.
Weaver told Freedom of the Press Foundation that he arrived at the crash site just as the last ambulance was leaving to take victims to the hospital and maintenance workers were cleaning up the area. He began filming the aftermath of the crash; some of his video footage was later included in a local TV station’s report on the crash.
After a maintenance worker spotted Weaver and alerted the Illinois State Police, an ISP trooper approached Weaver and arrested him. The trooper, Kyle Fletcher, was familiar with Weaver from previous incidents.
“I realized that this was an individual that I had spoken to before,” Fletcher wrote in a field report documenting the arrest. “I once again asked Weaver what he was doing illegally parked on the shoulder of the tollways and walking around on a road where pedestrians are forbidden. … Due to the fact that this was not the first time I had spoke[n] to Weaver about this sort of behavior he was placed under arrest for criminal trespass to property.”
Weaver said that Fletcher also ticketed him.
“This trooper also charged me with three tickets,” he said. “One for stopping on the shoulder, which he considered a crime because I was not using the Tollway for its intended purpose. And also for getting out of my vehicle, and also a third one for failure to yield to emergency vehicles, which is a complete joke because I was the last one to arrive at the scene, and there were no emergency vehicles to ever have to yield to.”
Each ticket carries a $120 fine and requires Weaver to appear in court.
Weaver said that after he was arrested and brought to the DuPage County, two of his fellow photojournalists bailed him and then helped him recover his impounded vehicle.
On Sept. 13, Weaver pleaded not guilty to the charges against him. The next court date is set for Nov. 8, at which point Weaver intends to request a trial if the charges against him have not been dropped.
In a statement to Freedom of the Press Foundation, a spokesperson for the Illinois State Police confirmed Weaver’s arrest:
The Illinois State Police can confirm that on August 11, 2018, Mr. David Weaver was arrested by the ISP and cited for the following offenses at the scene of a multi vehicle personal injury crash that resulted in multi vehicle fires: Criminal Trespass to Real Property, Failure to Yield to Emergency Vehicles, Stopping Parking or Standing on Roadway, and Walking Improperly on the roadway. This case remains open and ongoing in the court system, therefore we have no further comment at this time. The Illinois State Police's primary goal at the scene of a critical incident, and at all times, is the safety and well-being of all members of the public.
Weaver said that Fletcher, the ISP trooper who arrested him, has repeatedly tried to prevent him from reporting on car crashes on the Illinois State Tollway.
“He is trying to get me involved in a case where he’s trying to make me out as a threat to the first responder community by my presence,” he said.
According to Weaver, the trouble began on Nov. 27, 2016, three days after he covered a car crash on the Illinois Tollway. Weaver said that Fletcher showed up at his house and told him that the Illinois Tollway was private property and he had to obtain a special Media ID from the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority in order to film on the highway.
Weaver claims that Fletcher then threatened him with arrest and asked him to go to an Illinois State Trooper station to “voluntarily” complete a written statement. Weaver said that he went to the station and submitted his written statement — at which point, he was fingerprinted and photographed. Weaver said that Fletcher then drove him home and told him, “I don’t want to jam you up."
Weaver said that when he later asked the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority about obtaining the special Media ID that Fletcher had mentioned, the Highway Authority’s press secretary informed him that no such ID existed and access to emergency scenes was the responsibility of Illinois State Police, not the Highway Authority.
“I think the state needs to reconsider what it considers private property and how it operates and what procedures are in dealing with the press,” Weaver told Freedom of the Press Foundation. “I want to know for my own peace of mind, so that when I go to scenes on a Tollway, that my day doesn’t end with me being arrested, and my car towed and being putting into the holding cell at DuPage County Jail."
"I should be able to do my job as long as the conditions are safe to do so, and I was denied that," he added.
A screengrab from a recording by journalist Dave Weaver on Aug. 11, 2018, shows the aftermath of a firey car crash near Naperville, Illinois. Weaver was arrested by Illinois State Police troopers while recording this footage.
",arrested and released,charges dropped,Illinois State Police,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,"blocking traffic: failure to yield to emergency vehicles, blocking traffic: stopping in a roadway, blocking traffic: walking improperly on a roadway, trespassing: criminal trespass to property",,, Defense One reporters left out of media briefing with Deputy Secretary of Defense in apparent retaliation for reporting,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/defense-one-reporters-left-out-of-media-briefing-with-deputy-secretary-of-defense-in-apparent-retaliation-for-reporting/,2021-04-22 20:17:40.753596+00:00,2022-04-06 17:48:59.844319+00:00,2022-04-06 17:48:59.792085+00:00,,Denial of Access,,,,,,2018-08-09,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"Reporters from Defense One, a news site that covers global and U.S. national security issues, were not invited to a 2018 media roundtable with the deputy secretary of defense about the launch of the proposed Space Force military project in apparent retaliation for the outlet’s previous reporting.
According to an article published by Politico, the outlet was deliberately left out of the Aug. 9 event after Defense One reporter Marcus Weisgerber published an exclusive story divulging the plans to set up President Donald Trump’s Space Force, even though it had not yet been authorized by Congress.
Weisgerber could not be reached for comment.
Weisgerber’s July 31 story revealed the contents of a draft report prepared by Deputy Secretary of Defense Patrick M. Shanahan for lawmakers. The report was not due for presentation until a week after the Defense One story, which noted that “Defense Department leaders plan to stand up three of the four components of the new Space Force: a new combatant command for space, a new joint agency to buy satellites for the military, and a new warfighting community that draws space operators from all service branches.”
According to the story those three components did not require congressional approval, but defense officials planned to draft a legislative proposal to create the fourth component — an entirely new branch of the military — which would require authorization from Congress.
Kevin Baron, executive editor of Defense One, confirmed to Politico that none of the reporters from his team were invited to the media briefing. Baron said that Department of Defense spokesperson Dana White conceded to him in an email that the reason was the publication by Defense One of its story disclosing the roll out plans for Space Force.
“It seems Defense One was deliberately left out of a briefing in retaliation for our reporting,” Baron said. He added that White said she was unaware of the incident and assured him that the outlet would be included in future press meetings.
When reached for comment, Baron confirmed the information in the Politico article to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
In a statement to Politico, Pentagon spokesperson Charles Summers said, “We are guided by the principles of information and committed to ensuring the accessibility of timely and accurate information to the media, the Congress and the American people.” Summers later added, “There is no retaliation and the notion that someone doesn’t have access or someone is shut out, that’s absolutely not accurate.”
Freelance photographer Peter Simon was taking photos of a band inside a restaurant in Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts, when the actor Bill Murray allegedly shoved him and poured a drink on him.
Peter Simon, the 71-year-old brother of singer Carly Simon, is an accomplished photographer who grew up in Martha’s Vineyard. On Aug. 8, 2018, he went to Lola’s, a restaurant on Martha’s Vineyard, on assignment for the MV Times.
Jamie Kageleiry, associate publisher of the MV Times, told Freedom of the Press Foundation that the paper sent Simon to Lola’s to shoot photos of the Marotta Brothers band performing in the restaurant.
“I was not there, and there are conflicting reports, but I do know that we sent Mr. Simon, as a freelancer, to take photographs of the band and the people watching the band,” Kageleiry said.
One of the people at Lola’s watching the band was Bill Murray. Kageleiry said that she did not send Simon to Lola’s to photograph the actor, but Murray was apparently concerned that Simon was taking pictures of him.
“Mr. Murray happened to be in the audience, and was not keen on being photographed,” Kageleiry said. “Mr. Simon said he didn't aim at Mr. Murray. Mr. Murray said he did.”
Simon told the MV Times that he was reviewing pictures that he had taken at the restaurant when Murray physically accosted him, grabbing his shoulders and shoving him against a wall. Simon also said that Murray threatened him with "bodily harm."
Simon told the paper that he did not recognize Murray in the restaurant — “he looks so different than he used to look,” he said — and that both he and Murray asked each other, “Do you know who I am?” He said that he tried to defuse the situation by apologizing to Murray and giving him the peace sign.
But according to Simon, Murray later elbowed him and poured water on him and his camera.
“I’ve never been treated like that in my life,” Simon told the MV Times.
After the altercation, Simon called the police. When Oak Bluffs Police Department officers arrived on the scene, they interviewed Simon, Murray, and “Lola’s” owner Katherine Domitrovich and then summarized the interviews in an incident report:
Simon advised that he was taking pictures of the people in the restaurant and was accosted by Bill Murray. Simon advised that Murray was irate that Simon was taking pictures. Simon told me that he didn’t recognize Murray. Simon told me that shortly thereafter, Murray grabbed him and poured a drink on his shirt. Simon told me that he was not injured but he didn’t think it was right and he wanted an apology.
…
Murray was visibly upset. He told us that Simon was taking pictures of him and [harassing] him while he was quietly minding his own business.
...
[Domitrovich] told us that the restaurant was having a normal regular Wednesday dinner service when she was approached by Simon. She advised that Simon claimed that he was on assignment for the MV Times taking pictures when Bill Murray grabbed him and poured a drink on him. She told me that Simon had no business photographing anyone in the restaurant and was generally annoying. She believed that Simon found out that Murray was at Lola’s and he came to specifically take his picture.
Oak Bluffs Police Department Incident #2018004060 Report
Domitrovich later told the Boston Globe that Murray had poured a drink on Simon but had not physically accosted him.
“Nothing went on, other than a glass of water,” she told the Globe. “Peter is taking this to a whole different dimension because he wants the PR. I don’t care about PR. That’s why I don’t want photographers in my place.”
Simon objects to that characterization.
“I’m not a paparazzi-type photographer, I’m just not,” he told the Globe.
According to Showbiz411, Simon has been banned from Lola’s for a year as a result of what happened with Murray.
Kageleiry said that she apologized to Domitrovich for not warning her in advance that the paper was sending a photographer to Lola’s.
Actor Bill Murray speaks at the 46th AFI Life Achievement Award ceremony in Los Angeles, California, on June 7, 2018.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,public figure,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, "Florida judge rejects contempt petition against Sun Sentinel, two reporters",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/florida-judge-rejects-contempt-petition-against-sun-sentinel-two-reporters/,2019-07-18 20:12:18.204886+00:00,2019-08-08 20:11:57.037429+00:00,2019-08-08 20:11:56.955730+00:00,,Other Incident,,,,"Brittany Wallman (South Florida Sun Sentinel), Paula McMahon (South Florida Sun Sentinel)",,2018-08-06,False,Broward County,Florida (FL),None,None,"A Florida judge dismissed a request to hold the South Florida Sun Sentinel and two of its reporters in contempt for publishing the entirety of an improperly redacted report, issuing her ruling on May 13, 2019.
Reporter Brittany Wallman told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that they were relieved at finally having a resolution, but that they were prepared for any outcome. “Of course you have to stand on principle,” Wallman said, “and we were both willing to go to jail to publish the entirety of that report... It was one of those crystal clear moments where you know you’re doing a public service.”
The Sun Sentinel was part of a consortium of newspapers, Wallman said, working in tandem to acquire documents relating to the February 2018 school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
At a hearing on Aug. 3, 2018, Broward Circuit Court Judge Elizabeth Scherer had ordered the Broward school district to release a report produced by a consultant with nearly two-thirds of its content blacked out to protect the privacy rights of the gunman, Nicholas Cruz. The Sun Sentinel reported that it was “a move that also concealed much about how the district mishandled Cruz’s education.”
Wallman told the Tracker that after the redacted report was released by the school district, a reader tipped them off that the document had been improperly censored: Copying and pasting the report into a separate file would reveal the full, uncensored text. Wallman and her fellow reporter, Paula McMahon, published an article detailing the full report that night.
The Broward school district’s chief lawyer, Barbara Myrick, notified Scherer of the publication of the uncensored report on Aug. 6 in a petition to invoke contempt hearings against the Sun Sentinel, as well as Wallman and McMahon individually. If found guilty, they could have faced a fine of up to $500 or up to one year in jail.
The school board alleged that they had intentionally published information that the reporters knew a judge had ordered to be secret, and were therefore guilty of “indirect criminal contempt” regardless of how the information had been obtained.
The Sun Sentinel filed a motion to dismiss on Aug. 10 citing Florida’s anti-SLAPP law, which allows for early dismissal of meritless lawsuits filed with the intention to censor, intimidate or silence people exercising their First Amendment rights.
Wallman told the Tracker, “[The petition] ultimately galvanized support for us... because people were so outraged that they would want to have us punished for reporting the truth.”
Scherer berated the newspaper’s lawyer, Dana McElroy, at a hearing in mid-August and said that in the future she would consider listing precisely what the newspaper can and cannot publish, the Sun Sentinel reported.
“From now on if I have to specifically write word for word exactly what you are and are not permitted to print—and I have to take the papers myself and redact them with a Sharpie… then I’ll do that,” she said, according to the Sun Sentinel.
The petition was left without a ruling until May 2019, when Scherer declined to invoke contempt proceedings without detailing the reasons behind her decision or the nearly nine-month gap in reaching a ruling.
This article has been updated to reflect more precise contempt sentencing maximums.
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
The Broward County School Board filed a petition to invoke contempt proceedings against the South Florida Sun Sentinel and two of its reporters.
,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,South Florida Sun Sentinel,,,,,, "Milwaukee reporter arrested, interrogated, and asked to delete photographs",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/milwaukee-reporter-arrested-interrogated-and-asked-delete-photographs/,2018-12-10 19:38:46.526230+00:00,2022-03-11 17:35:40.648449+00:00,2022-03-11 17:35:40.570189+00:00,,"Arrest/Criminal Charge, Equipment Search or Seizure, Equipment Damage",,camera: count of 1,,Edgar Mendez (Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service),,2018-08-05,False,Milwaukee,Wisconsin (WI),43.0389,-87.90647,"On Aug. 5, 2018, Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service reporter Edgar Mendez photographed Milwaukee Police Department (MPD) squad cars outside a police station. MPD officers then arrested him and took him to an interrogation room, where Mendez said detectives pressured him to answer questions without an attorney present and to delete three of his photographs.
In an interview with Freedom of the Press Foundation, Mendez said he was preparing for the publication of a big piece on the local police department’s emergency response times. When Mendez’s editor asked him to get a photo to accompany the piece, he decided to stop by a police station near his house and take some pictures of MPD squad cars lined up in the parking lot.
Mendez drove into the parking lot and started taking photos of the MPD cars in the parking lot. When he spotted a police officer in civilian clothes with a badge around his neck, he said he waved and explained that he was a reporter taking photos for a story. The officer waved back as he walked to his car.
Mendez said he also noticed a uniformed MPD officer walking through the parking lot toward a police wagon. The uniformed officer did not wave back to Mendez.
After Mendez finished taking photos and left the lot, he saw that the police wagon was following him.
“I drove about two blocks away,” he told Freedom of the Press Foundation. “I noticed in my rearview that there was a paddy wagon. It followed me for about four more blocks and then pulled me over. He came up to my window and asked me what I was doing in the lot.”
When Mendez identified himself as a journalist and explained that he was taking photographs for a news story, the officer asked him if he had seen the “no trespassing” sign next the police station parking lot. Mendez said that he had not, but he would have obeyed it if he had seen it. According to Mendez, the officer took Mendez’s ID and returned to the police van to run it. In the meantime, Mendez texted his editor to let her know that he had been pulled over.
As Mendez waited for the officer to return his ID, an MPD squad car pulled up next to the police van. Once the officer from the squad car spoke with the officer from the police van, both officers approached Mendez and told him to exit his vehicle.
“They said, ‘well I’m going to have to give you a ticket for trespassing, and I’m going to need to cuff you and take you back to the station,’” Mendez recalled, adding that the officers insisted on placing him under arrest instead of just writing him a ticket on the spot.
“I just told them that I was a reporter and they could verify that, and I didn’t know that there was a no trespassing sign.”
At the police station, Mendez said he was asked about his medical and criminal history before being led into an interrogation room for further questioning.
Although Mendez said that he felt that he perhaps needed a lawyer, he said a detective made him feel that he was being overly defensive.
“They made it seem that if I had requested a lawyer, I wasn’t going to get to leave and they would probably transfer me to county jail,” he said.
The detective, according to Mendez, asked him about his family, including details about his parents’ ages and addresses, and accused him of defying an order. Mendez said that he continued to repeat that he was a reporter, and had written about the Milwaukee police department multiple times.
“He asked me kind of casually: ‘what’s your story about?’ I said, I don’t feel comfortable telling you that.”
Mendez said that the detective asked to see the photographs he took, and threatened to confiscate his camera as evidence if he did not comply.
“By then, I was just giving up.”
Going through the photographs, Mendez recalled, the detective pointed out three that were “not fine” and ordered Mendez to erase them. He complied, and was later released.
On Dec. 3, Mendez was found not guilty of trespassing charges. A judge did find that he had parked in violation of the law, and he must pay a $50 fine.
“I wondered afterwards if what happened to me was because of my brown skin, or because I was a reporter writing about the MPD,” Mendez wrote in a first-person account of the incident for the Neighborhood News Service. “You have to remember that my arrest occurred at a time when President Trump had attacked people of Hispanic descent, repeatedly declared that all the news he didn’t agree with was “fake news,” and begun to call the press the “enemy of the people,” a sentiment he continues to espouse.”
The Neighborhood News Service is considering filing a complaint with MPD.
"We've been told we couldn't cover a meeting, that kind of thing, but never someone arrested and interrogated" over their work as a reporter,” Neighborhood News Service editor Sharon McGowan told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “It was outrageous the way he was treated.”
Milwaukee Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Eder Campuzano, a reporter at The Oregonian, was hit in the head by a plastic water bottle while covering protests in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 4, 2018.
“Moments after I began live-streaming the police response to yet another face-off between right-wing and anti-fascist demonstrators, blood was dripping from my head onto one of my favorite shirts and I was being escorted to The Oregonian newsroom,” Campuzano wrote in a first-person piece about the incident.
Tyler Dumont, a journalist at Fox 12 Oregon, captured a photo of Campuzano's bleeding head and posted it on Twitter, where it spread quickly.
Was just standing next to @Oregonian reporter @edercampuzano, he got hit with something and is bleeding. Medics helping him. Things are getting extremely intense, even for those of us standing back from the center of these groups pic.twitter.com/F4ID7Dj2Zp
— Tyler Dumont FOX 12 (@TylerDumontNews) August 4, 2018
Campuzano wrote that after he was hit, reporters, protesters, and onlookers quickly descended on him to make sure he was okay, and a street medic stemmed the bleeding with a gauze pad. Although he had to stop his livestream, he added, his focus remained on his reporting.
He reported that he was taken to urgent care, had his vitals taken by nurses, and had his wound stapled.
After being released from urgent care, Campuzano tweeted that he was OK.
Hey-a Twitter! Thanks for all your kind words and I appreciate you being concerned after seeing that photo of me clutching my head. Here’s a short update. 1/* pic.twitter.com/bAANd5f7bb
— eder campuzano 🇲🇽🇺🇸🎮🎶📽 (@edercampuzano) August 5, 2018
He noted that this incident broke his 91-week streak of covering protests without getting hurt. He said that he generally takes precautions when documenting demonstrations, following police orders to the best of his ability and staying on the perimeter of the action.
“The pain subsided an hour after I arrived home," he later wrote in The Oregonian. "I just hoped that photo of my bloodied face wouldn't make it far."
By then, Dumont's photo of Campuzano's bleeding head had gone viral, and Campuzano reported that he was “flooded with concerned tweets, texts and emails from all over the country hoping I was okay," from people concerned that protesters had targeted Campuzano for violence because of his reporting.
Campuzano does not feel that he was attacked or targeted for violence at the protest. Instead, he believes that he was merely in the wrong place at the wrong time.
“I'm not the first reporter to sustain an injury in the field covering these things,” he wrote.
Ric Peavyhouse, a photojournalist with local TV station KATU, was filming a protest in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 4, 2018, when a police officer shot him in the leg with a "less-lethal" foam-tipped round.
Mike Bivins, a freelance reporter who covers the city, was standing a short distance away from Peavyhouse and captured video of the sponge round striking him. He later posted the video on Twitter.
Here’s video of @KATUNews photojournalist @RPeavyhouse taking a police less-lethal weapon like a champ during the Aug 4 Patriot Prayer rally and counterprotest pic.twitter.com/m1w8DPndGL
— PDX Mike Bivins (@itsmikebivins) August 8, 2018
The video shows a small number of protesters in front of a line of Portland police officers. Peavyhouse is standing on the side of the street, holding a big TV camera on his shoulders and filming the line of police and the protesters.
In the video, police officer issues a dispersal order over a loudspeaker.
"All people in this area must immediately disperse," the officer says. "Failure to comply with this order may subject you to arrest or citation and may subject you to the use of riot control agents or impact weapons."
Suddenly, a small blue projectile — likely a 40mm plastic round with a blue foam tip — strikes Peavyhouse in his right thigh. He clutches his leg, turns around, and stumbles out of frame.
In an interview with KATU, Peavyhouse described being struck by the less-lethal round.
"Then I hear a tat-tat-tat-tat," he said. "A split second later, I feel like a crack on my leg, feels like a baseball bat hitting your thigh."
Peavyhouse tweeted that the 40mm sponge round left a large bruise on his thigh and made it painful for him to walk.
Last protest injury update: got checked out by a doctor. Bruise gets nastier by the hour. Hurts to walk a little, but doctor says to just take it easy.
— Ric Peavyhouse (@RPeavyhouse) August 5, 2018
Hit by one of the larger “less lethal impact rounds” used by @PortlandPolice yesterday #LiveOnK2 pic.twitter.com/tLd9GbjPyx
Ric Peavyhouse, a photojournalist for Portland TV station KATU, was struck by a blue foam-tipped round fired by police officers on August 4, 2018.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"protest, shot / shot at, white nationalist protest",,,,, Portland police shove independent journalist Donovan Farley with batons,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/portland-police-shove-independent-journalist-donovan-farley-with-batons/,2018-08-15 02:12:58.414047+00:00,2021-10-22 13:43:25.548693+00:00,2021-10-22 13:43:25.492109+00:00,,Assault,"In Portland, the Police Played Into the Hands of the Fascists and Attacked Their Own Citizens (https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2018/08/in-portland-the-police-played-into-the-hands-of-th.html) via Paste magazine, Brown's full video of Portland police advance and charge (https://vimeo.com/283222494), Farley's livestream of police charge (https://twitter.com/DonovanFarley/status/1025848103474085888)",,,Donovan Farley (Paste),,2018-08-04,False,Portland,Oregon (OR),45.52345,-122.67621,"Independent journalist Donovan Farley and photographer Doug Brown were shoved by Portland police officers while covering a protest in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 4, 2018.
The journalists were in downtown Portland that day to cover the far-right "Patriot Prayer" protest and counterprotests for Paste magazine.
A video that Brown posted on Vimeo shows journalists and protesters slowly retreating before an advancing line of Portland police officers, as the officers fire non-lethal projectiles at them. At one point, the officers stop at the edge of a street and wait. Without warning, the officers begin running down the street toward Brown, Farley, and others. Once they reach them, they violently shove them backwards with their batons.
"Move!" the officers yell as they force Brown backwards.
"What's your name?" Brown asks one of the officers pushing him. "What's your name, sir? What's your name?"
The officer does not reply.
“Their response when we were pinned against a wall was to hit and push us repeatedly with their batons,” Farley wrote in an account for Paste. “We all either had press passes clearly displayed or were holding several obviously professional cameras when we were attacked, and there was a TV crew trailing the line of police, so we figured we’d be allowed to slide out of the way and do our jobs. We were wrong.”
A screengrab from a video recorded by Doug Brown shows Portland police officers shoving Brown backwards with batons on Aug. 8, 2018.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Patriot Prayer, protest, white nationalist protest",,,,, Portland police shove freelance photographer Doug Brown with batons,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/portland-police-shove-freelance-photographer-doug-brown-with-batons/,2021-10-22 13:45:20.685205+00:00,2021-10-22 13:46:02.776450+00:00,2021-10-22 13:46:02.735824+00:00,,Assault,,,,Doug Brown (Paste),,2018-08-04,False,Portland,Oregon (OR),45.52345,-122.67621,"Freelance photographer Doug Brown and independent journalist Donovan Farley were shoved by Portland police officers while covering a protest in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 4, 2018.
The journalists were in downtown Portland that day to cover the far-right "Patriot Prayer" protest and counter-protests for Paste magazine. Brown was taking photographs of protesters and Portland police officers, who were clad in riot gear and armed with batons and non-lethal weapons.
A video that Brown posted on Vimeo shows journalists and protesters slowly retreating before an advancing line of Portland police officers, as the officers fire non-lethal projectiles at them. At one point, the officers stop at the edge of a street and wait. Without warning, the officers begin running down the street toward towards Brown, Farley, and others. Once they reach them, they violently shove them backwards with their batons.
"Move!" the officers yell as they force Brown backwards.
"What's your name?" Brown asks one of the officers pushing him. "What's your name, sir? What's your name?"
The officer does not reply.
Brown later tweeted a video showing the police charge.
Here's riot cops in Portland rushing and hitting me, @DonovanFarley, and others on the sidewalk. I don't know why they did this. #AllOutPDX #DefendPDX pic.twitter.com/mra0fanen0
— doug brown (@dougbrown8) August 4, 2018
“Here’s riot cops in Portland rushing and hitting me, @DonovanFarley, and others on the sidewalk,” Brown wrote. “I don’t know why they did this.”
Taylor Tiamoyo Harris, a reporter for New Jersey newspaper chain NJ Advance Media, was covering courtroom proceedings on Aug. 3, 2018, when a woman struck her in the face.
Harris was covering the sentencing hearing for Tejay Johnson, a former Rutgers University football player who had been found guilty of committing a string of home invasion robberies in 2015. Harris had received permission from the judge to take pictures during the courtroom proceedings.
As Johnson was being taken away in handcuffs, Harris said she was sitting and facing forward when she was attacked from behind.
“[The attacker] pulled my hair and hit my face,” she told Freedom of the Press Foundation. “There was a red mark, which went away, but it was scary for me, because I didn’t see it happen and couldn’t defend myself.”
Harris said that immediately after she was attacked, officers surrounded her and took her to another room, where she filled out a statement about the assault. She said that her company, NJ Advance Media, walked her through what she should do.
According to the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office, a woman named Trudy Smith, faces a municipal charge of simple assault in connection with the attack on Harris.
Harris believes that she was assaulted because she took pictures during the court proceedings.
“She attacked me because she saw me taking pictures, because I was a reporter, and this took me a while to process,” she said.
Days later, Harris tweeted about the incident.
Yes, on Friday while covering a court sentencing, a woman who I had never met or even saw decided to assault me from behind while I was sitting face forward in the courtroom because she saw that I was a reporter.
— Taylor Harris (@ladytiamoyo) August 8, 2018
Harris said that this is the first time that she’s been assaulted while reporting.
“I’ve been out on assignments, courtrooms, at murder scenes… Nothing like this has happened to me before,” she said.
On Aug. 2, 2018, reporter Mike Campbell of Detroit radio station WWJ-AM was reporting from the scene of a fatal car crash when he was attacked by a man wielding a metal baton-like object.
Campbell told WWJ that he was sitting inside his parked car, delivering a report on the crash live on air, when an unknown man carrying a metal baton approached the car and began yelling obscenities and racial insults.
"I had put the windows up because I had started my report and I saw the man, but he seemed to be just walking by in front of the truck," Campbell later told WWJ. "He was saying stuff but I put the windows up because I didn't want our listeners to hear his foul words and then he apparently, just, something angered him, he turned around and attacked the news truck."
While Campbell was in the middle of his live report, the man struck his car's windshield, hood and driver-side window.
"My truck just got hit with a bat, I'm sorry guys, I've got to go," Campbell told WWJ listeners before abruptly ending the live report.
After the man stopped smashing Campbell's car, Campbell got out of his car.
Video recorded by Nia Harden, a reporter at local TV station WXYZ, shows Campbell holding up his phone to try to photograph the man. After taking some photos, Campbell got back into his car and drove away from the man.
The man then ran toward Harden, who was sitting in a WXYZ news truck, and began smashing the truck's windshield.
Police later arrived on the scene and arrested the man.
On-air report of fatal hit-and-run at Dexter-Davison interrupted by man with lead pipe (?) smashing the WWJ News truck windshield, hood, driver’s side window, then hits a TV news truck, nearby parked vehicles. Police arrest the man; still looking for hit-and-run driver. @WWJ950 pic.twitter.com/MBup1HDCSR
— Mike Campbell (@reportermikec) August 2, 2018
WWJ’s Mike Campbell has a scare covering a fatal hit and run in Detroit. Dexter and Davison. While Mike was on the air LIVE- a guy starts smashing Mike’s vehicle. He’s not physically hurt. pic.twitter.com/GXxZ0EKR6H
— Roberta Jasina (@Robertanews) August 2, 2018
The windshield of a car belonging to local radio station WWJ-AM was damaged after a man struck it with a metal baton, on Aug. 2, 2018, in Detroit, Michigan.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, "TV photojournalist attacked by man wielding a metal baton, news vehicle damaged",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/tv-photojournalist-attacked-by-man-wielding-a-metal-baton-news-vehicle-damaged/,2018-08-02 21:42:08.401234+00:00,2021-10-22 13:38:59.945899+00:00,2021-10-22 13:38:59.888416+00:00,,"Assault, Equipment Damage","7 Action News crew attacked while covering story (https://www.wxyz.com/news/7-action-news-crew-attacked-while-covering-story) via WXYZ, WXYZ, WWJ journalists attacked in Detroit while on assignment (https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2018/08/02/detroit-journalists-wxyz-wwj/887565002/) via Detroit Free Press, Harden's Facebook Live video about the incident (https://www.facebook.com/wxyzdetroit/videos/10155544559231135/)",,vehicle: count of 1,Mike Krotche (WXYZ Channel 7),,2018-08-02,False,Detroit,Michigan (MI),42.33143,-83.04575,"On Aug. 2, 2018, photojournalist Mike Krotche and reporter Nia Harden of Detroit TV station WXYZ were attacked by a man wielding a metal baton. Neither Harden nor Krotche were injured in the attack.
Harden and Krotche were filming a live shot about a fatal car crash on Detroit's West Side when the man first approached them.
"While we were doing our live shot, towards the end of it, a man with a beer bottle and a baton-looking type of piece came over here, started interrupting us," Harden later said in a Facebook Live video about the incident. "I didn't think anything of it because he was kind of walking away after that."
When the live shot finished, Harden and Krotche returned to their WXYZ news truck. As Harden sat in the passenger seat of the truck, Krotche stood outside and waited for the truck's "mast" — the communications array on top of the news truck — to be lowered.
"When the mast is up, it's unsafe, you can't just drive away," Harden explained to her Facebook Live viewers. "You have to wait for the mast to go down. So as he was waiting for the mast to go down, he [stayed] outside of the truck, to make sure nobody was going to touch it or touch the vehicle, because it can be very dangerous."
While Krotche waited outside the truck, the man with the metal baton started to smash a nearby car, which WWJ radio reporter Mike Campbell was sitting in. Then he turned his attention to the WXYZ truck.
"He turns around very quickly, very quickly, and he runs — he looks at me, dead in the eyes — he looks at me, and he runs over to the car, runs over to the live truck, and he does this right here," she said in the Facebook Live video, showing cracks in the truck's windshield. "He starts hitting the front windshield where I'm sitting."
Krotche quickly jumped into the back of the news truck as the man smashed the WXYZ news truck's windshield and driver-side mirror.
Police later arrested the man.
A man uses a metal baton to smash the windshield of a local TV station's news truck, on Aug. 2, 2018, in Detroit, Michigan.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, Local TV reporter attacked in Detroit by man wielding a metal baton,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/local-tv-reporter-attacked-in-detroit-by-man-wielding-a-metal-baton/,2021-10-22 13:41:12.847040+00:00,2021-10-22 13:41:12.847040+00:00,2021-10-22 13:41:12.799537+00:00,,Assault,,,,Nia Harden (WXYZ Channel 7),,2018-08-02,False,Detroit,Michigan (MI),42.33143,-83.04575,"On Aug. 2, 2018, reporter Nia Harden and photojournalist Mike Krotche of Detroit TV station WXYZ were attacked by a man wielding a metal baton. Neither Harden nor Krotche were injured in the attack.
Harden and Krotche were filming a live shot about a fatal car crash on Detroit's West Side when the man first approached them.
"While we were doing our live shot, towards the end of it, a man with a beer bottle and a baton-looking type of piece came over here, started interrupting us," Harden later said in a Facebook Live video about the incident. "I didn't think anything of it because he was kind of walking away after that."
When the live shot finished, Harden and Krotche returned to their WXYZ news truck. As Harden sat in the passenger seat of the truck, Krotche stood outside and waited for the truck's "mast" — the communications array on top of the news truck — to be lowered.
"When the mast is up, it's unsafe, you can't just drive away," Harden explained to her Facebook Live viewers. "You have to wait for the mast to go down. So as he was waiting for the mast to go down, he [stayed] outside of the truck, to make sure nobody was going to touch it or touch the vehicle, because it can be very dangerous."
While Krotche waited outside the truck, the man with the metal baton started to smash a nearby car, which WWJ radio reporter Mike Campbell was sitting in. Then he turned his attention to the WXYZ truck.
"He turns around very quickly, very quickly, and he runs — he looks at me, dead in the eyes — he looks at me, and he runs over to the car, runs over to the live truck, and he does this right here," she said in the Facebook Live video, showing cracks in the truck's windshield. "He starts hitting the front windshield where I'm sitting."
Krotche quickly jumped into the back of the news truck as the man smashed the WXYZ news truck's windshield and driver-side mirror.
Police later arrested the man.
On July 25, 2018, the White House press office told CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins that she was not allowed to attend an event in the Rose Garden that was otherwise open to the press, CNN reports.
Collins said that Bill Shine, the White House deputy chief of staff for communications, and Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, told her that she had been banned from the event in retaliation for trying to ask President Trump a question during a photo-op.
Earlier in the day, President Trump and European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker had sat for a so-called "pool spray" — a photo opportunity attended by a small subset of the White House press corps. Collins was the designated TV pool reporter, which meant that she was responsible for reporting on what happened during the pool spray and then relaying that information to her colleagues in the White House press corps.
During the pool spray, Collins tried to ask Trump if he had any comment on two major news stories — the revelation that Trump's lawyer had secretly taped some of his phone conversations, and Trump's invitation to Russian president Vladimir Putin to have a meeting in Washington, D.C.
Trump ignored both questions.
It is standard practice for pool reporters like Collins to shout out questions to the president during photo opportunities. Trump often mostly ignores such questions, but occasionally provides off-the-cuff answers, which instantly make news.
"It wasn't anything different from any other pool spray," Collins told CNN.
But the White House press office, which in the past has criticized pool reporters for asking questions during pool sprays, decided to make an example out of Collins.
Later in the day, Trump and Juncker announced a surprise press conference in the Rose Garden. The event was open to all members of the press — at least, all members of the press except for Kaitlan Collins.
Shortly before the Rose Garden press conference began, Shine and Sanders pulled Collins aside and told her that she was not allowed to attend.
"They said 'You are dis-invited from the press availability in the Rose Garden today,'" Collins recalled in an interview with CNN. "They said that the questions I asked were inappropriate for that venue. And they said I was shouting."
"We're not banning your network," Collins recalled Shine and Sanders telling her. "Your photographers can still come. Your producers can still come. But you are not invited to the Rose Garden today."
In response, Collins said, she told Shine and Sanders, "You're banning me from an event because you didn't like the questions I asked."
CNN was quick to defend Collins.
"Just because the White House is uncomfortable with a question regarding the news of day doesn't mean the question isn't relevant and shouldn't be asked," CNN said in a statement. "This decision to bar a member of the press is retaliatory in nature and not indicative of an open and free press. We demand better."
Bill Shine, newly hired as Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications, talks with White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders and counselor Kellyanne Conway, in the East Room of the White House, on July 9, 2018.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,Donald Trump administration,,,,,"Bill Shine, Donald Trump, Sarah Huckabee Sanders" The Nation reporter forcibly removed from Trump–Putin press conference,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/nation-reporter-forcibly-removed-trumpputin-press-conference/,2018-07-16 21:30:21.825251+00:00,2022-03-28 17:11:58.856676+00:00,2022-03-28 17:11:58.781400+00:00,(2019-03-26 15:49:00+00:00) Letter sent to Husseini,"Denial of Access, Assault","Op-Ed writer for The Nation forcibly removed from Trump-Putin presser (https://www.cnbc.com/2018/07/16/reporter-from-the-nation-forcibly-removed-from-trump-putin-presser.html) via CNBC, Journalist forcibly removed from Trump, Putin press conference room (https://www.nbcnews.com/video/journalist-forcibly-removed-from-trump-putin-press-conference-room-1278431811937) via NBC News, Man forcibly removed from news conference (https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/trump-putin-helsinki/h_cbdf49cd130befa5fb12acb6c5cc1659) via CNN",,,Sam Husseini (The Nation),,2018-07-16,False,Helsinki,Finland,None,None,"Sam Husseini, an op-ed reporter for The Nation, was forcibly removed from a press briefing between President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Finland, on July 16, 2018.
Husseini is the communications director of the nonprofit Institute for Public Accuracy, which connects reporters with progressive experts as alternative sources. He was attending the presser as an accredited member of the press, reporting on behalf of The Nation magazine.
NBC reports that two men approached Husseini just before the press conference began and asked him to leave the press room. He later returned to the press room to collect his things.
According to CNN, when Husseini returned to the press room, journalists asked him what had happened, and he said that he had been taken for questioning because he was carrying a piece of paper on which he’d written the words, “Nuclear Weapon Ban Treaty” — an issue he planned to ask about during the press conference. The Russian authorities considered the sign a “malicious item.”
“I want to ask a question,” Husseini said, holding up the sign so other reporters could see it.
We have an incident. #TrumpPutinSummit #Helsinki2018 pic.twitter.com/ftOMfGipzH
— Steve Herman (@W7VOA) July 16, 2018
As Husseini showed off the sign, a security official tried to grab it out of his hand. When Husseini did not hand the sign over, more security officers grabbed him and forcibly escorted him out of the press room. One security official removed his glasses, and others grabbed and forcibly removed him.
The Nation condemned Husseini’s removal from the press conference.
“At a time when this administration consistently denigrates the media, we’re troubled by reports that he was forcibly removed from the press conference before the two leaders began to take questions,” Caitlin Graf, The Nation’s vice president of communications, said in a statement.
Journalistic solidarity needed more than ever to confront a WH that considers media the enemy of the people, and relentlessly attacks accountability media in order to delegitimize checks on its abuses, corruption.
— Katrina vandenHeuvel (@KatrinaNation) July 16, 2018
Just got out of detention. I was held for a time by Finnish authorities at Presidential Palace and then manhandled and cuffed on hands and legs to detention facility. They wouldn’t call my family to tell them I was unharmed. Thanks for well wishes from many good folks. More soon. https://t.co/bEke39ZVb4
— Sam Husseini (@samhusseini) July 16, 2018
On July 14, 2018, a federal judge in California ordered the Los Angeles Times to remove certain information from an article that the paper had published about a corrupt police officer accepting a plea deal. The newspaper had published details of the plea deal after a document spelling out the deal was inadvertently made publicly available, rather than being filed under seal.
On the morning of July 14, the Times reported that John Balian, a narcotics detective accused of working with the Mexican Mafia, had accepted a plea deal and agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors. The article was based on a copy of the sealed plea agreement — which had been inadvertently made available to the public through the online court records database PACER — and included specific details included in the plea agreement:
According to the plea agreement, Balian accepted $2,000 to help locate someone believed to have broken into his associate’s office and stolen $100,000 worth of property.
In March 2017, the agreement said, Balian gave information to the U.S. Marshals Services stationed at the Glendale Police Department, causing law enforcement resources to be used in an attempt to find the alleged thief.
In June 2015, Balian overheard Glendale police officers discussing a plan to search and arrest about 22 people in a federal racketeering case targeting the Frogtown gang, which is loyal to the Mexican Mafia, the agreement said.
Balian then tipped off his associates within the Mexican Mafia, saying authorities planned to arrest Jorge Grey, a Frogtown “shotcaller” who was a top target.
Archived version of "Glendale detective pleads guilty to obstruction, lying to feds about ties to organized crime" (Los Angeles Times)
Shortly after the article was published, Balian's attorney filed an emergency motion, asking the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California to issue a temporary restraining order to prohibit the Times from publishing details from the plea agreement. District court judge John Walter, the federal judge overseeing Balian's criminal case, quickly granted the temporary restraining order. Judge Walter's order also directed the Times to remove any articles about the plea agreement that it had already published.
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the Los Angeles Times and each of its parent companies, subsidiaries, or affiliates (collectively “the Los Angeles Times”), directly or indirectly, whether alone or in concert with others, including any officer, agent, employee, or representative of the Los Angeles Times, be and hereby are enjoined from:
Disclosing the under seal plea agreement in this case, in whole or in part, or publishing any article, piece, post, or other document whether in print or electronic format that quotes, describes, summarizes, references, relies on, or is derived in any way from the under seal plea agreement in this case and that it return forthwith any and all copies of such plea agreement in its possession to the United States Attorney's Office for the Central District of California.
...
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that defendant shall serve the Los Angeles Times with a copy of this order but not the Ex Parte Application forthwith. To the extent any article is published prior to the issuance of this order, it shall be deleted and removed forthwith.
Temporary Restraining Order issued on July 14, 2018
At 5:15 p.m. on July 14, the Times edited its earlier article to remove certain details about the plea deal, and added a note to the bottom of the story: "This story has been updated to remove references from the filed plea agreement, which was ordered sealed by a judge but publicly available Friday on the federal court’s online document database. The changes were made to comply with an order issued Saturday by a U.S. federal judge. The Times plans to challenge the order."
Times publisher Norm Pearlstine defended the Times' decision to report on the plea deal.
“We believe that once material is in the public record, it is proper and appropriate to publish it if it is newsworthy,” Times publisher Norm Pearlstine said in an interview with the paper.
The temporary restraining order will remain in effect until Walter rules on whether or not to grant Balian a preliminary injunction — which is similar to a temporary restraining order, but more permanent — against the Times.
On July 16, the Times filed an emergency petition for a writ of mandamus with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which has jurisdiction over federal district courts in California. The petition, which was filed under seal, essentially asks the appeals court to step in and order the district court to immediately rescind the temporary restraining order.
A coalition of 60 news and press freedom organizations, led by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of Press, submitted a letter to the Ninth Circuit in support of the Times' petition.
"It appears that the district court may have entered the temporary restraining order in an attempt to correct the mistaken public filing of the plea agreement, which was meant to be kept under seal," the letter states. "The district court's desire to correct this administrative error, however, cannot justify the imposition of a prior restraint, which has now created a constitutional harm. Although courts have the power to enter sealing orders when common law and constitutional standards are met ... once information is made public, nearly 90 years of constitutional law stand in the way of using prior restraints to prevent a newspaper from communicating the information to its readers."
Chicago Sun-Times reporter Nader Issa was attacked by Chicago Police Department officers while covering a protest in Chicago's South Shore neighborhood, on July 14, 2018.
In the aftermath of a fatal police shooting of Harith Augustus, an unarmed black man, in the neighborhood, protesters gathered around the crime scene. Issa covered the demonstration for the Sun Times and posted regular updates from the scene on his Twitter account. He later wrote a Sun Times article about the shooting and resulting protest.
Issa reported that the scene got increasingly tense throughout the evening, and police hit at least six protesters with batons in their effort to push them back from the scene.
Just after 7 p.m. local time, Issa tweeted that a large crowd was gathering at the intersection of 71st Street and Chappel Avenue.
A very large crowd is gathering at 71st/Chappel, where Chicago Police say they shot and killed a person this evening. It's hard to put in words how tense the scene is. Witnesses say a female officer shot the man in the back while he was running away. He was a local barber. pic.twitter.com/aaV6smY07V
— Nader Issa (@NaderDIssa) July 15, 2018
Around 9:30 pm, Issa tweeted that two CPD officers had shoved him to the ground and smacked his phone out of his hand. Issa said that he was wearing his press badge at the time and had identified himself as a reporter.
Internet is bad so it's taking a minute for this video to upload, but Chicago Police just rushed the parking lot and started hitting people. I have my press badge on and identified myself as a reporter but I got shoved to the ground by two cops who smacked my phone out of my hand
— Nader Issa (@NaderDIssa) July 15, 2018
Two hours later, Issa tweeted a video of the altercation with the officers. In the video, Issa approaches a group of officers involved in an altercation with a civilian. Two of the officers push him back, and then Issa's phone appears to be smacked sideways.
I had my press badge held up in one hand and my phone in the other while I was saying "I'm a reporter." Two Chicago Police officers repeatedly pushed me, then smacked my phone out of my hand and threw me back. I lost my balance but can't remember if I hit the ground or not. pic.twitter.com/vhi4gjlNla
— Nader Issa (@NaderDIssa) July 15, 2018
A screengrab from a video recorded by Sun-Times journalist Nader Issa shows a Chicago Police Department officer reaching out to grab Issa's phone.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, protest",,,,, "Movie set crew member steals notes from Daily Beast journalist, rips them up",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/movie-set-crew-member-steals-notes-daily-beast-journalist-rips-them/,2018-07-12 21:34:47.905491+00:00,2022-05-25 17:10:00.619801+00:00,2022-05-25 17:10:00.552329+00:00,,"Assault, Equipment Damage","‘Roe v. Wade’ Movie Crew Member Assaulted Reporter (https://www.thedailybeast.com/roe-v-wade-movies-crew-member-assaulted-reporter) via Daily Beast, Inside ‘Roe v. Wade’: A Disturbing Anti-Abortion Film Featuring Milo Yiannopoulos and Tomi Lahren (https://www.thedailybeast.com/inside-roe-v-wade-a-disturbing-anti-abortion-film-featuring-milo-yiannopoulos-and-tomi-lahren) via Daily Beast",,,Will Sommer (The Daily Beast),,2018-07-12,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"While sitting near the set of a controversial anti-abortion movie filming in Washington, D.C., on July 12, 2018, Daily Beast reporter Will Sommer had his notes stolen and then ripped apart by a member of the movie’s crew.
On July 6, the Daily Beast published an article about the controversy over the movie “Roe v. Wade,” an extreme anti-abortion film. On July 12, “Roe v. Wade” was filming in Washington, D.C. and Sommer was sitting nearby taking notes, when he was approached by a crewmember.
“But as the cameras rolled, a man later identified by police as a member of the crew came over to where I was sitting in public space with a group of tourists and grabbed my notepad out of my hand by force,” Sommer wrote in a Daily Beast article about the incident.
The man then hid Sommer’s notes in his pocket and began walking away, refusing to return the notepad. After Sommer followed him, the man ripped out some of the pages and crumpled them, before returning the rest of the notepad to Sommer.
Sommer called the police, and the man handed over the crumpled notes when police searched him. But police declined to arrest the man.
“The officer declined to stop the man, reveal his name, file an incident report, or talk to other members of the crew, insisting that the problem had already been solved,” Sommer wrote in the Daily Beast article.
One of the actors on the "Roe v. Wade" set told Sommer that the theft of his notes was a response to critical media coverage of the film.
"The movie’s been under great attack," Sommer recalled the actor telling him. “Sometimes we grab, sometimes we talk to you."
Sommer told Freedom of the Press Foundation that his notepad had included notes about multiple stories, some of which were not related to the “Roe v. Wade” movie.
Two newspapers in Ohio — the Circleville Herald and the Columbus Dispatch — received threatening letters containing unknown substances in early July 2018.
On July 5, the Circleville Herald newspaper received a threatening letter. The letter contained an unknown substance, which the letter claimed was the powerful opioid drug Fentanyl.
The next day, Herald managing editor wrote about the incident:
On Thursday afternoon, a Herald employee opened a nondescript business envelope addressed to “Circleville Herald.” The letter threatened to physically harm the staff and said that the envelope contained the narcotic Fentanyl. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid often found in powder form that can penetrate the skin and cause death in high doses. The staff member stopped reading and dropped the letter when they noticed an unknown substance in the envelope.
The staff member immediately washed their hands while another staff member called Circleville Police. On arrival, CPD officers donned protective gear and collected the letter, as well as any residual substance that came out of the envelope.
Police investigating threatening letter sent to Herald (Circleville Herald)
In a statement published on Facebook, the Circleville Police Department said that a hazmat team had been called in to bring the unknown substance to the Pickaway County Emergency Medical Authority for testing. The police have not yet publicly identified the substance.
In a July 6 tweet, Bahney said that the paper’s response to the threatening letter was to “put out a damn paper” — a reference to what had happened a week earlier at the Capital Gazette, when staff rallied to publish a newspaper following a deadly mass shooting at the newspaper’s offices.
You know what we did after we received a "Fentanyl-laced" death threat in the mail Thursday? "We put out a damn paper," just like our brothers and sisters @capitalgazette #FirstAmendment
— Jennifer Bahney (@JBBahney) July 6, 2018
On July 11, the Columbus Dispatch newspaper received a letter containing an unknown white powder. The letter was stamped as inmate mail from the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility.
After the Dispatch’s security manager opened the letter and noticed the white powder, a hazmat team from the Columbus fire department and the FBI’s joint terrorism task force went to the Dispatch’s offices to test the unknown powder.
Fairfield County sheriff Dave Phalen later told the Lancaster Eagle that the powder “was harmless and caused no injuries.”
According to the Eagle, local police and federal authorities are investigating whether the cases are connected.
Reporter Amy Zuckerman was arrested at her home in Shutesbury, Massachusetts, on July 7, 2018, on a warrant charging her with making terroristic threats in emails to a reporter at the Walpole Times the day before.
The Walpole Times, based in Walpole, Massachusetts, is owned by GateHouse Media. Its reporter, who was unnamed, had asked Zuckerman to remove him from a mailing list multiple times.
“The specific threats were mentioned shooting a firearm through the window of the Walpole Times while people were there,” Walpole Police Chief John Carmichael told WBZ-TV CBS Boston in July. “We figure that we had to give some credibility to it, especially in light of what just happened in Maryland, we took it seriously, the people at Walpole Times took it seriously.”
Zuckerman’s arrest came one week after Jarrod Ramos was charged with five counts of first-degree murder for the shooting deaths of Capital Gazette employees in Annapolis, Maryland, on June 28.
Anne Brennan, Regional Director of News and Operations for GateHouse Media New England’s West Unit, explained her concern in a statement to the paper:
“The email contained what we believe to be a very serious threat of physical harm. The nature of the threat was very specific. Oftentimes as a journalist you receive threats, people get angry at you, but they’re not specific about what they’re going to do to you, sometimes they say they will cancel their subscription or something of that nature. This was a very specific threat of physical harm that not only put the journalist who received it in jeopardy, but the other people in that office as well, which is why we’re taking it very seriously.”
The same day of the Walpole Times incident, the Daily Hampshire Gazette filed trespassing charges against Zuckerman after she was asked to leave due to her behavior, according to the Amherst Bulletin. Afterward, Zuckerman sent an email to the Gazette, which referenced the Capital Gazette shooting and was also threatening, according to MetroWest Daily News.
Zuckerman, 64, pleaded not guilty to the Walpole Times incident during a July District Court arraignment hearing. She was found to be a danger to the public and ordered to be held without bail, WHDH 7 News, a Boston television station, reported. On Aug. 6, Zuckerman was released, then arrested the following day after violating conditions of that release.
During a hearing at the Norfolk Superior Court on Aug. 13, the charges against Zuckerman were downgraded from making terroristic threats, a felony, to threatening to commit a crime, a misdemeanor.
In December, Zuckerman turned herself into Belchertown District Court after a warrant was issued for her arrest following a second probation violation. On Jan. 3, 2019, Zuckerman was arrested for her third probation violation, attempting to contact members of the media. She was released without bail.
A spokesperson for GateHouse Media originally said the Walpole reporters and editors would return following the incident with heightened security, but MetroWest Daily News later reported that the office has since closed, and the reporter who was allegedly threatened has left the company.
The threat case is ongoing. MetroWest Daily News reported that Zuckerman is currently undergoing evaluation after her lawyer filed a motion for an assessment of her competency to stand trial. Zuckerman is scheduled to appear in court for a status hearing this week.
Susan Greene, the editor of the Colorado Independent, was handcuffed and detained after photographing a police interaction on July 5, 2018.
Greene told Freedom of the Press Foundation in an email that she was driving in downtown Denver when she saw a group of Denver police officers standing around a naked man seated on the sidewalk.
“I stopped to check out the scene because of a history of Denver uniformed safety officers hurting African American men in their custody and not offering medical help,” she said. “I was taking a few photos of the scene when an officer told me to stop. I told him I had a right to take photographs. He said I didn't because HIPAA.”
Greene said that one of the officers, whom she identified as James Brooks, tried to intimidate her physically and stood close in front of her in an attempt to block her camera. When she then began taking photographs of Brooks, the officer responded with physical force.
Greene later wrote a first-person account of what happened for the Independent:
As it turns out, Officer Brooks didn’t like having his picture taken. After accusing me of blocking the door of an ambulance that had been called to the scene – toward which he had prodded me during our encounter – and saying something about me obstructing officers, he grabbed me and twisted my arm in ways that arms aren’t supposed to move. At some point in the blur, either he or Officer Adam Paulsen, badge No. 08049, locked one or maybe two pair of handcuffs on my wrists, tightly, and pushed me toward a nearby police car by grabbing my arms hard enough – and with a painful upward thrust – that I told them to stop hurting me. Their response: That I was hurting myself by resisting.
But I wasn’t resisting. Not even close.
I had heard from my work reporting on several excessive force cases troublesome accounts of police injuring arrestees, yet claiming they injured themselves. But to hear it first-hand, uttered obviously for the benefit of whoever might some day review the body-camera footage, was infuriating.
Greene: That time a Denver cop made up excuses to handcuff a reporter (Colorado Independent)
Greene wrote that the officers detained her in a police car for about 10 minutes before releasing her, “apparently at the urging of someone on the other end of [Brooks’] cell phone.”
The Denver Police Department opened an internal investigation into the incident. On Aug. 23, Greene reported that she received a call from Denver district attorney Beth McGann, who told Greene that her office could not bring charges against officer Brooks for either assault or false imprisonment.
On Aug. 28, the Denver Police Department finally released video footage of the incident taken from the body cameras worn by officers Paulsen and Brooks.
Footage from a body camera worn by Denver police officer Adam Paulsen shows him and officer James Brooks telling Colorado Independent editor Susan Greene to "act like a lady" as they handcuff and detain her on July 5, 2018.
Colorado Independent
Footage from a body camera worn by Denver police officer James Brooks shows him and officer Adam Paulsen handcuffing and detaining Susan Greene, editor of the Colorado Independent, for taking photos on a public sidewalk on July 5, 2018.
Colorado Independent
“This is protected by HIPAA,” Paulsen tells Greene in the video. “You can’t record.”
“There’s also a First Amendment,” Greene responds. “Have you heard of it?”
“That doesn’t supersede HIPAA,” Paulsen says. “Step away, or you’ll be arrested for interference."
Brooks then grabs Greene and twists her arm behind her back, and Paulsen hands him handcuffs.
“Stand up straight, let’s act like a lady,” Paulsen tells Greene as he handcuffs her.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Greene asks. “Act like a lady?”
“Nope,” Brooks says, as Paulsen finishes locking the cuffs. “There you go. Now you can go to jail.”
“Stop, you’re hurting me!” Greene yells as the officers forcibly escort her to a police car.
“No, we’re not,” one of the officers says. “Then walk, walk normal, stop resisting.”
Footage from a Denver police officer's body camera shows officers handcuffing Colorado Independent editor Susan Greene.
,detained and released without being processed,not charged,Denver Police Department,None,None,True,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, "Independent journalist Matt Lee forcibly removed from UN, stripped of press credentials",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalist-matt-lee-forcibly-removed-un-stripped-press-credentials/,2018-08-20 22:30:24.218608+00:00,2021-10-20 20:40:57.049569+00:00,2021-10-20 20:40:56.971838+00:00,,"Assault, Denial of Access","A Journalist Says He Was Banned From The UN For His Reporting. The UN Says It’s About His Behavior. (https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/hayesbrown/inner-city-press-ban-united-nations-matthew-lee) via BuzzFeed News, The intrepid reporter who got expelled from the UN (https://www.cjr.org/the_profile/reporter-expelled-un.php) via CJR, UN roughs up, ejects, bans reporter from headquarters: Caught on tape (http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/07/05/un-roughs-up-ejects-bans-reporter-from-headquarters-caught-on-tape.html) via Fox News, UN 'roughs up and bans' investigative reporter long considered thorn in side of world body officials (https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/matthew-lee-un-attacks-reporter-journalist-inner-city-press-a8445081.html) via The Independent, This Journalist Has Kicked Off A Shitstorm Of Drama Inside The United Nations (https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/hayesbrown/this-journalist-has-kicked-off-a-shitstorm-of-drama-inside-t) via BuzzFeed News, Letter to Matt Lee withdrawing press accreditation (https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4776012-Lee-M-17-Aug-18.html), UN Media Guidelines (http://www.un.org/en/media/accreditation/guidelines.shtml), UN Says Inner City Press' Accreditation Is Withdrawn In Kafkaesque Letter By Ex-NYT Smale (http://www.innercitypress.com/unguterres1smalebansicp081718.html) via Inner City Press, UN Says Inner City Press' Accreditation Is Withdrawn In Kafkaesque Letter By Ex-NYT Smale (http://www.innercitypress.com/unguterres1smalebansicp081718.html) via Inner City Press",,,Matt Lee (Independent),,2018-07-03,False,New York,New York (NY),None,None,"Matt Lee — an independent journalist who covers the United Nations — was forcibly removed by security from the UN headquarters in New York City on July 3, 2018. The UN’s Media Accreditation and Liaison Unit (MALU) later withdrew his press credentials, denying him access to the UN building.
Lee extensively and aggressively covers the United Nations on his website, Inner City Press.
Until 2016, he was accredited as a “resident correspondent” at the UN, with his own office in the building. As a resident correspondent, he was allowed to stay in the building after-hours and on weekends and was not required to undergo a security check every time he entered the UN headquarters building.
But on Feb. 19, 2016, Lee’s press accreditation was downgraded from “resident correspondent” to “non-resident correspondent” after he livestreamed a private meeting of the United Nations Correspondents Association (UNCA). There is no love lost between Lee and UNCA. Lee joined UNCA shortly after he began covering the UN in 2005, but left the association on bad terms in 2012 after reporting on a potential conflict of interest involving UNCA’s then-president.
The UNCA meeting was held on Jan. 29, 2016, in the UN media briefing room, which is open to all accredited journalists at the United Nations. Although UNCA wanted to use the briefing room to hold a members-only meeting, Lee insisted that he had the right to stay in the briefing room and even to livestream the meeting. UNCA complained to UN staff, who eventually cajoled Lee to leave.
In the aftermath of that incident, the UN stripped Lee of his “resident correspondent” status, making him a non-resident correspondent. Lee lost his office and his carte blanche access to the UN headquarters building.
According to the United Nations Media Guidelines, non-resident correspondents are generally not allowed to be in the UN building after 7 p.m.:
Non-Resident Correspondents can access UNHQ through the Visitors' Entrance on 46th Street and 1st Avenue between 0800–1900 hours from Monday through Friday. Non-resident Correspondents only have access to UNHQ on weekends or after hours accompanied by a resident correspondent or when a meeting is advised as taking place. Entry will be allowed two hours prior to the start of the meeting. At the conclusion of the meeting, the non-Resident correspondent must exit the premises within an hour, unless accompanied by a resident correspondent.
UN Media Guidelines
On July 3, 2018, Lee was in the UN building after 7 p.m., having stayed past curfew to cover an all-day UN budget meeting that continued late into the night. The meeting was not open to the public or press, so Lee had “staked out” the meeting, waiting outside of the room to speak with attendees as they entered or exited the meeting room. Around 10 p.m., he conducted a brief interview with Tommo Monthé, a Cameroonian diplomat who chairs the budget committee, and then headed over to a café area to type up his interview notes.
According to Lee, he was typing up his interview notes in the café when two UN security guards approached him and grabbed him, ordering him to leave the premises. Lee refused, insisting that he had the right to be in the building because he was a journalist covering a meeting. The altercation with the guards left Lee with a ripped shirt and an injured arm.
As Lee was being escorted outside, he spoke to Christian Saunders, an assistant secretary general. Lee livestreamed his conversation with Saunders and later uploaded portions of it to YouTube.
Independent journalist Matt Lee of Inner City Press briefly speaks with Cameroonian diplomat Tommo Monthé. He later complains to UN assistant secretary general Christian Saunders after being accosted by UN security guards and ordered to leave the building.
Inner City Press/Matt Lee
“I’m a journalist covering a six billion dollar budget, and these guys tore my shirt, tour my pass right in front of you,” Lee says to Saunders in the video. “You’re an assistant secretary general. Is that OK with you?”
“The budget hearings are the propriety of member states, and it’s a closed budget hearing,” Saunders says.
Lee refuses to leave, arguing that he has the right as a journalist to stand outside of the budget meeting and interview diplomats, while Saunders repeatedly tells Lee that he needs to obey the security guards’ orders to leave.
Lee, who appears to be very shaken up by the altercation, repeatedly refers to the security guards as “thugs” and criticizes them for using physical force against him.
“Seriously! I was sitting there typing,” he says to one of the security guards as they escort him out of the building. “You really have to push my neck, right? Something is wrong with you. You should be fired. If you were in the NYPD, you would be fired right now because I’m not resisting. You had no right to touch my computer. You had no right to tear my shirt!”
On July 4, the day after Lee was removed from the building, he filed a police report against the UN for assault.
On July 5, the UN suspended his press credentials, pending the conclusion of an investigation into his behavior. Without UN press credentials, Lee was not allowed entrance into the UN headquarters building. Instead, he had to cover the UN from a bus stop across the street.
Although the investigation initially focused on the July 3 incident, but it soon expanded into a more general review of Lee’s behavior and professionalism. The review considered numerous complaints made about Lee’s behavior by UN member states, UN staff, and Lee’s fellow UN correspondents. Lee was not given any opportunity to respond to any of the complaints against him.
On Aug. 17, the UN notified Lee in a letter that it had concluded its review and decided to withdraw his press accreditation.
This review has indicated repeated breaches of the [UN Media] Guidelines, including the following recorded breaches of the specific provisions of the Guidelines stated above:
(i) presence on United Nations premises outside authorized time periods as stipulated in the Guidelines;
(ii) presence in locations of the United Nations premises not authorized by the Guidelines;
(iii) conduct towards Member State diplomats and United Nations staff, including recording and live broadcasting without consent or [Media Accreditation and Liaison Unit] approval and without due regard to privacy, in breach of the Guidelines; and
(iv) conduct on United Nations premises towards other accredited United Nations correspondents and media outlets, including videos/live broadcasts using profanities and derogatory assertions towards them without due regard to their dignity, privacy and integrity, in breach of the Guidelines.
In addition, following several of the breaches of the Guidelines referenced above, you refused to comply with directions issued by United Nations security officers.
Letter to Matt Lee withdrawing press accreditation
Lee believes that the UN leadership is retaliating against him because he has reported on their apparent conflicts of interest and corruption. The UN, for its part, says that it objects only to Lee’s behavior, not his reporting.
“Just like the White House, access is not a right, it’s a privilege,” UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told the Columbia Journalism Review. “None of this is happening now because of what he writes. … He creates an atmosphere of incivility within our working environment.”
But it is difficult to separate Lee’s behavior from his reporting. He is an aggressive reporter, in every sense of the word. He is dedicated to exposing the corruption and conflicts of interest that he believes permeate the UN, and he has little patience for those who refuse to talk to him. Although his breathless posts on Inner City Press and his commentary-filled livestreams may often seem hyperbolic and conspiratorial, Lee has done important investigative journalism on some of the unsavory influence-peddling that underlies diplomacy at the UN.
In particular, he has reported on the UN’s close relationships with unsavory regimes in places like Cameroon, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
Recently, Lee has reported that the UN leadership has soft-pedaled criticism of Cameroon’s human rights abuses at the same time that it has tried to win budgetary concessions from the Cameroonian diplomat who chairs the UN budget committee. That is the reason that he was covering the budget meeting late at night on July 3, which led to him being forcibly escorted out of the building.
Lee has suggested that the UN roughed him up and expelled him from the UN building on July 3 as part of a conspiracy to stop him from reporting on the UN’s relationship with Cameroon. It’s more likely that Lee was ordered to leave the building because it was after 7 p.m. and he was a non-resident correspondent. Still, whether intentional or not, the UN's actions have had the effect of making it more difficult for Lee to report on conflicts of interest at the UN.
On June 7, 2018 attorneys for Oberlin College filed a subpoena in New York state, seeking communications between the blog Legal Insurrection and attorneys for Gibson’s Bakery in Oberlin, Ohio.
Legal Insurrection has extensively covered a defamation lawsuit that Gibson’s Bakery filed against Oberlin College on Nov. 7, 2017. The 8 count defamation suit seeks more than $200,000 in damages over accusations of racial profiling and discrimination which the bakery claims caused irreparable damage to their business.
“Oberlin College’s theory behind the demand for journalist communications with Gibson’s counsel was that Gibson’s counsel somehow created the damages to Gibson’s reputation that are at issue in the lawsuit by communicating with the media,” William Jacobson, the author of Legal Insurrection, wrote in a post about the subpoena.
Oberlin initially attempted to subpoena Gibson’s Bakery for communication records. But after an Ohio court denied that subpoena on April 18, 2018, attorneys for Oberlin College brought a subpoena against WAJ Media LLC, which operates as Legal Insurrection and is based in Ithaca, NY.
The subpoena was withdrawn on July 18, after Legal Insurrection filed a motion to quash the subpoena citing New York’s press shield law.
Beginning in 2017, freelance multimedia reporter Brooke Binkowski noticed she was sent to secondary screening whenever she crossed the U.S.-Mexico border.
“The first few times it was a cursory inspection so I chalked it up to increased security and border agents flexing their muscles more or less because they could,” Binkowski, a U.S. citizen, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
She said she then became concerned about her treatment in July 2018, when she was pulled into secondary screening as she re-entered via the San Ysidro port of entry. Binkowski told the Tracker that she had been in Mexico, in part, “hunting down documents.”
While she can’t remember the exact date of the incident, Binkowski told the Tracker that her mid-afternoon crossing in July 2018 was unusual, and struck her as “security theater.”
“I was yelled at, intimidated by men with guns on their hips,” she said. “One man got right in my face and screamed that my attitude was fucking shit.”
After she was directed to secondary, Binkowski said she was given a cursory inspection and asked to empty her pockets, but U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers did not ask her to unlock any electronic devices for search.
Officers did question her about where she had been in Tijuana, Binkowski said. When she told them she was a journalist, she was questioned about her reporting.
Binkowski told the Tracker that her car was searched twice before she was permitted to leave. She estimated that she was prevented from crossing the border for approximately an hour and a half before being permitted to enter the U.S.
Binkowski would be stopped each time she crossed the border for the remainder of the year. Read those incidents here.
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
Brooke Binkowski, a freelance multimedia reporter, realized in 2017 that she was being pulled into secondary screening each time she crossed the U.S.-Mexico border.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,San Ysidro,True,U.S. citizen,False,True,no,no,no,yes,no,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, "Journalist stopped at the border multiple times, told passport is flagged",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-stopped-border-told-passport-flagged/,2019-08-02 18:39:00.491988+00:00,2019-08-02 18:46:13.235819+00:00,2019-08-02 18:46:13.164351+00:00,,Border Stop,,,,Brooke Binkowski,,2018-07-01,True,San Diego,California (CA),32.71571,-117.16472,"Freelance multimedia reporter Brooke Binkowski was stopped a second time by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers in July 2018 as she was re-entering the United States at the San Ysidro port of entry.
As with her other stops, Binkowski told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she was directed to a secondary screening area to have both her person and her vehicle searched. Binkowski told the Tracker that she had been in Mexico, in part, “hunting down documents.”
Officers questioned her about where she had been in Tijuana, Binkowski said, and when she told them she was a journalist, she was questioned about her reporting.
Binkowski, a U.S. citizen, told the Tracker that she felt her treatment by the CBP officers was unusual and unacceptable.
“They would go through my stuff and then they would put their hands near their guns or where their guns are supposed to be, they would get in my face,” Binkowski said. She also noted that the exclusively male officers treated her, “a small, 5-foot-3 skinny woman,” as though she was a physical threat.
“For them to be treating me as though I was physically intimidating for them to the point where they would shout things like, ‘Back away, ma’am, you’re going to have to back away! Get back!’ or ‘Don’t give me that attitude,’ it was not acceptable,” she said.
Binkowski told the Tracker she asked to speak to a supervising officer about her treatment. The officer informed her that there was a flag on her passport but that he could not provide any information on what it was for because he did not have access to the details.
He advised her to file a Freedom of Information Act request on her own name, which she did in May 2019. Binkowski told the Tracker that she put off filing the request as other issues took priority and she was uncertain whether she truly wanted to know the answer.
In a letter dated July 11 that Binkowski shared with the Tracker, CBP acknowledged its receipt of her request and advised her that “due to the increasing number of FOIA requests received by this office, we may encounter some delay in processing your request.” It further stated that “the average time to process a FOIA request related to ‘travel/border incidents’ is a minimum of 3-6 months.”
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
Freelance multimedia reporter Brooke Binkowski, shown here in 2015, was stopped multiple times while crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,San Ysidro,True,U.S. citizen,False,True,no,no,no,yes,no,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, Editor killed in Capital Gazette newsroom shooting by man upset with newspaper coverage,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/man-upset-newspaper-coverage-shoots-and-kills-multiple-journalists-capital-gazette-newsroom/,2018-06-29 17:55:14.259753+00:00,2022-03-10 20:00:04.262113+00:00,2022-03-10 20:00:04.057854+00:00,"(2019-10-28 16:30:00+00:00) The Maryland man accused of massacring five staff members at the Capital Gazette newsroom last year enters guilty plea, (2021-07-15 15:30:00+00:00) Maryland man found criminally responsible for deaths of five in newsroom shooting, (2021-09-28 11:09:00+00:00) Gunman who killed Capital Gazette journalists and staffer sentenced to multiple consecutive life sentences",Assault,"Five dead in 'targeted attack' at Capital Gazette newspaper in Annapolis, police say (http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/bs-md-gazette-shooting-20180628-story.html) via Baltimore Sun, Sources identify suspect in Annapolis Capital shooting as Jarrod Ramos, who had long-running feud with paper (http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/bs-md-ramos-search-20180628-story.html) via Baltimore Sun, Suspect in Maryland mass shooting had long-standing grievance with the newspaper that was attacked (http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-newspaper-shooting-20180628-story.html) via Los Angeles Times, Lawyer recalls Jarrod Ramos' 'simmering anger' while defending Capital Gazette from defamation suit (http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/ny-news-capital-gazette-jarrod-ramos-lawsuit-20180628-story.html) via Daily News, Annapolis newspaper shooting suspect harassed Virginian-Pilot editor for years (https://pilotonline.com/news/local/crime/article_56a204e6-7b39-11e8-8586-c75874de25c7.html) via Virginian-Pilot, Maryland Court of Special Appeals opinion in defamation suit (http://170.99.108.1/appellate/unreportedopinions/2015/2281s13.pdf#page=7), 'We are putting out a damn paper tomorrow': Capital Gazette journalists report on shooting in their own newsroom (http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-covering-shooting-20180628-story.html) via Baltimore Sun, Capital Gazette shooting victim Rob Hiaasen: A joyful stylist, a generous mentor (http://www.capitalgazette.com/news/annapolis/bs-md-rob-hiaasen-20180628-story.html) via Capital Gazette, Capital Gazette shooting victim Gerald Fischman: Clever and quirky voice of a community newspaper (http://www.capitalgazette.com/news/annapolis/bs-md-gerald-fischman-20180628-story.html) via Capital Gazette, Capital Gazette shooting victim John McNamara: Sports reporting was his dream job (http://www.capitalgazette.com/news/annapolis/bs-md-john-mcnamara-20180628-story.html) via Capital Gazette, Capital Gazette shooting victim Wendi Winters: A prolific writer who chronicled her community (http://www.capitalgazette.com/news/annapolis/bs-md-wendi-winters-20180628-story.html) via Capital Gazette, Capital Gazette shooting victim Rebecca Smith: Recent hire loved spending time with family (http://www.capitalgazette.com/news/annapolis/bs-md-ar-rebecca-smith-20180628-story.html) via Capital Gazette, The Capital's front page on June 29, 2018 (http://digitaledition.capitalgazette.com/html5/desktop/production/default.aspx?pubid=8b1fea6b-b045-4d93-97a0-18b26dbb2c3b)",,,Gerald Fischman (Capital Gazette),,2018-06-28,False,Annapolis,Maryland (MD),38.97859,-76.49184,"On June 28, 2018, a man armed with a shotgun entered the Capital Gazette newsroom in Annapolis, Maryland, and shot multiple journalists and other media workers, the Baltimore Sun reported. Five people, including four journalists, were killed in the attack, and two others were injured. Police later identified the suspected shooter as Jarrod Ramos, who had previously sued the Capital Gazette for defamation.
Editorial page editor Gerald Fischman, who had worked for the Capital Gazette for more than 25 years, was among those killed. Anne Arundel County police said that the other Capital Gazette employees killed in the attack were:
Two other Capital Gazette employees, whose names were not released, were injured in the attack. Find the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker’s documentation of all the journalists killed in the attack here.
The shooting occurred on June 28 inside the Capital Gazette newsroom, which is located on the ground floor of an office building in Annapolis, Maryland. The newsroom is home to reporters for both The Capital, a daily newspaper covering Annapolis, and The Maryland Gazette, a twice-weekly paper focused on state news. The shooting was the most deadly attack on journalists in the United States since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Phil Davis, a crime reporter for The Capital who was inside the newsroom during the shooting, told the Sun that he saw multiple colleagues shot. He said the scene inside the newsroom "was like a war zone." In a series of powerful tweets, he described what he witnessed.
A single shooter shot multiple people at my office, some of whom are dead.
— Phil Davis (@PDavis_LLC) June 28, 2018
Gunman shot through the glass door to the office and opened fire on multiple employees. Can't say much more and don't want to declare anyone dead, but it's bad.
— Phil Davis (@PDavis_LLC) June 28, 2018
There is nothing more terrifying than hearing multiple people get shot while you're under your desk and then hear the gunman reload
— Phil Davis (@PDavis_LLC) June 28, 2018
Jarrod Ramos, the suspect in the shooting, had threatened and harassed Capital Gazette staffers for years, according to the Sun.
It began in July 2011, when Capital columnist Eric Hartley wrote about how Ramos was charged with harassment after stalking and threatening a high school classmate online. In response to Hartley's column, Ramos waged a one-man war against him and the paper, according to The Virginian-Pilot, where Hartley now works.
In July 2012, he filed a defamation lawsuit against Hartley, Capital Gazette Communications, and The Capital editor and publisher Tom Marquardt. Ramos represented himself in the suit, which was filed in Prince George's County, Maryland. At a March 2013 court hearing, a judge dismissed Ramos' complaint with prejudice and tried to explain to Ramos why the article was not defamatory:
You know, I understand exactly how you feel. I think people who are the subject of newspaper articles, whoever they may be, feel that there is a requirement that they be placed in the best light, or they have an opportunity to have the story reported to their satisfaction, or have the opportunity to have however much input they believe is appropriate.
But that's simply not true. There is nothing in those complaints that prove that anything that was published about you is, in fact, false. It all came from a public record. It was of the result of a criminal conviction. And it cannot give rise to a defamation suit.
Transcript of March 29, 2013 motion hearing
Ramos appealed the judge's decision. The Maryland Court of Appeals upheld the lower court's dismissal of the case and ordered Ramos to pay Capital Gazette's legal fees. In an unpublished opinion, one of the appellate court judges wrote that "a discussion of defamation law would be an exercise in futility, because the appellant [Ramos] fails to come close to alleging a case of defamation," and sharply criticized Ramos for bringing the lawsuit:
The appellant is pro se. A lawyer would almost certainly have told him not to proceed with this case. It reveals a fundamental failure to understand what defamation law is and, more particularly, what defamation law is not. The appellant is aggrieved because the newspaper story about his guilty plea assumed that he was guilty and that the guilty plea was, therefore, properly accepted. He is aggrieved because the story was sympathetic toward the harassment victim and was not equally understanding of the harassment perpetrator. The appellant wanted equal coverage of his side of the story. He wanted a chance to put the victim in a bad light, in order to justify and explain why he did what he did. That, however, is not the function of defamation law.
The appellant was charged with a criminal act. The appellant perpetrated a criminal act. The appellant plead guilty to having perpetrated a criminal act. The appellant was punished for his criminal act. He is not entitled to equal sympathy with his victim and may not blithely dismiss her as a "bipolar drunkard." He does not appear to have learned his lesson.
Unpublished appellate opinion
Ramos then tried to appeal to the state's highest court, the Maryland Court of Appeals, which declined to hear his case.
Ramos also harassed The Capital and its reporters outside of the courtroom.
According to the Sun, a Twitter account in Ramos' name (which has since been suspended), tweeted threats against The Capital. The account, which has since been suspended, included photographs of Hartley and Marquardt, and alluded to the mass shooting of journalists.
Marquardt, who served as The Capital's editor and publisher until 2012, told the Sun that he had been concerned about Ramos' obsessive hatred of the paper and whether it could escalate into violence.
"I was seriously concerned he would threaten us with physical violence,” he told the Sun. “I even told my wife, 'We have to be concerned. This guy could really hurt us.' ... I remember telling our attorneys, 'This is a guy who is going to come in and shoot us.'"
Marquardt told the Los Angeles Times that when he notified the Anne Arundel County police about Ramos' harassment back in 2013, the police said they could not arrest him for his behavior toward the newspaper. Marquardt said that the paper considered getting a restraining order against Ramos but worried about how Ramos would react.
"The theory back then was, 'Let’s not infuriate him more than I have to.… The more you agitate this guy, the worse it’s gonna get,'" he told the Los Angeles Times.
William Shirley, an attorney who helped defend Capital Gazette against Ramos' defamation suit, told the New York Daily News that Ramos threatened during a court hearing to assault Capital journalists.
"I remember at one point he was talking in a motion and somehow worked in how he wanted to smash Hartley’s face into the concrete," Shirley said. "We were concerned at the time. He was not stable."
On June 29, the day after the shooting, Ramos was charged with five counts of first-degree murder.
In the aftermath of the attack, Capital Gazette journalists worked with colleagues at the Sun to ensure that the next day's paper would still be published.
Yes, we’re putting out a damn paper tomorrow. https://t.co/ScNvIK1A4R
— Capital Gazette (@capgaznews) June 29, 2018
The June 29 edition of The Capital includes a front-page story about the shooting, bylined by 10 Capital reporters, and obituaries for all five of the people killed in the shooting. The opinion page of the paper is empty, except for a single message: "Today, we are speechless ... Tomorrow this page will return to its steady purpose of offering our readers informed opinion about the world around them, that they might be better citizens."
Anne Arundel county executive Steve Schuh holds a copy of The Capital newspaper as he is interviewed the day after a gunman killed five people and injured several others at the newspaper's offices in Annapolis, Maryland.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"killed, shot / shot at",,,,, Oregon cameraman attacked while covering ICE protest,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/oregon-cameraman-attacked-while-covering-ice-protest/,2019-06-04 17:20:11.644529+00:00,2021-11-09 22:34:38.850550+00:00,2021-11-09 22:34:38.807070+00:00,,Assault,,,,Carter Maynard (KATU ABC 2),,2018-06-28,False,Portland,Oregon (OR),45.52345,-122.67621,"KATU cameraman Carter Maynard was harassed and assaulted while covering a protest on June 28, 2018, outside the offices of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Portland, Oregon.
Prosecutors pursued charges against a 33-year-old woman for the attack, alleging that she slammed a wooden gate into Maynard’s head, and that her motivation was due to hostility toward the press. She was acquitted by a Multnomah County jury in May 2019.
The Oregonian reported that the medical professionals who examined Maynard diagnosed him with a concussion. A doctor hired by the defense, who did not personally examine him, disputed this.
According to The Oregonian, the woman accused of attacking Maynard testified that she had her hand on the wooden gate but did not slam it into the reporter; rather she let it go and it closed on him. She also testified that she thought the KATU reporter broadcasting images of protesters in attendance would endanger their lives.
Maynard, who no longer works for KATU, could not be reached for comment.
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
On June 28, 2018, a man armed with a shotgun entered the Capital Gazette newsroom in Annapolis, Maryland, and shot multiple journalists and other media workers, the Baltimore Sun reported. Five people, including four journalists, were killed in the attack, and two others were injured. Police later identified the suspected shooter as Jarrod Ramos, who had previously sued the Capital Gazette for defamation.
Community news and sports reporter John McNamara, who had worked for the Capital Gazette for 24 years, was among those killed. Anne Arundel County police said that other Capital Gazette employees killed in the attack were:
Two other Capital Gazette employees, whose names were not released, were injured in the attack. Find the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker’s documentation of all the journalists killed in the attack here.
The shooting occurred on June 28 inside the Capital Gazette newsroom, which is located on the ground floor of an office building in Annapolis, Maryland. The newsroom is home to reporters for both The Capital, a daily newspaper covering Annapolis, and The Maryland Gazette, a twice-weekly paper focused on state news. The shooting was the most deadly attack on journalists in the United States since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Phil Davis, a crime reporter for The Capital who was inside the newsroom during the shooting, told the Sun that he saw multiple colleagues shot. He said the scene inside the newsroom "was like a war zone." In a series of powerful tweets, he described what he witnessed.
A single shooter shot multiple people at my office, some of whom are dead.
— Phil Davis (@PDavis_LLC) June 28, 2018
Gunman shot through the glass door to the office and opened fire on multiple employees. Can't say much more and don't want to declare anyone dead, but it's bad.
— Phil Davis (@PDavis_LLC) June 28, 2018
There is nothing more terrifying than hearing multiple people get shot while you're under your desk and then hear the gunman reload
— Phil Davis (@PDavis_LLC) June 28, 2018
Jarrod Ramos, the suspect in the shooting, had threatened and harassed Capital Gazette staffers for years, according to the Sun.
It began in July 2011, when Capital columnist Eric Hartley wrote about how Ramos was charged with harassment after stalking and threatening a high school classmate online. In response to Hartley's column, Ramos waged a one-man war against him and the paper, according to The Virginian-Pilot, where Hartley now works.
In July 2012, he filed a defamation lawsuit against Hartley, Capital Gazette Communications, and The Capital editor and publisher Tom Marquardt. Ramos represented himself in the suit, which was filed in Prince George's County, Maryland. At a March 2013 court hearing, a judge dismissed Ramos' complaint with prejudice and tried to explain to Ramos why the article was not defamatory:
You know, I understand exactly how you feel. I think people who are the subject of newspaper articles, whoever they may be, feel that there is a requirement that they be placed in the best light, or they have an opportunity to have the story reported to their satisfaction, or have the opportunity to have however much input they believe is appropriate.
But that's simply not true. There is nothing in those complaints that prove that anything that was published about you is, in fact, false. It all came from a public record. It was of the result of a criminal conviction. And it cannot give rise to a defamation suit.
Transcript of March 29, 2013 motion hearing
Ramos appealed the judge's decision. The Maryland Court of Appeals upheld the lower court's dismissal of the case and ordered Ramos to pay Capital Gazette's legal fees. In an unpublished opinion, one of the appellate court judges wrote that "a discussion of defamation law would be an exercise in futility, because the appellant [Ramos] fails to come close to alleging a case of defamation," and sharply criticized Ramos for bringing the lawsuit:
The appellant is pro se. A lawyer would almost certainly have told him not to proceed with this case. It reveals a fundamental failure to understand what defamation law is and, more particularly, what defamation law is not. The appellant is aggrieved because the newspaper story about his guilty plea assumed that he was guilty and that the guilty plea was, therefore, properly accepted. He is aggrieved because the story was sympathetic toward the harassment victim and was not equally understanding of the harassment perpetrator. The appellant wanted equal coverage of his side of the story. He wanted a chance to put the victim in a bad light, in order to justify and explain why he did what he did. That, however, is not the function of defamation law.
The appellant was charged with a criminal act. The appellant perpetrated a criminal act. The appellant plead guilty to having perpetrated a criminal act. The appellant was punished for his criminal act. He is not entitled to equal sympathy with his victim and may not blithely dismiss her as a "bipolar drunkard." He does not appear to have learned his lesson.
Unpublished appellate opinion
Ramos then tried to appeal to the state's highest court, the Maryland Court of Appeals, which declined to hear his case.
Ramos also harassed The Capital and its reporters outside of the courtroom.
According to the Sun, a Twitter account in Ramos' name tweeted threats against The Capital. The account, which has since been suspended, included photographs of Hartley and Marquardt, and alluded to the mass shooting of journalists.
Marquardt, who served as The Capital's editor and publisher until 2012, told the Sun that he had been concerned about Ramos' obsessive hatred of the paper and whether it could escalate into violence.
"I was seriously concerned he would threaten us with physical violence,” he told the Sun. “I even told my wife, 'We have to be concerned. This guy could really hurt us.' … I remember telling our attorneys, 'This is a guy who is going to come in and shoot us.'"
Marquardt told the Los Angeles Times that when he notified the Anne Arundel County police about Ramos' harassment back in 2013, the police said they could not arrest him for his behavior toward the newspaper. Marquardt said that the paper considered getting a restraining order against Ramos but worried about how Ramos would react.
"The theory back then was, 'Let’s not infuriate him more than I have to.… The more you agitate this guy, the worse it’s gonna get,'" he told the Los Angeles Times.
William Shirley, an attorney who helped defend Capital Gazette against Ramos' defamation suit, told the New York Daily News that Ramos threatened during a court hearing to assault Capital journalists.
"I remember at one point he was talking in a motion and somehow worked in how he wanted to smash Hartley’s face into the concrete," Shirley said. "We were concerned at the time. He was not stable."
On June 29, the day after the shooting, Ramos was charged with five counts of first-degree murder.
In the aftermath of the attack, Capital Gazette journalists worked with colleagues at the Sun to ensure that the next day's paper would still be published.
Yes, we’re putting out a damn paper tomorrow. https://t.co/ScNvIK1A4R
— Capital Gazette (@capgaznews) June 29, 2018
The June 29 edition of The Capital includes a front-page story about the shooting, bylined by 10 Capital reporters, and obituaries for all five of the people killed in the shooting. The opinion page of the paper is empty, except for a single message: "Today, we are speechless … Tomorrow this page will return to its steady purpose of offering our readers informed opinions about the world around them, that they might be better citizens."
Anne Arundel county executive Steve Schuh holds a copy of The Capital newspaper during an interview the day after a gunman killed five people and injured several others at the newspaper's offices in Annapolis, Maryland.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"killed, shot / shot at",,,,, Columnist killed in Capital Gazette newsroom shooting by man upset with newspaper coverage,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/columnist-killed-in-capital-gazette-newsroom-shooting-by-man-upset-with-newspaper-coverage/,2021-10-21 20:54:52.734284+00:00,2022-03-10 20:00:58.353424+00:00,2022-03-10 20:00:58.283441+00:00,"(2019-10-28 00:00:00+00:00) The Maryland man accused of massacring five staff members at the Capital Gazette newsroom last year enters guilty plea, (2021-07-15 00:00:00+00:00) Maryland man found criminally responsible for deaths of five in newsroom shooting, (2021-09-28 00:00:00+00:00) Gunman who killed Capital Gazette journalists and staffer sentenced to multiple consecutive life sentences",Assault,,,,Rob Hiaasen (Capital Gazette),,2018-06-28,False,Annapolis,Maryland (MD),38.97859,-76.49184,"On June 28, 2018, a man armed with a shotgun entered the Capital Gazette newsroom in Annapolis, Maryland, and shot multiple journalists and other media workers, the Baltimore Sun reported. Five people, including four journalists, were killed in the attack, and two others were injured. Police later identified the suspected shooter as Jarrod Ramos, who had previously sued the Capital Gazette for defamation.
Columnist and assistant editor Rob Hiaasen, who had worked for the Capital Gazette since 2010, was among those killed. Anne Arundel County police said that other Capital Gazette employees killed in the attack were:
Two other Capital Gazette employees, whose names were not released, were injured in the attack. Find the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker’s documentation of all the journalists killed in the attack here.
The shooting occurred on June 28 inside the Capital Gazette newsroom, which is located on the ground floor of an office building in Annapolis, Maryland. The newsroom is home to reporters for both The Capital, a daily newspaper covering Annapolis, and The Maryland Gazette, a twice-weekly paper focused on state news. The shooting was the most deadly attack on journalists in the United States since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Phil Davis, a crime reporter for The Capital who was inside the newsroom during the shooting, told the Sun that he saw multiple colleagues shot. He said the scene inside the newsroom "was like a war zone." In a series of powerful tweets, he described what he witnessed.
A single shooter shot multiple people at my office, some of whom are dead.
— Phil Davis (@PDavis_LLC) June 28, 2018
Gunman shot through the glass door to the office and opened fire on multiple employees. Can't say much more and don't want to declare anyone dead, but it's bad.
— Phil Davis (@PDavis_LLC) June 28, 2018
There is nothing more terrifying than hearing multiple people get shot while you're under your desk and then hear the gunman reload
— Phil Davis (@PDavis_LLC) June 28, 2018
Jarrod Ramos, the suspect in the shooting, had threatened and harassed Capital Gazette staffers for years, according to the Sun.
It began in July 2011, when Capital columnist Eric Hartley wrote about how Ramos was charged with harassment after stalking and threatening a high school classmate online. In response to Hartley's column, Ramos waged a one-man war against him and the paper, according to The Virginian-Pilot, where Hartley now works.
In July 2012, he filed a defamation lawsuit against Hartley, Capital Gazette Communications, and The Capital editor and publisher Tom Marquardt. Ramos represented himself in the suit, which was filed in Prince George's County, Maryland. At a March 2013 court hearing, a judge dismissed Ramos' complaint with prejudice and tried to explain to Ramos why the article was not defamatory:
You know, I understand exactly how you feel. I think people who are the subject of newspaper articles, whoever they may be, feel that there is a requirement that they be placed in the best light, or they have an opportunity to have the story reported to their satisfaction, or have the opportunity to have however much input they believe is appropriate.
But that's simply not true. There is nothing in those complaints that prove that anything that was published about you is, in fact, false. It all came from a public record. It was of the result of a criminal conviction. And it cannot give rise to a defamation suit.
Transcript of March 29, 2013 motion hearing
Ramos appealed the judge's decision. The Maryland Court of Appeals upheld the lower court's dismissal of the case and ordered Ramos to pay Capital Gazette's legal fees. In an unpublished opinion, one of the appellate court judges wrote that "a discussion of defamation law would be an exercise in futility, because the appellant [Ramos] fails to come close to alleging a case of defamation," and sharply criticized Ramos for bringing the lawsuit:
The appellant is pro se. A lawyer would almost certainly have told him not to proceed with this case. It reveals a fundamental failure to understand what defamation law is and, more particularly, what defamation law is not. The appellant is aggrieved because the newspaper story about his guilty plea assumed that he was guilty and that the guilty plea was, therefore, properly accepted. He is aggrieved because the story was sympathetic toward the harassment victim and was not equally understanding of the harassment perpetrator. The appellant wanted equal coverage of his side of the story. He wanted a chance to put the victim in a bad light, in order to justify and explain why he did what he did. That, however, is not the function of defamation law.
The appellant was charged with a criminal act. The appellant perpetrated a criminal act. The appellant plead guilty to having perpetrated a criminal act. The appellant was punished for his criminal act. He is not entitled to equal sympathy with his victim and may not blithely dismiss her as a "bipolar drunkard." He does not appear to have learned his lesson.
Unpublished appellate opinion
Ramos then tried to appeal to the state's highest court, the Maryland Court of Appeals, which declined to hear his case.
Ramos also harassed The Capital and its reporters outside of the courtroom.
According to the Sun, a Twitter account in Ramos' name tweeted threats against The Capital. The account, which has since been suspended, included photographs of Hartley and Marquardt, and alluded to the mass shooting of journalists.
Marquardt, who served as The Capital's editor and publisher until 2012, told the Sun that he had been concerned about Ramos' obsessive hatred of the paper and whether it could escalate into violence.
"I was seriously concerned he would threaten us with physical violence,” he told the Sun. “I even told my wife, 'We have to be concerned. This guy could really hurt us.' … I remember telling our attorneys, 'This is a guy who is going to come in and shoot us.'"
Marquardt told the Los Angeles Times that when he notified the Anne Arundel County police about Ramos' harassment back in 2013, the police said they could not arrest him for his behavior toward the newspaper. Marquardt said that the paper considered getting a restraining order against Ramos but worried about how Ramos would react.
"The theory back then was, 'Let’s not infuriate him more than I have to.… The more you agitate this guy, the worse it’s gonna get,'" he told the Los Angeles Times.
William Shirley, an attorney who helped defend Capital Gazette against Ramos' defamation suit, told the New York Daily News that Ramos threatened during a court hearing to assault Capital journalists.
"I remember at one point he was talking in a motion and somehow worked in how he wanted to smash Hartley’s face into the concrete," Shirley said. "We were concerned at the time. He was not stable."
On June 29, the day after the shooting, Ramos was charged with five counts of first-degree murder.
In the aftermath of the attack, Capital Gazette journalists worked with colleagues at the Sun to ensure that the next day's paper would still be published.
Yes, we’re putting out a damn paper tomorrow. https://t.co/ScNvIK1A4R
— Capital Gazette (@capgaznews) June 29, 2018
The June 29 edition of The Capital includes a front-page story about the shooting, bylined by 10 Capital reporters, and obituaries for all five of the people killed in the shooting. The opinion page of the paper is empty, except for a single message: "Today, we are speechless … Tomorrow this page will return to its steady purpose of offering our readers informed opinions about the world around them, that they might be better citizens."
Anne Arundel county executive Steve Schuh holds a copy of The Capital newspaper during an interview the day after a gunman killed five people and injured several others at the newspaper's offices in Annapolis, Maryland.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"killed, shot / shot at",,,,, Community news reporter killed in Capital Gazette newsroom shooting by man upset with newspaper coverage,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/community-news-reporter-killed-in-capital-gazette-newsroom-shooting-by-man-upset-with-newspaper-coverage/,2021-10-21 21:01:43.524055+00:00,2022-03-10 20:01:29.380872+00:00,2022-03-10 20:01:29.305417+00:00,"(2019-10-28 00:00:00+00:00) The Maryland man accused of massacring five staff members at the Capital Gazette newsroom last year enters guilty plea, (2021-09-28 00:00:00+00:00) Gunman who killed Capital Gazette journalists and staffer sentenced to multiple consecutive life sentences, (2021-07-15 00:00:00+00:00) Maryland man found criminally responsible for deaths of five in newsroom shooting",Assault,,,,Wendi Winters (Capital Gazette),,2018-06-28,False,Annapolis,Maryland (MD),38.97859,-76.49184,"On June 28, 2018, a man armed with a shotgun entered the Capital Gazette newsroom in Annapolis, Maryland, and shot multiple journalists and other media workers, the Baltimore Sun reported. Five people, including four journalists, were killed in the attack, and two others were injured. Police later identified the suspected shooter as Jarrod Ramos, who had previously sued the Capital Gazette for defamation.
Community news reporter and columnist Wendi Winters, who had written for the Capital Gazette for 20 years, was among those killed. Anne Arundel County police said that other Capital Gazette employees killed in the attack were:
Two other Capital Gazette employees, whose names were not released, were injured in the attack. Find the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker’s documentation of all the journalists killed in the attack here.
The shooting occurred on June 28 inside the Capital Gazette newsroom, which is located on the ground floor of an office building in Annapolis, Maryland. The newsroom is home to reporters for both The Capital, a daily newspaper covering Annapolis, and The Maryland Gazette, a twice-weekly paper focused on state news. The shooting was the most deadly attack on journalists in the United States since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Phil Davis, a crime reporter for The Capital who was inside the newsroom during the shooting, told the Sun that he saw multiple colleagues shot. He said the scene inside the newsroom "was like a war zone." In a series of powerful tweets, he described what he witnessed.
A single shooter shot multiple people at my office, some of whom are dead.
— Phil Davis (@PDavis_LLC) June 28, 2018
Gunman shot through the glass door to the office and opened fire on multiple employees. Can't say much more and don't want to declare anyone dead, but it's bad.
— Phil Davis (@PDavis_LLC) June 28, 2018
There is nothing more terrifying than hearing multiple people get shot while you're under your desk and then hear the gunman reload
— Phil Davis (@PDavis_LLC) June 28, 2018
Jarrod Ramos, the suspect in the shooting, had threatened and harassed Capital Gazette staffers for years, according to the Sun.
It began in July 2011, when Capital columnist Eric Hartley wrote about how Ramos was charged with harassment after stalking and threatening a high school classmate online. In response to Hartley's column, Ramos waged a one-man war against him and the paper, according to The Virginian-Pilot, where Hartley now works.
In July 2012, he filed a defamation lawsuit against Hartley, Capital Gazette Communications, and The Capital editor and publisher Tom Marquardt. Ramos represented himself in the suit, which was filed in Prince George's County, Maryland. At a March 2013 court hearing, a judge dismissed Ramos' complaint with prejudice and tried to explain to Ramos why the article was not defamatory:
You know, I understand exactly how you feel. I think people who are the subject of newspaper articles, whoever they may be, feel that there is a requirement that they be placed in the best light, or they have an opportunity to have the story reported to their satisfaction, or have the opportunity to have however much input they believe is appropriate.
But that's simply not true. There is nothing in those complaints that prove that anything that was published about you is, in fact, false. It all came from a public record. It was of the result of a criminal conviction. And it cannot give rise to a defamation suit.
Transcript of March 29, 2013 motion hearing
Ramos appealed the judge's decision. The Maryland Court of Appeals upheld the lower court's dismissal of the case and ordered Ramos to pay Capital Gazette's legal fees. In an unpublished opinion, one of the appellate court judges wrote that "a discussion of defamation law would be an exercise in futility, because the appellant [Ramos] fails to come close to alleging a case of defamation," and sharply criticized Ramos for bringing the lawsuit:
The appellant is pro se. A lawyer would almost certainly have told him not to proceed with this case. It reveals a fundamental failure to understand what defamation law is and, more particularly, what defamation law is not. The appellant is aggrieved because the newspaper story about his guilty plea assumed that he was guilty and that the guilty plea was, therefore, properly accepted. He is aggrieved because the story was sympathetic toward the harassment victim and was not equally understanding of the harassment perpetrator. The appellant wanted equal coverage of his side of the story. He wanted a chance to put the victim in a bad light, in order to justify and explain why he did what he did. That, however, is not the function of defamation law.
The appellant was charged with a criminal act. The appellant perpetrated a criminal act. The appellant plead guilty to having perpetrated a criminal act. The appellant was punished for his criminal act. He is not entitled to equal sympathy with his victim and may not blithely dismiss her as a "bipolar drunkard." He does not appear to have learned his lesson.
Unpublished appellate opinion
Ramos then tried to appeal to the state's highest court, the Maryland Court of Appeals, which declined to hear his case.
Ramos also harassed The Capital and its reporters outside of the courtroom.
According to the Sun, a Twitter account in Ramos' name tweeted threats against The Capital. The account, which has since been suspended, included photographs of Hartley and Marquardt, and alluded to the mass shooting of journalists.
Marquardt, who served as The Capital's editor and publisher until 2012, told the Sun that he had been concerned about Ramos' obsessive hatred of the paper and whether it could escalate into violence.
"I was seriously concerned he would threaten us with physical violence,” he told the Sun. “I even told my wife, 'We have to be concerned. This guy could really hurt us.' … I remember telling our attorneys, 'This is a guy who is going to come in and shoot us.'"
Marquardt told the Los Angeles Times that when he notified the Anne Arundel County police about Ramos' harassment back in 2013, the police said they could not arrest him for his behavior toward the newspaper. Marquardt said that the paper considered getting a restraining order against Ramos but worried about how Ramos would react.
"The theory back then was, 'Let’s not infuriate him more than I have to.… The more you agitate this guy, the worse it’s gonna get,'" he told the Los Angeles Times.
William Shirley, an attorney who helped defend Capital Gazette against Ramos' defamation suit, told the New York Daily News that Ramos threatened during a court hearing to assault Capital journalists.
"I remember at one point he was talking in a motion and somehow worked in how he wanted to smash Hartley’s face into the concrete," Shirley said. "We were concerned at the time. He was not stable."
On June 29, the day after the shooting, Ramos was charged with five counts of first-degree murder.
In the aftermath of the attack, Capital Gazette journalists worked with colleagues at the Sun to ensure that the next day's paper would still be published.
Yes, we’re putting out a damn paper tomorrow. https://t.co/ScNvIK1A4R
— Capital Gazette (@capgaznews) June 29, 2018
The June 29 edition of The Capital includes a front-page story about the shooting, bylined by 10 Capital reporters, and obituaries for all five of the people killed in the shooting. The opinion page of the paper is empty, except for a single message: "Today, we are speechless … Tomorrow this page will return to its steady purpose of offering our readers informed opinions about the world around them, that they might be better citizens."
Anne Arundel county executive Steve Schuh holds a copy of The Capital newspaper during an interview the day after a gunman killed five people and injured several others at the newspaper's offices in Annapolis, Maryland.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"killed, shot / shot at",,,,, New York Times reporter subpoenaed to testify in murder trial,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/new-york-times-reporter-subpoenaed-testify-murder-trial/,2018-07-06 19:22:24.874222+00:00,2021-10-05 20:04:06.308554+00:00,2021-10-05 20:04:06.238658+00:00,,Subpoena/Legal Order,"Court Ruling Means Times Reporter Must Testify in ‘Baby Hope’ Trial (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/27/nyregion/baby-hope-reporter-testify.html) via New York Times, Reporters Committee statement on New York Court of Appeals ruling that journalist Frances Robles has no right to appeal subpoena in “Baby Hope” murder trial (https://www.rcfp.org/reporters-committee-statement-new-york-court-appeals-ruling-journalist-frances-robles-has-no-right-a) via RCFP",,,Frances Robles (The New York Times),,2018-06-27,False,New York,New York (NY),None,None,"In 2016, New York Times reporter Frances Robles was subpoenaed to testify in the murder trial of Conrado Juarez, whom Robles interviewed in jail in 2013. Robles fought the subpoenas, but the New York Court of Appeals — the highest court in the state — upheld the subpoenas on a technicality in a ruling on June 27, 2018.
If Robles refuses to comply with the subpoena, she could be held in contempt of court and put in jail.
In October 2013, Robles conducted a jailhouse interview with Conrado Juarez, who had been charged with the murder of “Baby Hope,” a four year old found dead in a picnic cooler in 1991. Although Juarez had confessed to the murder to police, he told Robles that police had coerced him into confessing. The day after the interview, the Times reported that Juarez claimed that his confession to police had been coerced.
In early 2016, Robles was subpoenaed to testify about her interview with Juarez and to hand over her reporter’s notes from the interview. Robles was subpoenaed to testify at a pre-trial hearing to determine admissibility of Juarez’s statements to law enforcement.
Robles moved to quash the subpoenas.
According to the New York State Constitution, a reporter can only be compelled to disclose non-confidential information if it is “critical or necessary” to the case and not available from any other source.
On April 13, 2016, the court quashed the subpoena, ruling that Robles’ testimony was not “critical or necessary” to the pretrial hearing because the prosecution already had a videotape of Juarez’s confession and access to the police and prosecutor that obtained it. The court also noted that compelling Robles’ testimony would open the door to lines of questioning beyond published material during cross examination.
After the pretrial hearing, the prosecution tried to subpoena Robles to testify during Juarez’s criminal trial. Robles again moved to quash the subpoenas, but this time, the trial court ruled against her. In August 2016, the trial court formally upheld the subpoenas, ruling that her testimony was “critical or necessary” to the case that the prosecution wanted to make about Juarez’s confession during the trial.
Robles immediately appealed the trial court’s decision. In October 2016, the First Department appeals court reversed the trial court’s decision, finding that the prosecution had not shown that Robles’ testimony was so “critical or necessary” that it could override her reporter’s privilege not to testify about her sources.
The prosecution then asked the New York Court of Appeals, the highest court in New York state, to review the First Department appeals court’s decision, and the New York Court of Appeals agreed to do so.
The prosecution wanted the New York Court of Appeals to find that Robles’ testimony was in fact “critical or necessary” to the case and the First Department appeals court was wrong to reverse the trial court’s original decision forcing Robles to testify. Robles’ attorneys wanted the New York Court of Appeals to uphold the First Department appeals court’s decision and ensure that journalists in New York state cannot be compelled to testify in court about her conversations with sources.
“Ms. Roles has testified that most sources in jail would not speak with her if they came to believe ‘that the prosecution could successfully compel [her] to testify’ about their conversations,” Robles’ legal team wrote in a brief to the New York Court of Appeals. “Permitting prosecutors to enforce subpoenas like the one in this case would ‘fundamentally diminish’ Ms. Robles’s ‘practical ability to gather the news…’ and would in turn diminish the public’s knowledge about claims of mistreatment by indigent individuals caught up in the criminal justice system.”
In the end, the New York Court of Appeals did not rule on whether or not Robles’ testimony was necessary to the case. Instead, in a controversial 4-3 decision, the Court of Appeals ruled that Robles was not technically allowed to appeal the trial court’s original decision, so the First Department appeals court’s ruling was completely moot.
The New York Court of Appeals did not actually say that the trial court’s decision to uphold the subpoenas was correct, just that Robles was not allowed to appeal it.
But it hardly matters to Robles. Since she’s not allowed to appeal the trial court’s decision to uphold the subpoenas ordering to testify, that decision stands.
If she refuses to testify, the trial court could find her in contempt of court and order her jailed until she agrees to testify.
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of Press (a partner organization of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker) criticized the Court of Appeals decision.
“The protections of a shield law are meaningless unless a reporter can appeal an erroneous trial court ruling,” RCFP executive director Bruce Brown said in a statement. “Today’s decision leaves important substantive protections for journalists under New York law without the means to enforce them. A reporter should not have to risk going to jail for contempt in order to trigger appellate review of her rights.”
Federal agents from the Department of Homeland Security Inspector General's Office interrupted a CBS News interviewer with ICE whistleblower James Schwab, on June 27, 2018.
The June 27 interview was conducted at Schwab’s home near San Francisco. It was the first time that Schwab, the former spokesman for ICE, had spoken publicly since abruptly resigning from the agency in March.
Schwab said in the interview that he was compelled to quit his job after ICE asked him to ""lie"" to journalists about Oakland mayor Libby Schaaf, who upset ICE after she warned her constituents about an ICE raid.
As CBS News reporter Jamie Yuccas was interviewing Schwab about the circumstances surrounding his resignation, agents from the DHS Inspector General's Office unexpectedly arrived at his home and asked to speak with him. The agents refused to speak to Yuccas, other than to say that the reason for their visit was confidential.
""They just said that they want to talk with me about the leak with the Oakland mayor,"" Schwab told CBS News after the agents left.
Schwab believes that the unannounced visit from DHS agents was meant to intimidate him.
""This is intimidation, and this is why people won't come out and speak against the government,"" he told CBS News.
WATCH: Our interview with former @ICEgov spokesperson James Schwab was interrupted by a surprise visit from government agents.@JamieYuccas reports ➡️ https://t.co/QlDGflrdP4 pic.twitter.com/4shmAqutD8
— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) June 28, 2018
A screengrab from a CBS News video shows two DHS agents interrupting an interview between CBS News correspondent Jamie Yuccas (left) and former ICE spokesman James Schwab (right).
,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,,ICE,,,,, Federal judge quashes subpoena of Indiana newspaper’s communications,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/federal-judge-quashes-subpoena-indiana-newspapers-communications/,2019-03-05 17:41:17.242057+00:00,2019-03-05 17:41:17.242057+00:00,2019-03-05 17:41:17.178673+00:00,,Subpoena/Legal Order,,,,,,2018-06-27,False,Elkhart,Indiana (IN),41.68199,-85.97667,"A federal judge rejected the attempt of the city of Elkhart, Indiana, to force the South Bend Tribune to turn over records of its reporting on an Illinois man who is suing the city for wrongful conviction.
U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Michael Gotsch ruled on Feb. 26 that the city’s subpoena and allegations of conspiracy were “misplaced.”
The subpoena was issued on June 27, 2018, amid an investigation by The Tribune and ProPublica into the conviction of Keith Cooper in a 1996 robbery and shooting. Cooper was pardoned in February 2017 following new DNA evidence and a witness recanting testimony.
The city sought communications between Tribune journalists, Cooper and Cooper’s lawyer, alleging that The Tribune was biased and conspiring with Cooper to advance his lawsuit against the city.
In his order quashing the subpoena, Gotsch wrote that the text messages and emails Cooper’s lawyer turned over as evidence before the Court did not support the city’s accusations of conspiracy, The Tribune reported.
“The City cites… examples of communications that it interprets as evidence of conspiracy,” Gotsch wrote, “when they simply reflect a reporter doing what a reporter does—pursuing sources with information about the story, identifying inconsistencies in a story and confronting the relevant characters with that information, giving both sides to a story a chance to be heard.”
To the city’s complaints that the newspaper was biased in its coverage, Gotsch noted that the views of city and police officers named in the suit were not represented because they declined to speak to reporters.
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
A portion of the order quashing a subpoena seeking reporting records from the South Bend Tribune.
,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,journalist communications or work product,['QUASHED'],None,None,None,None,None,None,South Bend Tribune,,,,,, Local TV reporter attacked by unknown person in Miami Beach,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/local-tv-reporter-attacked-by-unknown-person-in-miami-beach/,2018-10-11 20:37:13.536150+00:00,2021-10-22 13:47:51.844161+00:00,2021-10-22 13:47:51.798614+00:00,,Assault,"Miami Reporter and Photographer OK After Being Attacked (https://www.adweek.com/tvspy/morning-reporter-and-photographer-ok-after-being-attacked/205433) via Adweek, Darryl Forges' Facebook post (https://www.facebook.com/darrylforges/posts/10156535622943308)",,,Darryl Forges (WTVJ NBC 6),,2018-06-26,False,Miami Beach,Florida (FL),25.79065,-80.13005,"On June 26, 2018, reporter Darryl Forges and photographer Linda Sargent-Nestor of Florida TV station WTVJ were attacked by a stranger during a morning live shoot in Miami Beach, Florida.
“It’s been a wild day, but overall my photographer Linda Sargent-Nestor and I are ok,” Forges wrote in a Facebook post a few hours after the attack. “We were attacked by a crazy stranger in Miami Beach this morning while doing our live shot.”
“Special thanks to Miami Beach PD for responding quickly, and also to two complete strangers who helped,” he said.
Forges wrote that his glasses were broken in the attack, which left him with minor bruises, scratches and bite marks.
On June 26, 2018, photographer Linda Sargent-Nestor and reporter Darryl Forges of Florida TV station WTVJ were attacked by a stranger during a morning live shoot in Miami Beach, Florida.
“It’s been a wild day, but overall my photographer Linda Sargent-Nestor and I are ok,” Forges wrote in a Facebook post a few hours after the attack. “We were attacked by a crazy stranger in Miami Beach this morning while doing our live shot.”
“Special thanks to Miami Beach PD for responding quickly, and also to two complete strangers who helped,” he said.
Forges wrote that his glasses were broken in the attack, which left him with minor bruises, scratches and bite marks.
El Cajon City Councilman Ben Kalasho threatened East County Magazine reporter Paul Kruze and menaced the journalist with an aggressive dog, according to a statement that Kruze made to police in El Cajon, California, on June 23, 2018.
Kruze told the police that he was exiting a Best Buy on June 23 when he spotted Kalasho’s election vehicle in the parking lot and stopped to take photos.
Kruze told the police that Kalasho told him to stop taking pictures, and then approached him with an attack dog. Kruze said that Kalasho and the dog advanced on him from 40 feet away to within 10 to 12 feet, before he was able to unlock his car door and enter the safety of his vehicle.
“I proceed to my car and he keeps coming closer to me with the dog and letting the dog lurch at me,” Kruze said in an interview with Freedom of the Press Foundation, adding that he feared Kalasho might release the chain on the dog and let it attack him.
“This is stuff you go to see horror movies about,” he said.
During the incident, he said, Kalasho called him a fake journalist and verbally threatened both him and East County Magazine editor Miriam Raftery. Raftery told Freedom of the Press Foundation that Kruze called her shortly after the incident.
“When Paul called me, his voice was trembling and he was obviously terrified,” she said. “I was worried about his safety and my own, especially since Paul said Kalasho told him, with the dog snarling lunging toward him, ‘I’m going to take you down and that bitch, Miriam Raftery.'”
On June 24, the day after the parking lot incident, Kalasho published a Facebook post about Kruze, whom he described as a “deranged psychopath” and “lunatic” who was stalking him.
“I did research and found that this so called journalist made a Youtube channel whereby most all of his videos are about me,” Kalasho wrote in the post, which was later deleted. “He even posted a video of me training my dog, and other montage videos of me speaking ranging different dates. This infatuation he has with me is creepy to say the least.”
Kalasho wrote that he had contacted the police and planned to seek a restraining order against the journalist.
A number of Kalasho’s supporters commented on the Facebook post, expressing concern for the councilman’s safety. Some encouraged Kalasho to use violence against Kruze.
“You should get your CCW [concealed carry license],” one commenter wrote.
“Once you become a public figure, you lose most of your rights,” Kalasho replied. “Trust me, had I had a CCW, I would have been on CNN today doing interviews from behind bars.”
Another supporter published a photo of a gun, accompanied by the text, “I would much rather go my grave never needing my gun, than go there wishing I had it.” Kalasho replied, “#Truth.”
Kruze said that it was scary to see Kalasho encouraging supporters’ violent threats against him.
“He just kept on inciting these different followers of his, and then the people started posting,” Kruze said. “There were people saying you should go after this guy. Then they started posting pictures of guns, and then it ended up with another guy who was an optometrist in Ramona, California, suggesting that a .357 caliber bullet be used on me,” Kruze said. “I’ll tell you that finally, that particular post, and the whole Facebook post, it finally hit me. It hit me… All the sudden this is what people talk about for real, and that is damn scary.”
On July 10, Kalasho went after Kruze again, this time in a Facebook video.
In the video, Kalasho says that he threatened Kruze with his dog because he thought Kruze might be carrying a weapon.
“Looking at this person that was approaching my wife and I, like, I don’t know him from Adam,” Kalasho says in the video. “I don’t know if he had a knife, or a gun or anything on him. And every cue and everything that he did lead me to believe that he was going to inflict harm to me or my family. So I used my dog. And anybody listening, watching this just play it through, what’s the alternative? The alternative is having my wife hurt? No, I’d rather my dog maul him, like literally.”
On July 13, the San Diego Society of Professional Journalists issued a statement, defending the rights of journalists and calling on the El Cajon Police Department to fully investigate the attack:
The San Diego chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists is greatly concerned by the behavior of El Cajon City Councilman Ben Kalasho toward East County Magazine reporter Paul Kruze, as alleged in Kruze’s statements to the police. Threatening or intimidating journalists is unacceptable behavior from any member of the public — but especially from elected officials.
Journalists have a right to do their jobs without fear of violence. We urge the El Cajon Police Department to fully investigate the incident that took place on June 23 between Councilman Kalasho and Mr. Kruze. Our institutions and elected officials must do everything they can to ensure the safety of journalists in the exercise of our collective First Amendment right to a free press.
San Diego SPJ statement on incident
Kalasho has a history of threatening East County Magazine. In November 2017, after the paper wrote about allegations of corruption and sexual harassment made against him, he threatened a libel suit against East County Magazine and then tried to smear the publication on social media.
On July 18, the San Diego SPJ chapter presented Raftery and Kruze with the Gloria Penner Award for political reporting, in recognition of East County Magazine's investigative reporting on Kalasho.
On June 20, 2018, Ken Klippenstein — an investigative reporter who contributes to The Daily Beast and The Young Turks — tweeted that he had received an unsolicited call from Tyler Houlton, the press secretary for the Department of Homeland Security. Klippenstein said that Houlton asked him about his sources and also asked him not to solicit tips about Houlton on Twitter.
On the afternoon of June 20, Klippenstein tweeted that he had heard troubling allegations about Houlton, and requested that anyone contact him with information. (Though Klippenstein originally identified Houlton as a spokesman for Immigration & Customs Enforcement, he later clarified that Houlton is the spokesman for all of DHS, not just ICE.)
Also I’m hearing some troubling allegations about ICE’s spokesman (unable to verify yet), if anyone has any tips please text me
— Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein) June 20, 2018
About an hour later, Klippenstein tweeted that Houlton had called him.
DHS' spokesman, @SpoxDHS, just called me and demanded I stop soliciting tips about him via Twitter. He also asked who my sources are.
— Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein) June 20, 2018
Why does it feel like this admin hates freedom of the press.
Klippenstein told the Freedom of the Press Foundation that he received a call from a Washington, D.C. phone number that he did not recognize. The caller identified himself as Houlton and then told Klippenstein that if Klippenstein “had something” on him, then Klippenstein should call him rather than asking for tips on Twitter.
According to Klippenstein, he told Houlton that he was a reporter and seeking tips is what reporters do. Houlton then asked who was telling him information about Houlton, and he told Houlton that he cannot reveal his sources.
“When you get a call like that… papers need certain relationships with administrators to get information,” Klippenstein said, adding that his job and lack of dependents allows him to take more professional risks than other journalists. “A lot of reporters would understandably be afraid of upsetting their boss, and I think it would have a chilling effect on reporting. This has concrete effects. It’s not just an unpleasant interaction.”
Klippenstein said that he could not think of any situation in which he would reveal the identity of a confidential source.
“Absolutely not,” he said. “I would go to jail before that. This is who I am. It would be betraying what I dedicated myself to.”
Houlton did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Joshua Schulte, a former NSA and CIA staffer, was indicted on multiple Espionage Act charges on June 18, 2018, for allegedly leaking sensitive CIA files to WikiLeaks.
On March 7, 2017, WikiLeaks began publishing classified documents that detailed hacking tools and techniques used by the CIA. Later that month, as part of an investigation into the leak, federal agents raided Schulte’s apartment and seized his computer.
On August 24, 2017, Schulte was arrested on federal child pornography charges, after federal investigators discovered evidence of child pornography on one of Schulte’s computers that had been seized in the raid. At the time, Schulte was not charged with leaking any classified information.
On June 18, 2018, a federal grand jury returned a superseding indictment against Schulte. The indictment accuses Schulte of sending classified CIA material to WikiLeaks, in violation of the Espionage Act and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. It also restates the earlier child pornography charges and further accuses him of copyright infringement (for allegedly running a server that stored pirated movies), obstruction of justice, and lying to federal agents.
Schulte is the latest person to be criminally prosecuted in connection with an investigation into classified leaks.
In June 2017, NSA contractor Reality Winner was charged under the Espionage Act for allegedly sending a classified document to The Intercept.
In March 2018, former FBI agent Terry Albury was charged under the Espionage Act for allegedly sharing with The Intercept a number of classified FBI documents that instruct agents on how to cultivate informants and surveil journalists.
In May 2018, former Senate Intelligence Committee staffer James Wolfe was charged with lying to federal agents about his communication with journalists. Wolfe has not been charged with leaking any classified information to journalists, though he was interviewed by federal agents as part of an investigation into classified leaks.
Michael Sokolove, a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine, and Ann Gerhart, a senior editor-at-large for The Washington Post, were questioned about their politics and work by a Customs and Border Protection officer when returning to the United States on June 16, 2018.
Sokolove told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he and his spouse, Gerhart, had landed at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey after a trip to the Caribbean island of Anguilla. Sokolove said that they both had listed “journalist” as their profession on their immigration forms, as usual.
They approached the customs desk together and handed the CBP officer their immigration forms, Gerhart said. She told the Tracker that the officer asked the usual questions of “Where were you?” and “What do you do?” But when they said they were journalists, Gerhart said, he asked who they worked for.
When they told him their media organizations, Gerhart said the agent responded that it was a “dangerous time to be a journalist.”
A remark, Gerhart said, she didn’t read as sympathetic.
Sokolove said that the officer might have asked a few other questions about their work, but that the next thing he remembers distinctly is the officer asking them what they thought of President Donald Trump.
“We both said a version of, ‘It’s not our job to have opinions about President Trump or to express them. We’re journalists, we just report the news,’” Sokolove told the Tracker. “Then I made the mistake of saying, ‘I think this family separation [policy] is really troublesome.’ I think that’s the word I used: I said I was troubled by it.”
At that point, Sokolove said, the officer became “very aggressive.”
“He said, ‘Well, I think you really ought to give him a chance and this country has to come together.’ And he just started expressing his own political views that the press was too aggressive with the president, too critical of the president, and we really ought to ‘fall in line and come together.’”
Gerhart told the Tracker that they passed through the checkpoint without further incident, but after the interaction “I was initially flabbergasted and then after that I was shaken by it.”
“I was quite taken aback to be coming back into the United States as a US-citizen—or really anyone—and be asked for what I took to be some kind of political fealty, if you will.”
Sokolove said the interaction left him shocked as well.
“I just found it appalling,” Sokolove said, “that upon coming back into this country with my U.S. passport that because I was a journalist I would be asked by an immigration officer what I thought about the president and then told exactly how we ought to be writing about him.”
Michael Nigro, a freelance photojournalist on assignment for Truthdig, was arrested while covering a Poor People’s Campaign demonstration in Jefferson City, Missouri, on June 11, 2018.
Nigro has been covering the Poor People’s Campaign — a 40-day series of protests and civil disobedience actions in different cities across the country — since it began on May 14. On June 11, he was in Jefferson City, documenting a civil disobedience action in which a number of protesters planned to sit down in the middle of the street and be arrested.
Nigro is a multimedia journalist who takes still photographs and livestreams events. He’s mounted his iPhone on top of his DSLR camera, a Canon 5D Mark III, so that he can take high-quality still photos while at the same time streaming to the public exactly what he sees in real-time. On June 11, he was wearing press credentials — both a New York City government press card and a Truthdig press pass — that clearly identified him as a journalist.
Nigro believes that his arrest was unjustified and that the Jefferson City police knew that he was a journalist.
“When people are performing acts of civil disobedience, I have every right as a journalist to document it, as long as I am not in the police officers’ way, which I was not,” he said.
Nigro’s June 11 livestream shows demonstrators marching toward the Missouri state capitol building and then the Missouri Chamber of Commerce. After arriving at the Chamber of Commerce building, a few dozen protesters — all wearing gold armbands, a sign that they plan to perform an act of civil disobedience and face arrest — walk onto East Capitol Avenue, link arms, and sit down.
As police officers arrive to arrest the demonstrators, Nigro walks around them to photograph the arrests. One officer spots Nigro and orders him to get onto the sidewalk.
“You got it, you got it,” Nigro says, backing up toward the sidewalk.
After backing up to the sidewalk curb, Nigro approaches a second officer to ask about the arrests.
“Back onto the sidewalk!” the second officer barks through a bullhorn. “That’s your last warning. Everybody’s got to be up on the curb.”
The first officer then runs toward Nigro.
“Turn around,” the officer says. “You’re under arrest, my man.”
“Call my editors!” Nigro says as he’s arrested. “Call my editors, please”
“I’m not resisting,” he says to the officer arresting him. “I’m just trying to do my job.”
The officer escorts Nigro to a nearby police van, where other officers handcuff him and take down his name and birthdate. The arresting officer hands Nigro’s equipment — camera, phone, and backpack — over to other officers and tells them, “it’s evidence.” The livestream continues for a few minutes after Nigro is arrested, as police search his backpack.
Nigro said that he was kept in the police van for about an hour and then taken to the police precinct. Nigro said that he was concerned for his safety while riding in the van, since officers never strapped him into his seat.
“At one point, they started to move the van and I was not tied in,” he said. “The guy leaned back and said, ‘Are you OK?’ I said, ‘Yeah but I’m not strapped in.’ He said, ‘We’re not going anywhere, just moving backward.’ About an hour later, they took me to the precinct but never strapped me in.”
When he got to the precinct, he said, he was processed and put in a holding cell for about half an hour, before being released on a $545 bail.
All of Nigro’s equipment — including his iPhone, Canon 5D Mark III camera, two camera lenses (a 24–70mm standard lens and a Sony A7ii 70–200mm zoom lens), and notebook — was returned to him when he was released. He said that it was clear that the police had searched his equipment, though nothing appeared to be damaged and none of the photos on his phone or camera had been deleted.
Nigro was charged with “failure to obey” and given a ticket to appear in a Jefferson City court at 8:13 a.m. on July 11, 2018.
The Kansas City Star reported that Nigro was one of 76 people arrested in connection with the June 11 protests, and that everyone arrested was issued a citation that carries a maximum penalty of 90 days in jail or a $1,000 fine.
This is not the only time that Nigro was arrested while covering a protest. In 2016, he said, he was arrested by an NYPD officer while documenting an anti-Trump march in New York City.
Police officers in Jefferson City, Missouri, arrest photojournalist Michael Nigro, on June 11, 2018.
",arrested and released,charges dropped,Jefferson City Police Department,None,None,False,None,None,None,returned in full,False,law enforcement,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,protest,failure to obey,,,, Reporter John Harvey arrested and cited for ‘disorderly conduct’ at Pennsylvania State Capitol,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-john-harvey-arrested-and-cited-disorderly-conduct-pennsylvania-state-capitol/,2018-12-06 20:37:37.566155+00:00,2022-05-12 22:40:42.416847+00:00,2022-05-12 22:40:42.344529+00:00,,Arrest/Criminal Charge,"Video footage of the incident (https://www.facebook.com/PennsylvaniaPPC/videos/1869816743311626/), Nine arrested at Poor People's Campaign rally at the state Capitol (https://www.pennlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2018/06/nine_arrested_at_poor_peoples.html) via Penn Live",,,John Harvey (Democracy Watch News),,2018-06-11,False,Harrisburg,Pennsylvania (PA),40.2737,-76.88442,"Democracy Watch News journalist John Harvey was arrested at the Pennsylvania State Capitol Complex in Harrisburg, while filming a sit-in on June 11, 2018.
The sit-in was part of the “Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival,” which carried out a series of nonviolent demonstrations across the country during the summer of 2018.
On June 11, the Poor People’s Campaign was in its fifth consecutive week of activity at the Pennsylvania capitol building, according to PennLive.com.
Harvey was one of nine people arrested and cited for disorderly conduct during the protest which occurred just outside the entrance to the House Chamber, according to PennLive.com.
Video of the incident show Harvey filming the initial arrests while standing along a banister with other reporters a short distance from the entryway.
According to Harvey, the protesters had already performed a number of actions at the Capitol that day without incident.
“I’m not sure exactly why at that point they [Capitol police] decided they were going to remove these protesters that were performing the sit in, as they’d had various other opportunities to do so,” Harvey told Freedom of the Press Foundation.
After the first demonstrators are lead away in plastic cuffs, Harvey can be seen moving slightly forward for an unobstructed view of the final arrests of two older protesters, including an elderly woman with a walker. As she is slowly lead away, Harvey told Freedom of the Press Foundation he was shoved and accosted by a stranger who scuffled him against a wall.
“This guy he’s screaming, he’s screaming, he’s screaming,” Harvey said, “Well, by then why would I even think he’s a cop? I think he’s some lunatic who feels that my coverage of this poor people’s event is incorrect or it’s bringing attention to them that shouldn’t be brought to them.”
Harvey said he’s been attacked a number of times by people for doing his job as a journalist and assumed this was another such incident.
Video footage shows a man in a taupe blazer and tie repeatedly yelling “knock it off” while grabbing Harvey’s left arm and wrist and pressing him back against the wall. The man also shouts “What’s wrong with you?” at Harvey, who can be heard replying, “What’s wrong with you?”
Harvey attempts to point his camera toward the man, but he shoves it away. After Harvey shows the man his press pass, the man can be heard saying he is aware Harvey is a journalist.
“I understand that,” he says. “I’m asking you to keep it clear, for our guys. Now take it easy. Do not block our officers. Do not stand in back of them. Ok? Knock it off.”
Harvey told Freedom of the Press Foundation this was the first time the man indicated he was police officer.
Another officer then tells Harvey to stand against the wall, which he does.
“I’m thinking ‘Ok, fine,’ tell me to stand there and I’ll stand there and film from there. All you need to do is tell me,” Harvey said.
Harvey resumes filming the protesters when another officer is beckoned over and instructed to remove Harvey, which he does along with a Capitol police officer. That officer places Harvey in a wrist lock.
As Harvey is led away, he momentarily films the officer who has placed him in a wrist lock before the officer pushes the camera away. Harvey said he was lead to a room with other protesters, where he waited a significant period of time before officers were able to complete their citations.
Harvey, who was at the Capitol to cover a Healthcare Services Employees Union sleep-in later that night, was barred from the Capitol for the rest of day.
“Gosh, now I have to head back to Pittsburgh, because what I went out there for I can’t do anymore,” Harvey said.
Harvey says the citation was eventually dropped, and he is currently pursuing a number of Freedom of Information Act requests into how new officers are trained as well as officer guidelines for interacting with the press.
“I was placed in a handlock and lead off when those sitting-in weren’t, and I really feel that was an abuse of power,” Harvey said.
“In terms of press freedoms I think it’s inappropriate, because it means that anyone that goes to the Capitol to report on something can be arrested and banned from the Capitol for the day for doing nothing other than their job.”
Harrisburg Capitol police spokesman Troy Thompson did not respond to requests for comment.
Screencap from video footage recorded of the incident.
James Wolfe, the longtime director of security for the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, was indicted on June 7, 2018, on three counts of making false statements to FBI agents, who had interviewed him while investigating leaks of classified information to journalists. On June 8, the indictment was unsealed.
According to the unsealed indictment, FBI agents interviewed Wolfe in December 2017 and asked him whether he had been in contact with any reporters, whether he had personal or professional relationships with any reporters, and whether he had given information (classified or unclassified) to reporters that he was not authorized to disclose. According to the indictment, Wolfe falsely told the FBI that he had not.
The indictment states that he specifically denied knowing Ali Watkins, a national security reporter who currently works at The New York Times and previously worked at BuzzFeed and Politico. When FBI agents later showed Wolfe a photo of him with Watkins, he admitted that he had been in a personal relationship with her for three years, but said that he had not disclosed any confidential information to her.
According to the Times, the Department of Justice informed Watkins in February that it had seized years’ worth of her phone and email records as part of its investigation into the leaks. Although the Justice Department did not obtain the content of her phone calls, texts, and emails, it did obtain all of the metadata — which reveals who she was in contact with and when she was in contact with them. The Justice Department cited some of those records in the indictment to establish that Wolfe and Watkins spoke to one another shortly before and after she published major stories.
So far, Wolfe has not been charged with disclosing classified information to Watkins or any other reporters.
The FBI initially interviewed Wolfe as part of an investigation into leaks of classified information to reporters, but the grand jury only indicted him on charges of lying to FBI agents. It did not indict him on any charges of disclosing classified information. In a press release announcing the indictment, the Department of Justice only alleged that Wolfe had leaked “sensitive and confidential” information, not classified information. Watkins told the Times that Wolfe was not a source of classified information for her.
Wolfe is the third person since Trump took office to be prosecuted in connection with a leak investigation. In June 2017, NSA contractor Reality Winner was accused of sending news organization The Intercept a classified document about the NSA’s investigation into Russian hacking attempts. In March 2018, former FBI agent Terry Albury was accused of sending The Intercept classified documents that instruct FBI agents on how to cultivate informants and surveil journalists.
Both Winner and Albury were charged under the Espionage Act — a century-old law originally targeted at foreign spies that has more been used to prosecute people who give classified information to journalists. Albury took a plea deal, while Winner has continued to fight her case, while repeatedly being denied bail.
Freelance journalist Scott Preston was stopped for secondary screening at U.S. Customs and Border Protection preclearance in Beirut, Lebanon, on June 6, 2018, while en route to Chicago from the United Arab Emirates.
Preston told the Committee to Protect Journalists that he had been through “special security treatment” in the past, but that this incident stood out. When passing through the screening area, CBP officers asked what he did and why he was traveling to the United States, then directed him to secondary screening.
Though Preston had previously passed through security, he told CPJ that he was directed through a second metal detector, patted down and taken to a separate room with multiple security cameras and an officer sitting behind a desk. Taking notes on a computer, the CBP officer asked Preston to account for as much of his four years in Lebanon as possible and about all of the countries where he had traveled and reported.
The officer also asked Preston for proof of his publications and how he “really” earned money: Preston said the officer seemed to not believe that it was economically feasible for him to rely on freelancing alone. The officer kept insisting that point until Preston said he had a roommate with whom he split living expenses, to which the officer responded, “Ah, that makes more sense.”
Preston pulled up his resume on his laptop to prove that he was a journalist and provide the officer with proof of his publications. While his laptop was open, the officer also asked Preston for information about his social media use, including what his handle and usernames were, and asked him to pull them up.
Preston told CPJ that the officer did not ask to see his cell phone, and at no point were any of his electronic devices removed from his sight.
After approximately 20 minutes of questioning, Preston was allowed to leave. He told CPJ that he was in secondary screening for around 45 minutes to an hour.
As part of an ongoing defamation suit, an attorney representing Aaron Rich — brother of murdered Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich — subpoenaed Twitter for account information of numerous accounts, including several journalists and media outlets.
Aaron Rich named Texas businessman Ed Butowsky, America First Media Group and its founder Matt Couch and The Washington Times newspaper in the March 2018 lawsuit, following debunked reports that Seth Rich had been involved with the 2016 DNC email leaks prior to his death.
Filed on June 6, 2018, the subpoena commands Twitter to produce account data, documents and communications concerning Seth Rich or his family, the DNC, the defendants, and individuals, outlets and phrases connected with the alleged defamatory reporting from identified “primary” and “secondary” accounts. The list of primary accounts, which predominantly consists of the defendants, also includes The Gateway Pundit and its reporter Cassandra Fairbanks, and WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange. The secondary accounts are all those that interacted with the primary accounts via tweet, re-tweet, direct message or reply from Jan. 1, 2015, to the date of the subpoena.
Twitter was initially given until June 15 to produce all responsive documents. The Gateway Pundit reported that Twitter sent letters notifying accounts implicated in the subpoena.
Reporter Fairbanks told Law & Crime the subpoena was a “gross and far reaching violation of privacy.”
It is unclear whether Twitter turned over documents or communications in accordance with the subpoena or a court order, and Twitter declined to comment on whether it opposed the subpoena. The social media company has objected to similar subpoenas in other instances.
A portion of the subpoena demanding Twitter account information
,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,journalist communications or work product,['UNKNOWN'],None,None,Twitter,tech company,subpoena,None,"America First Media Group, Gateway Pundit, The Washington Times, WikiLeaks",,,,,, Jersey City removes over 240 community newspaper boxes from streets,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/jersey-city-removes-over-240-community-newspaper-boxes-streets/,2018-07-20 18:49:53.018547+00:00,2018-07-30 18:26:24.435793+00:00,2018-07-30 18:26:17.566790+00:00,(2018-07-13 14:33:00+00:00) Mayor reverses policy,Other Incident,"Jersey City Mayor Clears Hundreds Of Free Newspaper Boxes, Outraging Community Papers (http://gothamist.com/2018/06/12/jersey_city_mayor_news_boxes.php) via Gothamist, Dear Steven Fulop, Kindly Return Our News Box (https://indypendent.org/2018/06/dear-steven-fulop-kindly-return-our-newsbox/) via Indypendent, Indy Associate Editor Arrested Protesting for Free Speech (https://indypendent.org/2018/06/indy-associate-editor-arrested-protesting-for-free-speech/) via Indypendent, Cops arrest newspaper editor who is clashing with Fulop (https://www.nj.com/jjournal-news/index.ssf/2018/06/cops_arrest_newspaper_editor_w.html) via NJ.com, Jersey City News Box Victory! (https://indypendent.org/2018/06/jersey-city-news-box-victory/) via Indypendent",,,,,2018-06-04,True,Jersey City,New Jersey (NJ),40.72816,-74.07764,"In early June 2018, the city of Jersey City removed over 240 community newspaper distribution boxes from the city’s streets. In a tweet, Jersey City mayor Steven Fulop announced that the city was removing the newspaper boxes because they were cluttering the city's sidewalks.
For #JerseyCity residents: We continue to remove these from the streets as many are non functioning, they clutter the sidewalks, and many just become trash cans. We have 240 so far w/more to do. If we accidentally took one that has permits to be there please reach out to DPW pic.twitter.com/ecfVn4L4rn
— Steven Fulop (@StevenFulop) June 4, 2018
The city’s new policy came as a surprise to newspaper publishers.
Anthony Ibarria, general manager of Hispanic weekly paper El Especialito, told Gothamist that no one called the paper before seizing its boxes.
Peter Rugh, an associate editor at The Indypendent — a community paper based in Brooklyn with a paper box in Jersey City — told the Freedom of the Press Foundation that his publication was not contacted prior to the removal of its box, even though it prominently displays contact information.
“News boxes have been on the streets for decades unperturbed, including the first five years the mayor has been in office,” he said.
Rugh sees the removal of the boxes as a threat to press freedom.
“[The removal] sets a dangerous precedent — not only for the press but for the public who rely on the coverage we provide to stay informed and make decisions regarding, among other things, who to vote for,” he said. “People say print is dying but remaining a print publication allows us to reach an audience who might never stumble upon us online, many of whom do not have regular access to the web. It should be very troubling to people that the mayor has created a newspaper blackout because he didn't like the way the dispensers look.”
The mayor has said that newspapers with special permits will be able to keep their newspaper boxes on the street — but there is currently no way for newspapers to apply for permits for newspaper boxes.
Fulop did not respond to a request from Freedom of the Press Foundation for comment, but Jersey City Press Secretary Hannah Peterson confirmed that the city has not yet implemented a formal permitting process for newspaper boxes.
She said that the Jersey City city council plans to pass a measure in the future to establish a permit process.
Peterson defended the city’s new policy, saying that the boxes were cluttering the streets and also posed a potential “security risk” since dangerous items could be hidden in them.
“The same way that the city is concerned with open trash cans in terms of large amounts of people gathering, you don’t anywhere where anything could be hidden,” she said.
Peterson said she did not know whether the city had received complaints from the public that the boxes cluttered the streets or posed a security risk. She did not provide an answer when asked whether the city intends to take similar measures for other facilities in public spaces like clothing donation boxes and planters.
She did not provide an explanation as to why news organizations were not notified about the city’s new policy.
Portland Mercury reporter Kelly Kenoyer was shoved while covering a far right rally in Portland, Oregon, on June 3, 2018.
“It was a scary experience—the first violent protest I've covered, and I had a bit of that violence directed at me,” she wrote in a piece for Portland Mercury.
Kenoyer told Freedom of the Press Foundation that she began covering the Patriot Prayer rally around 4 p.m., at which point there were around 20 people aligned with the far-right Patriot Prayer group and over 100 anti-fascist protesters present.
While filming a verbal confrontation between a Patriot Prayer demonstrator and a counter-protester, she said, a Patriot Prayer protester tried to grab her phone and shoved her backwards.
Kenoyer was able to film part of the altercation and later posted the video on Twitter.
This observer came to my defense when a guy pushed me in the face with a middle finger. pic.twitter.com/TTn1O9s9Zu
— 🌤Kelly Kenoyer☀️ (@Kelly_Kenoyer) June 4, 2018
“As [I filmed], the man (a masked up guy on the Patriot Prayer side), flipped me off, directing that hand towards the phone,” Kenoyer said. “Then he pushed his hand into my phone, shoving it into the side of my head/face, and pushed me over.”
After being pushed, Kenoyer identified herself as a reporter, and a bystander approached to try to defuse the situation. Kenoyer said that the man who shoved her and another Patriot Prayer demonstrator then then began yelling at the bystander.
“Things escalated from there and I ended up getting shoved backwards — I think they shoved the bystander into me,” she said. “I stumbled backwards and a random counter-protester caught me. He apologized for touching me and said he wanted to make sure I didn’t fall.”
Kenoyer said she felt frazzled after the altercation and took a moment to gather herself back together before getting back to work.
She said that she does not think that anyone was specifically targeting reporters for harassment, but protesters on both sides objected to being filmed.
"Neither side particularly wanted to be filmed," she said. "Antifa activists also told me not to film, though they didn’t physically assault me over it.”
Kenoyer also noted that a different Patriot Prayer member filmed her and said, “You like that, bitch?!” She clarified later that day to the woman that she was a reporter.
Last year, Kenoyer was also signaled out and threatened by right wingers on social media after writing for Eugene Weekly about the impacts of doxxing by the right on anti-fascist activists.
On May 30, 2018, independent journalist Zack Stoner was shot and killed while driving in downtown Chicago, Illinois. Authorities have not said publicly whether they believe that the murder is connected to Stoner’s work.
WGN reports that Stoner was last seen alive around 1 a.m. in the early hours of May 30th, when he left a rap concert at Refuge, a club in downtown Chicago. Around 1:30 a.m., he was driving his Jeep down Clark Street in the South Loop neighborhood in Chicago when unknown assailants in a second vehicle pulled alongside him and opened fire.
The bullets struck Stoner in the head and neck, causing him to drive onto a curb and crash into a light pole. He was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in critical condition, but was declared dead at 4:20 a.m., according to a log from the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Videos recorded by bystanders immediately after the shooting show three cars — Stoner’s Jeep, a wrecked Chevy Caprice, and a third car — and a group of people running to the third car. One of the persons in the video can be heard shouting, “Let’s go!”
Stoner, who grew up in a poor suburb of Chicago, ran a Youtube channel called “ZackTV1,” which had over 170,000 followers at the time of his death. On his channel, he posted exclusive interviews with underground hip hop artists and members of local gangs. Though some of his videos were controversial — a few mentioned conspiracy theories and others featured young men throwing gang signs and threatening their rivals — his friends and associates said that he always tried to remain neutral in gang disputes and was willing to interview anyone.
“He wasn’t in any gangs and he would and could literally go into any hood with his camera and get nothing but love,” music studio owner JP Lee told the Chicago Sun-Times.
“I’m hearing stories like they may have been mad at him because he did interviews with certain rappers," Stoner’s friend Phor Robinson told WGN. "But that’s not his fault for him doing his job. I don’t know why anyone would attack Zack and shoot him. He’s not that type. He shows love to everybody in Chicago.”
Morgan Elise Johnson, co-founder and creative director of the Chicago-based publication The Triibe, met with Stoner and his business partner Tony Woods a month before Stoner’s death to discuss a potential partnership.
“His voice was so powerful in the hood, and I don’t know if that power had something to do with his death,” Johnson told the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Stoner received threats related to his reporting, particularly his coverage of the death of Kenneka Jenkins, a teenage girl. On Sept. 10, 2017, Jenkins was found dead in a walk-in freezer at the Crowne Plaza O’Hare Hotel, where she had attended a party the night before. Although the death was ultimately ruled an accident, it sparked a massive social media frenzy and numerous conspiracy theories.
Stoner interviewed some of Jenkins’ friends who were with her the night that she died, but initially did not post the videos. In Oct. 2017, he received a threatening phone call from an anonymous woman, who warned him to “leave the case alone… leave it alone for your safety.” At the time, Stoner said that he would not post interviews related to the case because his house had been broken into, his camera gear stolen, and he was receiving threatening phone calls and emails. But in late November, he finally published the videos.
In April 2018, freelance journalist Charles Preston profiled Stoner for the Chicago Defender.
“Stoner documents what others neglect and repeatedly interviews personalities who many had hoped would never grace a camera,” Preston wrote. “His videos are not fluffy, glitzy, and sentimental documentary shorts; on the contrary, they are more like visceral punches to the gut that can leave you either inspired for change or disturbed by reality. He has given the city’s most controversial artists their first on-camera interviews and covered neighborhoods where news reporters keep their news trucks running.”
"I wanted to show the world what the other side of Chicago looks like…our culture — the way we dress, what we eat, how we talk, how we walk,” Stoner told Preston.
"A lot of people respect what I do," he added. "I'm the 'Hood CNN.'"
The profile also highlighted Stoner’s involvement in community service work.
“People don’t see what he does behind the scenes,” Woods, Stoner’s mentor, told the Defender. “There have been many occasions where a guy will call Zack on his way ride on his opps (Chicago slang for enemies) and Zack would talk him down. The brother has a jail phone. He sends money to incarcerated brothers and takes care of their families. People don’t get to see that side of it. They assume because he’s interviewing [members of rival gangs] the GD's or BD's that he’s fanning the flames and that’s not the case.”
Shortly after Stoner’s death was confirmed, Preston said on Twitter that Stoner had discussed the possibility of working with the Chicago Defender to create a documentary series about violence in Chicago.
Last time I talked to Zack, he was at Sip and Savor on 43rd. He was happy to be the first Chicago journalist to interview openly gay rapper @KiddoKenn. He told me that he wanted to do more docu-series on Chicago's violence.
— Charles Preston (@_CharlesPreston) May 30, 2018
After I interviewed Zack for the Defender, I then introduced him to Frances Jackson, the boss at the time. I showed her his videos. She said "Let's do a docu-series with him." He thought he broke through. Two weeks later she was let go. He was really trying to get out the streets
— Charles Preston (@_CharlesPreston) May 30, 2018
Zack Stoner (left) poses with Mexican hip hop artist Blackxicano, after interviewing him for his YouTube channel "ZackTV1," in April 2018.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"killed, shot / shot at",,,,, Oberlin College subpoenas local newspaper editor in defamation suit,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/oberlin-college-subpoenas-local-newspaper-editor-defamation-suit/,2018-11-30 03:15:46.565780+00:00,2020-03-19 20:20:16.186825+00:00,2020-03-19 20:20:16.046496+00:00,,Subpoena/Legal Order,"Oberlin College goes after another news organization’s communications (https://legalinsurrection.com/2018/07/oberlin-college-goes-after-another-news-organizations-communications/) via Legal Insurrection, Court: Oberlin College can’t question journalist as to sources in Gibson’s Bakery case (https://legalinsurrection.com/2018/08/court-oberlin-college-cant-question-journalist-as-to-sources-in-gibsons-bakery-case/) via Legal Insurrection",,,Jason Hawk (Oberlin News Tribune),,2018-05-30,False,Oberlin,Ohio (OH),41.29394,-82.21738,"On May 30, 2018, attorneys for Oberlin College in Ohio subpoenaed local newspaper editor Jason Hawk to testify about his confidential sources.
Hawk, the editor of the Oberlin News Tribune, had reported in November 2016 on protests outside of Gibson’s Bakery, a local bakery that Oberlin College administrators and students accused of racial discrimination. In November 2017, the bakery sued Oberlin College in state court for defamation.
As part of the defamation suit, Oberlin’s attorneys subpoenaed Gibson’s Bakery for records of its communications with journalists, including Hawk. When that subpoena was denied, Oberlin’s attorneys subpoenaed Hawk directly, ordering him to testify at a deposition on June 27, 2018. (Oberlin's attorneys also subpoenaed William Jacobson, a legal blogger who had written extensively about the defamation suit.)
During the June 27 deposition, Hawk refused to answer many questions, citing his reporter’s privilege not to divulge information about his sources.
Neither Oberlin’s attorneys nor Hawk’s attorneys were happy with the deposition. Oberlin’s attorneys asked the court to force Hawk to answer more questions about what he witnessed at the protest, while Hawk’s attorneys asked the court to quash the subpoena.
On Aug. 22, the court ruled that Oberlin could not ask Hawk questions about his sources, but Hawk did have to answer questions about what he witnessed during the protest.
Mhamed Krichen, anchor and program host for Al Jazeera and board member for the Committee to Protect Journalists, was stopped by U.S. Customs and Border Protection when flying in to JFK Airport in New York, on May 23, 2018.
Krichen — who has previously reported for Reuters, Radio Tunis, MBC, and BBC Arabic — was flying to New York from Doha, Qatar, in order to attend a CPJ board meeting. He landed at the airport at around 8:45 a.m. He said that he presented a CBP agent with his Tunisian passport, bearing a B1 U.S. visa, and was directed to secondary screening. The officer, whom Krichen told CPJ was consistently polite and kind to him, then led him through a police area, fingerprinted him, and accompanied him to the baggage claim area. While waiting for the bags, the officer flipped through his passport —which is three, thoroughly stamped passports glued together — and asked him why he travels so much. He simply responded, “I am a journalist.”
Once Krichen retrieved his luggage, the officer ushered him into an interview room and began asking him for personal details, including his wife’s name and birthdate, her workplace, her nationality, their full home address, and his contact information. Krichen said that the officer also asked about his work — where he has traveled and why, the names of the programs he hosts, the topics they cover, and who he has interviewed. After these “typical” background questions, Krichen said, the officer’s questions turned to terrorism, “which he seemed obsessed with.”
The officer asked if he’d had any relationship with an individual involved with terrorism, interviewed someone accused of terrorism, or had any relationship with someone suspected of terrorism. Krichen said that he pulled out his phone and unlocked it to double check the name of a former colleague — Sami al-Hadj — who had been arrested in Afghanistan and detained in Guantanamo Bay for six years. Krichen had interviewed al-Hadj about his time in the prison.
After asking once again if Krichen had any relationships with individuals suspected of or involved in terrorism, the officer and Krichen went through his suitcases, piece by piece. After that, Krichen said, the officer asked to see Krichen's unlocked cell phone. The officer asked Krichen if he uses his full name on Facebook and Twitter (he does) and then led him out to a waiting room while the officer walked to a nearby counter to examine the phone. Krichen said that he was able to observe the officer swiping through his phone for five to seven minutes, but he couldn’t see what the officer was browsing through.
Afterward, the officer made a call — Krichen told CPJ it appeared that he was calling a supervisor — and spoke on the phone for approximately ten minutes, all the while flipping through the notes he had taken during his interview of Krichen. Immediately after hanging up the phone, the officer stamped Krichen’s passport, returned his phone, and told him he was free to leave. Krichen said that the entire incident took about an hour.
Krichen told CPJ he considered asking why he had been stopped in the first place, as the officer never offered any explanation or apology for stopping him, but he decided against it. He said that he assumes he was selected at random, in part because he doesn’t want “to play the victim or the martyr.”
“I’m just glad I was only traveling with my phone and not my laptop,” Krichen said, “because they might’ve tried to search that too.”
According to a CBP directive released in January 2018, travelers are “obligated” to turn over their unlocked and unencrypted devices to CBP agents, who may perform “basic” searches of electronic devices without cause. The CBP directive states that “advanced,” or forensic, searches require “reasonable suspicion of activity in violation of the laws enforced or administered by CBP,” but basic lawful searches using less . The Supreme Court has upheld the so-called “border search exception” to the Fourth Amendment’s protections against unreasonable searches and seizures, though it has not specifically ruled on the consitutionality of searches conducted in accordance with CBP's January 2018 directive.
On May 22, 2018, security guards at the Environmental Protection Agency prevented a number of journalists from entering a building where EPA administrator Scott Pruitt was giving a speech. The Associated Press reporter Ellen Knickmeyer said that when she asked to speak with someone from the EPA’s press office about the denial of access, one of the security guards grabbed her shoulders and physically pushed her out of the building.
On May 22, Pruitt delivered opening remarks at a two-day summit to discuss a certain class of chemicals — known as perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS — that have contaminated drinking water in many areas of the country. It was held at William Jefferson Clinton South, a building on the EPA’s campus in Washington, D.C. The plan was for the first hour of the summit, including Pruitt’s remarks, to be open to the press and livestreamed to the public, and for the rest of the summit to be closed to the press.
When Knickmeyer, an AP journalist who writes about the EPA, tried to enter the EPA building around 7:35 a.m. to report on the summit, security guards said that she was not on the invite list and refused to let her in.
The @AP, @CNN and E&E all showed up to cover this @EPA meeting on widespread, dangerous contaminants in many drinking water systems around the country. We were all turned away at the door of the EPA building. https://t.co/j8JthyiM3k
— Ellen Knickmeyer (@KnickmeyerEllen) May 22, 2018
Knickmeyer did not respond to a request for comment, but the AP's David Bauder reported on what happened to his colleague:
Knickmeyer said she called Monday about the event and was told by EPA spokesman Jahan Wilcox that it was invitation-only and there was no room for her. She said she showed up anyway, and was told by a security guard that she couldn’t enter. She said she asked to speak to a representative from the press office, was refused and told to get out. Photos of the event showed several empty seats.
After security told her that “we can make you get out,” Knickmeyer said she took out her phone to record what was happening. Some of the security guards reached for it, and a woman grabbed her shoulders from behind and pushed her about five feet out the door.
EPA blocks some media from summit, then reverses course (AP)
At least two other journalists witnessed what happened to Knickmeyer.
Both Garret Ellison, of the Grand Rapids Press in Michigan, and Jonathan Salant, of NJ Advance Media, were invited to cover the summit, since PFAS contamination is an issue in both states. Ellison told the Freedom of the Press Foundation that he has extensively covered PFAS issues in Michigan, and he worked with the EPA’s regional office in Chicago to attend and cover the summit.
Ellison told the Freedom of the Press Foundation that he saw Knickmeyer standing off to the side of the entrance and then heard security guards yell at her and saw one push her out the door. Salant said that he tried to assist Knickmeyer, even giving her the number of an EPA press contact, but that the security guards refused to let her call anyone.
"The problem was the security guards did not allow her time to clear up what could have been a simple misunderstanding before physically evicting her," he said. "In fact, I gave the AP reporter the name and number of the press officer who were told to call in case we were accidentally not on the list."
Ellison said that after Knickmeyer was pushed out the door, EPA press secretary Michael Abboud, accompanied by EPA press officers, escorted him and Salant into the summit.
He said that when he asked the group of EPA officials about what had happened with Knickmeyer, one of the press officers shrugged and said, “They weren’t invited.”
Emily Holden, an environmental reporter at Politico who was also invited to the summit, entered shortly after Knickmeyer. She said on Twitter that she overheard one of the EPA security guards talk about how they threw Knickmeyer out of the building after she said that she would start filming.
As I was walked into the chemicals summit at EPA today, a security guard joked about how she warned @KnickmeyerEllen that she couldn't film as she was being told to leave the agency and barred from entering the event https://t.co/zCol0I7bCV
— Emily Holden (@emilyhholden) May 22, 2018
Knickmeyer was not the only reporter prevented from covering the summit.
Corbin Hiar, who covers chemical issues for E&E, told the Freedom of the Press Foundation that he had emailed the EPA’s press office in advance of the summit to ask about covering it, but that he never heard back.
He said that he arrived at the designated press entrance to the summit around 7:50 a.m., he saw that the security guards were checking journalists’ names against a printed list. Since his name was not on the list, he was not admitted. After being denied access to the summit, he emailed an EPA press officer and said that security would not let him in. He received no response.
CNN's Rene Marsh was also barred from entering the summit.
“Today, CNN was turned away from covering the PFAS National Leadership Summit at the EPA after multiple attempts to attend,” the network said in a statement. “While several news organizations were permitted, the EPA selectively excluded CNN and other media outlets. We understand the importance of an open and free press and we hope the EPA does, too.”
Sharon Meyer, an environmental reporter for The Intercept, said on Twitter that the EPA refused to grant her access to cover the summit despite her asking months in advance.
I asked about attending this meeting months ago and was not granted access despite having written about #PFAS for 3 yrs https://t.co/eRODXafSUy @EPA: how did you choose which reporters got to attend? https://t.co/wauU36KN1b via @nbcnews
— Sharon Lerner (@fastlerner) May 22, 2018
The EPA, which did not respond to a request for comment from the Freedom of the Press Foundation, offered various justifications for its treatment of Knickmeyer and other reporters.
EPA spokesman Jahan Wilcox said in a statement that there was no room for Knickmeyer and other journalists to attend.
“This was simply an issue of the room reaching capacity, which reporters were aware of prior to the event,” he said. We were able to accommodate 10 news outlets and provided a livestream for those we could not accommodate.”
Meanwhile, EPA communications official Andrea Drinkard told Politico both that the meeting was already at capacity when Knickmeyer tried to enter and also that the meeting’s attendees did not feel comfortable with any press attending the summit.
It is not clear whether the room was actually at capacity. The Hill's Miranda Green, who was invited to cover the summit, reported that a number of the chairs reserved for members of the media remained empty.
Addressing the treatment of Knickmeyer, Wilcox initially told Axios that he was “unaware of the individual situation that has been reported” and later told NBC News that Knickmeyer had threatened “negative coverage” if she was not let in.
In a statement released late Tuesday evening, Wilcox claimed that Knickmeyer "pushed through the security entrance." After the AP objected to that characterization, he released another statement, which said that Knickmeyer "showed up at EPA but refused to leave the building after being asked to do so."
According to the AP, an aide to Pruitt eventually called Knickmeyer to personally apologize for the way that she was treated.
Following public outcry, the EPA reversed its earlier limitations on press access to the summit. Around 12 p.m. on May 22, the agency announced that the second part of the summit — which ran from 1 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. and was originally closed to the press and the public — would be open to all journalists.
This is a total 180 from the statement EPA gave earlier that space restraints limited attendance.
— Miranda Green (@mirandacgreen) May 22, 2018
Now appears any outlet who wants to attend the second half of the hearing can. (It was previously opened to no press) https://t.co/Vwp8RRhCqQ
The AP praised the new policy.
"We are pleased that the EPA has reconsidered its decision and will now allow AP to attend the remainder of today’s meeting," an AP spokeswoman said in a statement. "The AP looks forward to informing the public of the important discussions at the water contaminants summit."
But when Wilcox released a statement announcing the new press access policy, he blamed journalists for taking up seats at the summit that could otherwise have gone to other attendees.
"When we were made aware of the incident, we displaced stakeholders to the overflow room who flew to Washington for this meeting so that every member of the press could have a seat,” he said.
The summit was particularly newsworthy in light of recent reports that top EPA officials tried to block the release of a damaging report from the federal government’s Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. That report, which still has not been released to the public, reportedly concluded that four PFAS chemicals are more harmful than the EPA has publicly acknowledged.
This is not the first time that the EPA has excluded journalists from covering Pruitt's speeches.
On Dec. 1, 2017, InsideSources Iowa reporter Ethan Stoetzer was covering a Pruitt speech at the Couser Cattle Company, in Nevada, Iowa, when he was approached by a local sheriff's deputy and ordered to leave the premises.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Pruitt escorted Ellison and Salant into the summit. In fact, the two journalists were escorted by EPA press secretary Michael Abboud and two EPA press officers.
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt testifies before a Senate hearing on an EPA budget proposal, on May 16, 2018, in Washington, D.C.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,,"Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt" Press-Enterprise reporters subpoenaed to testify in Pennsylvania murder trial,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/press-enterprise-reporters-subpoenaed-testify-murder-trial/,2018-10-18 22:58:31.015165+00:00,2018-10-18 23:38:00.482846+00:00,2018-10-18 23:37:54.128252+00:00,,Subpoena/Legal Order,Judge: Reporters will not have to testify in Franklin trial (https://www.dailyitem.com/news/judge-reporters-will-not-have-to-testify-in-franklin-trial/article_d711bdb6-5f72-11e8-a0fd-bb442ce63da7.html) via The Daily Item,,,"John-Erik Koslosky (Press Enterprise), Kristin Baver (Press Enterprise)",,2018-05-22,False,Bloomsburg,Pennsylvania (PA),41.0037,-76.45495,"Kristin Baver and John-Erik Koslosky, reporters for the Press Enterprise newspaper in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, were subpoenaed in May 2018 to give testimony in the murder trial of Anthony “Rocco” Franklin. Centre County senior judge David Grine quashed both subpoenas on May 24, 2018.
Franklin is currently on trial for the 2012 murder of his former son-in-law, Frank Spencer. He fled to Argentina but was arrested by Argentinian authorities, before being extradited to the United States on April 12, 2017. Baver and Koslosky interviewed Franklin over the phone while he was imprisoned in Argentina, and the Press Enterprise published an article based on the interview. Another local newspaper, The Daily Item, also conducted a jailhouse interview with Franklin over the phone.
State prosecutors subpoenaed Baver and Koslosky, as well as a reporter from The Daily Item, to testify about what Franklin told them during the interviews. The three reporters successfully fought the subpoenas, convincing judge Grine that the prosecution did not need their testimony to make its case.
Francis Scarcella — a reporter for The Daily Item newspaper in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania — was subpoenaed to testify in the murder trial of Anthony ""Rocco"" Franklin, in May 2018. A hearing on the subpoena was held on May 22, 2018, and a judge quashed the subpoena two days later.
Franklin is currently on trial for the 2012 murder of his former son-in-law, Frank Spencer. He fled to Argentina but was arrested by Argentinian authorities, before being extradited to the United States on April 12, 2017. While Franklin was being held in an Argentinian prison, he reached out to the press. Scarcella conducted a phone interview with him and then wrote it up for The Daily Item. Two journalists at another newspaper, the Press Enterprise, also interviewed Franklin over the phone and wrote about it.
Prosecutors subpoenaed Scarcella and the two Press Enterprise reporters in order to force them to testify about statements that Franklin made to them during the interview. During a court hearing on the subpoena before Centre County senior judge David Grine, prosecutors complained that the papers' reporting on the Franklin case had been ""reckless.""
On May 24, 2018, judge Grine quashed the subpoena against Scarcella and the subpoenas against the Press Enterprise reporters.
On May 16, 2018, attorneys for Republican fundraiser Elliott Broidy drew up a subpoena for documents from The Associated Press, which demanded that the news organization hand over leaked copies of Broidy's emails, as well as documents that could identify the source who leaked Broidy's emails to the AP. On May 22, the AP confirmed that it had received the subpoena and planned to fight it.
The subpoena is part of a civil suit that Broidy filed in federal court in California against the government of Qatar. Broidy has accused Qatar of hacking his emails and then working with a P.R. firm to leak copies of the emails to journalists at the AP and other news organizations.
On May 21, the AP published a deeply-reported investigation into Elliott's work with the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, two nations that have been locked in an escalating diplomatic feud with Qatar for more than a year.
The AP investigation, which was "based on interviews with more than two dozen people and hundreds of pages of leaked emails between" Broidy and a business partner, reported that Broidy had lobbied Trump and other administration to adopt the kind of anti-Qatar foreign policy favored by the UAE and Saudi Arabia, and was then rewarded by the UAE government with a lucrative consulting contract.
In the same story, the AP reported that beginning in February 2018, a number of news organizations started to receive "anonymously leaked batches of Broidy’s emails and documents that had apparently been hacked." And a lawyer for Broidy told the AP that its reporting "is based on fraudulent and fabricated documents obtained from entities with a known agenda to harm Mr. Broidy."
In the past, both Qatar and the UAE have accused one another of hacking the other, so it's not surprising that Broidy believes that Qatar is connected to the hack and leak of his emails.
His goal seems to be to use the subpoena to force the AP to turn over documents that implicate Qatar in the leak of his emails, which he can then use as evidence in his civil suit against the Qatari government.
An AP spokeswoman told the Freedom of the Press Foundation that the news outlet plans to fight the subpoena. The AP is expected to invoke reporter's privilege, which protects journalists and news organizations from being forced by the government to reveal information about its confidential sources.
Lee Wolosky — the attorney at Boies, Schiller & Flexner who drew up the subpoena on Broidy's behalf — did not respond to a request for comment. But according to Politico, Wolosky argued in a letter accompanying the subpoena that reporter's privilege should not apply to the AP because the leaked emails were obtained illegally and information about the AP's sources are "crucial to his case."
On May 16, 2018, attorneys for Craig Carter — a former assistant coach at the University of Arizona who was convicted of assault in March — subpoenaed Arizona Daily Star reporter Caitlin Schmidt, seeking all records of Schmidt's communications with both the woman that he assaulted and with the woman's attorneys.
The woman, Baillie Gibson, is currently suing Carter and the University of Arizona in civil court, alleging that Carter conducted a nonconsensual sexual relationship with her for years and then attacked her in his office when she tried to end the relationship.
On March 30, Carter was convicted of two counts of aggravated assault, including one with a deadly weapon. On May 14, he was sentenced to a five year prison sentence for assault, to be served concurrently with an 18 month prison sentence for a second count of assault and concurrent sentences for stalking and violating a protective order.
Caitlin Schmidt, a reporter for the Arizona Daily Star, has extensively covered Gibson’s allegations against Carter, writing more than two dozen articles about the case.
Gibson’s civil lawsuit against Carter and the university remains active, and on May 16, attorneys for Carter and his wife filed a subpoena with the court seeking records of any communications that Gibson and her attorneys had with Schmidt. (Carter’s attorneys also filed an identical subpoena to the Arizona Daily Star, Schmidt’s newspaper.)
The subpoenas demand that Schmidt and the Star hand over:
1. All Documents and Communications relating to any conversation, interview, or other interaction between You and Cadigan Law Firm, P.L.L.C., Michael J. Bloom, P.C., The Carrillo Law Firm, P.L.L.C., and/or the law firm of Manly, Stewart & Finaldi, or between You and any attorney(s) or other employees(s) employed by or associated with any of the foregoing, specifically including but not limited to Lynne M. Cadigan, John C. Manly, Jennifer E. Stein, Morgan A. Stewart, Michael J. Bloom and/or Erin Carrillo, at any time on or after April 29, 2015, particularly including but not limited to emails, text messages, phone records, voicemails, call logs, Pictures, and Video.
2. All Documents and Communications relating to any conversation, interview, or other interaction between You and Baillie Jean Gibson at any time on or after April 29, 2015, particularly including but not limited to emails, text messages, phone records, voicemails, call logs, Pictures, and Video.
Subpoena to Caitlin Schmidt
Schmidt told the Freedom of the Press Foundation that this was the first time she had ever been subpoenaed as a result of her reporting.
“Last Wednesday, I was talking to my courts editor, and my news editor came in and handed me a subpoena for all communications with the victim in the case and any of her attorneys dating back to 2015,” she said. “I haven’t even been covering it for that long and it was any and all notes or emails or videos or photos any, any communication, any notes on the case. So it was pretty broad. It didn’t specify exactly what they were looking for, it was just ‘any and all.’”
“I don’t know if it’s an effort to bog us down with paperwork, or in the court, or to prevent me from writing stories, or if they really are seeking my information,” she added. “But under the current law that’s not information we’re going to provide them with.”
On June 5, Daniel Barr — an attorney at Perkins Coie who represents Schmidt and the Star — filed a motion to quash the subpoena, arguing that Arizona law protects journalists from having to hand over the kind of information sought by the subpoenas:
For more than a year, Ms. Schmidt, a reporter for the Arizona Daily Star, has been reporting on and covering the relationship between Craig Carter, a former University of Arizona assistant track coach, and a female-student athlete, Baillie Jean Gibson, including allegations that Mr. Carter assaulted Ms. Gibson. Mr. Carter was ultimately criminally convicted of assaulting Ms. Gibson and pled guilty to other felony counts arising out of his conduct in the relationship. Now, in this related civil suit, the Carters, through their attorney, seek to uncover any communications that Ms. Schmidt and any “other person or entity currently or formerly affiliated in any way with the Arizona Daily Star” [see attached subpoena to Arizona Daily Star, Ex. A, ¶ 1] may have had with Ms. Gibson and Ms. Gibson’s lawyers in the course of reporting for the Arizona Daily Star. Specifically, the Subpoenas demand that Ms. Schmidt, the Arizona Daily Star and anyone else “affiliated in any way” with the Star produce all “documents and communications” between: (1) themselves and certain named law firms and attorneys who have purportedly worked for Ms. Gibson; and (2) themselves and Ms. Gibson.
The Carters, however, are not entitled to these materials. Instead, the Subpoenas must be quashed because the affidavits accompanying them do not satisfy the Media Subpoena Law, A.R.S. § 12-2214, which “protect[s] members of the media from burdensome subpoenas and broad discovery ‘fishing expeditions’ that would,” as here, “interfere with the ongoing business of gathering and reporting news to the public.” Matera v. Super. Ct. In & For Cty. of Maricopa, 170 Ariz. 446, 448, 825 P.2d 971, 973 (App. 1992).
Motion of Star Publishing, Inc. and Caitlin Schmidt to Quash Subpoenas Duces Tecum
Barr further argues that the records sought by the subpoenas are wholly irrelevant to the case.
“There is no possible relevance of any statements between Ms. Schmidt or anyone else ‘affiliated in any way’ with the Star and Ms. Gibson’s attorneys, who are not, and cannot be, percipient witnesses to any of the issues in this case,” he writes in the motion to quash. “The Subpoenas amount to nothing more than a speculative ‘fishing expedition.’”
In an interesting wrinkle, the state of Arizona is the one paying for Carter’s fishing expedition against Schmidt and the Star.
Carter was still an employee of the University of Arizona at the time the civil case was filed, so he has been indemnified by the Arizona Department of Administration, which continues to cover his legal bills. On May 27, the Star reported the state of Arizona has so far paid law firm Munger Chadwick more than $1 million to defend Carter in the civil suit.
Schmidt said that she is confident that she and the Star will defeat the subpoena.
“It sounds like we have a strong case, if it’s not quashed we continue to fight it,” she said. “I have no intention of turning anything over, but if in fact it is deficient and they haven’t provided that justification then I think we’ve got a good shot. The Star is firm that we will protect all of our sources, all of the time. This isn’t something we will bend to, we don’t give up information like this.”
Barr echoed Schmidt’s confidence.
“Neither the Star nor Caitlin Schmidt will be delivering documents to anyone,” he said in a statement. “We intend to get the subpoena quashed by the trial court.”
In a tweet on May 9, 2018, President Trump suggested that news organizations publishing negative news about him should have their press credentials revoked.
The Fake News is working overtime. Just reported that, despite the tremendous success we are having with the economy & all things else, 91% of the Network News about me is negative (Fake). Why do we work so hard in working with the media when it is corrupt? Take away credentials?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 9, 2018
During the presidential campaign, though, the Trump administration routinely denied press credentials to reporters it did not like. But the White House is not supposed to have any role in the process of credentialing media organizations, which has traditionally been the domain of the White House Correspondents Association, an independent group of journalists who cover the White House. Since assuming office, Trump has not moved to revoke any journalist's White House press credentials, though his former press secretary once excluded certain news organizations from an informal briefing.
The president's May 9 tweet references a controversial analysis conducted by the Media Research Center, a conservative media watchdog, which attempts to gauge the sentiment (positive or negative) of news coverage of Trump on major networks' evening newscasts. According to the MRC's most recent analysis, 90% of the coverage of Trump on ABC, CBS, and NBC evening newscasts between Jan. 1 and April 30, 2018, was negative. That's consistent with MRC analyses from 2017, which found that 91% of coverage of Trump on the evening newscasts was negative.
Although the methodology of the MRC analysis has been criticized, the Fox News morning show “Fox & Friends” cited its results authoritatively on the morning of May 9, shortly before the president’s tweet.
In his tweet, the president stated that 91% of the news coverage was "negative (Fake)." But the MRC did not try to analyze whether the news coverage was "fake" (i.e. inaccurate), just whether it portrayed Trump in a positive or negative light. The president seems to believe that all negative news coverage of him is "fake," regardless of whether or not the news coverage is accurate.
Designating negative coverage as “fake news” and threatening to revoke network’s credentials in order to discourage such reporting has become a marked tendency for this administration.
Trump frequently criticizes journalists' reporting on his administration, denouncing it as "fake news" even when it is true. According to the Trump Twitter Archive, he has tweeted the phrase “fake news” at least 40 times this year.
In a statement, White House Correspondents Association president Margaret Talev denounced Trump’s comments.
“Some may excuse the president’s inflammatory rhetoric about the media, but just because the president does not like news coverage does not make it fake,” she said. “A free press must be able to report on the good, the bad, the momentous and the mundane, without fear or favor. And a president preventing a free and independent press from covering the workings of our republic would be an unconscionable assault on the First Amendment.”
WHO-HD Channel 13 reporter Maria Lisignoli was assaulted and suffered a mild concussion while she was documenting a fight in Des Moines, Iowa, on May 6, 2018.
Lisignoli told WHO-HD 13 that she saw a group of people fighting while waiting with friends for a cab in Des Moines’ Court Avenue District. She was not reporting at the time, but said her journalistic instincts kicked in and captured the fight on her cell phone.
In the video Lisignoli took of the incident, one woman attempts to take her phone from her hand when she noticed Lisignoli documenting the fight.
""The fight started kind of breaking up and three of the girls kind of back away and start walking toward me,"" Lisignoli said. ""At that point I'm like, okay, people are angry, I should back off, so I turn away and one of them winds up and hits me in the back of the head, and I fall against a car.""On June 13, shortly after WHO-HD 13 aired a segment about the assault, Lisignoli tweeted about the incident.
This story includes the video I took of my assault. I am okay but things could have been much worse. I will continue to document things I think are of interest but when it comes to public fights I will keep my distance and immediately call officials before recording. https://t.co/fjakguMu8H
— Maria Lisignoli (@MLisignoliTV) June 13, 2018
Watch the full WHO-HD 13 segment below:
Maria Lisignoli, a reporter at WHO-HD Channel 13 in Des Moines, was assaulted while filming a public fight. She later discussed the assault in an on-camera interview.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, AP photojournalist hit with rubber bullets in Puerto Rico,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/ap-photojournalist-hit-rubber-bullets-puerto-rico/,2018-05-21 20:56:51.148557+00:00,2022-03-10 20:02:19.133175+00:00,2022-03-10 20:02:19.067778+00:00,,Assault,,,,Carlos Rivera Giusti (The Associated Press),,2018-05-01,False,San Juan,Puerto Rico (PR),None,None,"Carlos Rivera Giusti, a photojournalist with The Associated Press, was struck by rubber bullets while covering demonstrations in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on May 1, 2018.
Dánica Coto, Giusti's colleague who also reported on the May 1 demonstrations, Giusti's colleague, wrote on Twitter that Giusti was hit by rubber bullets fired by police:
A shoutout to our photographer, @CarlosGiusti1 who had a mask to dodge tear gas fired today by Puerto Rico police but still got hit by rubber bullets.https://t.co/BslhWAIQuu pic.twitter.com/DThXlv67Ew
— Dánica Coto (@danicacoto) May 1, 2018
On May 1, 2018, a police officer struck José Encarnación in the chest, as the journalist livestreamed a protest in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Encarnacíon is a reporter at Metro, a Puerto Rican newspaper. Video that he recorded during the assault shows him identifying himself as ""prensa, prensa, prensa"" (""press"") to a group of State Police officers holding batons, before groaning in pain and falling to the ground.
Another video, recorded by a journalist near Encarnacíon, shows an officer officer quickly approaching Encarnación from behind and then striking him in the chest.
After Encarnacíon fell, his colleagues helped him back up and he was able to continue his coverage of he protests, according to Metro.
The president of the Puerto Rico Journalists Association (ASPPRO) condemned the assault and announced that the organization would file a formal complaint against the State Police.
A screengrab from José Encarnación's livestream shows police officers confronting him. Although Encarnacíon identified himself as a journalist, an officer hit him in the chest.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,,protest,,,,, Pentagon revokes embed opportunity for Washington Post reporter following critical coverage,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/pentagon-revokes-embed-opportunity-washington-post-reporter-following-critical-coverage/,2018-10-17 19:48:17.183875+00:00,2022-04-06 17:49:49.841699+00:00,2022-04-06 17:49:49.783379+00:00,,Denial of Access,"Pentagon punishes reporters over tough coverage (https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/16/pentagon-press-reporters-tough-coverage-779276) via Politico, Afghanistan is building up its commando force to fight the Taliban. But at what cost? (https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/afghanistan-is-building-up-its-commando-force-to-fight-the-taliban-but-at-what-cost/2018/04/27/dd1c0c1c-44cd-11e8-b2dc-b0a403e4720a_story.html) via Washington Post",,,Dan Lamothe (The Washington Post),,2018-05-01,True,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"After Washington Post reporter Dan Lamothe wrote a critical piece about Afghan commandos in April 2018, the Pentagon revoked a previously-offered opportunity to embed with U.S. Special Forces in Afghanistan.
Lamothe wrote an article on April 28 about how the Afghan military was increasing its number of elite commando troops and decreasing the size of its conventional military troops. Politico reported that officials took issue to the tone and some of the quotations used, his opportunity to embed was revoked.
“During a reporting visit in April to cover U.S. troops in Afghanistan, I was offered a rare opportunity to embed with U.S. Special Forces fighting Islamic State militants in Afghanistan,” Lamothe told Politico. “While preparing for that assignment in May, I was told that the Special Forces embed offer was revoked. I traveled back to Afghanistan a short time later, and instead accepted offers to embed with the Army’s new security force adviser brigade and U.S. military advisers who train the Afghan air force. I stand by my reporting, and thank the units that allowed me to spend time alongside them.”
Some Pentagon reporters have said that press access is becoming increasingly limited, and that individual reporters and news organizations are targeted for retaliation for stories they write.
Lamothe said that he does not know whether there is any connection between the Pentagon’s retaliation against reporters and the withdrawal of his embed opportunity.
“Decisions like the revocation of my embed have happened under numerous administrations, and can be driven by a general officer or public affairs officer in theater,” he told Freedom of the Press Foundation. “I am unclear if recently reduced access at the Pentagon in any way contributed to my situation.”
The Pentagon in Washington, D.C., is seen from aboard Air Force One, on March 29, 2018.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,military,,,,,Department of Defense DNC sues WikiLeaks for wiretapping and 'economic espionage',https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/dnc-sues-wikileaks-wiretapping-and-economic-espionage/,2018-05-01 23:11:12.145442+00:00,2019-07-31 16:02:27.612251+00:00,2019-07-31 16:02:27.515790+00:00,"(2019-07-30 12:01:00+00:00) Judge dismisses DNC’s lawsuit against WikiLeaks, Trump, Russia, others",Other Incident,"DNC lawsuit complaint against Russia, Trump campaign, and WikiLeaks, (http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4443264-DNC-Lawsuit.html), Democratic Party sues Russia, Trump campaign and WikiLeaks alleging 2016 campaign conspiracy (https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/democratic-party-files-lawsuit-alleging-russia-the-trump-campaign-and-wikileaks-conspired-to-disrupt-the-2016-campaign/2018/04/20/befe8364-4418-11e8-8569-26fda6) via Washington Post, The DNC’S Lawsuit Against WikiLeaks Poses a Serious Threat to Press Freedom (https://theintercept.com/2018/04/20/the-dncs-lawsuit-against-wikileaks-poses-a-serious-threat-to-press-freedom/) via The Intercept, Internal memo reveals Trump campaign’s mounting fury with its critics (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/04/04/internal-memo-reveals-trump-campaigns-mounting-fury-with-its-critics/?utm_term=.94bd7ac60d5d) via Washington Post, Bartnicki v. Vopper (https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/532/514.html)",,,,,2018-04-20,False,New York,New York (NY),None,None,"The Democratic National Committee named WikiLeaks as a co-defendant in a multi-million dollar conspiracy lawsuit that it filed against the Russian government and the Trump campaign on April 20, 2018. The complaint accuses WikiLeaks of committing “economic espionage” by publishing internal DNC documents and emails that were allegedly stolen from DNC servers by Russian hackers.
No matter what one thinks of WikiLeaks, the DNC’s theory against the publishing organization could have grave implications for press freedom in the United States.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, accuses the Russian government, the Donald Trump campaign, Trump family members, and WikiLeaks of conspiring to hack into DNC servers, steal documents damaging to the Clinton campaign, and then publish the stolen documents. The DNC is not only seeking damages, but also admissions of guilt.
“The conspiracy constituted an act of previously unimaginable treachery: the campaign of the presidential nominee of a major party in league with a hostile foreign power to bolster its own chance to win the Presidency,” the lawsuit states.
In the lawsuit, the DNC specifically accuses WikiLeaks of “economic espionage” and “theft of trade secrets” related to its publication of internal DNC documents. The lawsuit also accuses WikiLeaks of violating federal wiretapping laws by publishing documents that it knew had been obtained through hacking:
170. WikiLeaks and Assange released and transmitted DNC trade secrets, including confidential, proprietary documents related to campaigns, fundraising and campaign strategy, on July 22 and November 6, 2016. Each release constituted a separate count of economic espionage.
171. Beginning on or before July 22, 2016, and continuing daily thereafter through November 2016, WikiLeaks and Assange, received, bought, or possessed Plaintiff’s trade secrets, knowing them to have been stolen or appropriated, obtained, or converted without authorization, and intending or knowing that doing so would benefit the Russian government, Russian instrumentalities, or Russian agents.
...
173. WikiLeaks and Assange also committed the acts described above with the invent to convert Plaintiff’s trade secrets, which are related to a product or service used in or intended for use in interstate or foreign commerce, the economic benefit of others besides Plaintiff. Each unauthorized release constituted a separate act of theft of trade secrets.
…
183. In violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2511(1)(c), GRU Operative #1, WikiLeaks, and Assange willfully and intentionally disclosed the contents of Plaintiff’s wire, oral, or electronic communications, knowing or having reason to know that the information was obtained through the interception of wire, oral, or electronic communications in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2511.
184. In violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2511(1)(d), GRU Operative #1, WikiLeaks, Assange, the Trump Associates, and the Trump Campaign willfully and intentionally used the contents of Plaintiff’s wire, oral, electronic communications, knowing or having reason to know that the information was obtained through the interception of a wire, oral, or electronic communications in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2511.
DNC lawsuit against Russia, Trump Campaign, and WikiLeaks
These legal theories, if adopted by the courts, would have broad and dangerous implications for all types of reporters who cover election campaigns.
After WikiLeaks published documents about the DNC, countless media outlets — including mainstream news publications such as The New York Times and The Washington Post — reported on the internal DNC communications and even republished some of the documents. Under the DNC’s theory of the case, the Times and Post could theoretically also be liable for wiretapping, for "knowing or having reason to know that the information was obtained through the interception of wire, oral, or electronic communications” with the DNC.
(In the 2001 case Bartnicki v. Vopper, the Supreme Court ruled that news organizations have a First Amendment right to publish information in the public interest even if they knew the source of the information violated the law to obtain it.)
Separate from the case of WikiLeaks, newspapers often report on and publish internal documents and emails from all sorts of electoral campaigns. For example, the Washington Post published internal campaign document from the Trump administration in April 2016. Some of these stories may come from hacked materials, but most come from sources inside a campaign who hand documents over to news organizations without official authorization.
Under the theory of the DNC’s lawsuit, news organizations that publish internal campaign documents could potentially be sued — or even prosecuted by the government — for economic espionage or theft of trade secrets, raising serious press freedom concerns.
It's not just campaign reporters who are at risk. If the court found WikiLeaks liable for “theft of trade secrets” just for publishing internal information about the DNC, then corporations of all stripes could arguably use the same arguments to silence journalists like John Carreyrou, the Wall Street Journal reporter who exposed serious misconduct and fraud at the blood-testing company Theranos.
In a comment on Twitter responding to the lawsuit, WikiLeaks said that its publication of the DNC documents was protected by the First Amendment:
Comment on DNC "lawsuit": DNC already has a moribund publicity lawsuit which the press has became bored of--hence the need to refile it as a "new" suit before mid-terms. As an accurate publisher of newsworthy information @WikiLeaks is constitutionally protected from such suits.
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) April 20, 2018
New York’s largest police union demanded the New York Police Department take legal action to stop BuzzFeed from publishing a database of police disciplinary records on April 11, 2018.
“We demand that the Department and City immediately take all possible steps to prevent BuzzFeed’s disclosure of Confidential Files including, but not limited to, seeking an injunction in court,” Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association (PBA) president Patrick Lynch wrote in the April 11 letter, which was addressed to NYPD commissioner James O’Neill.
""As he has in the past, Mr. Lynch is accusing those who shine a light on bad behavior in the NYPD of stoking violence,” BuzzFeed spokesman Matt Mittenthal said in a statement. “His words are irresponsible, out of step with other police departments, and reminiscent of a time when police acted without accountability to the public. We are perplexed by why Mr. Lynch is so concerned about the privacy of powerful, armed public servants who have been found to lie, harass, and threaten people in their custody — and by what else the PBA is seeking to conceal with this preposterous legal threat.""
Until recently, the NYPD released information about officers’ disciplinary records to the public. But in August 2016, the department stopped doing so. At the time, an NYPD spokesman told the New York Daily News that the department’s Legal Bureau had determined that a provision in New York’s 1976 civil rights law allowed the NYPD to shield employees’ disciplinary records from public scrutiny.
Despite Lynch’s letter, the NYPD did not seek an injunction against Buzzfeed. On April 16, BuzzFeed published its database of secret NYPD disciplinary records, which includes officers' names and allegations of misconduct.
Two of the thousands of NYPD disciplinary records published by BuzzFeed on April 16, 2018
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, WABC reporter Tim Fleischer punched by stranger in New York City,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/wabc-reporter-tim-fleischer-punched-stranger-new-york-city/,2018-04-27 21:10:10.225737+00:00,2021-11-09 21:05:39.393174+00:00,2021-11-09 21:05:39.340830+00:00,,Assault,Eyewitness News reporter gets punched in the face by stranger in Queens (http://beta.nydailynews.com/new-york/queens/eyewitness-news-reporter-punched-face-queens-article-1.3926405) via New York Daily News,,,Tim Fleischer (WABC-TV),,2018-04-10,False,New York,New York (NY),None,None,"Tim Fleischer, a reporter for WABC's Eyewitness News, was punched in the face by a stranger while he was conducting in an interview in Queens, New York, on April 10, 2018.
According to the New York Daily News, Fleischer was filming a segment in the Far Rockaway neighborhood of Queens, when a man ran up to him and socked him in the face around noon.
The man was arrested soon after the attack and charged with assault and harassment. Fleischer was taken to a local hospital received medical treatment for a minor injury.
Fleischer later tweeted about the attack.
Overwhelmed! @TimFleischer7 can’t believe the outpouring of concerns, very kind comments and well wishes from each of you Many many thanks Feeling better today Can’t wait to get back to the streets of #nyc #abc7ny
— Tim Fleischer (@TimFleischer7) April 11, 2018
A former county judge in Michigan and his wife sued their local newspaper, The Local Observer, for defamation on April 9, 2018, and are attempting to compel its editor to reveal the identities of confidential sources.
Former Allegan County Judge Stephen Sheridan and his wife, Tanya Sheridan, filed a defamation lawsuit against the paper and its editor, Michael Gallagher, alleging that the paper meant to “ridicule, humiliate, and slander” the couple through its reporting on their son, Aaron Sheridan, according to The Holland Sentinel, a nearby daily paper that covered the defamation suit.
In January of last year, The Local Observer published an article that Tanya had harassed her son’s critics, citing multiple anonymous sources. Aaron had served as the manager of a civil township in Allegan County before he was recalled in November 2018, amidst complaints that he had acted inappropriately in his position.
The Sentinel reported that Stephen and Tanya deny this ever occured. It also said it received an email in which Stephen claims that the court motion is “intended to compel Gallagher to reveal who the anonymous sources are in the article,” and that Gallagher invoked reporter’s privilege to maintain the confidentiality of his sources.
A hearing on the motion to compel Gallagher to reveal his sources has been moved from late January to spring 2019.
The Local Observer did not respond to requests for comment.
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
Aaron Sheridan, far left, sits in an August 2017 Saugatuck Township special board meeting. Coverage of Sheridan is at the center of a suit from his parents against The Local Observer.
On April 6, 2018, Rhode Island Superior Court Judge Netti C. Vogel ordered members of the press and public not to contact jurors in the case State of Rhode Island v. Jorge DePina after the trial was over.
“No one, no spectator, no one in the spectator section of the courtroom, is permitted to contact my jurors,” judge Vogel said, according to a court transcript. “If the jurors choose to contact anyone, that’s up to them. This is for their protection. ... If you see them at Walmart, do not acknowledge that you know them. In other words, I don’t allow people to contact jurors. They must be left alone to go on with their lives.”
Although no official injunction was entered on the docket, Providence Journal courts reporter Katie Mulvaney treated judge Vogel’s statement as a court order and refrained from contacting jurors in the case.
After the trial was over, Mulvaney — who had extensively covered the trial for the Journal — requested a list of the jurors from the court. Although the identities of jurors are supposed to be public information, judge Vogel denied her request.
On April 25, the Journal filed an emergency motion with the Superior Court, seeking to overturn both judge Vogel’s order not to contact jurors and her denial of Mulvaney’s request for the list of jurors.
A memorandum of law filed in support of the Journal’s emergency motion argues that judge Vogel’s order is unconstitutional and violates legal precedent:
The news media’s constitutional and common law rights of access to judicial proceedings and records, and to report to the fullest extent possible on what transpires in the courtroom, is longstanding and crucial in criminal cases. See Richmond Newspapers, Inc. v. Virginia, 448 U.S. 555, 575 (1980). The public has an interest in all aspects of criminal proceedings − including the selection and composition of the jury that decided the fate of the defendant in this high-profile prosecution. See Press-Enterprise Co. v. Superior Court, 464 U.S. 501, 507-13 (1984) (“Press-Enterprise I”) (voir dire presumptively open to public); United States v. Wecht, 537 F.3d 222, 229-30 (3d Cir. 2008) (public has a constitutional right of contemporaneous access to names of empaneled jurors).
According to established constitutional and common law principles, criminal trials are not to be decided by anonymous persons, absent extraordinary circumstances. See In re South Carolina Press Ass’n, 946 F.2d 1037, 1041 (4th Cir. 1991) (First Amendment compels public disclosure of jury questionnaires); People v. Flores, 153 A.D.3d 182, 189 (N.Y. App. Div. 2d Dep’t 2017) (“Read together [N.Y. Crim. Proc. Law §§ 270.15(1)(a) and 270.15(1-a)] prohibit a trial court from withholding the names of prospective jurors.”). To the contrary, juror names and addresses are presumptively public and subject to a right of access under the First Amendment and common law.
...
Barring some compelling justification – articulated on the record – the press must be given the opportunity to exercise its First Amendment right to speak with the DePina jurors. Concomitantly, the DePina jurors must be permitted to exercise their First Amendment right to speak with the press if they so choose.
Journal's memorandum of law supporting emergency motion
A number of First Amendment organizations — including the New England First Amendment Coalition (a partner organization of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker), the New England Newspaper and Press Association, and the Rhode Island ACLU — have indicated to the court that they may intervene in the case in support of the Journal's emergency motion.
A hearing on the Journal’s motion is scheduled for May 14.
Superior Court Judge Netti C. Vogel speaks from the bench following the conclusion of a high-profile murder trial in Providence, Rhode Island, on April 6, 2018. Vogel ordered members of the media and public not to contact the jurors in the case.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, "Journalist Manuel Duran, arrested while covering immigration protest, could be deported by ICE",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-manuel-duran-arrested-while-covering-immigration-protest-could-be-deported-ice/,2018-04-05 21:30:33.328369+00:00,2022-05-12 22:41:39.276405+00:00,2022-05-12 22:41:39.135784+00:00,"(2018-05-31 10:36:00+00:00) Duran gets stay of deportation, (2018-07-09 10:52:00+00:00) Duran speaks to Daily Beast, (2019-07-11 14:00:00+00:00) Detained journalist Manuel Durán released on bond, (2018-04-16 12:00:00+00:00) SPLC petition and Duran statement, (2022-03-24 16:29:00+00:00) Detained journalist Manuel Durán granted asylum in U.S., (2019-12-06 17:10:00+00:00) Memphis-area governments settle with journalist, lawyers for 2018 arrest, (2018-12-02 22:43:00+00:00) Eleventh Circuit grants stay after BIA denies appeal",Arrest/Criminal Charge,"Memphis journalist in federal custody after immigration protest arrest (http://wreg.com/2018/04/05/memphis-journalist-could-face-deportation-after-arrest-during-protest/) via WREG, Charges dropped for reporter arrested in Memphis protest; immigration case remains, says lawyer (https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/news/2018/04/05/spanish-language-reporter-memphis-protest-charges-dropped/488304002/) via The Commercial Appeal, Jailed Memphis reporter could face deportation; others arrested at protest released on bond (https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/news/2018/04/04/jailed-memphis-reporter-could-face-deportation-fight-15-activist-also-held/486467002/) via The Commercial Appeal, Memphis Police Department statement on arrests (https://www.facebook.com/mpd1827/posts/1677271615686524), SPLC petition for writ of habeas corpus (https://www.splcenter.org/sites/default/files/manuel_duran_habeas_final.pdf), Manuel Duran's arrest was retaliation for news coverage, lawyers say (https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/news/2018/04/16/memphis-police-arrest-manuel-duran-retaliation-news-coverage-lawyers-say/519896002/) via The Commercial Appeal, Lawyers: Journalist was detained by ICE because of reporting (https://www.apnews.com/fe29c2bb9c7743cb992a89a461b39c86) via AP, Manuel Duran statement (https://www.splcenter.org/sites/default/files/manuel_duran_statement_4_16_2018.pdf), Manuel Duran wins stay of deportation - still faces months more of detention during appeal (https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/news/2018/05/30/manuel-duran-wins-stay-deportation-immigration-detention/656516002/) via Commercial Appeal, Journalist Held by ICE Speaks: ‘Without a Doubt’ I Was Targeted for My Work (https://www.thedailybeast.com/journalist-held-by-ice-speaks-without-a-doubt-i-was-targeted-for-my-work?ref=home) via Daily Beast, Immigration board rejects appeal from Memphis Spanish-language reporter Manuel Duran (https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/news/2018/11/05/manuel-duran-journalist-memphis-arrest-deportation/1894775002/) via Commercial Appeal, An immigrant journalist faces deportation as ICE cracks down on its critics (https://theintercept.com/2018/11/28/ice-immigration-arrest-journalist-manuel-duran/) via The Intercept, Appeals court issues favorable ruling for detained Memphis reporter Manuel Duran (https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/news/2018/11/29/manuel-duran-journalist-facing-deportation-court-ruling/2152940002/) via Commercial Appeal, Eleventh Circuit decision granting stay of deportation (https://www.splcenter.org/sites/default/files/documents/duranortega_stay_11thclean.pdf)",,,Manuel Duran (Memphis Noticias),,2018-04-03,False,Memphis,Tennessee (TN),35.14953,-90.04898,"On April 3, 2018, journalist Manuel Duran was arrested while reporting on a protest in Memphis, Tennessee. Though all charges against him were later dropped, he was placed into the custody of Immigration & Customs Enforcement and could be deported.
Duran, who is from El Salvador, runs Memphis Noticias, a local Spanish-language news website. He previously worked as a reporter for WGSF, a Spanish-language radio station in Memphis.
On April 3, Duran covered a demonstration by immigration activists outside the Shelby Protest Criminal Justice Complex in Memphis. As he livestreamed the demonstration on Facebook Live, police arrested him and a number of the demonstrators. Duran and the demonstrators were charged with disorderly conduct and “obstruction of a highway or passageway.”
Police later said that they arrested the group because they blocked traffic while slowly crossing the street.
The Commercial Appeal, a daily newspaper in Memphis, reported that prosecutors agreed to drop all charges against Duran during a court hearing on April 5.
“This office has dismissed misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct and obstruction of a highway or passageway filed Tuesday against Manuel Duran,” Shelby County District Attorney General Amy Weinrich said in a statement to the Commercial Appeal. “There was not sufficient evidence to go forward with prosecution. This ends any legal issues Mr. Duran has with this office.”
Latino Memphis, a group that advocated for Duran’s release, said in a tweet that ICE detained Duran immediately after the court hearing.
Criminal charges for Manuel Duran have been dropped thanks to the work of Ann Schiller and our attorney Christy Swatzell. Unfortunately, ICE was waiting for him in the court room. He is currently with ICE. #StopICE
— Latino Memphis (@LatinoMemphis) April 5, 2018
Local TV station WREG reported that Duran was taken into federal custody on April 5.
An ICE spokesman did not respond to a request for comment from the Freedom of the Press Foundation.
Ken Lovett, the Albany bureau chief for the New York Daily News, was arrested by State Police troopers in the lobby of the New York State Senate.
On March 28, 2018, Lovett was handcuffed by State Police troopers in the lobby of the Capitol building and taken to a nearby State Police substation for processing.
After being released, Lovett told the Freedom of the Press Foundation that he was talking on his cell phone when he was approached by a Senate sergeant-at-arms, who ordered him to turn off his phone. Lovett said that he refused, telling the sergeant that the Senate wasn't in session and he (and many others) routinely used their cell phones in the lobby.
Lovett said that the sergeant-at-arms escalated the situation, ordering him to leave the premises and then calling in State Police troopers, who also ordered him to leave the area. He said that he "stood his ground" and was then arrested and told that he could be charged with trespassing.
The Senate sergeant-at-arms refused to comment on the incident.
Nick Reisman, a reporter for Capital Tonight, spoke to eyewitnesses who said that Lovett was talking on his phone when he was approached by the Senate sergeant-at-arms and then arrested by State Police troopers.
The Daily News’s Ken Lovett has been detained by State Police. One witness says it was for talking on a cellphone in the state Senate lobby. Bizarre and egregious. Never seen something like this. pic.twitter.com/C284pPLZV1
— Nick Reisman (@NickReisman) March 28, 2018
A Senate spokesman confirmed that Lovett had been arrested for talking on a cell phone.
“Earlier today a reporter was asked to comply with a rule prohibiting use of a cell phone in the Senate lobby,” the spokesman said in a statement. “He refused and the state police were notified. The incident escalated quickly and unfortunately he was detained by the State Police. We have formally requested that he be released and very much regret the incident.”
A State Police spokesman said in a statement to Politico that the officers who arrested Lovett were responding to a trespassing complaint:
At approximately 1 p.m., State Police responded to the Senate lobby for a trespassing complaint. Upon arrival, Troopers learned that Ken Lovett had refused requests from the Senate Sergeant at Arms/Session to leave the Senate lobby. Lovett had been asked to leave by Senate security staff because he was using his cell phone in the lobby in violation of Senate rules. After Lovett also refused Troopers’ requests to leave the area, the Sergeant at Arms/Session indicated that he wanted to file a trespassing complaint. Lovett was taken into custody and transported to SP Capital. A short time later, the Sergeant at Arms notified State Police that the complaint was being withdrawn. Lovett was released and no charges were filed.
Lovett said that after he was arrested and taken to the State Police substation, representatives of the Senate visited him to apologize for what happened and say that they would not press charges.
Later, New York governor Andrew Cuomo visited him.
Cuomo has arrived to #freekenlovett pic.twitter.com/rUNjmbwMdw
— Dan Clark 🤔 (@DanClarkReports) March 28, 2018
A video recorded by Buffalo News reporter Dan Clark shows Cuomo entering the State Police substation and joking that he was “the court-appointed attorney for Ken Lovett.” Soon after Cuomo arrived, Lovett was released from custody.
In an impromptu press conference, the governor said that he does not expect any criminal charges will be filed against Lovett.
New York governor Andrew Cuomo hosts an impromptu press conference after Daily News reporter Ken Lovett is released from custody.
Jimmy Vielkind/Politico New York
“He’s not going to flee the jurisdiction,” Cuomo said, according to video of the press conference recorded by Politico’s Jimmy Vielkind. “We don’t believe any charges are going to be filed. Freedom of the press is alive and well in the city of Albany.”
“Apparently, there was a disagreement between Ken Lovett and the sergeant-at-arms,” he added. “The Senate doesn’t want to press any charges."
Lovett later tweeted that the State Police troopers who arrested him were "very professional."
Sean Ewart, a staffer for a New York state legislator, told the Freedom of the Press Foundation that he was walking by the Senate lobby when he saw State Police troopers handcuffing Lovett. Ewart said that he has seen many arrests in the Capitol building — it's a common location for protest sit-ins — but this was the first time he had ever seen a journalist arrested there.
Lovett, who has been in Albany for 24 years, also said that he had never heard of a journalist being arrested at the Capitol building before.
A few hours after he was released, Lovett wrote a first-person account of the arrest for the Daily News.
"I can’t say I was surprised someone was led away in handcuffs from the state Capitol on Wednesday afternoon," he wrote. "I just never thought it would be me — especially for the capital crime of talking on a cell phone."
New York State Police troopers arrest Daily News journalist Ken Lovett in the lobby of the New York State Senate, on March 28, 2018.
",arrested and released,not charged,New York State Police,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, Former FBI agent Terry Albury accused of leaking documents to The Intercept,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/former-fbi-agent-terry-albury-accused-leaking-documents-intercept/,2018-04-06 21:07:49.386601+00:00,2022-05-18 20:06:14.182472+00:00,2022-05-18 20:06:13.978463+00:00,"(2018-04-17 16:36:00+00:00) Albury pleads guilty, (2018-10-18 14:35:00+00:00) Albury sentenced to 4 years in prison",Leak Case,"Department of Justice charges FBI whistleblower under Espionage Act (https://theintercept.com/2018/03/28/minnesota-fbi-agent-whistleblower-leak/) via The Intercept, Espionage Act charges against Albury (https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4426747-Felony-Information-in-US-v-Terry-Albury.html), Minneapolis FBI agent charged with leaking classified information to reporter (https://www.mprnews.org/story/2018/03/28/minneapolis-fbi-agent-charged-with-leaking-classified-information) via Minnesota Public Radio, Federal documents outline steps FBI took to investigate one of its own (https://www.mprnews.org/story/2018/03/29/document-search-warrant-application-for-minneapolis-fbi-agent-records) via Minnesota Public Radio, Justice Dept. charges Minnesota FBI agent for leaking secret document to news outlet (http://www.startribune.com/justice-dept-charges-minnesota-fbi-agent-for-leaking-secret-document-to-news-outlet/478203203/) via Minneapolis Star-Tribune, The accused FBI whistleblower indicted by Trump's DOJ allegedly leaked secret rules for spying on reporters (https://freedom.press/news/accused-fbi-whistleblower-indicted-trumps-doj-allegedly-leaked-secret-rules-spying-reporters/), Leak Investigations Triple Under Trump, Sessions Says (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/04/us/politics/jeff-sessions-trump-leaks-attorney-general.html) via New York Times, Ex-Mpls. FBI agent pleads guilty to leaking classified info to reporter (https://www.mprnews.org/story/2018/04/17/fbi-terry-albury-pleads-guilty-leaking-info-intercept) via Minnesota Public Radio, Minutes of plea hearing (https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4439562-Terry-Albury-Plea-Hearing.html), As FBI whistleblower Terry Albury faces sentencing, his lawyers say he was motivated by racism and abuses at the Bureau (https://theintercept.com/2018/10/18/terry-albury-sentencing-fbi/) via The Intercept, Ex-Minneapolis F.B.I. Agent Is Sentenced to 4 Years in Leak Case (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/18/us/politics/terry-albury-fbi-sentencing.html) via New York Times",,,,,2018-03-27,False,Minneapolis,Minnesota (MN),44.97997,-93.26384,"On March 27, 2018, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a “felony information” document formally accusing former FBI agent Terry Albury of leaking classified documents to a news organization.
Minnesota Public Radio identified the news organization in question, which was not named in the court filing, as The Intercept.
Albury is being charged with two counts under section 793(e) of the Espionage Act, a law originally enacted in 1917 to combat foreign spying attempts that in recent years has been used to prosecute government employees who share classified information with journalists.
In a statement to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Albury’s attorneys said that their client does not dispute the government’s accusations.
"Terry Albury served the U.S. with distinction both here at home and abroad in Iraq. He accepts full responsibility for the conduct set forth in the Information. We would like to add that as the only African-American FBI field agent in Minnesota, Mr. Albury’s actions were driven by a conscientious commitment to long-term national security and addressing the well-documented systemic biases within the FBI."
Albury is the second person to be charged under the Espionage Act since President Trump took office. Last year, the Department of Justice charged NSA contractor Reality Winner with leaking a classified document to The Intercept. Winner, who is fighting the government’s charges, has repeatedly been denied bail and remains in jail pending the outcome of the case.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions has said that the Department of Justice plans to aggressively crack down on leaks of classified information to journalists.
An attorney for Algonquin Township, Illinois, sent a letter to YouTube in March 2018 demanding that a video posted by Edgar County Watchdogs, a government watchdog group, be removed from the video-sharing site.
The fifteen-minute video, posted to YouTube on Jan. 15, 2018, shows Karen Lukasik, the Algonquin Township clerk and custodian of public records, inside the Algonquin Township Supervisor’s Office, where she rummages through files and documents, taking photos of some of them with her phone. Another woman in the video, Jennifer Curtiss, a trustee with the Village of Fox River Grove, asks the clerk, “Karen, do you have the authority to be going through this stuff?” prompting Lukasik to respond, “I can do whatever I want.”
The video was filmed on a Nest camera hidden in a bookshelf in the Township Supervisor’s Office and shared via a flash drive mailed anonymously to the Edgar County Watchdogs, a blog that posts responses to Freedom of Information Act requests filed with various government bodies around the state of Illinois.
The attorney for Algonquin Township, James Kelly, claimed the video violated “court orders” and “certain privacy rights” in his letter to YouTube dated March 16, 2018. “The video was unlawfully removed from the Township and turned over to a third party. This video may violate the individuals [sic] privacy rights,” Kelly wrote.
Kelly provided YouTube with two protective orders a judge signed in Gasser v. Lukasik, a separate lawsuit involving the township clerk, in June and November of 2017. The court orders appointed a receiver to recover video camera footage and copy machine hard drives from the Algonquin Township building, and barred distribution of that material beyond the attorneys and parties to the lawsuit.
“This is clearly attempted censorship,” John Kraft, one of the co-founders of Edgar County Watchdogs, wrote in a blog post. “We were not party to the lawsuit that dealt with sealing these documents,” Kraft told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. Kraft also maintained that the order did not prevent the video footage from being disclosed under Illinois public records laws.
The video is still on YouTube as of press time.
"When the media lawfully obtains information that is truthful and newsworthy, it has the right to publish that information absent extraordinary circumstances,” Sarah Matthews, a staff attorney with the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. (Full disclosure: Matthews is on the steering committee for the Tracker.)
Kraft said he found out about the letter sent to YouTube demanding the removal of the video via a tip and then by reviewing Kelly's legal bills submitted to the township. Those bills also indicated YouTube had sent a letter in response to Kelly’s takedown request. Kraft said he submitted public records requests for YouTube’s response to Kelly but has not received it.
Edgar County Watchdogs is currently suing Algonquin Township for not producing documents in response to 16 different FOIA requests.
Multiple requests for comment—and a request to review YouTube’s reply to the takedown request—sent to Kelly and Lukasik were not answered.
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
A video of public officials filmed via a hidden camera was sent to Edgar County Watchdogs anonymously.
On March 12, 2018, an unidentified man attacked KGTV 10News San Diego news reporter Bree Steffen and photographer Mike Gold while they were in the middle of a live shot.
Video of the attack, published on KGTV’s YouTube page, shows Steffen stopping mid-sentence and rushing out of the frame, to avoid a man who lunges toward her. The man, who briefly appears on the video, then knocks the camera to the ground.
At the time of the attack, Steffen was recording a live segment for KGTV’s 11 p.m. newscast about demonstrations ahead of President Donald Trump’s first visit to California since his election. KGTV later said that the attack was not related to the topic of the segment.
“While the man’s motive is unclear, the incident was not related to the content of the story,” the network reported. “Authorities were contacted and are handling the matter.”
Steffen later tweeted about the incident, reporting that her wrist was injured and the camera was broken. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented Gold’s assault and the equipment damage here.
Hi all! To everyone watching @10News at 11pm, my photographer @10newsGold and I are fine! Camera is broken and my wrist hurts, but everyone is ok. Thanks for all your sweet comments and support ♥️
— Bree Steffen (@breesteffen) March 13, 2018
“Thanks for all your sweet comments and support,” Steffen wrote.
On March 14, Steffen published an update about the attack on Facebook.
“I’ve never been in a fight before in my life; however, I have a right to defend myself,” she wrote. “When I saw this man running full-speed at me with his arms outstretched, fight-or-flight kicked in. I’m glad police know who he is. I’m still very sore but our camera is now fixed, so my photographer Mike is happy!”
A screengrab from a video shot by KGTV photographer Mike Gold shows an unidentified man lunging toward him and KGTV reporter Bree Steffen on March 12, 2018.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, Journalist Samantha Baars subpoenaed to testify in Jason Kessler trial,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-samantha-baars-subpoenaed-testify-jason-kessler-trial/,2018-03-30 21:46:00.107195+00:00,2022-03-29 21:07:35.642011+00:00,2022-03-29 21:07:35.556948+00:00,,Subpoena/Legal Order,"Kessler subpoenaed C-VILLE reporter (http://www.c-ville.com/kessler-subpoenaed-c-ville-reporter/) via C-VILLE Weekly, ‘Unfortunate outcome:’ Kessler perjury charge tossed (http://www.c-ville.com/kessler-perjury-charge-tossed/) via C-VILLE Weekly, Motion to quash Samantha Baars subpoena (https://pressfreedomtracker.us/documents/8/motion_to_quash.pdf), Another bad day for Kessler: Plus words from a ‘canary in the coal mine’ (http://www.c-ville.com/kessler/) via C-VILLE Weekly",,,Samantha Baars (C-VILLE Weekly),,2018-03-12,False,Charlottesville,Virginia (VA),38.02931,-78.47668,"C-VILLE Weekly reporter Samantha Baars was subpoenaed on March 12, 2018 to testify in the trial of Unite the Right organizer Jason Kessler. The subpoena was quashed on March 20.
Baars told Freedom of the Press Foundation that a deputy served her the subpoena on March 16, while she was at the Charlottesville General District Court to cover a different trial. The subpoena ordered her to appear in court on March 20, the day of Kessler’s perjury trial.
Kessler, who co-organized the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville in 2017, was charged with one count of perjury for allegedly lying on a criminal complaint that he had filed with the magistrate at the Albemarle Charlottesville Regional Jail. In the complaint, Kessler said he was assaulted by Jay Taylor. Video evidence later showed that Taylor did not assault Kessler.
Baars said that James West, her attorney, filed a motion to quash the subpoena just minutes before the clerk’s office closed on March 19. Judge Cheryl Higgins granted the motion following morning on March 20, just before jury selection began for Kessler’s perjury trial.
Baars isn’t sure why she was subpoenaed, but she said that Kessler’s attorney, Mike Hallahan, told her that he intended to use her testimony to impeach Jay Taylor, the man that Kessler accused of assault. Baars interviewed Taylor for an article about Kessler’s assault claims published on Oct. 10, 2017.
“During my motions hearing, when Albemarle Circuit Court Judge Cheryl Higgins asked him what questions he intended to ask me, he said it depended on Taylor’s testimony,” she said.
Hallahan, Kessler’s attorney, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Baars said that allowing the subpoena to proceed would have adversely impacted her newsroom.
“We have a two-man news team here at C-VILLE Weekly, and our other reporter (news editor Lisa Provence) had a different trial to cover that day,” she told Freedom of the Press Foundation. “I was assigned to cover Jason Kessler’s perjury trial, so If I had been sequestered in the witness room, I wouldn’t have been able to do my job.”
Once the subpoena was quashed, Baars was able cover Kessler’s perjury trial, which lasted less than a day and resulted in the dismissal of the perjury charge against Kessler.
Baars said that since receiving the subpoena, she has started to question which of her sentences or paragraphs could provoke an attorney to call her to the witness stand.
“That’s not something I should have to worry about when doing my job,” she said. “If reporters are regularly subpoenaed to testify in court, people could begin to perceive us as an investigative arm of the government. When I’m out reporting, I don’t want to be thinking about what I could be called to testify about in court, and I don’t want that to make potential sources more reluctant to talk to reporters.”
On March 12, 2018, an unidentified man attacked KGTV 10News San Diego news photographer Mike Gold and reporter Bree Steffen while in the middle of a live shot.
Video of the attack, published on KGTV’s YouTube page, shows Steffen stopping mid-sentence and rushing out of the frame, to avoid a man who lunges toward her. The man, who briefly appears on the video, then knocks the camera to the ground.
At the time of the attack, the news crew was recording a live segment for KGTV’s 11 p.m. newscast about demonstrations ahead of President Donald Trump’s first visit to California since his election. KGTV later said that the attack was not related to the topic of the segment.
“While the man’s motive is unclear, the incident was not related to the content of the story,” the network reported. “Authorities were contacted and are handling the matter.”
Steffen later tweeted about the incident, reporting that her wrist was injured and the camera was broken. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented Steffen’s assault here.
Hi all! To everyone watching @10News at 11pm, my photographer @10newsGold and I are fine! Camera is broken and my wrist hurts, but everyone is ok. Thanks for all your sweet comments and support ♥️
— Bree Steffen (@breesteffen) March 13, 2018
Mitchell McCoy, a reporter for KARK/Fox 16, was harassed and threatened by a high school coach in Little Rock, Arkansas, on March 6, 2018. McCoy had questioning the coach about his social media posts.
After McCoy saw that McClellan High School coach Lance Fritchman had posted on social media in support of president Donald Trump and the deportation of undocumented immigrants, McCoy asked the school about its policies regarding employees' social media use. Soon after, on Friday, March 2, the school put Fritchman on paid administrative leave.
On Monday, March 5, Fritchman went to the KARK/FOX 16 studios at the Victory Building in Little Rock, Arkansas. He later told police that he did so because he believed McCoy caused his suspension from his coaching job.
A police report obtained by the Arkansas Times notes that Fritchman attempted to contact McCoy via phone starting at 7am, and left messages telling him to “come out and let’s handle this man to man.” The report reads, “Fritchman was vocally aggressive while speaking with officer and on the voice mails. McCoy advised he felt threatened by the voice mail and a word Fritchman used 'efforting' — according to the Urban Dictionary meaning 'mouth punch.'”
Fritchman was ordered to refrain from further calls or returning to the Victory Building, and that his communications had been documented as harassing. He was informed that any future correspondence should go through the Little Rock School District.
According to Arkansas Matters, Fritchman returned and continued to call the station.
On the morning of March 6, Fritchman was arrested on charges of criminal trespassing. He remains on paid administrative leave.
On March 7, a Twitter account by the name of Lance Fritchman tweeted (and later deleted): “A criminal trespass is a Class C misdemeanor. Barely more than a speeding ticket. If found guilty maximum fine $500. That is all I can say at this time.”
A second tweet reads: “Just remember there are 2 sides to every story and I don't have the power 2 broadcast mine all around central Arkansas. Mine will come out soon.”
McClellan High School declined to comment.
On March 2, 2018, a Kentucky State Police Public Affairs Officer ordered radio station WRIL 106.3 FM and the Mountain Advocate newspaper to withhold publishing or airing any information on ongoing Kentucky State Police investigations until after the Kentucky State Police Public Affairs Office has issued an official statement.
KSP Trooper Shane Jacobs, who serves as public affairs officer for KSP Post 10, emailed the news organizations and threatened to cut off their press access if they did not comply.
From this point forward when KSP is working an investigation, you are to wait until OUR (KSP) press release is sent out before putting anything out on social media, radio, and newspaper. No more posting inaccurate information from Sheriff’s or anyone else. I don’t care to confirm something and then get a release out later.
Authority of my supervisors, if this continues, you will be taken off our media distribution list. Thanks Shane.
KSP email to Mountain Advocate and WRIL 106.3 FM
Representatives of both media organizations criticized the order. Editor Charles Myrick was both surprised and defiant.
“This demand has totally blindsided us,"" Mountain Advocate editor Charles Myrick told the paper. ""However, we will continue to do our job and keep the public informed, regardless of the agency or agencies involved.""
""The Kentucky State Police have a job to do and an obligation to the communities they cover and so do we,"" Brian O'Brien of WRIL 106.3 FM told local broadcaster LEX 18. ""I believe that we both do our jobs to the best of our ability and are susceptible to open criticism from the public. At times that is also true from those we work with. I would hope that an open line of communication can continue with Kentucky State Police as well as any other law enforcement entity.""
On March 6, Kentucky Press Association executive director David Thompson sent a letter to the Kentucky State Police criticizing the order. The letter was addressed to both KSP commissioner Richard Sanders and to KSP lieutenant Michael Webb, who is in charge of the KSP Public Affairs Office.
“It is not acceptable that anyone, a member of the public, a public agency, and including the Kentucky State Police, to tell the media it is not to publish (or perhaps, air) any information until or after a release is sent from KSP,"" Thompson wrote in the letter. ""This is nothing less than an unconstitutional and illegal attempt to restrict access to KSP information because a media outlet has published information that has displease[d] the state police.”
“A state police officer simply has no authority to order the news media not to publish,"" he wrote. ""To do so raises serious First Amendment and other legal issues and the officer’s threat is not acceptable.”
On March 8, KSP captain Ryan Catron — the commander of KSP Post 10 and Jacobs' superior officer — spoke to the Lexington Herald Leader about the controversial order.
“We want to work with all media outlets. … We’re not trying to withhold any information from them,"" he told the Lexington Herald Leader. ""We’re asking that they wait until they get our press releases before they put anything out.”
When asked whether news organizations that disobeyed the order would be removed from KSP media distribution lists, Catron declined to comment, stating that he refused to “speculate on what would happen in the future.”
On March 12, Dan Shelley — the executive director of the Radio Television Digital News Association (which is a partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker) — sent a letter to KSP commissioner Sanders, asking him to overturn the order.
I respectfully submit, Commissioner Sanders, that such an order is, on its face, in direct contravention of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. …
I, on behalf of the broadcast and digital journalists RTDNA represents, insist that you rescind this new policy forthwith. Any time the efforts of journalists are restricted it is not those journalists who are the victims. Rather, it is the public – in this case the citizens of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, whom you are sworn to protect and serve – that becomes the victim because it is being denied information to which it is constitutionally entitled.
RTDNA letter to KSP
The next day, KSP Sergeant Josh Lawson told the Freedom of the Press Foundation that the controversy over the order had been resolved. Lawson, the public affairs officer for KSP Post 5, said that he had spoken with the Kentucky Press Association to dispel any confusion over the order.
“I have spoken with Mr. Thompson with the Kentucky Press Association and I encourage you to speak with him as this entire misunderstanding was explained,"" he said.
In a statement to the Freedom of the Press Foundation, Mountain Advocate publisher Jay Nolan said that Michael Webb (the KSP lieutenant in charge of the department's public affairs office) had personally called Mountain Advocate editor Charles Myrick to apologize for the confusion over the order
Our editor, Charles Myrick, did get a telephone call from the KSP State headquarters. Specifically, the officer in charge of the Public Affairs Officers statewide. He called the Email a “regrettable” choice of words. He suggested that officer Jacobs should have come in person to express his concerns with us, and also explained we would not be removed from any notification list. He indicated that the KSP wanted to continue to maintain positive relations with us and all the media.
Based on the tone and content of his call, we consider this matter closed. The Mountain Advocate will continue to report the news as we have for over 110 years, and welcome the support of the KSP as we seek to keep our community informed.
On March 1, 2018, at a U.S. State Department Press Briefing, spokesperson Heather Nauert refused to take a question from a reporter after learning the reporter worked for Channel One in Russia.
The press briefing followed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s annual state of the nation address, in which President Putin shared a video touting Russia’s new nuclear weapons capabilities. The video included an animation showing the launch of nuclear missiles. One of the missiles is shown flying over a piece of land resembling the outline of Florida.
Nauert was asked about the video at the press briefing.
U.S. State Department Press Briefing - March 1, 2018
U.S. State Department
At the press briefing, Russia 1 TV journalist Alexander Khristenko asked Nauert how Putin’s address could affect the United States’ attitude toward U.S.-Russian relations.
"Well, look, it’s certainly concerning to see your government, to see your country, put together that kind of video that shows the Russian Government attacking the United States," she said.
That prompted a reporter from Channel One — a Russian TV network unrelated to Russia 1 TV — to ask why Nauert believed that the video showed the two missiles hitting the United States. Before the Channel One reporter could finish asking her question, Nauert interrupted her, dismissed her as being "from Russian TV" and refused to answer her question.
Other journalists in the room objected to Nauert's treatment of the Channel One reporter.
"They're not officials of the Russian government," a CNN reporter said. "They're just asking a question about Russia."
Nauert then said that Russian news organizations are funded and directed by the Russian government, with the implication being that Russian journalists are agents of the Russian government who lack editorial independence.
The State Department did not immediately return a request for comment.
Read the full transcript of the exchange below:
QUESTION: Alexander Khristenko, Russian TV. Are you still considering negotiations with Russia on global security issues and nuclear arms issues after today’s announcement?
MS NAUERT: Would – are – so your question is would we cut off conversations and negotiations?
QUESTION: I mean do you change something in your attitude toward this?
MS NAUERT: Well, look, it’s certainly concerning to see your government, to see your country, put together that kind of video that shows the Russian Government attacking the United States. That’s certainly a concern of ours. I don’t think that that’s very constructive, nor is it responsible. I’ll leave it at that. Okay?
QUESTION: It was not attacking the United States. It was not attacking the United States. It was two missiles sent to different directions. So why do you say that they are --
MS NAUERT: Are you – oh, you’re --
QUESTION: Sorry. I’m from Russia. Channel One in Russia.
MS NAUERT: You’re from Russian TV, too.
QUESTION: Yes, yes.
MS NAUERT: Okay. So hey, enough said then. I’ll move on.
QUESTION: Wait, I’m sorry. What does that mean?
MS NAUERT: What does what mean?
QUESTION: I mean, it’s – they’re not – they’re not officials of the Russian Government. They’re just asking a question about Russia.
MS NAUERT: Oh. Oh, really? Okay. Well, we know that RT and other Russian news – so-called news organizations --
QUESTION: They’re a --
MS NAUERT: -- are funded and directed by the Russian Government. So if I don’t have a whole lot of tolerance --
Official transcript of press briefing
Virginian-Pilot reporter Scott Daugherty was subpoenaed on March 1, 2018 to testify in the trial of Mark Whitaker, a councilman for the city of Portsmouth, Virginia. The trial was later postponed until July, freeing Daugherty from the initial subpoena to testify. However, it is possible that the prosecutor could attempt to subpoena him again.
The subpoena ordered Daugherty to appear and testify in Circuit Court for the City of Portsmouth between March 21 and March 23. Daugherty told Freedom of the Press foundation that he thinks he could have been required to be present in court all three days, but more likely, he would have been told to return close to the specific time when he would have been needed.
On March 20, Daugherty’s attorney Conrad Shumadine filed a motion to quash the subpoena.
“The trial subpoena issued to Mr. Daugherty raises serious First Amendment issues,” the motion to quash states. “The Virginian-Pilot and Mr. Daugherty respectfully assert that a prosecutor must have some factual basis to subpoena a reporter for testimony and there has to be some reasonable expectancy that the reporter would be called as a witness.”
Portsmouth Councilman Mark Whitaker was charged with 20 felonies, including identity fraud and forgery, in April 2017. At that time, the Virginian-Pilot reported that Whitaker and his attorneys claimed that the case was biased or politically motivated.
In October 2017, Scott Daugherty wrote an article for the Virginian-Pilot about the fact that two of Mark Whitaker’s alleged fraud victims claimed he did nothing wrong. For the piece, he interviewed Mark Whitaker.
“I'm not really sure what the special prosecutor wanted to ask me, except it probably had to do with that one story,” Daugherty told Freedom of the Press Foundation. “Quite frankly, this isn't a case where I'd really expect the prosecution to want to ask me any questions on the stand. The councilman has never said anything to me indicating he is guilty. To the contrary, he has been pretty adamant from the beginning that this case is politically motivated and that he will be vindicated.”
Commonwealth Attorney Andrew Robbins declined to discuss what questions he intended to ask Daugherty or confirm that he would refrain from asking about unpublished information.
In a March 20 affidavit, Daugherty wrote, “If Mark Whitaker had provided me with any information suggesting or tending to the effect that he was guilty of the offenses, I would have included it in the article I wrote about the interview since any such admission would have been highly newsworthy.”
On March 20, the prosecution and defense agreed to postpone Whitaker’s fraud trial until July so that a discovery order could be entered and a hearing on an unspecified motion scheduled.
“At the moment, I am not under subpoena,” Daugherty said on March 30. “I believe the special prosecutor will have to subpoena me again if he wants me to testify during [the] new trial.”
When asked if he intends to subpoena Daugherty again to testify in Whitaker’s trial in July, Commonwealth Attorney Andrew Robbins said it would depend on how the evidence progresses between now and then.
“Anyone, reporter or anyone else, who takes a statement from a criminal defendant risks being called as a witness,” he told Freedom of the Press Foundation.
Although Daugherty has extensively covered the case since Whitaker was first indicted in April 2017, he would not have been able to report on the trial if the subpoena had proceeded.
"It would have prevented me from covering the trial, both ethically and physically," he said. "As a witness, I would have probably been barred from the courtroom until it was my time to testify. We probably would have had to have another reporter cover the trial… a reporter who knew the basics of the case, but not all of the details.”
“Without even getting to the stress a subpoena places on the relationship between a reporter and his sources, getting [subpoenaed] can effectively prevent a reporter from doing his or her job,” he added. “If you can't enter a courtroom, you can't cover a trial.”
Mediaite reporter Caleb Ecarma was shoved by former White House adviser Sebastian Gorka while attempting to interview him at the Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Maryland, on Feb. 22, 2018.
Ecarma told the Freedom of the Press Foundation that he approached Sebastian Gorka with the intention of interviewing him about the Conservative Political Action Conference. But before he could ask a question, he said, Gorka told him to “fuck off” and then shoved him.
Daily Beast reporter Max Tani captured published a video of the altercation on Twitter. The video shows Gorka shaking Ecarma's hand and then shoving him backwards.
It’s hard to hear, but @calebecarma tells me Gorka told him to “fuck off” and he won’t talk to him because Caleb is “irrelevant.” pic.twitter.com/ewaBsqrqbz
— Max Tani (@maxwelltani) February 22, 2018
Seb Gorka just got in my face, told me to "fuck off" and shoved me — guess he's still not my biggest fan https://t.co/VLm0fdceLN
— Caleb Ecarma (@calebecarma) February 22, 2018
Addy Baird, a reporter at the progressive news site ThinkProgress, asked Gorka to comment on his interaction with Ecarma. She later tweeted that Gorka refused to answer her questions and denounced ThinkProgress as an illegitimate news outlet, and then whistled at her and insulted her.
So, I found Seb Gorka and asked him for comment on the video of him attacking a reporter this morning.
— Addy Baird 👽 (@addysue) February 22, 2018
“Who are you? Where are you from?”
I tell him.
“ThinkProgress isn’t reporters. I’m not interested.”
He starts walking away, then turns around and WHISTLES at me.
“I have a comment for you.” I walk back over. “You’re as much of a reporter as he is.”
— Addy Baird 👽 (@addysue) February 22, 2018
Ecarma and Gorka have a history.
“In October, I made a joke on Twitter about Gorka’s car because he drives a four cylinder Mustang instead of a V8, which is the flagship model of the car," Ecarma said. "He took offense to a joke tweet, and he emailed me asking where he wanted to meet, as in, to fight."
Ecarma said that he accepted Gorka’s invitation to meet in person and Gorka then suggested a televised debate instead. Ecarma said that he agreed to a televised debate, but the former Trump aide never followed up to schedule it.
Later that year in December 2017, Ecarma bumped into Gorka in person in at the Turning Point USA Student Action Summit in Florida. He says that after he introduced himself, Gorka lunged at him and had to be pulled off by security.
Former White House aide Sebastian Gorka lectures Mediaite reporter Caleb Ecarma after shoving him, in this screengrab from a video shot by Daily Beast reporter Max Tani.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,public figure,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, Miami Herald reporter Alex Harris harassed after fake tweets go viral,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/miami-herald-reporter-alex-harris-harassed-after-fake-tweets-go-viral/,2018-03-03 01:12:18.686002+00:00,2020-03-19 19:17:39.182374+00:00,2020-03-19 19:17:39.086352+00:00,,Other Incident,"'Miami Herald' Journalist Explains How A Hoax Tweet Affected Her Reporting On Shooting (https://www.npr.org/2018/02/27/589279395/miami-herald-journalist-explains-how-a-hoax-tweet-affected-her-reporting-on-shoo) via NPR, Twitter to explain on Capitol Hill how their platform was used in Herald, fake tweet hoaxes (http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article202976064.html) via McClatchy DC, Twitter Now Says Rules About Journalists Being Impersonated In Tweets Need To Be Revised (https://www.buzzfeed.com/janelytvynenko/doctored-reporter-tweets) via Buzzfeed",,,Alex Harris (Miami Herald),,2018-02-14,False,Miami,Florida (FL),25.77427,-80.19366,"Alex Harris, a reporter at the Miami Herald, was harassed online after fake tweets attributed to her went viral in the aftermath of a mass shooting in Parkland, Florida.
On Feb. 14, 2018, while reporting on the mass shooting, Harris tweeted at some of the people who had survived the mass shooting and tweeted about it, asking them if they wanted to talk to the Herald about what happened.
These are two of the real tweets that she sent to people who tweeted about the shooting:
Hi Alan, I'm heartbroken to hear about your friend. I hope your friend is OK. I know you're probably overwhelmed right now, but if you'd be comfortable talking to me about it for the @MiamiHerald , you can follow back to DM
— Alex Harris (@harrisalexc) February 14, 2018
Hi Mads, I'm so sorry to hear that you and your friends went through such a trauma. It's good to hear you guys are safe. I know you're overwhelmed right now, but if you're comfortable with it I'd like to ask you questions for the @MiamiHerald. Follow back if it's OK to DM
— Alex Harris (@harrisalexc) February 14, 2018
In response, a number of random Twitter users criticized Harris for doing her job. It's not uncommon for random people on Twitter to harass journalists for attempting to reach out to sources on Twitter, but the harassment campaign against Harris escalated when one of her critics created and shared doctored versions of two of her tweets.
The first fake tweet read: "Hi Alan, I know you're probably overwhelmed right now, but could you please get us pictures or videos of the dead bodies? @MiamiHerald, you can follow back to DM"
The second fake tweet read: "Hi Mads, I'm so sorry to hear that you and your friends went through such a trauma. Did you see the shooter? Was he white? If so, I'd like to ask you questions for the @MiamiHerald. Follow back if it's OK to DM"
As the fake tweets went viral, Harris tried to set the record straight:
There are 2 fake tweets circulating today attributed to me. They are doctored versions of tweets I sent while trying to tell the stories of victims and survivors -- important stories that need to be heard. I did not ask if the shooter was white nor ask for photos of dead bodies.
— Alex Harris (@harrisalexc) February 15, 2018
Harris told Buzzfeed that the fake tweets likely made people less willing to talk to her, preventing her from doing her job.
"Someone offered a victim $30 to talk to the competition and asked for people to send them money so they could offer more," she told Buzzfeed News. "People kept saying, 'Don't talk to her, she's racist,' and it just kept getting worse."
She told NPR that she tried to get Twitter to remove screenshots of the fake tweets, to no avail.
"I reported every tweet where someone sent me the screenshot," she said. "I reported them for abuse, for harassment, from impersonation. And Twitter sent me back continuous this is not a violation of our policy, so nothing was done. Twitter's policy on impersonation only covers people who impersonate an entire account, not a specific tweet."
Senator Bill Nelson, the top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Commerce Committee, has asked Twitter executives to appear before the committee on March 6 in order to explain its handling of the situation
"Officials from Twitter on Monday will be providing us with a briefing on how these perpetrators were able to use the company’s popular online platform to pull off this hoax," a spokesman for the senator told McClatchy DC.
Arun Gupta, a freelance journalist whose work has been published in The Nation and The Guardian, was subpoenaed on Feb. 24, 2018, to testify at a deposition about a Nation article he wrote. Gupta did not contest the subpoena but refused to answer any questions related to his journalism and reporting process.
In August 2016, The Nation published “The Financial Firm That Cornered the Market on Jails,” an article by Gupta about Stored Value Cards — a financial firm, also known as Numi, that provides prepaid debit cards to local jails — and a class-action lawsuit that a former jail inmate filed against the firm.
In February 2018, as part of its defense in that class-action lawsuit, Numi subpoenaed Gupta to testify about his reporting.
“Recently, Numi and the bank subpoenaed and deposed me in order to gain access to all my potential notes, sources, documentation, recordings, and so on,” Gupta told the Freedom of the Press Foundation.
Gupta said that Numi originally tried to depose him in New York, but that his attorney was able to get the subpoena moved to Oregon, a state with a very strong press shield law.
Gupta oped to comply with the subpoena and was deposed on Feb. 28 at the Portland offices of Davis Wright Tremaine, the media law firm representing him. At the deposition, he refused to answer any questions related to his reporting, citing reporter’s privilege.
“Because Oregon has such strong media shield laws, my lawyer was able to bat down virtually every question the [company’s] lawyer threw at me,” he said. “They got some information about my educational and work history, but nothing else.”
KGTV 10News San Diego photojournalist Paul Anderegg was subpoenaed on Feb. 13, 2018, to testify about a car crash that he witnessed during the course of his reporting. The subpoena was quashed on March 29.
On July 18, 2017, Anderegg arrived at the stalled car of Israel Morales. According to the Voice of San Diego, Morales was pushing his vehicle on the 1-5 freeway where it was then struck by another car. He was later charged with three misdemeanors, including two counts of drunk driving. Prosecutors subpoenaed Anderegg to testify as a witness in the criminal trial on Feb. 15, 2018.
Anderegg fought the subpoena, arguing that California’s shield law protected him from testifying about his reporting. California’s shield law, which is enshrined into the state’s constitution, states:
A publisher, editor, reporter, or other person connected with or employed upon a newspaper, magazine, or other periodical publication, or by a press association or wire service, or any person who has been so connected or employed, shall not be adjudged in contempt by a judicial, legislative, or administrative body, or any other body having the power to issue subpoenas, for refusing to disclose the source of any information procured while so connected or employed for publication in a newspaper, magazine or other periodical publication, or for refusing to disclose any unpublished information obtained or prepared in gathering, receiving or processing of information for communication to the public.
Nor shall a radio or television news reporter or other person connected with or employed by a radio or television station, or any person who has been so connected or employed, be so adjudged in contempt for refusing to disclose the source of any information procured while so connected or employed for news or news commentary purposes on radio or television, or for refusing to disclose any unpublished information obtained or prepared in gathering, receiving or processing of information for communication to the public.
As used in this subdivision, “unpublished information” includes information not disseminated to the public by the person from whom disclosure is sought, whether or not related information has been disseminated and includes, but is not limited to, all notes, outtakes, photographs, tapes or other data of whatever sort not itself disseminated to the public through a medium of communication, whether or not published information based upon or related to such material has been disseminated.
California Constitution, Article I, Section 2(b)
But San Diego County prosecutors argued that the shield law should not apply because Anderegg had not been acting as a journalist at the time of the accident, citing the fact that Anderegg had encouraged Morales to push his car onto the shoulder and then had called 911 after the accident.
“There was nothing that felt like it was a story when he got out of the car,” Deputy District Attorney Joel Madero said during a court hearing on the subpoena.
Matthew Halgren, Anderegg’s attorney, said that Anderegg was acting as a journalist when he stopped by Morales’ stalled car.
“Mr. Anderegg went to the scene of the incident specifically to gather news, and he was engaged in the process of collecting information and making video recordings for use in a television news broadcast the entire time he was there,” he told the Freedom of the Press Foundation. “The fact that he simultaneously made additional communications did not change the fact that his observations were made as part of the uninterrupted newsgathering process.”
“It is hardly possible for reporters to be completely passive observers during a newsworthy incident, and a reporter does not abandon his craft when he speaks to people around him or makes a telephone call,” he added. “Additionally, removing the protection of the shield law from a reporter who assists 9-1-1 dispatchers and first responders would create a perverse disincentive for reporters to provide assistance during emergencies.”
On March 29, at a court hearing in front of retired judge Carl Davis, the prosecutors and Halgren made their cases for and against the subpoena. Davis ruled that the California shield law did apply to Anderegg and the subpoena should be quashed.
“He went there as a journalist and turned on his camera, and it stayed on,” judge Davis said, according to the Voice of San Diego.
This is not the first time that Halgren has helped a journalist fight a subpoena. Earlier this year, he represented Kelly Davis, a freelance reporter who was subpoenaed to testify about her reporting on the high number of deaths in San Diego County jails. The subpoena against Davis was defeated.
On Feb. 13, 2018, the Department of Justice notified New York Times journalist Ali Watkins that it had seized years of her phone and email records. Since Watkins was only informed after the fact, she had no way to challenge the seizure.
Watkins is a national security reporter at the Times, who previously worked at BuzzFeed, Politico, and McClatchy. In February, she received a letter from the Justice Department, informing her that it had obtained her customer records and subscriber information from Verizon and Google.
Those records, known as “metadata,” include details of each and every call, text message, and email that she sent between 2014 or so, when she was still an undergraduate intern, and December 2017. The metadata does not include the actual content of her calls and emails, but does include the recipient of each call and email, the duration of each call, and the timestamp of each message.
The Justice Department seized Watkins’ records as part of an investigation into her confidential sources. Between 2014 and late 2017, Watkins was romantically involved with James Wolfe, the director of security for the Senate Intelligence Committee. The Justice Department began an investigation of Wolfe in connection with the leak of classified information to Watkins and other reporters. In December 2017, FBI agents interviewed Wolfe about his contacts with reporters, including Watkins. Federal investigators also approached Watkins around the same time, but she refused to speak with them.
In February 2018, a grand jury indicted Wolfe on charges of lying to federal investigators, in connection with statements he allegedly made during the December interview. The indictment accuses Wolfe of making false statements about the extent of his contacts with reporters, including Watkins. It also accuses him of making false statements about disclosing sensitive information to Watkins and another reporter.
Wolfe has not been indicted on charges of leaking classified information — to Watkins or any other reporters — and Watkins told her editors at the Times that he was not a source of classified information for her.
The seizure of Watkins’ phone and email records is the first (publicly-known) instance of the Justice Department obtaining a journalist’s communications records since Trump took office.
In 2013, during the Obama administration, it was revealed that the Justice Department secretly obtained access to a Fox News reporter’s private email account, and to months of phone records belonging to the dozens of Associated Press reporters, in an attempt to identify journalists’ sources.
After public outcry, the current Justice Department implemented voluntary guidelines in 2015. These guidelines direct the Department of Justice to only subpoena journalists for information as a last resort and require the attorney general to personally approve any subpoena of a journalist or news organization.
The guidelines also instruct the department to provide news organizations of advance notice of subpoenas and records requests related to journalism, so that the news organizations have a chance to fight the subpoenas in court before they are carried out. The guidelines specifically state that the journalist should be given advance notice, “unless the Attorney General determines that, for compelling reasons, such notice would pose a clear and substantial threat to the integrity of the investigation, risk grave harm to national security, or present an imminent risk of death or serious bodily harm.”
Watkins and The New York Times were not given advance notice or the opportunity to challenge the seizure in court. A Justice Department spokeswoman told the Times that the department “fully complied” with its internal guidelines when seizing Watkins’ records.
The Trump administration has floated the idea of modifying the internal guidelines but so far has not done so. According to the Times, deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein told a group of journalists on June 6, 2018 that the guidelines remained in effect.
On Feb. 9, 2018, a Las Vegas judge ordered the Las Vegas Review-Journal and the Associated Press to destroy their copies of an autopsy report of an off-duty police officer killed in a mass shooting.
On Jan. 31, Clark County District Court judge Timothy Williams ordered the Clark County Coroner’s Office to release 58 redacted autopsy reports of the victims of the Las Vegas mass shooting to the Review-Journal and AP, which had sued to acquire the records. Following the ruling, the coroner’s office released the autopsy reports to dozens of news organizations. On Feb. 15, The Huffington Post published summaries of all 58 autopsy reports.
The reports that were released to the press were partially redacted and did not include the victims’ names, ages, or other personal and identifying information.
One of the 58 autopsy reports pertained to Charles Hartfield, an off-duty Las Vegas police officer who was killed in the shooting. After the autopsy reports were released to the public, Hartfield’s widow, Veronica Hartfield, sued the Review-Journal and AP, arguing that the autopsy report contained private medical information and should remain confidential.
On Feb. 9, Clark County District Court judge Richard Scotti ruled in favor of Veronica Hartfield, ordering the Review-Journal and the AP to destroy their copies of Hartfield’s autopsy report and to refrain from publishing any details contained in Hartfield’s autopsy report.
Scotti’s order presented a logistical problem for the Review-Journal and the AP. Since the redacted autopsy reports did not include any of the victims’ identifying information, there was no way for the Review-Journal or the AP to tell which report was Hartfield's.
“The only identifying information in the autopsy reports was gender,” Review-Journal managing editor Glenn Cook told the Freedom of the Press Foundation.
Cook said that the judge offered the Review-Journal and AP two options, both of which would have infringed on the news organizations' First Amendment rights.
“One of the judge’s solutions to this was to hand over all of the information that just been declared public record and was lawfully released, have the Coroner’s Office staff pick out Hartfield’s and promise to give the rest back,” he said. “The most staggering remedy the judge suggested was to allow government employees into our newsroom, go through all of our records, and find that particular report and destroy a legally obtained document.”
“If anywhere in this country, agents of any government entity were allowed to force their way into a newsroom to rifle through documents and seek out a specific record and destroy it, it would be an unparalleled violation of the press freedoms enshrined in the First Amendment,” he said.
Cook said that he distributed a memo to the Review-Journal newsroom outlining company-wide procedures in the event that representatives of the coroner’s office or Las Vegas police attempt to enter the paper’s newsroom to find Hartfield’s autopsy report.
On Feb. 12, the Review-Journal and AP appealed Scotti's decision, petitioning the Nevada Supreme Court for an emergency writ that would vacate Scotti's order. The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and the Nevada Press Association filed an amicus curiae brief in support of the news organizations.
"Prior restraints on speech and publication cause immediate, irrevocable, and irreversible harm — therefore they are almost always intolerable under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution ... Every minute the district court’s order remains in place is another minute of harm suffered by the Media Parties and the public, which is entitled to reporting on the performance of its public agencies," the petition for an emergency writ states.
The Nevada Supreme Court, in Carson City, Nevada, found that a lower court's order preventing the Las Vegas Review-Journal and the AP from reporting on a public autopsy report violated the First Amendment.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,struck down,"Las Vegas Review-Journal, The Associated Press",,,,,, Photographer chased onto highway after trying to interview New Jersey funeral director,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-and-photographer-chased-highway-after-trying-interview-new-jersey-funeral-director/,2018-03-27 17:59:53.043349+00:00,2021-10-21 19:38:15.594196+00:00,2021-10-21 19:38:15.546123+00:00,,Assault,"They dropped and mishandled the dead. N.J. kept paying them to transport bodies (http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2018/03/inside_njs_dirty_business_of_moving_the_dead.html) via NJ Advance Media, ‘It doesn’t even feel real’: NJ reporter recounts highway confrontation (https://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/nj-com-highway-chase-story.php) via CJR",,,Andrew Mills (NJ Advance Media),,2018-02-07,False,Hackettstown,New Jersey (NJ),40.85399,-74.82906,"NJ Advance Media photographer Andrew Mills and reporter Stephen Stirling were chased onto a highway and threatened by a man they were covering for a story in Hackettstown, New Jersey, on Feb. 7, 2018.
That day, Mills and Stirling visited the neighborhood of funeral director Joseph Fantasia. His company, which contracted with government agencies to transport the dead, had been accused of mishandling bodies for over two years. In June, the Office of the State Medical Examiner severed its ties with Fantasia’s company, but it still holds contracts with other agencies. Stirling told Freedom of the Press Foundation the news team wanted to photograph Fantasia and determine whether he was still working in the funeral industry.
The journalists waited in their car outside of Fantasia’s house for several hours before he emerged. Once Fantasia exited the house, Stirling told FPF, he “got into his car and drove at us.”
Stirling said that Fantasia drove his black Cadillac Escalade down the road, pulled up next to the journalists’ car window, and began yelling obscenities.
Stirling said that after he identified himself as a reporter and made several attempts to interview Fantasia, Mills made the decision to leave out of concern for their safety. Mills declined to comment.
Stirling said that Fantasia chased them around the neighborhood and then a second black SUV, driven by Fantasia’s neighbor, joined the chase. Both SUVs followed Stirling and Mills onto nearby Route 46.
“At this point, we were on the phone with 911,” Stirling said. “Joe’s car pulled up alongside and got in front of us, and the other car got behind us, so we were boxed in.”
Stirling said that Fantasia’s neighbor’s SUV then moved to the side of their car and slowed down. Stirling said this gave them no choice but to stop, blocking the flow of traffic across the entire highway.
A police report of the incident obtained by FPF reads, “At this time the driver of the Escalade later identified as Joseph Fantasia exited his vehicle, began to approach the Nissan Altima and was yelling in their direction.”
“They were moving at us aggressively, but thankfully, we didn't have the chance to see what could have happened next — but it wouldn’t have been good,” Stirling said.
Luckily, Stirling said, one of the cars behind them held two off duty police officers. The officers pulled up alongside the cars, identified themselves, and ordered all three cars to pull over down the road.
“They put their car in between ours and both of theirs, and they made sure on-duty police officers were on their way,” Stirling said. “They stayed until they arrived. I don’t know what would have happened if they weren’t there. They made the best out of what was a bad, scary situation.”
The altercation was written up as a road rage incident, but neither Fantasia nor his neighbor were arrested or charged for the incident.
“If there's anything that bothers me as a citizen about this, that’s it,” Stirling said. “Two off duty police officers saw what happened. It’s disappointing that not even a reckless driving citation was issued — it’s hard for me to feel like that doesn’t send a bad message.”
On March 5, Stirling’s article about Fantasia was published.
NJ Advance Media reporter Stephen Stirling and photographer Andrew Mills were chased onto a highway and threatened by a man they were covering for a story in Hackettstown, New Jersey, on Feb. 7, 2018.
That day, Stirling and Mills visited the neighborhood of funeral director Joseph Fantasia. His company, which contracted with government agencies to transport the dead, had been accused of mishandling bodies for over two years. In June, the Office of the State Medical Examiner severed its ties with Fantasia’s company, but it still holds contracts with other agencies. Stirling told Freedom of the Press Foundation the news team wanted to photograph Fantasia and determine whether he was still working in the funeral industry.
“We wanted to photograph him, and see if he was still working in the funeral industry, or going into a funeral home,” Stirling told FPF.
The journalists waited in their car outside of Fantasia’s house for several hours before he emerged. Once Fantasia exited the house, Stirling said, he “got into his car and drove at us.”
Stirling said that Fantasia drove his black Cadillac Escalade down the road, pulled up next to the journalists’ car window, and began yelling obscenities.
Stirling said that after he identified himself as a reporter and made several attempts to interview Fantasia, Mills made the decision to leave out of concern for their safety. Mills declined to comment.
“Joe [Fantasia] has a history of violent threats—that’s part of what we documented,” Stirling said.
Stirling said that Fantasia chased them around the neighborhood and then a second black SUV, driven by Fantasia’s neighbor, joined the chase. Both SUVs followed Stirling and Mills onto nearby Route 46.
“At this point, we were on the phone with 911,” Stirling said. “Joe’s car pulled up alongside and got in front of us, and the other car got behind us, so we were boxed in.”
Stirling said that the second SUV then moved to the side of their car and slowed down. Stirling said this gave them no choice but to stop, blocking the flow of traffic across the entire highway.
A police report of the incident obtained by FPF reads, “At this time the driver of the Escalade later identified as Joseph Fantasia exited his vehicle, began to approach the Nissan Altima and was telling in there direction.”
“They were moving at us aggressively, but thankfully, we didn't have the chance to see what could have happened next — but it wouldn’t have been good,” Stirling said.
Luckily, Stirling said, one of the cars behind them held two off duty police officers. The officers pulled up alongside the cars, identified themselves, and ordered all three cars to pull over down the road.
“They put their car in between ours and both of theirs, and they made sure on-duty police officers were on their way,” Stirling said.
“They stayed until they arrived. I don’t know what would have happened if they weren’t there. They made the best out of what was a bad, scary situation.”
The altercation was written up as a road rage incident, but neither Fantasia nor his neighbor were arrested or charged for the incident.
“If there's anything that bothers me as a citizen about this, that’s it,” Stirling said. “Two off duty police officers saw what happened. It’s disappointing that not even a reckless driving citation was issued — it’s hard for me to feel like that doesn’t send a bad message.”
On March 5, Stirling’s article about Fantasia was published.
As PIX11 reporter Howard Thompson tried to conduct an on-camera interview with a mechanic in New York on Feb. 6, 2018, the man attacked Thompson and his cameraman with a metal baseball bat.
Thompson is the host of "Help Me Howard," a news segment on PIX11 that confronts individuals accused of unscrupulous behavior.
On Jan. 25, Thompson made his first attempt to interview Jose Lebron-Pimentel, the owner of an auto repair shop in the Bronx. Thompson wanted to ask Lebron-Pimentel about allegations that he had refused to honor a court-ordered $2,000 judgement. Thompson left after failing to find Lebron-Pimentel.
On Feb. 6, Thompson and a PIX11 photographer, John Frasse, visited the auto repair shop again. They quickly found Lebron-Pimentel inside the garage, armed with a metal bat. PIX11 caught the entire altercation on tape.
"Jose? All right, no bats! No bats!" Thompson says as Lebron-Pimentel runs out of the garage with the bat.
Lebron-Pimentel chases Thompson and Frass into the street, swinging the bat in their direction and striking Thompson in the arm and Frasse in the hip.
Thompson later said on PIX11 that he called the police immediately after the attack, and officers quickly arrived on the scene and arrested Lebron-Pimentel.
The New York City Police Department said that Thompson and Frasse were attacked around noon on East 180th Street, in the Bronx. Lebron-Pimentel was arrested on charges of assault and held on $5,000 bail.
A man attacks PIX11's Howard Thompson and John Frasse with a metal bat as they attempt to interview him in the Bronx on Feb. 6, 2018.
PIX11
PIX11 reporter Howard Thompson sits in an ambulance after being attacked by a man whom he was trying to interview.
,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, PIX11 photographer John Frasse attacked with bat during interview,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/pix11-photographer-attacked-man-baseball-bat-new-york-city/,2018-02-14 22:00:38.218924+00:00,2021-11-09 21:05:52.813217+00:00,2021-11-09 21:05:52.764260+00:00,,Assault,Help Me Howard and PIX11 photographer attacked by bat-wielding man (http://pix11.com/2018/02/06/help-me-howard-and-pix11-photographer-attacked-by-man-with-baseball-bat/) via PIX11,,,John Frasse (PIX11),,2018-02-06,False,New York,New York (NY),None,None,"PIX11 photographer John Frasse was attacked by a man wielding a metal baseball bat on Feb. 6, 2018, as his colleague Howard Thompson tried to interview the man.
Thompson is the host of "Help Me Howard," a news segment on PIX11 that aids individuals accused of unscrupulous behavior.
On Jan. 25, Thompson made his first attempt to interview Jose Lebron-Pimentel, the owner of an auto repair shop in the Bronx. Thompson wanted to ask Lebron-Pimentel about allegations that he had refused to honor a court-ordered $2,000 judgement. Thompson left after failing to find Lebron-Pimentel.
On Feb. 6, Thompson and Frasse visited the auto repair shop again. They quickly found Lebron-Pimentel inside the garage, armed with a metal bat. Frasse continued rolling throughout the altercation.
"Jose? All right, no bats! No bats!" Thompson says as Lebron-Pimentel runs out of the garage with the bat.
Lebron-Pimentel chases Thompson and Frass into the street, swinging the bat in their direction and striking Thompson in the arm and Frasse in the hip.
Thompson later said on PIX11 that he called the police immediately after the attack, and officers quickly arrived on the scene and arrested Lebron-Pimentel.
The New York City Police Department said that Thompson and Frasse were attacked around noon on East 180th Street, in the Bronx. Lebron-Pimentel was arrested on charges of assault and held on $5,000 bail.
A man attacks PIX11's Howard Thompson and John Frasse with a metal bat as they attempt to interview him in the Bronx on Feb. 6, 2018.
PIX11
A man prepares to attack PIX11 photographer John Frasse and reporter Howard Thompson with a metal baseball bat.
,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, Health care reporter kicked off press call following critical coverage of federal agency,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/health-care-reporter-kicked-press-call-following-critical-coverage-federal-agency/,2018-03-06 23:58:35.593385+00:00,2020-03-19 15:09:44.622234+00:00,2020-03-19 15:09:44.483300+00:00,,Denial of Access,"CMS threatens to bar Modern Healthcare from press calls after reporter refuses to alter story (https://healthjournalism.org/blog/2018/02/cms-threatens-to-bar-modern-healthcare-from-press-calls-after-reporter-refuses-to-alter-story/) via AHCJ, CMS makes amends with Modern Healthcare but questions remain (https://healthjournalism.org/blog/2018/02/cms-makes-amends-with-modern-healthcare-but-questions-remain/) via ACHJ",,,Virgil Dickinson (Modern Healthcare),,2018-02-01,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"Virgil Dickinson, the Washington bureau chief for trade publication Modern Healthcare, was kicked off a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services services press call on Feb. 1, 2018. The denial of access came just a week after a spokesman for CMS threatened to cut off Modern Healthcare’s press access to CMS in retaliation for its coverage.
On Jan. 23, Modern Healthcare published a story by Dickson about the resignation of an official at the agency. According to the Association of Health Care Journalists, a spokesman representing CMS then emailed both Dickson and his editor, Matthew Weinstock, demanding that part of the article be removed. The spokesman, Brett O’Donnell, is a Republican consultant who was working on behalf of CMS but was not employed by the agency.
“Short of fully correcting the piece we will not be able to include your outlet in further press calls with CMS,” O’Donnell reportedly wrote in the email to Weinstock.
On Feb. 1, Dickson was kicked off a CMS press call.
Following a public outcry, CMS apologized to Dickson and Modern Healthcare.
Aurora Aguilar, the editor-in-chief of Modern Healthcare, told ACHJ that a representative of CMS called her on February 6 and promised that its reporters will continue to have access to press calls.
Attorneys representing Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke subpoenaed the Chicago Tribune and two other Chicago-area papers on Jan. 29, 2018, ordering the papers to produce copies of all stories about Van Dyke’s fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald in 2014.
Van Dyke has been charged with murder in connection with the fatal 2014 shooting of Laquan McDonald, a black teenager. His trial is scheduled to begin later this year.
A copy of the subpoena to the Tribune, obtained by the Freedom of the Press Foundation, orders the paper to bring “any and all articles and/or publications in the electronic archive containing the name ‘Laquan McDonald’ and/or ‘Jason Van Dyke’” to a hearing before judge Vincent Gaughan on Feb. 1 at 9 a.m.
The articles that Van Dyke’s attorneys are interested in are already publicly available, and it is unclear why they subpoenaed the Tribune for the articles instead of just searching through the Tribune’s archives themselves.
On Feb. 1, both the Tribune and the Sun-Times reported that Van Dyke’s attorney had subpoenaed the Tribune, the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Daily Herald.
On Feb. 6, Tribune attorney Karen Flax told the Freedom of the Press Foundation that the Tribune had been served the subpoena and planned to contest it. The Sun-Times declined to comment and the Daily Herald did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Van Dyke’s legal team apparently plans to argue that extensive coverage of the Laquan McDonald shooting in Chicago-area newspapers has rendered a fair trial for Van Dyke impossible. Van Dyke’s attorneys plan to petition the court to move the trial out of Cook County, Illinois.
Anne Kavanagh, the media spokesperson for Van Dyke’s attorney Daniel Herbert, said that Van Dyke’s defense team subpoenaed the papers to support its motion for a change of venue. Kavanagh declined to comment further, citing a gag order issued by judge Gaughan.
This are not the first media subpoena in the Van Dyke case. In 2017, Van Dyke's attorneys tried to subpoena Jamie Kalven, an independent journalist who reported extensively on the Laquan McDonald murder and the Chicago police department's alleged attempts to cover it up. Judge Gaughan quashed that subpoena.
Attorneys representing Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke subpoenaed the Chicago Sun-Times and two other Chicago-area papers on Jan. 29, 2018, ordering the papers to produce copies of all stories about Van Dyke’s fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald in 2014.
Van Dyke has been charged with murder in connection with the fatal 2014 shooting of Laquan McDonald, a black teenager. His trial is scheduled to begin later this year.
On Feb. 1, the Sun-Times reported that Van Dyke’s attorney had subpoenaed the Sun-Times, the Chicago Tribune, and the Chicago Daily Herald.
Sun-Times editor-in-chief Chris Fusco declined to comment when asked about the subpoena. However, the Tribune confirmed that it was served a subpoena on Feb. 5 and the Daily Herald confirmed that it was served a subpoena on Feb. 7.
The Freedom of the Press Foundation obtained a copy of the subpoena served on the Tribune. The subpoena, dated Jan. 29, orders the paper to bring “any and all articles and/or publications in the electronic archive containing the name ‘Laquan McDonald’ and/or ‘Jason Van Dyke’” to a pre-trial hearing before judge Vincent Gaughan on Feb. 1 at 9 a.m.
The articles that Van Dyke’s attorneys are interested in are already publicly available, and it is unclear why they subpoenaed the Tribune, the Sun-Times, and the Daily Herald for the articles instead of just searching through the newspapers' archives themselves.
Van Dyke’s legal team apparently plans to argue that extensive coverage of the Laquan McDonald shooting in Chicago-area newspapers has rendered a fair trial for Van Dyke impossible. Van Dyke’s attorneys plan to petition the court to move the trial out of Cook County, Illinois.
Anne Kavanagh, the media spokesperson for Van Dyke’s attorney Daniel Herbert, said that Van Dyke’s defense team subpoenaed the papers to support its motion for a change of venue. Kavanagh declined to comment further, citing a gag order issued by judge Gaughan.
This are not the first media subpoena in the Van Dyke case. In 2017, Van Dyke's attorneys tried to subpoena Jamie Kalven, an independent journalist who reported extensively on the Laquan McDonald murder and the Chicago police department's alleged attempts to cover it up. Judge Gaughan quashed that subpoena.
Attorneys representing Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke subpoenaed the Daily Herald and two other Chicago-area papers on Jan. 29, 2018, ordering the papers to produce copies of all stories about Van Dyke’s fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald in 2014.
Van Dyke has been charged with murder in connection with the fatal 2014 shooting of Laquan McDonald, a black teenager. His trial is scheduled to begin later this year.
Anne Kavanagh, the media spokesperson for Van Dyke’s attorney Daniel Herbert, said that Van Dyke’s defense team subpoenaed three newspapers — the Daily Herald, the Chicago Tribune, and the Chicago Sun-Times — to support a motion for a change of venue. Kavanagh declined to comment further, citing a gag order issued by judge Gaughan.
Van Dyke’s legal team apparently plans to argue that extensive coverage of the Laquan McDonald shooting in Chicago-area newspapers has rendered a fair trial for Van Dyke impossible. Van Dyke’s attorneys plan to petition the court to move the trial out of Cook County, Illinois. The Daily Herald is based in Arlington Heights, a suburb of Chicago that is part of Cook County.
The Daily Herald told the Freedom of the Press Foundation that it was served a subpoena on Feb. 7, 2018. The Chicago Sun-Times declined to comment on the subpoena, and the Tribune said that it was served a subpoena on Feb. 5 and planned to contest it.
A copy of the subpoena to the Tribune, obtained by the Freedom of the Press Foundation, orders the paper to bring “any and all articles and/or publications in the electronic archive containing the name ‘Laquan McDonald’ and/or ‘Jason Van Dyke’” to a hearing before judge Vincent Gaughan on Feb. 1 at 9 a.m.
The articles that Van Dyke’s attorneys are interested in are already publicly available, and it is unclear why they subpoenaed Daily Herald, the Tribune, and the Sun-Times for the articles instead of just searching through the newspapers' archives themselves.
This are not the first media subpoena in the Van Dyke case. In 2017, Van Dyke's attorneys tried to subpoena Jamie Kalven, an independent journalist who reported extensively on the Laquan McDonald murder and the Chicago police department's alleged attempts to cover it up. Judge Gaughan quashed that subpoena.
On Jan. 29, 2018, the Strafford County Attorney's Office filed a motion to compel the Foster's Daily Democrat newspaper to turn over an unpublished jailhouse interview that one of its reporters, Brian Early, had conducted with Joshua Flynn, who is on trial for sexual assault.
The "Motion to Compel Non-Confidential Work Product" asks the Strafford County Superior Court to order Foster's to turn over "all recordings, notes, memoranda, drafts, documents, and any material memorizing its interview with the defendant, Joshua Flynn."
According to Foster's, Early conducted a interview with Flynn at the Strafford County House of Corrections on June 15, 2017, but the paper never published the interview.
New Hampshire's state constitution includes a "shield law," a provision that protects journalists from being forced to testify about or disclose certain information related to their reporting.
In the motion to compel, Assistant County Attorney Joachim Barth argues that the shield law does not apply to Early's interview with Flynn, because the law is intended to allow reporters to protect the identities of their confidential sources and Flynn's identity is already public.
"At the outset, under the facts here, Mr. Flynn is not a confidential source," Barth writes in the motion. "He disclosed his intention to conduct an interview with Foster's both on recorded telephone conversations and in monitored emails; and, Foster's reporter Brian Early disclosed to undersigned counsel both his intention to conduct an interview with Mr. Flynn, and then confirmed afterwards that he had done so. Moreover, both parties disclosed that the interview concerned the sexual assaults at issue."
Barth wrote in the motion that the prosecution wants Early to turn over material related to the unpublished interview with Flynn so that it can learn in advance what Flynn plans to say at the trial.
"While Mr. Flynn has previously confessed to the sexual assaults, his telephone and email conversations concerning the Foster's interview indicate that he now attempts to advance a new, exculpatory account of events," Barth writes, adding that "there is a reasonable possibility that obtaining the defendant's factual claims of a defense will afford the State an opportunity to prepare and offer evidence showing such claims to be demonstrably false."
On Feb. 7, 2018, Greg Sullivan, the attorney representing Foster's, filed an opposition to the prosecution's motion to compel. Sullivan argues that New Hampshire's shield law protects journalists from being forced to reveal any unpublished information, not just the identities of their confidential sources, in court.
"Courts have long recognized that a government that requires the press to produce to it unpublished materials degrades the autonomy and independence needed by the press to fulfill its role in educating and informing the citizenry," Sullivan writes in the opposition.
A man in Michigan was arrested by the FBI and accused of threatening to murder CNN employees, Atlanta news station WGCL-TV reported on Jan. 22, 2018.
The man allegedly made 22 threatening calls to CNN's headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia on Jan. 9 and 10, according to an unsealed criminal complaint.
"Fake news. I'm coming to gun you down," the man allegedly said during one call.
"I have a gun and I am coming to Georgia right now to go to the CNN headquarters to fucking gun every single last one of you," he allegedly said during another call. "I have a team of people. It's going to be great, man ... You gotta get prepared for this one, buddy."
The FBI arrested Brian Griesemer, and he was charged in connection with the threats against CNN employees. He was also accused of making threats against a mosque in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
"We take any threats to CNN employees or workplaces, around the world, extremely seriously," CNN said in a statement. "This one is no exception. We have been in touch with local and federal law enforcement throughout, and have taken all necessary measures to ensure the safety of our people."
President Donald Trump has repeatedly targeted CNN, referring to the network and its journalists as "fake news" and even re-tweeting memes that made light of threats of violence against CNN reporters.
On Jan. 20, 2018, a California Highway Patrol officer stopped local radio host Marcus Victor, who was reporting on mudslides in the area, and seized his press pass. Victor and two of his colleagues were briefly detained and threatened with arrest for attempting to enter a “public exclusion zone.”
Victor, a program host for KZAA 96.5 FM, told the Freedom of the Press Foundation that he was driving to Montecito, California, where he planned to interview a local resident about the mudslides in the area, when his car was stopped by a CHP officer. Victor said that there were three other people in the car with him — two KZAA colleagues, who each had a press pass, and a local resident who knew the person that Victor planned to interview.
Victor said that he and his colleagues showed their press passes to the CHP officer, whom he identified as “T. Adrianse,” but the officer did not believe that the press passes were authentic.
Victor said that CHP officer Adrianse photographed him, as well as his drivers license and license plate, and then threatened to arrest him for being in an exclusionary zone and for possession of (what the officer believed to be) a fraudulent press pass.
Victor was released without being arrested, but he was unable to complete the interview (since he couldn’t get access to the exclusion zone) and his press pass was never returned to him.
On Jan. 10, Santa Barbara County declared a “public safety exclusion zone” near Montecito, California, due to dangerous mudslides. Under California law, authorities can prevent members of the public from accessing exclusion zones, but they are supposed to allow any “duly authorized representative of any news service, newspaper, or radio or television station” to enter the area.
The Santa Barbara California Highway Patrol told the Freedom of the Press Foundation that it has had issues in the past with non-journalists attempting to access exclusion zones.
“I will let you know we have an issue with people posing as press employees to gain access to the evacuation zone,” Santa Barbara CHP officer Jonathan Gutierrez said. “Every time there is a disaster there is always an issue of looters.”
Gutierrez said that Adrianse, the officer who stopped Victor, believed that the press pass looked to be homemade and therefore fraudulent.
“The press passes looked to be fake and could have easily been home made on a basic printer,” he said. “The officer obtained the alleged press pass and called the sergeant on duty, he took a picture and forwarded it to the sergeant who also agreed the passes looked to be fake.”
Gutierrez also said that officer Adrianse had other reasons to suspect that Victor was not a legitimate journalist covering the mudslides. He said that Adrianse had tried to verify that Victor was a real journalist by using his mobile phone to search online for KZAA’s coverage of the mudslides. When he found KZAA’s Facebook page and saw that it had not posted or shared any stories about the mudslides, he concluded that Victor was not really a journalist on assignment.
“The officer believed Mr. Lopez was not doing a story about the Montecito mudslide but abusing his position as an employee at a local radio station to travel freely in and out the Montecito Evacuation zone,” Gutierrez said.
Gutierrez added that Victor and other journalists seeking to access the exclusion zone should apply for official press passes from the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department.
Victor told the Freedom of the Press Foundation that the KZAA press passes were of “poor quality,” but he was still surprised to be stopped because CHP officers had previously accepted the passes.
“In this zone, there were several roadblocks/checkpoints which we got through, but this officer decided our passes were fraudulent,” he said.
Nora Donaghy, a journalist and producer working on a documentary series about controversial record producer Marion “Suge” Knight, had her phone seized and searched by two police officers on Jan. 18, 2018, according to a sealed declaration filed in court and obtained by The Hollywood Reporter. She has also been subpoenaed to testify in front of a grand jury about her interview with Knight.
That morning, two police officers visited Donaghy at her home in Los Angeles and presented her with a search warrant, according to a declaration that she filed with the court. The declaration was filed under seal but obtained by THR.
"One of the officers told me that I was required by the warrant to hand over my cell phone,” Donaghy wrote in the declaration. “They also asked me for my passcode and asked me to type the passcode into the phone in their presence to make sure it worked. Believing I had no alternative and frightened by the unexpected arrival of two homicide officers at my home, early in the morning, I gave them my iPhone and the passcode and showed them it worked.”
In the declaration, Donaghy stated that her phone contained "highly sensitive" information, including unpublished work and communications about sources.
THR reports that Donaghy and a colleague, William Erb, are documentary filmmakers working on a six-part series about Death Row Records, the rap label that Knight co-founded. The two interviewed Knight in prison for the documentary series, which is being produced by eOne and will air later this year on the BET network.
In 2015, Knight was arrested and charged with murder after a fatal hit-and-run collision on a movie set that killed his friend Terry Carter. Knight has also been suspected of involvement in the unsolved 1996 murder of rapper Tupac Shakur, who was signed to his label, and the 1997 murder of rapper Biggie Smalls. THR reports that Donaghy and Erb interviewed Knight about the Tupac murder for the upcoming BET series.
According to THR, Donaghy and Erb have been subpoenaed to testify in front of a grand jury about the interview with Knight, and attorneys representing the filmmakers have filed a motion to quash the subpoena, arguing that California’s shield law prevents the state from forcing journalists to testify about their work.
“This is the kind of gross overreaching that California's shield law and related provisions have been designed to prevent,” the motion to quash the subpoena states, according to THR.
On Jan. 26, THR reporter Eriq Gardner reported on Twitter that the judge overseeing the case ruled on the motion to quash, but the judge's ruling was not made public.
A quick update on this. There has been a ruling, but the judge has ordered the entire thing under seal so unclear the result. Will update further when I know more. https://t.co/mtTXxljQgb
— Eriq Gardner (@eriqgardner) January 26, 2018
Rap mogul Suge Knight appears in court for a arraignment hearing in his murder trial in Los Angeles, California, on April 30, 2015.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,returned in full,True,law enforcement,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,other testimony,['UNKNOWN'],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, Documentary journalist William Erb subpoenaed to testify before grand jury,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/documentary-journalist-william-erb-subpoenaed-testify-grand-jury/,2018-02-02 06:39:42.720508+00:00,2021-10-28 19:00:12.290635+00:00,2021-10-28 19:00:12.239155+00:00,(2018-02-06 12:00:00+00:00) LAT update,Subpoena/Legal Order,"Two TV Journalists Fight Grand Jury Subpoena After Interviewing Suge Knight in Prison (https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/two-tv-journalists-fight-grand-jury-subpoena-interviewing-suge-knight-prison-1077357) via The Hollywood Reporter, Prosecutors use aggressive tactics against Suge Knight and his team, sparking civil liberties concerns (http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-suge-knight-tactics-20180206-story.html) via Los Angeles Times",,,William Erb (eOne),,2018-01-17,False,Los Angeles,California (CA),34.05223,-118.24368,"William Erb, a journalist and producer working on a documentary series about controversial record producer Marion “Suge” Knight, was subpoenaed on Jan. 17, 2018, to testify before a grand jury, according to a sealed declaration filed in court and obtained by The Hollywood Reporter.
THR reports that Erb and a colleague, Nora Donaghy, are documentary filmmakers working on a six-part series about Death Row Records, the rap label that Knight co-founded. The two interviewed Knight in prison for the documentary series, which is being produced by eOne and will air later this year on the BET network.
In 2015, Knight was arrested and charged with murder after a fatal hit-and-run collision on a movie set that killed his friend Terry Carter. Knight has also been suspected of involvement in the unsolved 1996 murder of rapper Tupac Shakur, who was signed to his label, and the 1997 murder of rapper Biggie Smalls. THR reports that Erb and Donaghy interviewed Knight about the Tupac murder for the upcoming BET series.
In a sealed court filing obtained by THR, Erb stated that he received a call from a police investigator last year who told him that he had broken the law by interviewing Knight in prison. Erb also said in the declaration that two detectives visited him at his home on Jan. 17, 2018, and served him a grand jury subpoena.
Attorneys for Erb and Donaghy have filed a motion to quash the subpoena, arguing that California’s shield law prevents the state from forcing journalists to testify about their work.
“This is the kind of gross overreaching that California's shield law and related provisions have been designed to prevent,” the motion to quash the subpoena states, according to THR.
On Jan. 26, THR reporter Eriq Gardner reported on Twitter that the judge overseeing the case ruled on the motion to quash, but the judge's ruling was not made public.
A quick update on this. There has been a ruling, but the judge has ordered the entire thing under seal so unclear the result. Will update further when I know more. https://t.co/mtTXxljQgb
— Eriq Gardner (@eriqgardner) January 26, 2018
Rap mogul Suge Knight appears in court for a arraignment hearing in his murder trial in Los Angeles, California, on April 30, 2015.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,other testimony,['UNKNOWN'],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, Subpoena for WCAX-TV footage of police shooting quashed; decision unsealed more than a year later,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/subpoena-for-wcax-tv-footage-of-police-shooting-quashed-decision-unsealed-more-than-a-year-later/,2021-03-08 17:38:25.567865+00:00,2021-03-08 17:38:25.567865+00:00,2021-03-08 17:38:25.516614+00:00,,Subpoena/Legal Order,,,,,,2018-01-17,False,Burlington,Vermont (VT),44.47588,-73.21207,"CBS-affiliate station WCAX-TV in Burlington, Vermont, was subpoenaed by the Washington County State’s Attorney in Vermont on Jan. 17, 2018, for video footage of a fatal police shooting of a suspect at Montpelier High School the day before. The subpoena was issued as part of an inquest — a closed-door investigative proceeding overseen by the court — after the State’s Attorney learned that the station had a 38-minute video recording, including the shooting of the suspect by the police.
According to court records, a suspected armed robber fled to the grounds of Montpelier High School where police shot and killed him after he refused to surrender his gun. The Washington County State’s Attorney convened an inquest a day after the shooting to determine whether police had acted lawfully after it was found that the suspect was armed with a BB gun.
On Jan. 26, WCAX-TV filed a motion to quash the subpoena, citing the state shield law that protects journalists from compelled disclosure of information and sources. The court granted the station’s motion to quash, making it the first under the state’s media shield law, which was enacted in 2017. The ruling, however, remained sealed as the state’s investigation of the shooting continued.
In April 2018, the inquest was completed and the state decided that it would not bring any charges against the police officers involved in the shooting. WCAX-TV then moved to unseal the trial court’s decision to quash the subpoena. The trial court denied the motion, stating that the order was confidential because it concerned an inquest.
The station appealed the trial court’s decision, arguing the court’s order should be made accessible to the public under the Vermont Rules for Public Access to Court Records. The station also argued that making the decision public was important because of the media shield law precedent.
The Vermont Supreme Court granted the appeal; the trial court’s decision was reversed on July 19, 2019, and its decision to quash the subpoena was unsealed. In that decision, the court noted that the state prosecutors failed to establish that the information in the video recording could not be sought through alternative sources.
CNN chief White House Correspondent Jim Acosta said that White House aides shouted at him as he tried to ask questions of President Trump in the Oval Office on Jan. 16, 2018.
Acosta, along with other members of the press, covered a meeting at the White House between Trump and President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan. During the meeting, Acosta asked Trump, “Did you say you want more people to come into the country from Norway, Mr. President?”
Trump responded, “I want them to come in from everywhere … everywhere. Thank you very much, everybody.”
Acosta later tweeted that White House aides shouted in his face and drowned him out as he continued to ask the president questions.
At a photo opportunity in the Oval Office, Acosta again asked Trump if he preferred that only white immigrants come to the United States.
In response, Acosta said, Trump pointed at him and told him, “Out.”
On Jan. 17, Acosta participated in a panel discussion on press freedom at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. During the panel discussion, Acosta said that he considers being kicked out of the Oval Office for asking the president if he was a racist to be a badge of honor.
Acosta is an outspoken critic of the Trump administration, and particularly its treatment of the press. Trump frequently criticizes Acosta on Twitter, often labeling both him and CNN as "fake news."
In Oval Office pool spray, I asked why Trump wants more people to come in from Norway. He said he wants people to come in from everywhere. Verbatim coming.
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) January 16, 2018
As I attempted to ask questions in Roosevelt Room of Trump, WH press aides shouted in my face to drown out my questions. I have never encountered that before.
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) January 16, 2018
When I tried to follow up on this in the Oval Office, Trump told me to get "out." We then went to the Roosevelt Room where WH aides obstructed us from asking questions. https://t.co/vuEIv1jvso
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) January 16, 2018
CNN’s @Acosta was kicked out of the Oval Office for asking the president if he was a racist - “and I consider that a badge of honor” #USPressFreedom
— Newseum (@Newseum) January 18, 2018
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer waits for CNN correspondent Jim Acosta to finish speaking on camera before he starts the daily press briefing at the White House, on March 9, 2017.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Donald Trump, Donald Trump administration",,,,,Donald Trump Trump vows to take a 'strong look' at libel laws,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/trump-vows-take-strong-look-libel-laws/,2018-01-11 18:29:16.598294+00:00,2022-03-11 15:01:30.419762+00:00,2022-03-11 15:01:30.347502+00:00,,Other Incident,"Trump's January 10 remarks on libel law (https://twitter.com/grynbaum/status/951147516694802432), Can Libel Laws Be Changed Under Trump? (https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/14/business/media/can-libel-laws-be-changed-under-trump.html) via New York Times, Transition to Trump: First Amendment attorney Floyd Abrams on Trump's power over libel laws (https://cpj.org/blog/2016/12/transition-to-trump-first-amendment-attorney-floyd.php) via CPJ, Donald Trump: We're going to 'open up' libel laws (https://www.politico.com/blogs/on-media/2016/02/donald-trump-libel-laws-219866) via Politico",,,,,2018-01-10,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"President Donald Trump during a Cabinet meeting on Jan. 10, 2018 that he wanted to "a strong look" at changing libel laws.
“We are going to take a strong look at our country’s libel laws,” he said. “So that when somebody says something that is false and defamatory about someone, that person will have meaningful recourse in our courts. If somebody says something that is totally false, and knowingly false, that the person that has been abused, defamed, libeled, will have meaningful recourse. Our current libel laws are a sham and a disgrace and do not represent American values or American fairness. So we’re going to take a strong look at that. We want fairness. Can’t say things that are false, knowingly false, and be able to smile as money pours into your bank account. We are going to take a very, very strong look at that, and I think what the American people want to see is fairness.”
There is no federal libel law, but state-level libel laws already give plaintiffs the opportunity for "meaningful recourse" in the courts. Under the current standard for defamation and libel, which is based on landmark Supreme Court rulings like New York Times v. Sullivan, a publication can be held liable for printing a statement that it knows to be false and that harms a subject's reputation.
Trump has long advocated for changing libel laws. During his 2016 presidential election campaign, he said that he wanted to “open up” libel laws, and in March 2017 he suggested that The New York Times should be sued under broadened libel laws.
Despite Trump's threats, the president cannot unilaterally change libel laws, according to First Amendment scholars.
President Donald Trump, flanked by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defense Secretary James Mattis, holds a cabinet meeting at the White House, on January 10, 2018.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, President Trump tries to stop release of journalist's book 'Fire and Fury',https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/president-trump-tries-stop-release-journalists-book-fire-and-fury/,2018-01-04 21:44:37.076709+00:00,2020-03-19 14:40:16.700111+00:00,2020-03-19 14:40:16.580414+00:00,,Chilling Statement,"Cease-and-desist letter (https://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000160-c1d4-dcd4-a96b-f5fd89f70001), Trump lawyer sends 'cease and desist' letter to 'Fire and Fury' author, publisher (https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/04/trump-cease-and-desist-michael-wolff-fire-and-fury-book-324023) via Politico, President Trump tries to quash bombshell book (http://money.cnn.com/2018/01/04/media/president-trump-legal-threat-michael-wolff/index.html) via CNN, ""Fire and Fury"" publisher page (https://us.macmillan.com/fireandfury/michaelwolff/9781250158079/)",,,Michael Wolff,,2018-01-04,False,New York,New York (NY),None,None,"On Jan. 4, 2018, President Donald Trump’s attorney sent a cease-and-desist letter to journalist Michael Wolff, the author of an upcoming book critical of the Trump administration, and to the president of Henry Holt & Co., the book's publisher.
The book, titled "Fire and Fury: Inside the White House," offers a close-up account of the chaos of the Trump administration, and was originally scheduled to be released on Jan. 9. Copies of the book have already shipped to bookstores and news outlets.
After the Guardian obtained a copy of the book and reported on its contents, and New York magazine published an extended excerpt of the book, the publication date was moved up to Jan. 5.
The cease-and-desist letter was sent by attorney Charles Harder, who previously represented Melania Trump in a defamation lawsuit against the Daily Mail and a Maryland blogger. Harder has represented a number of high-profile public figures in lawsuits against media organizations, most notably serving as one of Hulk Hogan’s attorneys in the wrestler’s invasion of privacy lawsuit against Gawker Media.
"Mr. Trump hereby demands that you immediately cease and desist from any further publication, release or dissemination of the Book, the Article, or any excerpts or summaries of either of them, to any person or entity, and that you issue a full and complete retraction and apology to my client as to all statements made about him in the Book and Article that lack competent evidentiary support,” the cease-and-desist letter reads.
The letter warns that Wolff and Henry Holt & Co. could be liable for “defamation by libel” if they go ahead and publish the book.
"We see 'Fire and Fury' as an extraordinary contribution to our national discourse, and are proceeding with the publication of the book,” Henry Holt & Co. said in a statement.
On Jan. 3, Harder sent a similar cease-and-desist letter to Stephen Bannon, the former White House senior strategist who is quoted in the book.
Throughout his presidential campaign and presidency, Trump has threatened to sue numerous journalists and news organizations for defamation, but he has never followed through on these threats.
Photojournalist John Rudoff was stopped for secondary screening at U.S. Customs and Border Protection preclearance in Vancouver, Canada, on Dec. 28, 2017, while en route from Bangladesh.
Rudoff told the Committee to Protect Journalists that ever since he took multiple trips to Greece following the refugee crisis and traveled to Cuba, he has been stopped for secondary screening when reentering the U.S. He said the screenings happen whether he is traveling alone or with family.
Rudoff said he was traveling light in December 2017, but was carrying all of his photography gear with him. After passing through preclearance screening, Rudoff was taken aside to a waiting area to wait for his name to be called. Rudoff said he seemed to be the only U.S. citizen directed there.
When his turn came up, officers went through his bags and patted him down. Rudoff told CPJ that the pat down was not irregular, as his hip replacement sets of alarms on many airport security systems.
Rudoff said that the officer searching his bags did not go through his cell phone or laptop, which he keeps encrypted and powered down when he travels. Officers did ask him to turn his two cameras on and off, Rudoff added, but did not ask him to go through the photos and did not go through the photos themselves.
The screenings, Rudoff said, were frequent enough that he learned to plan ahead for them. “And it’s obviously targeted, but it’s so predictable that I just factor it in.”
Rudoff told CPJ that none of the CBP officers who have searched him in secondary screening have offered an explanation as to why he is so often flagged for additional searches. “I have no choice, at least so far,” Rudoff said.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker includes incidents only from 2017 forward.
Emilie Raguso, senior reporter for Berkeleyside, was subpoenaed in December 2017 to testify in a criminal trial about statements made by one of her sources. Raguso fought the subpoena, and it was dropped on Jan. 2, 2018.
Raguso had been reporting on a man named William Turner, who had a string of arrests for crimes involving children, including public indecency and harassing a child.
Raguso told the Freedom of the Press Foundation that an investigator with the Alameda County Public Defender’s Office contacted her, both through email and Facebook, to ask her about statements that one of Raguso's victims had made. Raguso had used the victim’s statements in her reporting.
In mid-December 2017, she said, the Alameda County Public Defender’s Office investigator showed up at her apartment and issued her a subpoena to testify in Turner’s criminal trial. Raguso had been covering the case for months but, as a result of the subpoena, was unable to hear and report on the testimony of the main victim in the case.
“It will impact and limit how I am able to cover the story, which does not serve the community,” she said of the subpoena.
Raguso wrote in a Dec. 26 declaration that as a journalist, she must remain objective and detached from active participation in stories that she covers.
“My participation as a witness will also compromise my ability and effectiveness in covering future stories about Defendant Turner — whom I have been covering for some time now — thereby further affecting my ability to do my job in the future.”
Her attorneys filed a motion to quash the subpoena on Dec. 27, arguing that California’s “press shield law” protected Raguso from being compelled to testify about unpublished information.
“The subpoena that was issued by the public defender in this case to Emilie was not in any way limited to just published material,” Zachary Colbeth, Raguso’s attorney, told the Freedom of the Press Foundation in an email. “We also believe that had Emilie been compelled to testify, both the public defender and the prosecution would have inevitably wandered, or been tempted to wander, into seeking testimony about unpublished materials.”
The subpoena was dropped on Jan. 2, 2018. According to Colbeth, the public defender's office withdrew the subpoena after questioning the alleged victim in the case, making the motion to quash the subpoena moot.
“It was disturbing to me how aggressive they were in trying to get me to testify,” Raguso said. “To bring me in as a third party seemed like an inappropriate role for a journalist to have.”
Citizen journalist Priscilla Villarreal was arrested by the Laredo Police Department and charged with two felony counts of “misuse of official information” on Dec. 13, 2017.
Villarreal — an independent journalist based in Laredo, Texas, who is often known by her nickname “La Gordiloca” — published the name of a Border Patrol agent who died by suicide on her Facebook page in April, before the Laredo Police Department’s official release about the incident.
The Laredo Morning Times reported on Dec. 15 that a veteran patrol officer, Barbara J. Goodman, provided the name of the agent to Villarreal, but the journalist denies Goodman was her source. Investigators obtained subpoenas for the phone records of both Villarreal and Goodman.
“Misuse of official information” charges in Texas require that a person obtain nonpublic information from a public official and disseminate it with the intention of benefiting or harming another entity. Authorities argued in the criminal complaint filed against Villarreal that she benefited from publishing the agent’s name by gaining Facebook followers.
Texas Monthly reported that the complaint reads, “Villarreal’s access to this information and releasing it on ‘Lagordiloca News Laredo Tx,’ before the official release by the Laredo Police Department Public Information Officer placed her ‘Facebook’ page ahead of the local official news media which in turn gained her popularity in Facebook.”
According to The Washington Post, Villarreal turned herself in voluntarily, but believes she is innocent of wrongdoing and that the police are attempting to silence her reporting.
Villarreal and her legal representation were not immediately available for comment.
Reporters for the Washington Post were barred from entering an election-night party for Republican senate candidate Roy Moore in Montgomery, Alabama, on Dec. 12, 2017.
"We were denied credentials and when our reporters asked to enter they were told no,” the paper said in a statement.
Hannah Ford, a spokeswoman for the Moore campaign, confirmed to the Associated Press that the Moore campaign had deliberately denied the Post's request for press credentials to cover the Moore election-night party.
Ford told The Hill that a Post reporter who "didn't get the memo" about the press credentials being denied tried to enter the Moore party and was denied entry.
Asked by The Hill why the campaign revoked the Post's press credentials, Ford replied, "No comment."
The Washington Post was the first news outlet to report on allegations of sexual misconduct against Roy Moore, on Nov. 8. After that report was published, Moore criticized the Washington Post and even threatened to sue the paper and other news organizations that reported on the allegations.
The election-night party was not the only Moore campaign event that Washington Post reporters were banned from.
Ford told Fox News that Washington Post reporters were asked to leave a rally in Midland City, Alabama, on Dec. 11.
On Dec. 12, Moore narrowly lost the special election to Democrat Doug Jones.
On Dec. 11, 2017, Iowa Supreme Court judge David Wiggins issued an order prohibiting the Des Moines Register and reporter Clark Kauffman from publishing information obtained legally through court records. On Dec. 19, Wiggins lifted the stay.
The temporary stay issued by Justice David Wiggins blocked the newspaper from publishing information about Des Moines attorney Jaysen McCleary obtained from private medical records.
“A temporary stay is imposed until the supreme court rules on McCleary's combined applications,” Wiggins wrote in the order. “Pending further order from this court, the defendants shall not disclose or share (other than with legal counsel) any information in the defendants' possession that was obtained exclusively from the reports.”
The records in question were first made public in July 2017, when they were filed by McCleary’s attorney as part of a personal injury suit that he brought against the city of Des Moines (Jaysen McCleary v. City of Des Moines). The records probably should have been filed under seal, but they were not, which, which meant that any member of the public could (theoretically) access them.
McCleary told the Freedom of the Press Foundation that the records containing his private information were mistakenly attached to expert reports that were filed publicly by his attorney.
In November, Des Moines Register reporter Clark Kauffman obtained a copy of the private records and asked McCleary for comment about them. Soon after, McCleary settled with the city of Des Moines and asked for McCleary v. City of Des Moines to be dismissed.
On Nov. 16, McCleary filed a motion in McCleary v. City of Des Moines, asking the District Court to seal the expert reports containing his private records. District Court judge Jeffrey Farrell granted the motion and issued a protective order. The protective order prohibits the parties in McCleary v. City of Des Moines — i.e., McCleary, the city of Des Moines, and their attorneys — from disseminating the sealed records to the public. The order also requires that any “third parties” in possession of the sealed records destroy them.
On Nov. 27, McCleary sued Kauffman and the Register in District Court (McCleary v. Kauffman), claiming that Kauffman conspired with the city of Des Moines to defame him and damage his reputation.
McCleary then filed a motion in McCleary v. Kauffman asking for a temporary injunction. McCleary asked the court to order the Register not to publish any articles including information gleaned from his medical records. He also argued that the paper had violated the protective order issued in McCleary v. City of Des Moines, which instructed “third parties” in possession of the records to destroy them.
On Dec. 7, District Court judge Eliza Ovrom denied the motion for a temporary injunction, ruling that the Register was not subject to the protective order.
“Mr. McCleary alleges that Clark Kauffman obtained copies of said reports during the period they were part of the public court file,” Ovrom wrote in her order. “Even if true, this court cannot enjoin publication of the reports, as such an injunction would violate the First Amendment and Article I, Section 7. Moreover, the defendants in this case were not parties to [McCleary v. City of Des Moines], and are not bound by orders in that case.”
On Dec. 8, McCleary filed an application to show cause in McCleary v. City of Des Moines, essentially asking District Court judge Farrell to hold the Register in contempt of court for violating the protective order.
Farrell denied the motion on the grounds that the Register was not subject to the protective order.
“The application must be denied for the same reasons noted by Judge Ovrom,” Farrell wrote. “Neither Mr. Kauffman nor the Register are parties to this case, and thus, neither are subject to the protective order. As a result, the application is denied.”
McCleary appealed both District Court decisions to the Iowa Supreme Court.
On Dec. 11, Wiggins ordered that the Register not publish the records until court had ruled on McCleary’s appeal.
Wiggins may have seen the order as a typical procedural ruling, intended to ensure that the Iowa Supreme Court had a chance to consider the merits of McCleary’s appeal before the Register published the records.
But whatever his intention, Wiggins’ order had serious First Amendment implications. The Supreme Court of the United States has repeatedly ruled that the First Amendment prohibits the government from preventing a newspaper from publishing information, barring extraordinary circumstances in which national security is at stake.
On Dec. 19, after the Register had filed a response to McCleary's appeal and McCleary had filed a reply to the response, Wiggins lifted the stay and issued an order denying McCleary's appeal.
Wiggins defended his decision to issue the temporary stay.
"The stay was strictly temporary in nature, its duration limited to the time necessary for the filing of the defendants’ response, the plaintiff’s reply, and this court’s entry of a ruling on the plaintiff’s combined applications," he wrote in the order.
McCleary then asked a three-judge panel to review Wiggins' decision, but the panel affirmed Wiggins' ruling and denied McCleary's appeal.
McCleary told the Freedom of the Press Foundation that he now plans to appeal his case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
On Dec. 20, the Des Moines Register published an article about McCleary that included information obtained from his medical records.
The Polk County courthouse in Des Moines, Iowa.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,dropped,,,,,,, President Trump says ABC News reporter Brian Ross should be fired,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/president-trump-says-abc-news-reporter-brian-ross-should-be-fired/,2017-12-10 23:28:42.778484+00:00,2022-04-06 14:29:07.819502+00:00,2022-04-06 14:29:07.706840+00:00,,Chilling Statement,"ABC News apologizes for ‘serious error’ in Trump report and suspends Brian Ross for four weeks (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2017/12/03/abc-news-apologizes-for-serious-error-in-trump-report-suspends-brian-ross-for-four-weeks/?utm_term=.87fb19be689e) via The Washington Post, ABC News president excoriates staff over Brian Ross' Michael Flynn error (http://money.cnn.com/2017/12/04/media/abc-news-president-brian-ross-flynn-correction/index.html) via CNN, Email pointed Trump campaign to WikiLeaks documents (https://www.cnn.com/2017/12/08/politics/email-effort-give-trump-campaign-wikileaks-documents/index.html) via CNN",,,Brian Ross (ABC News),,2017-12-09,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"On Dec. 9, 2017, President Trump tweeted that ABC News investigative reporter Brian Ross "should be immediately fired."
Fake News CNN made a vicious and purposeful mistake yesterday. They were caught red handed, just like lonely Brian Ross at ABC News (who should be immediately fired for his “mistake”). Watch to see if @CNN fires those responsible, or was it just gross incompetence?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 9, 2017
In the tweet, Trump criticized both Ross and CNN for misreporting news stories related to the ongoing Russia investigation.
On Dec. 1, Ross incorrectly reported that Trump, while a presidential candidate in 2016, had directed campaign adviser Michael Flynn to reach out to the Russian government. ABC News later acknowledged that the story as reported was inaccurate, because Trump had already won the election — making him president-elect, not just a presidential candidate — at the time when he directed Flynn to contact the Russians.
After correcting the story, ABC News suspended Ross for four weeks and announced that he would no longer report on stories related to Trump.
On Dec. 8, CNN reported that Donald Trump, Jr. had received an email that included a link to documents that were publicly released by Wikileaks on Sept. 14, 2016. CNN initially reported that the email had been sent on Sept. 4 — suggesting that the Trump campaign had received access to the documents nine days before the documents were made public. The story was inaccurate, and CNN later corrected it to say that the email was actually sent to Trump, Jr. the same day the documents were released to the public.
In a statement, CNN said that its reporters had followed editorial guidelines and would not be disciplined.
On Dec. 9, 2017, President Trump tweeted that Washington Post reporter Dave Weigel "should be fired" for tweeting a misleading photo of a Trump rally in Florida.
.@daveweigel of the Washington Post just admitted that his picture was a FAKE (fraud?) showing an almost empty arena last night for my speech in Pensacola when, in fact, he knew the arena was packed (as shown also on T.V.). FAKE NEWS, he should be fired.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 9, 2017
The controversy began on the morning of Dec. 9, when Trump thanked his supporters for attending a rally the previous night in Pensacola, Florida. Trump tweeted that the "arena was packed to the rafters."
Weigel then tweeted a screenshot of the president's tweet, alongside photos showing a largely empty arena, implying that the president had exaggerated the size of the crowd at the Pensacola rally.
The photos were misleading, though, having been taken before the president's speech began. Trump later tweeted photos of the speech, taken during his speech, that showed a much larger crowd in the arena.
Weigel deleted the tweet once he realized his mistake, and he later apologized for the misleading tweet.
GREAT EVENING last night in Pensacola, Florida. Arena was packed to the rafters, the crowd was loud, loving and really smart. They definitely get what’s going on. Thank you Pensacola!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 9, 2017
.@DaveWeigel @WashingtonPost put out a phony photo of an empty arena hours before I arrived @ the venue, w/ thousands of people outside, on their way in. Real photos now shown as I spoke. Packed house, many people unable to get in. Demand apology & retraction from FAKE NEWS WaPo! pic.twitter.com/XAblFGh1ob
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 9, 2017
Sure thing: I apologize. I deleted the photo after @dmartosko told me I'd gotten it wrong. Was confused by the image of you walking in the bottom right corner. https://t.co/fQY7GMNSaD
— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) December 9, 2017
"Dave Weigel relied on an inaccurate image in tweeting about President Trump’s rally in Pensacola,” the Washington Post's V.P. of communications said in a statement. “When others pointed out the mistake to Weigel, he quickly deleted the tweet. And when he was later addressed by the president on Twitter, he promptly apologized for it.”
Emilio Gutiérrez Soto, a Mexican journalist who fled to the United States seeking asylum in 2008, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on Dec. 7, 2017, in El Paso, Texas.
Gutiérrez worked for approximately 25 years as a correspondent in Mexico. He said in May 2008 that approximately 50 armed soldiers entered his home without a permit claiming they were searching for “weapons or drugs,” but left after finding no evidence of unlawful activity. At the time, he was writing for the Chihuahua-based El Diario del Noroeste.
In June 2008, he said, a source informed him that he was on a “hit list” due to his reporting on the military, and he fled Mexico with his then-15-year-old son, Oscar.
Eduardo Beckett, Gutierrez’s attorney, told the Freedom of the Press Foundation that Gutiérrez was offered physical protection by the Mexican government but declined it because he doubted the government’s ability to effectively protect him.
In 2008, Gutiérrez claimed political asylum at a border checkpoint in Columbus, New Mexico, and he and his son were taken to separate detention facilities in El Paso, Texas. His son was released to family in the United States in August 2008, and Gutiérrez was released in January 2009.
While awaiting an asylum decision, Gutierrez and his son settled in Las Cruces, New Mexico, and regularly completed their required check-ins with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
On July 19, 2017, nearly a decade after Gutiérrez’s original application for asylum, El Paso immigration judge Robert Hough denied his asylum request, ruling that Gutiérrez’s testimony was not credible, he had not sufficiently established fear of torture, and he had failed to show that the Mexican government could not protect him.
Beckett, Gutiérrez’s lawyer, believes that the judge underestimated the risks that Mexican journalists face. He said that, although Gutiérrez has not received specific threats from the Mexican military since entering the United States, the reporter still believes he would be killed if he returned to Mexico.
“The threat is still viable, and military people have long memories,” Beckett said.
Outside of war zones, Mexico is the most dangerous country in the world for journalists. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, at least 42 journalists and media workers were killed there in 2017 alone.
On Nov. 20, 2017, Gutiérrez’s attorney filed an appeal with the Board of Immigration Appeals, asking that the board reopen Gutiérrez's asylum case and grant Gutierrez a temporary stay of removal, which would prevent ICE from deporting him while the board considered his appeal.
On Dec. 7, Gutiérrez and his son attended a routine check-in with ICE, but were unexpectedly detained, according to Beckett. ICE agents served Gutiérrez and his son with deportation papers, and walked them back towards the port of entry. When Beckett acquired an emergency stay of deportation, Gutiérrez and his son were taken to an ICE facility instead of being immediately deported.
Beckett said that it was technically legal for ICE to deport his client, since an immigration judge had previously denied Gutiérrez's asylum request. But he said that the detention and attempted deportation was still very unexpected and unusual, since Gutiérrez had an appeal pending before the Board of Immigration Appeals and there were irregularities in the case.
On Dec. 22, the Board of Immigration Appeals agreed to reconsider Gutiérrez's deportation order. Gutierrez and his son remain detained in ICE custody.
Asked for comment, ICE public affairs officer Leticia Zamarripa would only confirm that, “Emilio and Oscar Gutierrez, citizens of Mexico, remain in ICE custody pending disposition of their immigration cases.”
Beckett believes that by granting his client asylum, the United States would be promoting democracy.
“We’re in a time right now where journalists around the world are being threatened,” he said.
In October 2017, the National Press Club awarded Gutiérrez the Aubuchon Press Freedom Award, which honors journalists who demonstrate the principles of press freedom and transparency in governments through their work.
Journalist Emilio Gutiérrez-Soto talks during an interview with Reuters at his home in Las Cruces, New Mexico, on July 13, 2011.
",None,None,None,2018-07-26,2017-12-07,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,ICE,,,,, EPA removes reporter Ethan Stoetzer from Scott Pruitt event in Iowa,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/epa-removes-reporter-ethan-stoetzer-scott-pruitt-event-iowa/,2017-12-19 20:59:09.019729+00:00,2020-03-19 15:04:51.149092+00:00,2020-03-19 15:04:51.052734+00:00,,Denial of Access,"EPA Kicks Out InsideSources Reporter From Event With Administrator Scott Pruitt (http://www.insidesources.com/epa-kicks-insidesources-reporter-nevada-ia-event-administrator-scott-pruitt/) via InsideSources, EPA administrator to host town hall in Iowa (https://www.iowaagribusinessradionetwork.com/epa-administrator-to-host-town-hall-in-iowa/) via Iowa Agribusiness Radio Network, EPA chief Pruitt talks renewables, environmentalism in Nevada (http://www.amestrib.com/news/20171201/epa-chief-pruitt-talks-renewables-environmentalism-in-nevada) via Ames Tribune",,,Ethan Stoetzer (InsideSources),,2017-12-01,False,Nevada,Iowa (IA),42.02277,-93.45243,"Ethan Stoetzer, a reporter with InsideSources Iowa, was removed from and prevented from covering an event with Scott Pruitt, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, in Nevada, Iowa.
On Dec. 1, 2017, Pruitt spoke at the Couser Cattle Company about the EPA and its commitment to renewable fuels. The invite-only event was open to the press and was livestreamed to the public by the Des Moines Register.
Stoetzer attended the event as press, and gave his name and the name of his outlet to an EPA press secretary at the event.
In an article for InsideSources about the incident, Stoetzer wrote that he was approached by a Story County Sheriff’s Deputy, along with staff from both the EPA and the Couser Cattle Company, about 10 minutes after he arrived at the event.
According to Stoetzer, the staffers and sheriff’s deputy refused to identify themselves when asked, but told him that he was not on the press list for the event and ordered him to leave the premises.
“They’re asking you to leave, you didn’t RSVP properly, and it’s too late to do it now,” Stoetzer recalled the sheriff’s deputy saying.
In his article about the incident, Stoetzer wrote that he had tried multiple times to RSVP for the event — calling and leaving voicemail messages for both a regional EPA press representative and the main EPA press office.
Stoetzer also reported that the EPA allowed journalists from other outlets who were not on the press list to remain and cover the event.
Barry Thomas, the Chief Deputy of the Story County Sheriff's Office, told the Freedom of the Press Foundation that the office was asked to assist in removing Stoetzer from the Couser Cattle Company premises.
“We were asked to do this by the person in charge of the private property and, because it was not a public event, we intervened to help keep the peace,” Thomas said in an email. “It is no different than what we would do for any private citizen.”
The EPA did not respond to a request for comment.
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt speaks during an interview with Reuters at his office in Washington, D.C., on July 10, 2017.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,Donald Trump administration,,,,,Scott Pruitt Public radio reporter stopped for secondary screening while crossing U.S.-Mexico border,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/public-radio-reporter-stopped-secondary-screening-while-crossing-us-mexico-border/,2019-12-17 18:42:55.406768+00:00,2021-11-09 22:38:17.070898+00:00,2021-11-09 22:38:17.026258+00:00,,Border Stop,,,,Latif Nasser (WNYC),,2017-12-01,True,El Paso,Texas (TX),31.75872,-106.48693,"Latif Nasser, a reporter for New York Public Radio WNYC, was stopped for additional screening while crossing the U.S.-Mexico border as part of a series about border patrol in December 2017.
Nasser, then a U.S. permanent resident, told the Committee to Protect Journalists that he was recording b-roll, or additional background sounds of him crossing the bridge from the U.S. to Mexico and back in El Paso, Texas. Nasser said that he was wearing his headphones and was holding his recorder with a mic on it as he was returning to the U.S.-side of the border.
Nasser noticed a sign posted at the U.S. facility which specified that cameras, video cameras and cellphones were not allowed — Nasser said he assumed that audio recording was fine. He told CPJ that he continued recording throughout handing over his passport and having “very normal” exchanges with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer.
When the officer saw his recorder, Nasser said the officer “freaked out.” Nasser said the officer asked what it was and whether he was currently recording, to which he responded yes. Nasser told CPJ that the officer then effectively shut down to entire line, ordered Nasser to stop recording and called for other officers to assist him.
The officers directed Nasser to a secondary screening room where they had him wait with another man, and placed his belongings — including his audio recorder, passport and green card — on a desk in his eyesight but out of his reach. While the officers examined his belongings, they did not play any files on the recorder.
Nasser waited in the screening room for approximately an hour, he said, with officers periodically approaching him and asking the same questions each time: Who was he, what was he doing, what was his reporting on, and why was he recording?
After the fourth or fifth time he was asked the same series of questions, Nasser said he told the officers that he needed to leave and that he knew the problem was with the minute-long recording of his interaction with the officer. Nasser told CPJ he offered to delete it, and after some awkward fumbling he did so.
At the end of the encounter, which Nasser said lasted around 2 to 2.5 hours, a final officer — who was wearing a kevlar vest with “DHS” printed on it — approached him and said that he hadn’t technically done anything wrong, but that his actions had been suspicious.
“We were just doing our jobs,” Nasser recalled the officer saying. While the first few officers were incredibly angry that he had been recording, Nasser said, when the final officer found out it was just audio recording, with no video, “he made it seem like it was no big deal.”
Alastair Jamieson, a journalist for NBC News, was detained for hours and repeatedly referred to as “fake news” by a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer when arriving in Miami, Florida, on Nov. 30, 2017.
Before leaving for the United States, a Homeland Security official, whom Jamieson identified as William Fernandez, had questioned him and searched his bag before allowing him to board at London’s Heathrow Airport. There Jamieson noticed his boarding pass was flagged with “SSSS.”
Jamieson told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that his boarding pass had often been flagged with the marker used to signal travelers for secondary screening, which he believed was due to his reporting trips to the Middle East and unusual travel patterns. He added that since registering with CBP’s Global Entry trusted traveler program a few years before, he had not been flagged.
Jamieson told the Tracker that after he landed at Miami International Airport at around 7:30pm, the automated machines at U.S. Customs flagged his picture with a red ‘X’ and he was directed into the normal processing line, a first for him since applying for Global Entry.
“When I got to an agent, he immediately sent me off, without explanation, to the secondary questioning area, so I knew I was in for a long wait,” Jamieson said.
The secondary screening, Jamieson told the Tracker, was “wild.”
“I had expected a long wait,” he said. “I had not expected to be barked at by CBP agents who were trying to create a kind of ‘boot camp’ atmosphere in which everyone was intimidated and in fear of giving the wrong answer.”
The CBP officer, whom Jamieson identified as Officer Jones, confiscated his phone and kept it out of his view. Jamieson noted that because he had a screen lock, he does not believe it was accessed or searched. Officer Jones questioned him over the course of an hour, repeatedly using the term “fake news” in reference to his job and asking inappropriate questions about his romantic life.
“She knew my job without asking, and had clearly Googled my social media profile. She would ask why someone ‘with a good job at an American company’ would visit ‘these kind of countries,’” Jamieson said, referring to Turkey and other Middle Eastern states. “She then went through the list of my Facebook friends to ask which ones were friends or which ones I’d had sex with, or both.”
Totally. I couldn't believe the venom of these particular officers. They also read the list of my Facebook friends out loud in the waiting/holding area and asked me to confirm which ones I had slept with. The rules allow it...
— Alastair Jamieson (@alastairjam) October 5, 2019
Officer Jones also asked Jamieson to write out a list of countries he had visited—information listed in both the Global Entry and ESTA visa systems—but refused to give him a pen, and waited for him to borrow one from another detained traveler.
“Having written out a list of countries, she looked at it, said ‘That’s ridiculous,’ and ripped up the paper in front of me,” Jamieson said. Shortly after, she told him to take his passport and “get out.”
Jamieson was directed to the specialized baggage inspection area where an officer he identified as Officer Yueng mumbled a disparaging remark and questioned whether Jamieson was a cop or insurance salesman. When Jamieson said he was a journalist, the officer responded, “Ugh, worse,” and waved him away without searching his bag.
Jamieson filed a complaint with CBP on Dec. 6, detailing the encounters and expressing his frustration with a process he said was unnecessary and avoidable.
“Assertive and robust interrogation is a useful and important tactic for agents in keeping the US border secure. Yelling idiotic and vague questions, hurling insults and generally acting like elementary school bullies is neither effective nor an appropriate use of federal resources,” Jamieson wrote in his complaint.
CBP responded to Jamieson’s complaint on Dec. 19, writing, “Please allow me to express regret for any conduct that may have been perceived as rude or unprofessional during CBP processing. CBP takes allegations of employee misconduct very seriously and has instituted policies pertaining to abuses of authority.”
As a matter of policy, CBP does not disclose the outcomes of internal investigations or disciplinary actions taken against personnel.
In a 2019 interview, Jamieson told the Tracker that while he no longer works for NBC News, this incident has stayed with him. He said, “I haven’t been back to the U.S. since. Not exclusively because of this incident, but I’m certainly not in a hurry to return.”
Alastair Jamieson, here on a reporting assignment in Hungary in May 2018, said he was harassed and called ‘fake news’ by a U.S. Customs Border and Protection agent last time he entered the United States.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,Miami International Airport,True,U.S. non-resident,False,False,no,no,no,yes,no,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,United Kingdom,, Fox News cameraman shoved by Roy Moore campaign official in Alabama,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/fox-news-cameraman-shoved-roy-moore-campaign-official-alabama/,2017-12-06 20:30:29.532304+00:00,2022-08-09 20:10:44.557559+00:00,2022-08-09 20:10:44.480072+00:00,,Assault,"Roy Moore campaign staff push, shove Fox News camera crew at rally (http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/11/28/roy-moore-campaign-staff-push-shove-fox-news-camera-crew-at-rally.html) via Fox News, Brazening It Out: On the Ground with Roy Moore's Campaign in Alabama (http://www.weeklystandard.com/brazening-it-out-on-the-ground-with-roy-moores-campaign-in-alabama/article/2010667) via The Weekly Standard, Tony Goolsby of DeKalb County Roy Moore campaign speaks out about the scuffle with the media before rally (http://whnt.com/2017/11/29/tony-goolsby-of-dekalb-county-roy-moore-campaign-speaks-out-about-the-scuffle-with-the-media-before-rally/) via WHNT",,,Unidentified photojournalist 18 (Fox News),,2017-11-27,False,Henager,Alabama (AL),None,None,"An unidentified Fox News cameraman was shoved by Tony Goolsby, a campaign official with the Senate campaign of Alabama Republican Roy Moore, on Nov. 27, 2017, while waiting for Moore’s arrival outside of a campaign event organized by Goolsby at a community center in Henagar, Alabama.
Raw video: Man wearing Roy Moore sticker physically attacked a cameraman attempting to film Moore's arrival outside campaign rally a few minutes ago here in Henagar, Alabama. Another man w/ Moore sticker verbally assaulted a second cameraman. pic.twitter.com/faJVV8YpE0
— Connor Sheets (@ConnorASheets) November 28, 2017
Video of the altercation recorded by AL.com investigative reporter Connor Sheets shows Goolsby, the DeKalb County chairman of Moore’s Senate campaign, grabbing a Fox News TV camera by the lens and pushing the cameraman backwards several feet.
The video also shows a second man, whom Fox News later identified as a DeKalb County GOP staffer, verbally confronting a second cameraman. “Follow orders,” the GOP staffer tells the second cameraman, who backs away. “Go, now.”
Reporting from the scene, Fox News correspondent Jonathan Serrie described what happened to “Fox News @ Night” anchor Shannon Bream.
"Two individuals...[push] the cameras back & physically manhandle two Fox News photographers." — @jonathanserrie on "scuffle" at Moore event pic.twitter.com/ojRtC1BG0A
— Fox News (@FoxNews) November 28, 2017
“Organizers initially informed the media that Moore would be parking at the front entrance, walking in through the front entrance, so that’s where the cameras were stationed,” he said.
“Well, then when his car arrived, it actually pulled around to a side entrance. So cameras started running to the side entrance to get a shot of the candidate emerging from his car, and that’s when two individuals — Derwood Regan, who’s affiliated with the DeKalb County Alabama GOP and the other being Tony Goolsby, the DeKalb County chairman for the Roy Moore campaign — decided to push the cameras back and physically manhandle two Fox News photographers, pushing them away and grabbing their cameras.”
“At some point during the scuffle, you hear my producer David Lukowitz trying to intervene, telling the men not to touch the cameras,” Serrie said. "It's not unusual for people to get bumped around a bit in a media scrum. This was not a scrum, though, and it's highly unusual for members of a political campaign to physically engage in this manner with members of the press."
Serrie said that the altercation occurred on public land, outside of a publicly-owned community center, and added that Fox News had officially RSVP'd to the event, providing the Moore campaign with the names of the cameramen and other Fox News staffers who planned to attend.
According to The Weekly Standard’s John McCormack, Moore was not even in the car that Goolsby tried to stop the Fox News cameraman from filming.
“The Moore campaign coordinator was shoving a Fox News cameraman to keep him away from a car that Roy Moore wasn’t even riding in,” McCormack reported. “‘That was a decoy car,’ Rodney Ivey, a DeKalb County GOP official on the scene that night, told me. ‘They [the press] run over there wanting Roy Moore, and we had it already planned, and we slipped him in the back door while all that was going on.’”
Moments after his altercation with reporters, Goolsby introduced Moore at the Henager Community Center.
“Before we get started we’re going to lay down a few ground rules,” he told the audience. “There will be no outbursts from anyone in the crowd. If there is, we’ll ask you to leave, and if you don’t leave, we’ve got security that will remove you. Judge Moore will not field any questions from the media or anybody else.”
Moore campaign chairman Bill Armistead later released a statement to Fox News about the shoving incident.
“Our campaign certainly doesn’t condone any pushing or shoving of anyone, certainly not reporters or anyone else,” he said in the statement, before going on to accuse journalists of “trying to stampede us in a lot of different situations and running down hallways, chasing after, shouting things that are inappropriate.”
In an interview with local TV station WHNT, Goolsby criticized the Fox News journalists and defended his actions.
"The light from the camera spotlight hit me right square in the face," he said. "Just a reaction of protection and everything, I did reach out and push the light out of my face."
A screengrab from a video recorded outside of a community center in Alabama shows Roy Moore campaign official Tony Goolsby shoving a Fox News cameraman.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,public figure,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,election,,,,, President Trump says that CNN International is 'fake news',https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/president-trump-says-cnn-international-fake-news/,2017-12-06 10:44:58.989298+00:00,2022-03-11 14:59:53.533446+00:00,2022-03-11 14:59:53.472527+00:00,,Other Incident,CNN hits back at Trump after criticism of foreign reporting (https://www.politico.com/story/2017/11/27/cnn-trump-news-feud-261021) via Politico,,,,,2017-11-25,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"President Donald Trump criticized CNN International on Twitter on Nov. 25, 2017, calling the network “fake news” and accusing it of misrepresenting the United States to the world. CNN's PR team quickly replied to the tweet.
It's not CNN's job to represent the U.S to the world. That's yours. Our job is to report the news. #FactsFirst 🍎
— CNN Communications (@CNNPR) November 25, 2017
Two days later, CNN’s PR team tweeted praise for the network’s foreign correspondents. The tweet noted that reporters working abroad face enormous risks while doing their jobs and included a compilation of clips depicting CNN and CNN International journalists reporting in dangerous situations around the world.
For nearly four decades, @CNN has been a constant here in the United States and around the world. Our journalists, in front of and behind the camera, risk their lives in the most dangerous of places, every day, so you know the truth. #FactsFirst 🍎https://t.co/tFIGl34ZzI
— CNN Communications (@CNNPR) November 27, 2017
Overseas reporting is inherently dangerous, and journalists have been arrested, imprisoned, and killed for reporting in countries that lack strong press freedom guarantees. While news organizations within the United States are protected by domestic legislation and the First Amendment, American news organizations working abroad rely on the influence of entities such as the White House to cover news uninhibited.
Joel Simon, the executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, told Politico that Trump’s suggestion that CNN International was “fake news” could provide an excuse for foreign countries to clamp down on journalists’ rights. (CPJ is a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.)
“To the extent that sentiment echoes the views of authoritarian leaders, it empowers them,” he said. “That authoritarian leaders who have policies that undermine and restrict press freedom don’t feel that their actions potentially undermine their relationships to the United States — that’s an important point of leverage that no longer exists.”
Webb County prosecutors carried out subpoenas related to an investigation of Texas-based blogger and citizen journalist Priscilla Villarreal on Nov. 21, 2017, according to complaint filed in Villarreal’s ongoing civil lawsuit against the city of Laredo, Webb County, and a number of law enforcement officers.
According to court records filed in May 2019, Villarreal claims county prosecutors signed off on subpoenas, including one directed at her cellphone, while she was under investigation after she revealed the name of a U.S. Customs and Border Protection employee who died by suicide by jumping from a Laredo overpass in 2017.
Authorities said Villarreal obtained the employee’s name from a Laredo police officer and revealed it on her Facebook page before law enforcement published the name to the public, in violation of state penal code. Villarreal was arrested in December 2017 and charged with two third-degree felonies for “misuse of official information.”
Villarreal filed a civil lawsuit against the City of Laredo and Webb County in April 2019 and as of Nov. 1, 2021, the case is ongoing.
While filming a police interaction at Santa Clara County Superior Court on Nov. 14, 2017, independent courts reporter Susan Bassi had her finger broken in an altercation with a sheriff’s deputy. She was later charged with obstructing a police officer and violating a court order that prohibits the use of recording devices in the courthouse.
Ex Parte is a court news publication, with online and print editions.
On Nov. 14, Bassi was inside the Santa Clara County Superior Court’s eighth-floor family records room, assisting family court litigant Scott Largent with research. After Largent took a photograph of some records with his phone, sheriff’s deputies entered the room and confronted Largent, ordering him to delete the photos.
When the deputies approached Largent, Bassi took out her own phone to record the interaction. She would later tell the local NBC news affiliate that she decided to record the deputies’ interaction with Largent because she believed it could be newsworthy.
After Bassi began recording, one of the deputies approached her and ordered her to stop recording — an interaction that Bassi captured on video.
In her recording of the incident, a sheriff’s deputy tells her to “stop recording.” Bassi responds, “I heard you,” but continues to record. The deputy then reaches for the phone in Bassi’s hand, and Bassi says, “Give me my phone!” and “You broke my finger!”
When asked by Bassi, the officer identified himself as Joshua Seymour.
Bassi and Largent filed a complaint later the same day with the internal affairs division of the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Department alleging excessive use of force.
On Nov. 15, the day after the incident in the records room, the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s office filed a criminal complaint against Bassi for an earlier, separate incident. The complaint alleges that Bassi took a photograph of a person next to an American flag in the courthouse on Aug. 31, 2017, in violation of the court order that prohibits the use of any recording devices inside the courthouse.
Bassi later told San Jose Inside, a local politics news site, that she only learned of the charges against her on Dec. 4, when she was stopped and arrested while attempting to enter the courthouse.
On Jan. 3, 2018, Bassi was arraigned on three counts — two counts of willful disobedience of a court order (for recording inside the courthouse on Aug. 31 and Nov. 14, 2017) and one count of resisting, delaying, or obstructing an officer — and entered a not guilty plea. On March 19, 2018, she was caught recording inside the courthouse once again, which led to a third count of willful disobedience of a court order.
A jury trial on all four counts is scheduled to begin on March 4.
On Nov. 29, 2018, Bassi filed a federal lawsuit against Santa Clara County, alleging that her civil rights were violated. That suit has been stayed pending the outcome of Bassi’s criminal trial.
Rules regarding taking pictures in courtrooms vary significantly from court to court. Bassi’s attorney, Dmitry Stadlin, believes that the local court order is not only vague and overly broad, but also might not be legal.
“This local rule does not provide definite guidelines for the police in order to prevent arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement,” Stadlin wrote in a demurrer. “The local court rule which bans all photography and recordings is a prior restraint on free speech, and thus subjects to close judicial scrutiny and permissible in only the most extraordinary circumstances.”
Editor's note: This article was updated to insert hyperlinks.
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
Susan Bassi sits outside the Santa Clara County Family Justice Center courthouse.
,None,None,None,None,None,False,3:18-cv-07239,['ONGOING'],Civil,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore threatens to sue the Washington Post,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/republican-senate-candidate-roy-moore-threatens-sue-washington-post/,2017-11-14 03:38:59.785209+00:00,2022-08-09 20:10:34.896248+00:00,2022-08-09 20:10:34.812262+00:00,,Chilling Statement,"Moore threatens to sue Washington Post over report (http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/13/politics/roy-moore-washington-post-lawsuit/index.html) via CNN, Roy Moore's full statement on teen sex encounter allegation (http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2017/11/roy_moores_full_statement_of_t.html) via AL.com, Woman says Roy Moore initiated sexual encounter when she was 14, he was 32 (https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/woman-says-roy-moore-initiated-sexual-encounter-when-she-was-14-he-was-32/2017/11/09/1f495878-c293-11e7-afe9-4f60b5a6c4a0_story.html) via Washington Post",,,,,2017-11-12,False,Huntsville,Alabama (AL),34.7304,-86.58594,"Roy Moore, the Republican candidate in Alabama's special election for Senate, said on Nov. 12, 2017, that he would sue The Washington Post, after the paper reported on his alleged sexual misconduct with minors.
“The Washington Post published another attack on my character and reputation because they are desperate to stop my political campaign,” Moore said during a campaign rally in Huntsville, Alabama. “These attacks said I was with a minor child and are false and untrue — and for which they will be sued.”
On Nov. 9, Moore’s campaign said in a statement that the Washington Post report— which was based on interviews with more than 30 people and quoted multiple women by name — was “the very definition of fake news and intentional defamation.”
Moore has not said when he intends to file a lawsuit against the Post.
Moore is not the first Republican politician to threaten a news organization with a frivolous defamation suit. President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to sue news organizations, including both the Post and The New York Times, in response to negative coverage.
Roy Moore speaks as he participates in the Mid-Alabama Republican Club's Veterans Day Program in Vestavia Hills, Alabama, on November 11, 2017.
RT America, an American cable channel that is part of a global television network funded by the Russian government, was compelled by the U.S. Department of Justice to register as a foreign agent under the Federal Agents Registration Act.
In September 2017, the Justice Department formally requested that T&R Productions LLC, the entity responsible for broadcasting RT America, register as a foreign agent under FARA. T&R Productions is owned by Mikhail Solodovnikov, who is also the news director of RT America.
Both he and T&R Productions registered as foreign agents on Nov. 10, 2017, out of concern that a refusal to comply with the Justice Department’s request could lead to the arrest of Solodovnikov and the freezing of the company’s assets.
RT America editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan has said that RT intends to mount a legal challenge to the Justice Department’s decision to classify T&R Productions as a foreign agent.
"We believe that the demand does not only go against the law, and we will prove it in court — the demand is discriminative, it contradicts both the democracy and freedom of speech principles," she said in a statement. "It deprives us of fair competition with other international channels, which are not registered as foreign agents."
Registration as a foreign agent under FARA will require RT America to include a disclaimer about its connections to the Russian government, as well as file regular reports with the Justice Department detailing its funding sources.
The Justice Department’s request that RT America register as a foreign agent follows the release of an declassified U.S. intelligence report about Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The report alleged that RT was part of "Russia's state-run propaganda machine" that functioned "as a platform for Kremlin messaging."
More than 400 companies and organizations are currently registered as foreign agents under FARA, according to the department’s website. Among them are a handful of foreign media organizations, including Japanese TV news channel NHK, the Korean Broadcasting Service, and the Chinese newspapers China Daily, People’s Daily, and Xin Min Evening News.
After T&R Productions LLC registered as a foreign agent under FARA, the executive committee of the Congressional Radio and Television Correspondents’ Galleries — a group of journalists who are empowered by the House of Representatives to manage press access to Congressional press areas — voted unanimously to revoke RT America’s press credentials.
In a Nov. 29 letter to Solodovnikov, the executive committee said that RT America was ineligible to hold Congressional press credentials because the rules of the Galleries prohibit journalists employed “by any foreign government or representative thereof” from holding press credentials.
The Justice Department’s request that RT America register as a foreign agent prompted the Russian government to retaliate by expanding its own foreign agent law to include foreign media organizations.
Freelance reporter Kelly Davis was subpoenaed by attorneys representing San Diego County, California, on Nov. 9, 2017. She was ordered to testify at a deposition and turn over materials related to her reporting on the high number of deaths in San Diego County jails. On Feb. 2, 2018, a federal magistrate ruled in favor of Davis, defeating the subpoena.
Davis has been writing about deaths in San Diego jails for years. In 2013, while working at San Diego City Beat, she and colleague Dave Maass reported that San Diego County had the highest inmate mortality rate out of California’s largest jail systems. Since then, her reporting has been cited in a number of wrongful death lawsuits and complaints filed against San Diego County.
The widow of Kris Nesmith, an inmate who died while in prison, sued the County of San Diego in 2015. At the time, Davis wrote an article about the lawsuit for the San Diego Union-Tribune.
In November 2017, attorneys for San Diego County subpoenaed Davis, seeking her testimony as well as her unpublished research related to her reporting.
The subpoena orders Davis to appear at a deposition on December 11 and to produce “any and all documents, notes, and recordings, including in electronic format, that you relied on when reporting and/or publishing that the San Diego County’s incarceration mortality rate ‘leads in California’s largest jails.’”
“They wanted everything, written or electronic,” Davis told the Freedom of the Press Foundation. “It was a huge fishing investigation to try to get every nook and cranny of information that I had.”
Maass, who co-wrote the 2013 San Diego City Beat story with Davis, was not subpoenaed in the case. He never wrote specifically about the Kris Nesmith case, and he no longer lives in San Diego or writes about the county’s jails. He criticized San Diego County for attempting to subpoena Davis.
“This subpoena is of course frightening when it comes to press freedom, but as someone who worked on these stories, it’s concerning that this is how they address safety issues in their jails,” he said. “Rather than address them and stop killing people, the county comes after the messengers who did this research.”
After Davis’ attorneys objected to the subpoena, San Diego County filed a motion to compel Davis’ testimony. In the motion to compel, attorneys for San Diego County argued that, since Davis' reporting would be cited during the trial, they should be allowed to question her like an expert witness.
“They wanted to cut undercut my reporting and to challenge the methodology that my colleague and I initially used,” Davis said.
On Feb. 2, federal magistrate judge Andrew Schopler ruled in favor of Davis, defeating the subpoena. Davis will not have to testify or hand over her unpublished reporting materials.
San Diego County did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Reporters’ access to Capitol Hill was restricted on Oct. 31, 2017 after a protester allegedly posed as a reporter at the Senate Building the week before, according to a report by the Washington Examiner.
Reporters were prevented from accessing most of the second floor of the Senate Building, where Vice President Mike Pence was attending a Senate Republicans’ weekly policy lunch. The presence of Capitol Hill Police was amplified, and officials checked the identification of all reporters walking through the hallways.
These security restrictions are unusual, and reporters typically have uninhibited access to Capitol Hill to speak with lawmakers.
According to Washington Examiner, communications director for Capitol Hill Police, Eva Malecki, said in a statement that, “The United States Capitol Police have not introduced any changes to the access that the media have within the U.S. Capitol. We are simply enforcing the current rules and protocols already in place to ensure the safety and security of elected officials, Members of Congress, staff, visitors, and members of the press.”
The week before on October 24, 2017, protester Ryan Clayton reportedly posed as a reporter to gain access to the Senate Building and threw Russian flags at President Donald Trump and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said during a press conference on Oct. 31, that “reporters are some of the last people who should face unwarranted restrictions”, and that both his office and the Rules Committee would review the security restrictions and identify a remedy to the barred access.
Maria Leal, a reporter for local TV station KAPP-KVEW, was chased and threatened by a knife-wielding man in Yakima, Washington, on Oct. 30, 2017. The man also broke Leal’s camera equipment.
At the time of the attack, Leal and another local TV reporter — Trisha McCauley, of KIMA Action News — were shooting B-roll footage in preparation for an interview with Jason White, a local city council candidate. While filming the footage, the two journalists noticed a man screaming at them from across the street.
“He crossed the street and got in our face, and he told us, ‘Get the fuck out of here, stop filming here,’” Leal said said.
The man left after Leal and McCauley began interviewing White, but later returned.
“The man began yelling again, and he threw a beer bottle at us, which landed near us and broke,” Leal said. “He kept demanding that we leave, and he threatened to kill us.”
She said the man drew a knife from his pocket, lifted it, and then ran towards the reporters and White.
Leal said that the man chased them for half a block and then returned to the interview site, where he threw their video equipment to the ground.
He then barricaded himself in a house, leading to a police stand-off that was resolved a few hours later when SWAT officers took him into custody, arresting him for second-degree assault.
Leal stayed on the scene to report live from the police stand-off.
Leal said that her camera was damaged when the man threw it on the ground and that she will have to film stories with her phone until the camera is fixed.
She still does not know why the man attacked her and McCauley. She said that the man may have mistakenly believed that the two reporters were filming him, but her cameras were nowhere near where he was standing.
“I’ve had other people approach me in that way, but they’ve never threatened me or attacked me like that,” she said.
Trisha McCauley, a reporter for local TV station KIMA, was chased and threatened by a knife-wielding man in Yakima, Washington, on Oct. 30, 2017. The man also broke McCauley's camera equipment.
McCauley and another local TV reporter — Maria Leal of KAPP and KVEW — were preparing for an interview with Jason White, a local city council candidate, when they noticed a man screaming at them from across the street.
“He was yelling, ‘Get the fuck out of here,’ and waving his arms, so I picked my camera up and moved closer to Maria,” McCauley said. “I felt safer in a group.”
McCauley said that when White drove up for the interview, the man approached him, but then suddenly left as they began the interview.
“We mic'd [White] up, and he was spelling his name for a mic check when I heard a bottle break,” McCauley said.
“We looked over, and the man had thrown a glass bottle that shattered on the sidewalk near us,” she said.
According to McCauley, the man continued demanding that she and Leal leave, so the reporters decided to pack up and continue the interview with White somewhere else.
McCauley said that she saw the man lift up his shirt and pull out a knife.
“We just took off running down the street,” she said, adding that the man chased her, Leal, and White for about half a block. The man then returned to the spot where McCauley and Leal had set up for the interview and began breaking their equipment.
“I turned around and saw him chuck my camera to the ground and break it, and there was a lot of cracking," McCauley said.
McCauley said that Leal called the police while the man hid in a nearby house. Police eventually took the man into custody after a police stand-off that lasted for several hours.
McCauley said that her TV station has sent her camera away to be checked for internal damage. In the meantime, she is sharing a camera with another reporter.
Mike Stark, a reporter for the liberal news site Shareblue Media, was arrested in Fairfax County, Virginia on Oct. 28, 2017 while covering the campaign of Republican gubernatorial candidate Ed Gillespie.
According to a report on Shareblue, Stark was filming Gillespie's campaign vehicle at the Annandale Parade when a police officer approached him and ordered him to move out of the street.
Stark told the Freedom of the Press Foundation that he told the officer that he was a reporter and complied with the order to move onto the sidewalk. Stark said that the officer then told him to stay away from the Gillespie campaign bus, which he refused to do since he was covering Gillespie.
“I was standing in the street on the far side of the driveway filming the Gillespie RV in anticipation of him disembarking,” Stark said in a statement. “That's when I heard the policeman tell me to get out of the road. I complied, and then he told me to leave the Gillespie vehicle and everyone inside it alone. At that point I told the policeman he'd probably have to arrest me to keep me away from Gillespie. He responded that he would arrest me and approached me aggressively. The ‘conversation’ escalated from there.”
A video of the arrest shows Stark complying with Rogers’ order to step backward, while continuing to argue with him, as a woman in a red jacket and an additional police officer involve themselves in the exchange. (Stark said that he believes that the woman in the red jacket was associated with the campaign.)
After Stark says “Fuck this,” the arresting officer — whom Stark later identified as Mason District Police Captain T.J. Rogers — places his hand on Stark’s right shoulder and turns him against a nearby fence. While Stark has both of his hands behind his back, the officer lifts Stark’s right ankle off the ground, sending the reporter face-first into the sidewalk.
As additional officers rush to the scene, Stark says, “Stop, I will give you my arm. I can’t. You have your weight on top of me. I cannot give you my hand. My hand is beneath me.” Five officers eventually pin Stark to the ground with their knees on the back of his head and his body. They continue demanding his arm as he screams that he cannot comply and begs them to stop.
Stark told the Freedom of the Press Foundation that officers punched him repeatedly in the legs during the physical takedown and said that his attorney told him that this is a common “softening” technique used against non-cooperative subjects.
The takedown left Stark with an abrasion to his head and a few bruises. He refused treatment at the time of the arrest.
“I’ve got a nice bruise on my hip and an ugly scrape on my elbow,” he said. “But as I've said elsewhere, I don't consider this arrest to have been brutal. Violent? Yes. Brutal? No.”
Stark also said that his phone was broken during the incident, and he suspects that the officers may have deliberately thrown it against the ground.
“My brand new phone, a OnePlus 5 that came with Gorilla Glass, was broken during the arrest,” he said. “I don't think it was an accident. When I was on the ground, I heard what sounded like a cell phone striking the pavement immediately after it had been retrieved from my hand attached to the arm stuck beneath my body.”
Stark was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest and held in custody for nearly five hours, before being released on a $3,000 bond.
After Shareblue published video of the arrest on October 31, Fairfax County Police Chief Edwin C. Roessler held a press conference, during which he defended the arrest and said that it was appropriate for the officers to use a physical takedown technique on Stark because the reporter was passively resisting arrest. (Stark said that he did not resist the officers, but was only trying to put his phone away when the officers took him down.)
Roessler told the press that the officer who arrested Stark might have feared for his safety.
“You must understand that, from the officer’s perspective, he does not know who this gentleman is,” Roessler said. “The gentleman is wearing a hooded sweatshirt. He does not know if this gentleman has a concealed weapon. He does not know what intent this gentleman has, whether it’s to create harm or something else.”
Stark said that he explicitly identified himself as a journalist to the officers who arrested him.
Roessler told the press that the officer who arrested Stark may not have believed Stark when he said that he was a journalist.
“He doesn’t know him personally or who he is, and anybody can say anything,” Roessler said.
Stark, who has written critically about Gillespie’s campaign, said that the campaign has previously had him removed from events held on private property and has “disinvited” him from the press pool. He believes that the campaign may have asked the police to remove him from the area near the Gillespie campaign bus.
During the press conference, police chief Roessler said that he did not know whether the Gillespie campaign had any conversations with the police concerning Stark.
“I have no knowledge of that right now,” Roeller said. “We are investigating this. And if there are any witnesses I would ask that they contact the Fairfax County Police Department. Our Internal Affairs Bureau is actively going out seeking witnesses and networking the community to understand the full picture here, and as I mentioned earlier, our police auditor will also review our completed investigation and report our findings to the community.”
A police spokesperson referred the Freedom of the Press Foundation to Roessler's press conference and declined to comment further.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Stark was not wearing a hooded sweatshirt. Stark told the Freedom of the Press Foundation that he was wearing a hooded sweatshirt.
Mike Stark
",arrested and released,convicted,Fairfax County Police Department,None,None,True,None,[],None,None,False,law enforcement,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,election,obstruction: disorderly conduct,obstruction: resisting arrest,,, Jon Ziegler attacked by white nationalist protesters in Tennessee,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/jon-ziegler-attacked-white-nationalist-protesters-tennessee/,2018-01-16 11:06:32.536551+00:00,2021-10-20 20:24:05.065149+00:00,2021-10-20 20:24:05.021186+00:00,,Assault,,,,Jon Ziegler (Independent),,2017-10-28,False,Shelbyville,Tennessee (TN),35.48341,-86.46027,"Independent journalist Jon Ziegler, who livestreams under the handle RebZ.tv, was reporting on a white nationalist rally in Shelbyville, Tennessee, on Oct. 28, 2017, when one of the white nationalist protesters struck him with a shield.
Ziegler told the Freedom of the Press Foundation that the demonstration was divided into two sections — a white nationalist section and an anti-fascist section — which were each penned in by police barricades. Ziegler said that he interviewed protesters in both sections and was walking through the white nationalist area when he was suddenly confronted by a prominent leader in the National Socialist Movement, a white nationalist group.
The NSM leader told Ziegler that he was standing too close to the NSM's P.A. system and demanded that he leave. Ziegler said that a group of NSM members then surrounded him, threatened him and began pushing him around. He said that the NSM members were armed with shields — police had allowed them to carry shields because they were not considered offensive weapons — and one NSM member struck him with his shield.
The RebZ.tv livestream shows NSM members pushing Ziegler
RebZ.tv
A screencap of the RebZ.tv livestream shows a white nationalist protester with a shield about to strike Jon Ziegler.
,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"protest, white nationalist protest",,,,, Photojournalist stopped second time by CBP in less than a year,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-stopped-second-time-cbp-less-year/,2019-11-12 19:18:05.306954+00:00,2019-11-12 19:18:05.306954+00:00,2019-11-12 19:18:05.218966+00:00,,Border Stop,,,,David Degner,,2017-10-25,False,Boston,Massachusetts (MA),42.35843,-71.05977,"Freelance photojournalist David Degner was flagged for secondary screening multiple times while flying between Cairo, Egypt, and the United States.
Degner, a U.S. citizen who was working out of Cairo, told the Committee to Protect Journalists that he was pulled aside after disembarking in Boston, Massachusetts, on Oct. 25, 2017. He said he sent out a Facebook notification saying that he was being stopped and interviewed and then signed out of all of his social media profiles.
Degner told CPJ that he acted to prevent another search of his phone and social media profiles like had occurred during a December 2016 screening. At that stop, Customs and Border Protection had pulled Degner aside for secondary screening at preclearance in Toronto, Canada on a trip from Cairo to the United States.
Degner said that during the December stop, he waited for half an hour before he was shown to an interview room where an officer was already seated. The officer asked him to unlock and hand over his phone.
At first, Degner refused, asking if the officer had the right to search his phone. Degner said that the officer handed him a pre-printed sheet saying that they have the right to examine anything that is coming into the United States. He asked what would happen if he refused and the officer told him that they would hold onto the phone until CBP could unlock it themselves, implying that it would be confiscated for weeks or months.
“I’m used to these types of security procedures from Egypt,” Degner told CPJ. He requested that the officer remain in the room while searching the phone—which he did—which took 10-15 minutes.
Degner said that when he asked why his phone was being searched anyway, the officer responded, “Just be glad I’m not asking to search your laptop and everything else, too.”
When he was flagged a second time less than a year later in Boston, Degner sent the Facebook notification and signed out of his profiles. Officers did not ask him to unlock his phone during the second stop, however.
Degner told CPJ that on both occasions he asked the officers why he had been selected for secondary screening, and on both occasions they said they couldn’t tell him why.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker includes incidents only from 2017 forward.
Montana Republican official Karen Marshall said in a radio program on Oct. 19, 2017 that should she “would have shot” Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs if he had addressed her as he did Rep. Greg Gianforte. Marshall resigned from her position four days later.
On May 24, Republican Greg Gianforte physically assaulted reporter Ben Jacobs after he tried to interview the Congressional candidate. Gianforte body-slammed Jacobs to the ground, punched him, and broke his glasses.
Gianforte was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives the next day. He pled guilty to misdemeanor assault, has publicly apologized, and as part of a civil settlement, agreed to donate $50,000 to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Marshall, who serves as the vice-president of programs for Gallatin County Republican Women, made her remarks during a Voices of Montana radio segment with attorney and Democratic Congressional candidate John Heenan.
In audio of the radio segment posted to John Heenan for Congress Facebook page, Marshall called herself a friend of Gianforte’s. “If that kid had done to me what he did to Greg, I would have shot him,” Marshall said about Jacobs.
A spokesman for Rep. Gianforte, Travis Hall, denounced Marshall’s comments. Heenan’s campaign released a statement on Oct. 20. “The fact members of [Gianforte’s] party are sort of doubling down and wishing worse harm on Ben Jacobs really bothers me,” Heenan said.
On Oct. 23, Karen Marshall resigned from her position, according to the Gallatin County Republican Women’s Facebook page.
The mission statement of the Gallatin County Republican Women’s website notes that it “stands by the principles of freedom, equality, and justice on which the government of this country is founded.” The Gallatin County Republican Women did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Jamie Kalven, a reporter who was the first to report the details of the shooting of teenager Laquan McDonald by Chicago police in 2014 — received a subpoena on Oct. 16, 2017 to testify and reveal details about his sources at a pre-trial hearing in the murder case of former Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke.
Kalven is an independent journalist based in Chicago and the founder of Invisible Institute, a journalistic production company focused on government accountability. He won a George Polk award for his coverage of the McDonald case.
In February 2015, he published an article in Slate titled “Sixteen Shots,” which reported on evidence, including an autopsy report and statements from witnesses, that contradicted the Chicago police department’s public account of McDonald’s shooting. Kalven also reported on the existence of an unreleased police dash-cam video, which had captured the shooting. After public pressure and a court decision forced the city of Chicago to release the dash-cam video to the public, officer Van Dyke was charged with first-degree murder.
As part of his defense strategy, Van Dyke’s lawyer is trying to force Kalven to testify about his sources.
Kalven told the Freedom of the Press Foundation that he received a subpoena at his office on Oct. 16, 2017, ordering him to appear in court at 9 a.m. on the following day. Kalven said that he did not attend the Oct. 17 hearing and that his attorney informed Van Dyke’s attorney that he could not attend the hearing on such short notice.
During the hearing, Van Dyke’s defense attorney argued that Kalven needed to be called in to testify, according to an audio recording of the hearing taped by a journalist in attendance. Van Dyke’s legal team hopes to show that Kalven received leaked documents from the police oversight agency investigating the shooting and that he could have influenced potential witnesses in the case by interviewing them about the murder while reporting the Slate piece.
Chicago judge Vincent Gaughan seemed receptive to the defense team’s argument, though he did acknowledge that Illinois’ “press shield law” prevents journalists from being compelled to name their sources in some circumstances.
“The reporter’s privilege concerning the source will have to be litigated,” he said.
On Nov. 3, Kalven’s attorney filed a motion to quash the subpoena, citing the Illinois Reporter's Privilege Act.
The state law requires a person seeking to compel a reporter to testify about their confidential sources to file a detailed application with the court, which must include "the name of the reporter and of the news medium with which he or she was connected at the time the information sought was obtained; the specific information sought and its relevancy to the proceedings; and [a] specific public interest which would be adversely affected if the factual information sought were not disclosed."
The law also sets a high bar for a court to approve such an application; the court must find "that all other available sources of information have been exhausted and [that] disclosure of the information sought is essential to the protection of the public interest involved."
Kalven's motion to quash the subpoena stated that Van Dyke's legal team had not filed an application to overcome his reporter's privilege and therefore had not met their burden on the Reporter's Privilege Act. Van Dyke's attorney later filed an opposition to Kalven's motion to quash the subpoena. This opposition was filed under seal, so it is not clear what legal argument it makes.
On Dec. 5, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker) led a group of 18 journalism and press freedom publications in filing an amicus brief in support of Kalven’s motion to quash the subpoena. In the amicus brief, RCFP wrote that “the public interest in protecting confidential sources is particularly compelling in this case” and argued that that the Reporter’s Privilege Act should protect Kalven from being forced to testify about his sources.
On Dec. 6, the court will hear arguments for and against the motion to quash the subpoena.
Kalven said that even if the motion to quash is denied, he will only answer questions to the extent that his sources are not jeopardized.
“I can imagine no situation in which I would reveal my source,” he said.
Kalven is not new to requests to surrender the details of his work. In 2005, the City of Chicago subpoenaed Kalven, seeking his notes, tapes, and other records gathered during reporting on abuse of police power. When he refused to comply, the court moved to hold him in contempt, but the threat dissipated when the case was resolved.
“I don’t want to say that I’m completely unconcerned about this,” he said. “But I have no internal conflict or anguish about what I should do.”
A spokesman for U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) told independent journalist Nick Turse that he did not consider him to be a “legitimate journalist” and refused to answer his calls or emails for months starting in late 2017.
Turse has written numerous articles, many for The Intercept, critical of the U.S. military’s activities in Africa.
On July 20, 2017, he wrote an article for The Intercept revealing that Cameroonian troops tortured detainees at a military base that the United States also used for drone surveillance.
In a January 2018 piece for The Intercept, Turse wrote about how AFRICOM’s Public Affairs Branch repeatedly refused to engage with him after that article was published:
“Nick, we’re not going to respond to any of your questions” Lt. Cmdr. Anthony Falvo, the head of U.S. Africa Command’s Public Affairs Branch, told me by phone last October. “We just don’t feel that we need to.”
I asked if Falvo believed AFRICOM didn’t need to address questions from the press in general, or just me in particular.
“No, just you,” he replied. “We don’t consider you a legitimate journalist, really.”
Then he hung up on me.
How I Got Blacklisted by the Pentagon's Africa Command (The Intercept)
Turse also detailed many instances in which representatives of AFRICOM consistently stolewalled him as early as 2012. On one day in 2014, he wrote, he called Benjamin Benson, then the chief of media engagement for AFRICOM, multiple times from a phone line that identified him by name and never had his calls answered. When he tried calling from another number, Benson picked up right away, only to hang up after Turse identified himself.
Turse wrote that just before his January 2018 piece was published, an AFRICOM spokesperson began responding to some of his questions, but refused to answer any questions about the agency’s treatment of him, including “if I was now considered legitimate, why the command finally decided to respond to me, and whether AFRICOM would regularly take my calls and answer my questions in the future.”
On Oct. 11, 2017, President Trump called NBC News “fake news” and suggested that the FCC should challenge the network's broadcast license.
“With all of the Fake News coming out of NBC and the Networks, at what point is it appropriate to challenge their License? Bad for country!” Trump tweeted.
Trump also criticized an NBC News report which said that Trump wanted to increase the size of the U.S. nuclear arsenal.
Fake @NBCNews made up a story that I wanted a "tenfold" increase in our U.S. nuclear arsenal. Pure fiction, made up to demean. NBC = CNN!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 11, 2017
With all of the Fake News coming out of NBC and the Networks, at what point is it appropriate to challenge their License? Bad for country!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 11, 2017
Jessica Rosenworcel, one of the FCC’s five commissioners, responded to Trump on Twitter.
Not how it works.
— Jessica Rosenworcel (@JRosenworcel) October 11, 2017
See here: https://t.co/1JgiJyk5wK https://t.co/1aNpYsk7BG
Rosenworcel's tweet included a link to a document on the FCC’s website titled “The Public and Broadcasting,” which outlines the agency’s regulation of broadcasts.
“We license only individual broadcast stations,” the document states. “We do not license TV or radio networks (such as CBS, NBC, ABC or Fox) or other organizations with which stations have relationships (such as PBS or NPR), except to the extent that those entities may also be station licensees.”
While the FCC regulates which local TV stations can broadcast over the air, it does not — and cannot — regulate which networks those stations broadcast. The agency could deny licenses to local stations directly owned by NBC, but doing so would not prevent other stations from broadcasting NBC News. If the FCC did attempt to deny broadcast licenses to NBC-owned stations in retaliation for the network's coverage of Trump, it would likely be challenged in court and lose on First Amendment grounds.
The Radio Television Digital News Association (which is a partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker) condemned Trump’s tweet.
“Today’s call by the President of the United States to challenge the licenses of networks is not only dangerous to the American people’s right to access responsible journalism, it represents a clear misunderstanding on his part of how much control the federal government can exercise as it relates to networks and cable channels,” RTDNA executive director Dan Shelley said.
Trump is not the first president to try to retaliate against journalism organizations by challenging broadcast licenses.
Newton Minnow, a former FCC director, writes in the Chicago Tribune that John F. Kennedy once called him up to complain that NBC News was broadcasting false information about him.
"I was at home one evening when Kennedy called, furious because of a television news story," Minnow recalls. "Executives in the steel industry announced a price increase, which the president believed was a violation of an agreement he had negotiated to avoid a strike. He asked if I had seen NBC's newscast in which the steel companies' execs bitterly attacked the president. I had. The president bellowed: 'Did you see how those guys lied about me? Outrageous! Do something about it!'"
Minnow refused to do anything and Kennedy dropped the matter.
In the 1970s, Richard Nixon and his allies took more serious steps, challenging the broadcast licenses of local TV stations owned by The Washington Post.
“In 1973, the Associated Press reported on the effort from George Champion Jr., who had been finance chairman for Nixon's campaign in Florida, to challenge the license of a Jacksonville, Fla., TV station — WJXT-TV,” Post reporter Aaron Blake writes. “The station was then owned by Newsweek and The Washington Post Co., which also owned The Washington Post. The Post was at that point well into its Pulitzer Prize-winning Watergate investigation of the president.”
Despite Nixon’s efforts, the FCC renewed the broadcast license for WJXT-TV and other stations owned by the Post.
Jordan Chariton, a reporter for the progressive online news organization The Young Turks, was arrested along with cameraman Ty Bayliss after filming a demonstration in St. Louis on Oct. 3, 2017.
That day, protesters in St. Louis shut down Highway 40, marching on the interstate and blocking traffic. The demonstration was a response to the acquittal in September of of Jason Stockley, a white former St. Louis police officer who in 2011 fatally shot Anthony Lamar Smith, a black man.
Chariton and Bayliss followed the group and interviewed protesters as they marched on the highway. After the group of protesters exited the highway, lines of police officers enclosed them in a "kettle" and then ordered them to sit on the ground and began to arrest them. Chariton, Bayliss and other journalists covering the march were also arrested.
"Our reporter @JordanChariton and cameraman/editor Ty Bayliss have been arrested by St. Louis Police. Clear violation of first amendment," TYT founder and host Cenk Uygur tweeted. "TYT reporter & cameraman were covering St. Louis protests when police surrounded them and arrested them. We demand their immediate release."
TYT published a video on Youtube, filmed by Bayliss, that shows police arresting both him and Chariton.
St. Louis police arrest TYT reporter Jordan Chariton and cameraman Ty Bayliss.
The Young Turks
"So they're arresting, it seems, journalists who covered a peaceful demonstration," Chariton can be heard saying in the video, aafter Bayliss is arrested. "I thought there was a freedom of the press and a First Amendment, but I guess not in St. Louis."
Bayliss and Chariton were arrested despite wearing press badges and telling police officers on the scene that they were members of the press. Officers told them that they were under arrest "for being on the highway."
Uygur, the founder of TYT, criticized the arrests of Bayliss and Chariton in a short video statement posted on Youtube.
TYT founder Cenk Uygur addresses the arrests of TYT reporter Jordan Chariton and cameraman Ty Bayliss.
The Young Turks
"We're demanding their immediate release," Uygur says in the video. "This is outrageous. We had camera guys there because that's our job. There is a very legitimate and ongoing protest in St. Louis. They believe that the community is not being treated fairly, and we went to go cover it. That's exactly what we're supposed to do as the press. Apparently, the police didn't like that. You can hear people on the scene saying that they're arresting people with cameras first. So it's the exact opposite of what they're supposed to do. They're supposed to let the press do their jobs, and they didn't."
After being detained for almost 20 hours, Chariton and Bayliss were released from jail.
TYT reporter Jordan Chariton reports live from St. Louis on October 3, 2017, shortly before being arrested.
",arrested and released,unknown,St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department,2017-10-04,2017-10-03,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, court verdict, kettle, protest",trespassing,,,, The Young Turks cameraman Ty Bayliss arrested in St. Louis,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/tyt-cameraman-ty-bayliss-arrested-st-louis/,2017-10-04 09:24:11.488649+00:00,2022-08-04 20:30:36.618271+00:00,2022-08-04 20:30:36.529390+00:00,,Arrest/Criminal Charge,"Tweet from Cenk Uygur (https://twitter.com/cenkuygur/status/915405101912645633), Video of arrests (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfTZgPMQX-0) via The Young Turks, Cenk Uygur's video statement (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arbC5xQZ5uc)",,,Ty Bayliss (The Young Turks),,2017-10-03,False,St. Louis,Missouri (MO),38.62727,-90.19789,"Ty Bayliss — a cameraman and editor for the progressive online news organization The Young Turks — was arrested along with reporter Jordan Chariton after filming a demonstration in St. Louis on Oct. 3, 2017.
That day, protesters in St. Louis shut down Highway 40, marching on the interstate and blocking traffic. The demonstration was a response to the acquittal in September of of Jason Stockley, a white former St. Louis police officer who in 2011 fatally shot Anthony Lamar Smith, a black man.
Chariton and Bayliss followed the group and interviewed protesters as they marched on the highway. After the group of protesters exited the highway, lines of police officers enclosed them in a "kettle" and then ordered them to sit on the ground and began to arrest them. Chariton, Bayliss and other journalists covering the march were also arrested.
"Our reporter @JordanChariton and cameraman/editor Ty Bayliss have been arrested by St. Louis Police. Clear violation of first amendment," TYT founder and host Cenk Uygur tweeted. "TYT reporter & cameraman were covering St. Louis protests when police surrounded them and arrested them. We demand their immediate release."
TYT published a video on Youtube, filmed by Bayliss, that shows police arresting both him and Chariton. Bayliss appears to be one of the first people arrested.
St. Louis police arrest TYT reporter Jordan Chariton and cameraman Ty Bayliss.
The Young Turks
Bayliss and Chariton were arrested despite wearing press badges and telling police officers on the scene that they were members of the press. Officers told them that they were under arrest "for being on the highway."
Uygur, the founder of TYT, criticized the arrests of Bayliss and Chariton in a short video statement posted on Youtube.
TYT founder Cenk Uygur addresses the arrests of TYT reporter Jordan Chariton and cameraman Ty Bayliss.
The Young Turks
"We're demanding their immediate release," Uygur says in the video. "This is outrageous. We had camera guys there because that's our job. There is a very legitimate and ongoing protest in St. Louis. They believe that the community is not being treated fairly, and we went to go cover it. That's exactly what we're supposed to do as the press. Apparently, the police didn't like that. You can hear people on the scene saying that they're arresting people with cameras first. So it's the exact opposite of what they're supposed to do. They're supposed to let the press do their jobs, and they didn't."
After being detained for almost 20 hours, Bayliss and Chariton were released from jail.
A screengrab from a livestream filmed by Jon Ziegler shows St. Louis police officers arresting TYT cameraman Ty Bayliss on Oct. 3, 2017.
",arrested and released,unknown,St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department,2017-10-04,2017-10-03,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, court verdict, kettle, protest",trespassing,,,, Independent journalist Jon Ziegler arrested in St. Louis for second time,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalist-jon-ziegler-arrested-st-louis-second-time/,2017-10-04 09:25:26.001908+00:00,2022-08-04 20:30:44.515028+00:00,2022-08-04 20:30:44.449640+00:00,,Arrest/Criminal Charge,,,,Jon Ziegler,,2017-10-03,False,St. Louis,Missouri (MO),38.62727,-90.19789,"Independent journalist Jon Ziegler was arrested in St. Louis on Oct. 3, 2017, after livestreaming a demonstration on Highway 40. Ziegler was previously arrested in St. Louis on Sept. 17, while covering another protest.
On Oct. 3, protesters in St. Louis shut down Highway 40, marching on the interstate and blocking traffic. The demonstration was a response to the acquittal in September of of Jason Stockley, a white former St. Louis police officer who in 2011 fatally shot Anthony Lamar Smith, a black man.
Ziegler was one of the journalists who provided live coverage of the march. Once the group of protesters exited the highway, lines of police officers enclosed them in a "kettle" and then ordered them to sit on the ground and began to arrest them. Ziegler and other journalists covering the march were also arrested.
Ziegler's livestream of the march captured his arrest and the arrest of other journalists.
St. Louis police perform a mass arrest of protesters, legal observers, and journalists.
Rebelutionary Z
A screengrab of a video filmed by The Young Turks shows Jon Ziegler (in purple) sitting on the ground shortly before being arrested by St. Louis police on Oct. 3, 2017.
",arrested and released,unknown,St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, court verdict, kettle, protest",trespassing,,,, Freelance photographer Daniel Shular arrested in St. Louis,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/freelance-photographer-daniel-shular-arrested-st-louis/,2017-10-04 20:57:27.848782+00:00,2022-08-04 20:30:53.294377+00:00,2022-08-04 20:30:53.185833+00:00,,"Arrest/Criminal Charge, Equipment Search or Seizure",,"camera: count of 2, camera lens: count of 2",,Daniel Shular (Freelance),,2017-10-03,False,St. Louis,Missouri (MO),38.62727,-90.19789,"Daniel Shular — a St. Louis-based freelance photographer whose work has been published in NBC News, Xinhua and Riverfront Times — was arrested on Oct. 3, 2017, after covering a demonstration in St. Louis, Missouri.
That day, protesters in St. Louis shut down Highway 40, marching on the interstate and blocking traffic. The demonstration was a response to the acquittal in September of of Jason Stockley, a white former St. Louis police officer who in 2011 fatally shot Anthony Lamar Smith, a black man.
Shular covered the protest. After the group of protesters exited the highway, lines of police officers enclosed them in a "kettle" and then announced that they would all be arrested.
Everyone is being arrested including press #stockleyprotest #stlouis #stlouisprotest #kettle pic.twitter.com/n9F5gWyz7u
— Daniel Shular (@xshularx) October 4, 2017
I'm being arrested
— Daniel Shular (@xshularx) October 4, 2017
Shular told the Freedom of the Press Foundation that officers ignored him when he said that he was a member of the press. He said that he was carrying two professional DSLR cameras and wearing a National Press Photographers Association press badge. Officers ordered him to sit on the ground and then arrested him.
He said that the police never told him specifically why he was being arrested. During the booking and process, he said, he saw a document that listed the charge as “trespassing.”
Shular said that he was held for about 17 hours before being released. His cameras were returned to him after he was released.
Al Neal, the St. Louis bureau chief for progressive online newspaper People’s World, was arrested and jailed for 26 hours while covering protests in St. Louis, Missouri, on Oct.r 3, 2017.
That day, protesters in St. Louis shut down Highway 40, marching on the interstate and blocking traffic. The demonstration was a response to the acquittal in September of of Jason Stockley, a white former St. Louis police officer who in 2011 fatally shot Anthony Lamar Smith, a black man.
Neal filmed part of the protest and posted the video on his Instagram page. The video shows protesters peacefully marching and chanting.
Neal told the Freedom of the Press Foundation that he did not witness any water bottles or other objects being thrown at police officers. He also said that the crowd was quick to comply with police orders, including moving from the street to the sidewalk.
After the group of protesters exited the highway, lines of police officers enclosed them in a “kettle” and then ordered them to sit on the ground. Around 9:30 p.m., police began arresting everyone present at the protest march, including journalists.
#police are arresting everyone now. Including members of the #press visibly showing credentials. —@PeoplesWorld
— A. A. Neal (@Al_Neal_STL) October 4, 2017
Neal said that he was wearing a press badge and standing on the sidewalk with a group of journalists when he was handcuffed. He said that he told a police officer that he was a journalist, and the officer responded, “We don’t care, you’re getting arrested.”
Neal said that he asked the police to cuff his hands in the front instead of behind him, due to his bad shoulder. He said that a police officer refused and told him, “We don’t care, too bad, just wait.”
Neal said that he was transported to the St. Louis city jail, where he was detained in a holding cell for hours. Later that night, he tweeted a photo of the inside of the holding cell.
Now sitting in a holding cell w/ an elected official, legal observers& other members of the #press #stockleyprotest #stl - @PeoplesWorld
— A. A. Neal (@Al_Neal_STL) October 4, 2017
A view from inside. #stl #StockleyProtest — @PeoplesWorld pic.twitter.com/FwJvRHdDRo
— A. A. Neal (@Al_Neal_STL) October 4, 2017
After being detained for more than a full day, Neal was finally released around 11:30 p.m. on Oct. 4. He is being charged with trespassing, a misdemeanor.
Al Neal waits in a holding cell at the St. Louis city jail, after being arrested on Oct. 3, 2017.
",arrested and released,unknown,St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department,2017-10-04,2017-10-03,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, court verdict, kettle, protest",trespassing,,,, Independent journalist Aminah Ali arrested in St. Louis,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalist-aminah-ali-arrested-st-louis/,2017-10-06 06:49:26.414872+00:00,2022-08-04 20:31:20.994079+00:00,2022-08-04 20:31:20.921058+00:00,,Arrest/Criminal Charge,"Protesters arrested after blocking Highway 40 include pastor, state rep (http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/protesters-close-eastbound-highway-in-st-louis/article_be681e7d-db87-5754-87) via St. Louis Post-Dispatch, St Louis police arrest 307 protesters in 18 days (http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/10/st-louis-police-arrest-307-protesters-18-days-171005104005733.html) via Al-Jazeera",,,Aminah Ali,,2017-10-03,False,St. Louis,Missouri (MO),38.62727,-90.19789,"Aminah Ali — a St. Louis-based independent journalist who founded local news site "Real STL News" — was arrested while reporting on a demonstration on Oct. 3, 2017.
That day, protesters in St. Louis shut down Highway 40, marching on the interstate and blocking traffic. The demonstration was a response to the acquittal in September of of Jason Stockley, a white former St. Louis police officer who in 2011 fatally shot Anthony Lamar Smith, a black man.
After the group of protesters exited the highway, lines of police officers enclosed them in a “kettle” and then ordered them to sit on the ground and began to arrest them. Ali, who was covering the march for Real STL News, was also arrested.
Real STL News later published a video that shows Ali, with her hands zip-tied behind her back, waiting in a holding area in the St. Louis jail.
@MissJupiter1957 our reporter in jail at the justice center after the protests pic.twitter.com/BzXdqHEQbS
— RealStlNews (@RealStlNews) October 4, 2017
"I am the founder of Real STL News and I've been apprehended," Ali says in the video. "Once again, this is Aminah Ali, this is the founder of Real STL News, and I'm locked up. I wasn't doing anything illegal. I let them know that I was media, and I was still apprehended."
According to Real STL News, Ali was released from jail on the morning of Oct. 4.
Independent journalist Aminah Ali shows off her zip-tied hands in a screengrab from a video filmed inside a holding area in the St. Louis jail.
",arrested and released,unknown,St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department,2017-10-04,2017-10-03,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, court verdict, kettle, protest",trespassing,,,, Indiana high school implements policy of prior review after controversial publication,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/indiana-high-school-implements-policy-prior-review-after-controversial-publication/,2019-03-21 17:25:57.087373+00:00,2019-06-17 13:52:56.278244+00:00,2019-06-17 13:52:56.187868+00:00,,Other Incident,,,,,,2017-10-01,True,Plainfield,Indiana (IN),39.70421,-86.39944,"Student journalists at Plainfield High School in Plainfield, Indiana, have been censored by school administrators for their reporting, according to the student co-editor of the school's paper.
Plainfield High School implemented a policy of content review prior to publication after its publication, the Quaker Shaker, published an issue that focused on dating and relationships in October 2017.
The issue, called the Shakedown, was the magazine’s first “special topic” edition, exploring the ins and outs of relationships in high school. It featured polls about the prevalence of sexting and topics like dating violence.
After some parents and school administrators took issue with the content, a new school policy was implemented requiring approval from the principal and an advisory committee before publishing, according to Plainfield High School journalism adviser Michelle Burress.
Co-editor of the Quaker Shaker Anu Nattam said that after the policy was in place, the publication was forced to change the name of their special edition issues to the Shakeout because the school argued that the name Shakedown had mafia connotations.
“We’ve also had to change quotes, and delete quotes for trivial things that make no sense,” Nattam told the Freedom of the Press Foundation in 2018. She also noted that they were asked to change the cover photo of one magazine issue because merely it showed a picture of a clothed posterior.
But it is her responsibility as a student journalist, Nattam said, to report on issues that are relevant to the student body, even if they might be controversial.
Nattam’s adviser Burress said that students have self-censored since the policy was put in place, and they worry about everything they write coming under intense scrutiny. “They are shying away from topics that normally they would not hesitate to cover because they do not want to get shot down,” she said last year. “More than ever this year, students are saying that they do not want to be quoted or pictured in the news magazine or yearbook.”
Nattam agrees. “People need to realize that by limiting press freedom for students, they are limiting their education. That’s what I feel like was done to me and my staff—our education was compromised, because we can’t be put in the same environment as a professional journalist. So, we can’t prepare for a career in journalism if that's what we choose to do.”
— The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.
Indiana student journalists, including Anu Nattam, center, who holds Plainfield High School's magazine, testified in 2018 in favor of a state bill that would have prohibited schools from encroaching on students’ speech rights.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,Quaker Shaker,student journalism,,,,, "Reporter flagged for additional screening when leaving the U.S., questioned about work",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-flagged-additional-screening-when-leaving-us-questioned-about-work/,2019-12-10 20:47:50.455003+00:00,2021-11-16 20:07:53.974965+00:00,2021-11-16 20:07:53.925395+00:00,,Border Stop,,,,Anonymous reporter 2,,2017-09-30,False,New York,New York (NY),None,None,"A reporter — who asked that his name not be used for fear of reprisal — was flagged for secondary screening in New York City while traveling to Istanbul, Turkey, on Sept. 30, 2017.
The reporter, who is a U.S. citizen, told the Committee to Protect Journalists that he was taken aside by a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer while departing from JFK International Airport.
After asking the routine questions about addresses and contact information, the reporter said the CBP officer asked about his work. The questioning included what topics the reporter covers and whether he uses the messaging applications WhatsApp or Viber. The reporter also told CPJ that the officer asked him to sign a paper documenting how much currency he was traveling with.
During the questioning, the reporter asked the CBP officer his name. The reporter said the question seemed to make the officer very uncomfortable, and the officer tried to backpedal to avoid disclosing it. The reporter insisted and the officer eventually gave his name.
Citing his frustration with being stopped despite belonging to CBP’s Trusted Travelers Programs, which are designed to expedite security, the reporter told CPJ that after this incident he filed a Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act request. He received a response within six weeks that showed that he had been targeted for additional screening but not why.
In addition to having Global Entry, the reporter said, he now also carries a printed copy of his FOIA when he travels.
“It’s clear to me that these interrogations really depend on the officer, what questions they ask,” the reporter told CPJ.
Heather DeMian, an independent livestreamer and photographer, was pepper sprayed by St. Louis police while filming protests in St. Louis on Sept. 29, 2017, according to her tweets and livestream video of the incident.
In an interview with St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter Nassim Benchaabane after the protest, DeMian was livestreaming the demonstration to Periscope when she was informed by protesters that the St. Louis police tased a protester. She moved closer, trying to film the arrest of the protester, when police allegedly sprayed her with a chemical agent from the side.
DeMian regularly documents protests by livestreaming them on Periscope and uploading them to her Youtube channel, "Heather DeMian," and her Twitter account, @MissJupiter1957.
In the Periscope video, DeMian can be seen asking the officers multiple times why she was sprayed and why they failed to give a dispersal order. In the video, one officer points at DeMian and says repeatedly, “time to go."
“I should have to be a threat before someone fucking maces me,” she says later on the livestream.
DeMian later tweeted that the pepper spray had a severe effect on her because she has Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, a genetic connective tissue disorder.
"B/c of my #EDS, my physical reaction to pepperspray is different. It takes a few minutes to feel it where I have mucus membranes in my face," she tweeted. "Didn't really feel it much on my arms & medics washed where there was visible orange liquid, but not whole arm, so missed where fine spray. So while I didn't feel an initial reaction on my arms much, where it sat on the skin for longer, it damaged the skin. #EDS"
The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
#STLProtests 2 https://t.co/Md7vRrOjyj
— Heather ♿📷📱🔭 (@MissJupiter1957) September 30, 2017
@MissJupiter1957 a livestreamer in a wheelchair, says she was pepper sprayed while filming after police teased/arrested a man #stlverdict pic.twitter.com/dhjtMdBO4G
— Nascream Bloodaabane (@NassimBnchabane) September 30, 2017
Christian Gooden, a photographer for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, was pepper-sprayed by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department while covering protests in St. Louis on Sept. 29, 2017, according to a news report by the United Media Guild.
Gooden told the Freedom of the Press Foundation that he was taking photographs in between two groups of protesters when he heard that a demonstrator had been tased. He, along with several protesters, turned back to document the St. Louis police walking a demonstrator to a van in handcuffs. “The police sprayed everyone in front of the police line,” Gooden said. He anticipated the spraying, so he backed up turned away to avoid the spray.
Gooden said he continued to take pictures once he thought the police were done spraying, but he was hit by a second stream of pepper spray. He turned his back to avoid posing a threat, but he estimated the spraying lasted five or six seconds.
“There didn’t seem to be a reason to spray the line,” he said. “They were agitated and loud, but no one was coming to put hands on police.”
He told the Freedom of the Press Foundation that he felt the spray on his neck and collar, and he kept turning his head to protect his face. “It felt like he was trying to get around to my ears and eyes,” Gooden said.
Gooden said that while he was not wearing his press badge, he was carrying two large cameras and a photo bag, and had been covering the protests as a photographer for multiple nights.
The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department did not immediately respond to requests to comment.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter Mike Faulk was arrested by police on Sept. 17, 2017, while covering a protest in St. Louis, Missouri.
According to the Post-Dispatch, more than a thousand people gathered in downtown St. Louis on Sept. 17 to protest the acquittal of Jason Stockley, a white former St. Louis police officer who in 2011 fatally shot Anthony Lamar Smith, a black man.
Around 11 p.m., large groups of police officers boxed in about a hundred people at the intersection of Washington Street and Tucker Boulevard. Faulk was among those caught in the kettle.
The Post-Dispatch reported what happened next:
St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter Mike Faulk was caught in the kettle Sunday night. A line of bike cops formed across Washington Avenue, east of Tucker Boulevard and police in helmets carrying shields and batons blocked the other three sides of the intersection at Tucker and Washington. Faulk heard the repeated police command, “Move back. Move back.” He had nowhere to go.
The police lines moved forward, trapping dozens of people — protesters, journalists, area residents and observers alike. Multiple officers knocked Faulk down, he said, and pinned his limbs to the ground. A firm foot pushed his head into the pavement. Once he was subdued, he recalled, an officer squirted pepper spray in his face.
Police loaded Faulk into a van holding about eight others and took him to the city jail on Tucker, a few blocks to the south. He arrived about midnight and was released about 1:30 p.m. Monday after posting a $50 bond. Faulk was charged with failure to disperse, a municipal charge.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Joseph Martineau, an attorney for the Post-Dispatch, wrote a letter to St. Louis mayor Lyda Krewton, acting police chief Lawrence O'Toole, city counselor Julian Bush and deputy city counselor Michael Garvin demanding the city drop all charges against Faulk. The letter details the police's treatment of him:
When he was arrested, Mr. Faulk was standing on a sidewalk reporting on the protests. He was not impeding vehicular or pedestrian traffic. He was clearly identified and credentialed as a reporter for the Post-Dispatch and repeatedly advised several of the arresting officers of his status. Nonetheless, he was rounded up and restrained by police officers who surrounded a large group of people and prevented them from leaving the perimeter in a mechanism we understand is referred to as "kettling." Independent of whether the "kettle" containment activity was proper under the circumstances (and as the Post-Dispatch has reported, there are serious questions about that), there was no reason why a credentialed reporter should have been arrested or restrained from doing his job of reporting the events. Once the reporter was clearly identified as such, he should have been released immediately and allowed to continue his newsgathering activity.
Moreover, as we understand the situation, Mr. Faulk was not merely restrained and arrested. While standing on the sidewalk and making no resistance , he was forcefully pushed to the ground by police officers and a police officer's boot was placed on his head. As a result of this unneeded and inappropriate force, Mr. Faulk suffered injury to both legs, his back and wrist. Even after being restrained with zip ties and totally subdued, a police officer deliberately sprayed him in the face with pepper spray, mace or some other stinging substance. At some point during the evening, an officer also took it upon himself to review the contents of the cell phone Mr. Faulk was using to communicate and photograph the events of the evening. A bike he was using during his news coverage has not been returned to him. He was held for over thirteen hours in jail, even though one of our editors was at the jail only two hours after the arrest to secure his release. That editor was lied to by jail personnel who told her that he was still in transport, even though he was already at the jail. Jail personnel denied his repeated requests for medical attention.
Post-Dispatch letter to mayor, police chief
Faulk was held in jail for 13 hours and then released on a $50 bond on the afternoon of Sept. 18. Once released, he returned to the Post-Dispatch newsroom.
.@Mike_Faulk returns to newsroom applause after more than 12 hours in jail for doing his job. #STLVerdict pic.twitter.com/cPeKugmiEC
— Christopher Ave (@ChristopherAve) September 18, 2017
"He returned to the newsroom limping, knees bloodied and pepper spray still on his skin," the Post-Dispatch reported.
Post-Dispatch editor Gilbert Bailon condemned the police's treatment of Faulk.
"St. Louis Post-Dispatch journalists and other credentialed news media provide critical information to the public," he said in a statement. "When St. Louis police arrested Mike, after he fully identified himself while covering the protests, they violated basic tenets of our democracy. Additionally, the physical abuse he suffered during the arrest is abhorrent and must be investigated. The Post-Dispatch is calling for our city leaders to immediately implement policies that will prevent journalists from being arrested without cause."
The News Guild-CWA and the St. Louis chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists also condemned the arrest.
"The NewsGuild denounces the arrest of Guild member Michael Faulk and demands that any pending charges against him be dismissed,” Bernie Lunzer, president of The News Guild-CWA, said in a statement. "Faulk was doing his job, informing the people. There is simply no justification for his arrest and mistreatment. There has been a noticeable uptick in assaults and arrests of reporters in recent months. This is a dangerous trend that impedes journalists’ right to report and the people’s right to know."
"Journalism is the only profession protected by name in the Constitution," St. Louis SPJ chapter president Elizabeth Donald said in a statement. "The First Amendment is not a whimsical academic concept to be dismissed when it becomes inconvenient – or embarrassing to the police. The chilling effect of assaulting, arresting, jailing and charging a journalist in the course of his duties cannot be overstated."
Both The News Guild-CWA and Society of Professional Journalists are partner organizations of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
A spokeswoman for the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department told the Freedom of the Press Foundation that no journalists have filed formal complaints of police misconduct.
"We hold our officers to the highest standards of professionalism and any officer not meeting those standards will be held accountable," she said. "No members of the media have contacted the Internal Affairs Division to make a formal complaint. If anyone would like to make a complaint of officer misconduct, they should contact our Internal Affairs Division via our website (slmpd.org), phone (444-5652) or in person at Police Headquarters, 1915 Olive."
St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter Mike Faulk is arrested while covering a protest in downtown St. Louis on September 17, 2017.
",arrested and released,charges dropped,St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department,2017-09-18,2017-09-17,True,4:18-cv-00308,['ONGOING'],Civil,returned in part,False,law enforcement,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, chemical irritant, court verdict, kettle, protest",,rioting: failure to disperse,,, Independent livestreamer Jon Ziegler pepper-sprayed and arrested in St. Louis,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-livestreamer-jon-ziegler-pepper-sprayed-and-arrested-st-louis/,2017-09-21 23:04:24.900549+00:00,2022-08-04 20:29:42.941764+00:00,2022-08-04 20:29:42.843007+00:00,,"Arrest/Criminal Charge, Assault","Livestream of arrests (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlUX1HrV9p8&t=42m) via Rebelutionary Z, As arrests are made, protesters question the tactics used by St. Louis police (http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/as-arrests-are-made-protesters-question-the-tactics-used-by/article_e58481b7-f7c2-541e-91d2-31a6379f272c.html) via St. Louis Post-Dispatch, St. Louis On Edge As Protesters Expected To Gather Again (http://wxxinews.org/post/st-louis-edge-protesters-expected-gather-again) via NPR, St. Louis police probe whether officers chanted 'Whose streets? Our streets' (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-missouri-crime/st-louis-police-probe-whether-officers-chanted-whose-streets-our-streets-idUSKCN1BT1YC) via Reuters, David Carson's tweet with video of ""Whose Streets? Our Streets"" chant (https://twitter.com/PDPJ/status/909678305640685568)",,,Jon Ziegler (Independent),,2017-09-17,False,St. Louis,Missouri (MO),38.62727,-90.19789,"Jon Ziegler, an independent livestreamer also known as “Rebelutionary Z,” was pepper sprayed and arrested on Sept. 17, 2017, while covering a protest in St. Louis, Missouri.
On Sunday night, hundreds of people gathered in downtown St. Louis to protest the acquittal of Jason Stockley, a white former St. Louis police officer who in 2011 fatally shot Anthony Lamar Smith, a black man.
Around 11 p.m., large groups of St. Louis metropolitan police officers boxed in about a hundred people at the intersection of Washington Street and Tucker Boulevard and ordered them to get on the ground, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. Ziegler was among those caught in the kettle. At the time, he was carrying a camera and an iPhone on a tripod.
Ziegler told the Freedom of the Press Foundation that police officers repeatedly doused him and other journalists and protesters in the kettle with pepper spray.
“I was drenched in spray” he said. “I remember my tripod looking like it had rained on it.”
He said that while he lay on the ground, one officer sprayed pepper spray directly at his mouth and others physically assaulted him.
“I start feeling jabs in my back,” he said. “All of a sudden, I feel a foot or a knee on the back of my head just pushing it into the concrete and grinding it into the concrete.”
Ziegler said that police officers celebrated after arresting everyone in the kettle, smoking cigars and mocking the journalists, protesters and legal observers who had been arrested. A bystander interviewed by NPR also claimed that officers smoked cigars and mocked protesters after making arrests. Post-Dispatch photojournalist David Carson tweeted a video on which officers can be heard chanting, “Whose Streets? Our Streets,” in mockery of protesters.
Asked about the video, a police department spokeswoman told Reuters: “The Department is aware of the video circulating on social media, and is reviewing the footage. We hold our officers to the highest standards of professionalism and any officer not meeting those standards will be held accountable.”
Ziegler said that officers specifically alluded to and mocked his journalistic work while arresting him, repeatedly calling him “superstar” and taking selfies with him. He said that the officer who arrested him joked that he was his “biggest fan” and bragged that he watched all of his livestreams.
“They were quoting back my tweets to me and quoting back parts of the stream,” he said. “That kind of joking and sarcastic behavior continued inside the precinct with some of the officers.”
Like others arrested in the kettle, Ziegler was taken to a nearby jail. He said that he was held for more than 12 hours, before finally being released on a $50 bond.
Ziegler’s livestream from Sept. 17 shows police officers surrounding the protesters from all sides and pepper spraying them.
Jon Ziegler's livestream of the arrests
Rebelutionary Z
“They maced me for having my camera going,” Ziegler says on the livestream at one point. “We’re all just choking on mace now. We’re drowning in mace here.”
Later in the stream, officers approach Ziegler to handcuff and arrest him. One person offscreen calls him “superstar.”
“You heard them call me superstar on camera, guys,” Ziegler says. “They’re putting on the cuffs real tight, real fucking right. They’re beating the shit out of me. They’re fucking beating the shit out of me! Stop pushing my head in the ground!”
“Shut up,” someone says offscreen.
“They’re pushing my head in the ground, real tight.” Ziegler says, just before screaming out in pain. “Fuck, they sprayed me again!”
As Ziegler is led away from the scene, an officer approaches his phone and shuts off the livestream.
A police department spokeswoman told the Freedom of the Press Foundation that no journalist has made a formal complaint of police misconduct.
"We hold our officers to the highest standards of professionalism and any officer not meeting those standards will be held accountable," the spokeswoman said. "No members of the media have contacted the Internal Affairs Division to make a formal complaint. If anyone would like to make a complaint of officer misconduct, they should contact our Internal Affairs Division via our website (slmpd.org), phone (444-5652) or in person at Police Headquarters, 1915 Olive."
Screengrab from Jon Ziegler's livestream shows a police officer pepper spraying Ziegler before arresting him, in downtown St. Louis, on September 17, 2017.
",arrested and released,unknown,St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department,None,None,True,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, chemical irritant, court verdict, kettle, protest",rioting: failure to disperse,,,, Getty photographer arrested while covering protest in St. Louis,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/getty-photographer-arrested-while-covering-protest-st-louis/,2017-09-22 02:13:59.625024+00:00,2022-08-04 20:29:51.080966+00:00,2022-08-04 20:29:51.003466+00:00,,Arrest/Criminal Charge,Police in Ferguson arrest Getty photographer Scott Olson (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/18/ferguson-police-arrest-photographer-scott-olsen) via Guardian U.S.,,,Scott Olson (Getty Images),,2017-09-17,False,St. Louis,Missouri (MO),38.62727,-90.19789,"Getty photographer Scott Olson was arrested while covering a protest in St. Louis on Sept. 17, 2017.
That night, hundreds of people gathered in downtown St. Louis to protest the acquittal of Jason Stockley, a white former St. Louis police officer who in 2011 fatally shot Anthony Lamar Smith, a black man.
Olson told the Freedom of the Press Foundation that more than a hundred St. Louis police officers converged from all sides on the intersection of Washington Street and Tucker Boulevard, where a crowd of people had gathered. He described the crowd as a mix of a few activists, some journalists and many bystanders. He said that the police ordered everyone to disperse while simultaneously cutting off their exits and then ordered everyone to lie down on the ground and started to arrest them.
“They did it kind of violently,” he said. “A lot of people were pepper sprayed or Maced while they were still on the ground.”
He said that he was not pepper sprayed by police officers, which he attributes to his use of a gas mask.
“One of the reasons I may not have been pepper sprayed before my arrest is that it wouldn’t have had much effect,” he said. “I’m pretty sure I was wearing my gas mask because I was anticipating the use of mace or pepper spray. During the protest, I was wearing body armor, a bump cap, mil-spec eye protection and carrying/using a gas mask. Unfortunately, most of this protective gear is used to protect me from police tactics, not those of protesters.”
Although police did not pepper spray him, he said that that police did forcefully push him to the ground.
“I was holding my cameras, they told me to put them down, I didn’t do that, so I just took a knee, and then they forced me all the way down and then zip-tied me,” he said. “They were telling me to drop my cameras. They would not let me take my camera.”
According to Olson, one officer said “Fuck your camera!” after he asked to take it with him.
A spokeswoman for the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department told the Freedom of the Press Foundation that no journalists have filed formal complaints alleging police misconduct.
“We hold our officers to the highest standards of professionalism and any officer not meeting those standards will be held accountable,” she said. “No members of the media have contacted the Internal Affairs Division to make a formal complaint. If anyone would like to make a complaint of officer misconduct, they should contact our Internal Affairs Division via our website (slmpd.org), phone (444-5652) or in person at Police Headquarters, 1915 Olive.”
Olson said that he was arrested and taken to jail, where he was held for around 12 hours and then released on $50 bail. He said that the police returned his cameras to him when he was released and he does not believe that they were searched.
Before the arrest in St. Louis on Sept. 17, Olson said, he had only been arrested once in the course of his roughly 30 years as a photojournalist. His first arrest occurred in 2014, when he was covering protests in neighboring Ferguson, Missouri.
Scott Olson, a Getty photographer, was arrested by St. Louis police on September 17, 2017, shortly after taking this photograph of police arresting demonstrators.
",arrested and released,unknown,St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department,None,None,True,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, court verdict, protest",rioting: failure to disperse,,,, St. Louis police shoot University of Missouri student journalist with pepper balls,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/st-louis-police-shoot-university-missouri-student-journalist-pepper-balls/,2017-10-12 01:00:52.872925+00:00,2022-08-04 20:31:00.925772+00:00,2022-08-04 20:31:00.848899+00:00,,Assault,COMMENTARY: Police posed a greater danger to journalists than demonstrators in St. Louis (https://www.columbiamissourian.com/from_the_newsroom/commentary-police-posed-a-greater-danger-to-journalists-than-demonstrators/article_27e06384-a063-11e7-b27b-77c18c5bce7d.html) via Columbia Missourian,,,Davis Winborne,,2017-09-17,False,St. Louis,Missouri (MO),38.62727,-90.19789,"Davis Winborne — a photojournalism student at the University of Missouri — reported that he was hit by pepper spray balls, choked, handcuffed and loaded into a van by St. Louis Police while covering a protest in St. Louis, Missouri, on Sept. 17, 2017.
The protest was a response to the acquittal in Sept. of of Jason Stockley, a white former St. Louis police officer who in 2011 fatally shot Anthony Lamar Smith, a black man.
The Columbia Missourian published Winborne’s first-person account of covering the protest.
Winborne writes that he was part of a larger group of photojournalists, many of whom were carrying professional equipment and wearing press badges, who were covering the protest march.
Winborne says that police officers chased the crowd of protesters and journalists and fired beanbag rounds at them. A different group of police officers then drove toward the crowd in an unmarked Jeep and indiscriminately pepper sprayed both protesters and journalists.
When the group of protesters and journalists reached the intersection of Tucker St. and Olive St., Winborne says, a SWAT truck pulled up next to the crowd and officers inside the truck fired pepper spray paintballs at the protesters and journalists.
Winborne reported that he was hit twice by the pepper balls.
According to Winborne, a number of SWAT officers exited the SWAT vehicle and began grabbing journalists and protesters. Winborne writes that a SWAT officer grabbed him by the neck, pushed him into a brick wall and then zip-tied him. Winborne says that an officer removed his respirator and pulled back his helmet, which caused his helmet strap to choke him.
Winborne writes that Chris Burke, a photographer, told the officer, “You need to take off his helmet, he’s choking.” According to Winborne, the officer just said, “I can’t hear you” and walked away.
Winborne says that when he asked one officer whether he was under arrest, the officer replied, “Shut up, motherfucker.” Winborne says that another officer told the group of journalists, “All of you dumbasses are going to jail tonight.”
Winborne says that the group of zip-tied journalists and demonstrators was loaded into the back of a police van and left there for about a half hour before being released.
Winborne said that he was later told that a freelance photographer persuaded the police to release the group on the grounds that they were journalists.
Winborne sharply criticized the behavior of the St. Louis police.
“When police ignore the people who are smashing windows and destroying property in order to focus on handcuffing and berating journalists, it impedes our ability to show the world what is happening,” he wrote in the Missourian.
Davis Winborne
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,no,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, chemical irritant, court verdict, protest, shot / shot at, student journalism",,,,, "Filmmaker Drew Burbridge beaten, pepper sprayed and arrested by St. Louis police",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/filmmaker-drew-burbridge-beaten-pepper-sprayed-and-arrested-st-louis-police/,2017-10-06 08:03:15.085973+00:00,2022-08-04 20:31:30.847723+00:00,2022-08-04 20:31:30.755157+00:00,"(2019-04-15 00:00:00+00:00) Charges dropped against filmmaker Drew Burbridge, (2021-11-19 00:00:00+00:00) City of St. Louis agrees to pay deceased filmmaker $115k to settle lawsuit","Arrest/Criminal Charge, Assault","Filmmakers sue St. Louis police for arrest in 'kettle' (http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/filmmakers-sue-st-louis-police-for-arrest-in-kettle/article_7e3abf60-67e4-54c6-b7cd-a584eeded886.html) via St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Full complaint for damages (https://pressfreedomtracker.us/documents/2/Burbridge_complaint.pdf) via Click to download",,,Drew Burbridge (Independent),,2017-09-17,False,St. Louis,Missouri (MO),38.62727,-90.19789,"Drew Burbridge and his wife, Jennifer, were assaulted and arrested while filming protests in St. Louis, Missouri on Sept. 17, 2017, according to a federal lawsuit that the two of them filed against the city. Both Drew and Jennifer are documentary filmmakers.
The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri on Sept. 26 and accuses St. Louis police officers (referred to as “John Does”) of violating their First Amendment rights.
The complaint states that Drew and Jennifer Burbridge were filming protests in downtown St. Louis on Sept. 17 when they — along with protesters and other journalists — were enclosed by police in a “kettle” at the intersection of Tucker Boulevard and Washington Ave.
The complaint describes what happened next to Drew Burbridge:
After the initial deployment of chemical agents by the police, Drew Burbridge, who was sitting cross legged on the ground with his arms around his wife, was approached by two St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department officers, Defendants John Doe #1 and John Doe #2, in full riot gear.
One of the two officers (John Doe #1) stated “that’s him” and grabbed Drew Burbridge by each arm and roughly drug him away from his wife.
Drew Burbridge immediately identified himself to the Defendants as a journalist and specifically stated that he was not a protestor, not resisting arrest, and was part of the media.
Defendants John Doe #1 and Defendant John Doe #2 then purposely deployed chemical spray into his mouth and eyes and ripped his camera from his neck.
At the time Defendants John Doe #1 and #2 purposely sprayed chemical spray into Drew Burbridges mouth and eyes, Drew Burbridge was not resisting and was willing and ready to comply with any order given by the Defendants.
John Doe #1 and #2 threw Drew Burbridge to the pavement, face first, and twisted his arms behind his back, and repeatedly kicked Drew Burbridge in the back while restraining his arms behind his back with zip-ties. During this entire time, Plaintiff was submissive and complying with the officers.
After Drew Burbridges hand were restrained behind his back and while on the ground, SLMPD officers Defendants John Does #1, 2, and 3, then proceeded to strike him on the ankles, legs, body, and head, with their feet, hands, and batons.
While beating Drew Burbridge, one of the John Doe Defendants stated: “Do you want to take my picture now motherfucker? Do you want me to pose for you?”
At no point during the illegal beating was Drew Burbridge resisting or in any other way failing to comply with the officers, and his hands were zip-tied behind his back during the beating.
Defendants continued to beat and pepper spray Drew Burbridge until he lost consciousness from the sustained beating. He awoke to an officer pulling his head up by his hair and spraying him with chemical agents in the face.
Despite repeated requests by Drew Burbridge, none of the law enforcement officers would identify themselves. All of the law enforcement officers involved had removed their name identifications.
Drew Burbridge was transferred to the custody of a uniformed SLMPD officer who placed him in a van for transport to jail.
Although he had been pepper-sprayed and beaten and could not see, the SLMPD officers did not allow or assist Drew Burbridge in rinsing the chemical agent from his eyes and would laugh as he stumbled and ran into objects as he tried to make his way into the van and jail.
Drew Burbridge was jailed for nearly 20-hours.
Drew Burbridge was released with a municipal charge of “failure to disperse.”
Complaint for damages
Jennifer Burbridge was arrested while filming protests in St. Louis, Missouri on Sept. 17, 2017, according to a federal lawsuit that she and her husband, Drew, filed against the city. Both Jennifer and Drew are documentary filmmakers.
The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri on Sept. 26 and accuses St. Louis police officers (referred to as “John Does”) of violating their First Amendment rights.
The complaint states that Jennifer and her husband were filming protests in downtown St. Louis on Sept. 17 when they — along with protesters and other journalists — were enclosed by police in a “kettle” at the intersection of Tucker Boulevard and Washington Ave.
The complaint describes what happened next to Jennifer Burbridge:
Jennifer Burbridge was among those who were initially indirectly subjected to chemical spray by the police.
Jennifer Burbridge was forced to watch her husband and film partner Drew Burbridge being drug away by Defendants John Does #1, #2 and #3.
She was physically prevented from following or assisting her husband.
She observed the law enforcement assault and beating of her husband.
At one point, while two officers were carrying Jennifer Burbridge away, one of the officers passed another male officer and stated, “Look who I have.” Such statements illustrated a clear intent on the part of the officers to target members of the media, like the Burbridges, who were attempting to document the protests and the SLMPD police response.
Another SLMPD officer made a point to walk up to Jennifer Burbridge after she had observed her husband pepper sprayed and assaulted and exclaim, “Did you like that? Come back tomorrow and we can do this again.” Another SLMPD officer stated, “What did you think was going to happen?”
Like her husband, Jennifer Burbridge was taken into custody of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department who placed her in a van for transport to jail.
On the way to the jail, a detainee in the van requested the name of the transporting officers, one of who responded, “I’m Father Time.”
Jennifer Burbridge was jailed for nearly 20-hours.
Jennifer Burbridge was required to submit to a jail administered pregnancy test as a condition of being released.
Jennifer Burbridge was release with a municipal charge of “failure to disperse.”
Complaint for damages
Chris Burke — a videographer working for Fusion — was forcibly pushed into a wall, handcuffed, and detained by police while covering protests in St. Louis, Missouri, on Sept. 17, 2017.
The protest was a response to the acquittal in September of of Jason Stockley, a white former St. Louis police officer who in 2011 fatally shot Anthony Lamar Smith, a black man.
Burke told the Freedom of the Press Foundation that he was part of a group of photojournalists who were moving alongside demonstrators as they marched in downtown St. Louis on Sept. 17.
“We were obviously journalists”, Burke said, adding that the group was easily identifiable as press because many of them wore press badges and carried cameras and video equipment.
Burke said the police presence swelled in size as the demonstrators moved away from downtown St. Louis. When the march turned a corner, he said, police drove an unmarked van into the crowd and began shooting pepper spray balls at the crowd.
“They pepper balled journalists as well as protesters,” Burke said.
Burke said that he was not hit by any of the balls, but he saw several journalists who were.
Burke said that he was later detained along with another photojournalist, Davis Winborne, after police enclosed a group of demonstrators and journalists. Burke said that police let some journalists leave the area but pushed him and Winborne into a brick wall.
Burke said that he felt one officer press his thumb behind his jawline.
“It seemed like he was trying to find a pressure point,” he said.
Burke said that, when he asked the officer to remove his hand from his jaw, the officer ordered him to put his hands behind his back and handcuffed him. He also said that police used aggressive and profane language, calling Burke and Winborne “bitches.”
According to Burke, he and several journalists were loaded into a police van and detained for about 30 minutes.
“They never read us our rights, and it seemed like the police were trying to scare us,” he said.
Burke said that he was eventually released after another photojournalist, Marcus DiPaola, was vouched for his identity. Burke also said that a police officer apologized to him after he was released.
Burke told the Freedom of the Press Foundation that the tactics used by the St. Louis police on September 17 seemed “pretty aggressive,” relative to previous protests that he has covered in other cities.
“They felt like scare tactics, to make sure media doesn’t get in the way anymore,” he said.
Chris Burke
",detained and released without being processed,not charged,St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department,None,None,True,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, court verdict, kettle, protest",,,,, "Independent filmmaker pepper-sprayed, arrested in St. Louis protests",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-filmmaker-pepper-sprayed-arrested-st-louis-protests/,2020-01-27 17:22:34.337149+00:00,2022-08-04 20:32:06.491987+00:00,2022-08-04 20:32:06.427713+00:00,,"Arrest/Criminal Charge, Assault",,,,Mark Gullet (Independent),,2017-09-17,False,St. Louis,Missouri (MO),38.62727,-90.19789,"In a lawsuit filed on his behalf, freelance filmmaker Mark Gullet says he was assaulted and arrested by police officers in St. Louis, Missouri, on Sept. 17, 2017, while recording footage of a protest for his film on crime.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that more than 1,000 people had gathered in downtown St. Louis that day to protest the acquittal of Jason Stockley, a white former St. Louis police officer who in 2011 fatally shot Anthony Lamar Smith, a black man.
The Post-Dispatch reported that Gullet said he arrived downtown around 11 p.m., “after all the vandalism had happened.”
“I was on the sidelines with other media. Out of nowhere, we hear marching and batons hitting shields,” Gullet told the Post-Dispatch.
Three lines of police in riot gear and one of bicycle officers advanced around the intersection of Washington Avenue and Tucker Boulevard, boxing in approximately 100 people for arrest or detention in a maneuver called kettling.
According to the lawsuit filed on Gullet’s behalf, Gullet saw the bicycle officers approaching and asked them if he could leave. The lawsuit says the officers wouldn’t allow him to pass, and instead pushed their bicycles towards him and told him to get back. Trapped in the kettle, Gullet got on his knees on his own volition.
“At this point, Mr. Gullet observed officers unleash pepper spray without warning,” the lawsuit states. “Also without warning, a police officer grabbed Mr. Gullet’s arms so forcefully that Mr. Gullet thought his right shoulder was going to pop out. The officer then restrained Mr. Gullet’s hands with zip ties and pepper sprayed him directly in the face.”
Gullet was taken to St. Louis City Justice Center alongside others arrested at the scene, where he was jailed for approximately 20 hours without receiving medical attention, the lawsuit states.
On Sept. 17, 2018, one year after the kettling arrests, ArchCity Defenders, a legal advocacy group, and the law firm of Khazaeli Wyrsch filed 12 lawsuits against the St. Louis Metro Police Department on behalf of individuals whom they said were treated illegally by police officers during the protests. Gullet and two video journalists, Fareed Alston and Demetrius Thomas, were among those represented.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documented 10 journalists detained, arrested, assaulted or had their equipment damaged while covering the protests that night.
Gullet, Thomas, Alston and the other plaintiffs are seeking damages, attorney’s fees, expenses and any other relief the court deems appropriate. A trial for Gullet’s case has not been scheduled.
Around 100 demonstrators and multiple journalists were arrested during protests following a verdict of not guilty in the murder trial of a former St. Louis, Missouri, police officer on Sept. 17, 2017.
",arrested and released,charges dropped,St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department,None,None,True,4:18-cv-01571,['ONGOING'],Civil,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, chemical irritant, court verdict, kettle, protest",,rioting: failure to disperse,,, "Independent video journalist assaulted, arrested in St. Louis protests",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-video-journalist-assaulted-arrested-st-louis-protests/,2020-01-27 17:24:18.063629+00:00,2022-08-04 20:32:15.785058+00:00,2022-08-04 20:32:15.606662+00:00,,"Arrest/Criminal Charge, Assault, Equipment Damage, Equipment Search or Seizure",,camera: count of 1,drone: count of 1,Demetrius Thomas (Independent),,2017-09-17,False,St. Louis,Missouri (MO),38.62727,-90.19789,"According to a lawsuit filed on his behalf, freelance video journalist Demetrius Thomas was assaulted, arrested and his equipment damaged while documenting protests in St. Louis, Missouri, on Sept. 17, 2017.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that more than 1,000 people had gathered in downtown St. Louis to protest the acquittal of Jason Stockley, a white former St. Louis police officer who in 2011 fatally shot Anthony Lamar Smith, a black man.
That night, police officers advanced around the intersection of Washington Avenue and Tucker Boulevard, boxing in approximately 100 people for arrest or detention in a maneuver called kettling.
On Sept. 17, 2018, one year after the kettling arrests, ArchCity Defenders, a legal advocacy organization, and the law firm of Khazaeli Wyrsch filed 12 lawsuits against the St. Louis Metro Police Department on behalf of individuals whom they said were treated illegally by police officers during the protests. Thomas and two freelance filmmakers, Mark Gullet and Fareed Alston, were among those represented.
According to the lawsuit filed on Thomas’ behalf, Thomas drove downtown after receiving a call from a friend telling him about the protests, but by the time he arrived they had all but ended. He parked near Tucker Boulevard, where he saw police officers in “military garb” form a line and begin chanting loudly.
While filming the police, Thomas changed his position to get a better angle. According to the complaint, an officer approached Thomas and told him that he could record as long as he remained on the sidewalk. He complied and rejoined other members of the media on a sidewalk corner.
The lawsuit says that Thomas noticed a change in the officers’ attitudes and that they appeared to be preparing to kettle and arrest all those present, so Thomas attempted to leave the scene via a nearby alley. A police officer blocked his path and directed him back towards the intersection. Thomas complied.
At the intersection, Thomas saw between 100 to 200 officers pounding their batons against their shields and the ground. According to the complaint, Thomas was terrified and attempted to return to his car parked past the intersection. Officers blocked him once again.
“In response to Mr. Thomas’s plea, an SLMPD officer pointed a large can of pepper spray at Mr. Thomas and told him to ‘get out of here’,” the complaint says. Thomas complied, and followed the officer’s directions to return to the intersection. There, the crowd was pushed by police and Thomas was knocked to the ground. Suddenly and without warning, police began indiscriminately pepper spraying the kettled crowd.
According to the complaint, when police advanced into the crowd to arrest those present, several officers held Thomas by the arms and legs while another struck him repeatedly in the ribs with his baton. Another officer confiscated Mr. Thomas’s camera, and in the altercation officers broke Thomas’ drone.
Thomas was zip tied and taken to St. Louis City Justice Center alongside others arrested at the scene, where he was detained for several hours.
“I was strictly there to film and document that night because it’s a part of history. Instead we were kettled, beat, and arrested — there was nowhere to turn, and you couldn’t call the police because they were the ones doing it to you,” Thomas said, according to a press release announcing the lawsuits. Thomas also said that the damage to his camera equipment cost him several job opportunities, making it impossible for him to keep up with house payments.
In a video posted on ArchCity Defenders’ YouTube, Thomas said the events are something he’ll never forget.
“For it to end up the way that it ended up kind of damaged my whole outlook on trying to capture real life events like that, because it could always take a turn for the worse,” he said.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documented 10 journalists detained, arrested, assaulted or had their equipment damaged while covering the protests that night.
Thomas, Gullet, Alston and the other plaintiffs are seeking damages, attorney’s fees, expenses and any other relief the court deems appropriate. Thomas’ case is not expected to go to trial until April 2021.
Police corner and detain protesters on the street following the not guilty verdict in the murder trial of a former St. Louis, Missouri, police officer on Sept. 17, 2017. Multiple journalists were arrested in the kettle.
",arrested and released,charges dropped,St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department,None,None,True,4:18-cv-01566,['ONGOING'],Civil,unknown,False,law enforcement,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, chemical irritant, court verdict, kettle, protest",,rioting: failure to disperse,,, "Filmmaker sues St. Louis police for assault, arrest while covering protest",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/filmmaker-sues-st-louis-police-assault-arrest-while-covering-protest/,2020-01-27 17:20:59.306086+00:00,2022-08-04 20:32:23.294330+00:00,2022-08-04 20:32:23.194701+00:00,,"Arrest/Criminal Charge, Assault, Equipment Damage",,,"camera: count of 1, lighting unit: count of 1",Fareed Alston (Independent),,2017-09-17,False,St. Louis,Missouri (MO),38.62727,-90.19789,"According to a lawsuit filed on his behalf, documentary filmmaker Fareed Alston was assaulted, arrested and his equipment damaged while documenting protests in St. Louis, Missouri, on Sept. 17, 2017.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that more than 1,000 people had gathered in downtown St. Louis to protest the acquittal of Jason Stockley, a white former St. Louis police officer who in 2011 fatally shot Anthony Lamar Smith, a black man.
That night, police officers advanced around the intersection of Washington Avenue and Tucker Boulevard, boxing in approximately 100 people for arrest or detention in a maneuver called kettling.
On Sept. 17, 2018, one year after the kettling arrests, ArchCity Defenders, a legal advocacy organization, and the law firm of Khazaeli Wyrsch filed 12 lawsuits against the St. Louis Metro Police Department on behalf of individuals whom they said were treated illegally by police officers during the protests. Alston and two freelance video journalists, Mark Gullet and Demetrius Thomas, were among those represented.
According to the lawsuit filed on Alston’s behalf, Alston arrived in downtown St. Louis with his assistant between 9 – 10:30 p.m. CST on Sept. 17. Both were carrying official press passes and cameras for the purpose of documenting the protest.
Though many of the protesters had already dispersed, a small group was standing on the side of Washington Avenue. The lawsuit says that Alston also saw approximately 50 to 100 St. Louis police officers dressed in riot gear, so he and his assistant split up and began filming. According to the complaint, officers did not indicate that the filmmakers should not enter the area or that a mass arrest was imminent.
Shortly after, a line of police started advancing toward the demonstrators. According to the complaint, an apartment tenant allowed Alston’s assistant to enter the building and escape the marching line of police, but Alston was unable to do the same. Alston then noticed a second line of police approaching from the opposite direction, beginning to box in all those present while pounding their batons against their shields and the ground.
While continuing to film, Alston and a few other people approached the line of bicycle police who made up one side of the kettle so they could ask to leave. As they neared, the complaint says, the officers started “slamming” their bicycles on the ground. Alston searched for another exit, but finding none he re-approached a bicycle officer to ask to be let out.
“Without warning or any verbal directions, the police officer pushed Mr. Alston back with his baton and his shield and started to fire pepper spray directly at Mr. Alston’s face,” the complaint says. “At the same time, a second officer began to pepper spray Mr. Alston.”
Alston and others around him fell to the ground, and were quickly surrounded by police. According to the complaint, a number of officers began kicking Alston while continuing to douse him in pepper spray for several minutes.
Officers then turned Alston over and cuffed him with three zip ties, causing immediate pain. Another officer roughly pulled the camera from around Alston’s neck, “slammed” it on the ground and powered it off.
The lawsuit says that at one point an officer began to taunt Alston.
“The officer said that this is what Mr. Alston got for wanting to videotape the police. Other officers also told Mr. Alston not to record what was happening. It was clear that Mr. Alston was targeted for documenting the protest,” the complaint says.
Alston was taken to St. Louis City Justice Center alongside others arrested at the scene, where he was incarcerated for nearly 24 hours and received minimal medical attention. His camera was returned to him upon his release, but it had been badly damaged and pieces of his lighting equipment — including a lighting fixture and its power source — were lost when he was roughly cuffed.
According to the complaint, Alston continues to suffer physical and psychological repercussions from his arrest and assault, including persistent numbness in his hand, chronic respiratory issues and nightmares. He also no longer feels comfortable covering protests, which had been the main subject of his work.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documented 10 journalists detained, arrested, assaulted or had their equipment damaged while covering the protests that night.
Alston, Thomas, Gullet and the other plaintiffs are seeking damages, attorney’s fees, expenses and any other relief the court deems appropriate. Alston’s case is not expected to go to trial until early 2021.
Around 100 demonstrators and multiple journalists were pepper sprayed and arrested during protests following a not guilty verdict in the murder trial of a former St. Louis, Missouri, police officer on Sept. 17, 2017.
",arrested and released,charges dropped,St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department,2017-09-18,None,True,4:18-cv-01569,['ONGOING'],Civil,returned in part,False,law enforcement,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, chemical irritant, court verdict, kettle, protest",,rioting: failure to disperse,,, "Journalist, graduate student stopped again for secondary screening",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-graduate-student-stopped-again-secondary-screening/,2019-11-08 17:34:13.141128+00:00,2021-11-15 21:22:26.626959+00:00,2021-11-15 21:22:26.570802+00:00,"(2019-11-12 12:40:00+00:00) Federal court finds warrantless searches of devices violates Fourth Amendment of travelers, (2021-06-28 00:00:00+00:00) Supreme Court declines to hear case on warrantless electronic device searches at border",Border Stop,,,,Zainab Merchant,,2017-09-16,False,Orlando,Florida (FL),28.53834,-81.37924,"Zainab Merchant, a graduate student at Harvard University and founder of online publication Zainab Rights, was stopped for secondary screening by Customs and Border Protection officers in Orlando, Florida, on Sept. 16, 2017.
The American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation filed a complaint with the Department of Homeland Security on Merchant’s behalf. According to the organizations, Merchant was returning from a personal trip to Morocco with her husband when they were both redirected to secondary screening.
As was the case with Merchant’s previous stop catalogued by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, the officer who questioned her asked about her article on her experience crossing the border in 2016 and asked what she aimed to accomplish by writing it. According to the complaint, the officer also said, “Please don’t write anything bad about us.”
The complaint also details that a CBP officer overheard Merchant speaking with another woman about their experiences while waiting in the screening area and reportedly said to them that when you fly, you sign off all your rights. “Do what you want, get a lawyer, get the courts involved, and do the redress, but you’ll never be able to get off,” the officer is quoted as saying.
Merchant and her husband were held in secondary screening for approximately three hours before being released.
Merchant did not respond to the Tracker’s requests for comment.
The complaint states that three months after the incident, Merchant received a voicemail from a DHS officer who identified himself as Agent Newcomb. He said, in regards to her security experiences every time she travels, that he “would like to come up with a solution that could make everyone happy.”
Merchant later met with Agent Newcomb and another officer who identified himself as Agent Jerome. The officers asked if she knew anyone who had been “radicalized,” hinting that if she provided them information they could resolve her travel issues. She declined to meet with them again.
The complaint states that the years of heightened security screenings has had a severe impact on Merchant. “She avoids flying if possible and experiences extreme frustration, anxiety, and humiliation when she does fly,” the complaint says.
In a 2018 opinion article in The Washington Post, Merchant wrote that her experiences being targeted for prolonged secondary screenings exposed the shifting values in America: “Its greatest qualities of freedom, liberty and opportunity have undoubtedly shaped the person I am today. But these values are slowly diminishing, and those liberties are being taken away from us little by little. I fear one day we will be unable to recognize it as the place we called home.”
While covering a protest in St. Louis on Sept. 15, 2017, KTVI reporter Dan Gray was hit with water bottles and pressured to leave the area by protesters, he said in an on-air segment on KTVI.
The protests followed the acquittal of Jason Stockley, a white former St. Louis police officer who in 2011 fatally shot Anthony Lamar Smith, a black man.
“One agitator in particular had been taunting us for most of the day, and then continued to taunt us, and other people had heard what he was saying,” Gray said on KTVI. “He was complaining about the media, complaining about me in particular. He singled me out for some reason. I guess he knew that I had been in St. Louis a long time because he said, ‘You’ve been reporting on this for 30 years. You’ve been reporting black-on-black crime, black people shooting black people, for 30 years, and didn’t do anything.’ So their anger and frustration turned and focused on us at that point. I became surrounded by a group of people. Some of the folks came to protect us as you can see.”
Gray reported that he was hit by three water bottles, one in the back of the head, and concluded the segment saying, “Again, I understand these people’s frustration. I understand their anger. Perhaps they needed someone to vent it to. Perhaps they needed somebody to go after and criticize. We’re ok. We’re fine. But it just shows how fast things can turn.”
Gray tweeted a video of the event describing it as the “scariest moment in my career.”
A video filmed by St. Louis Post-Dispatch journalist Denise Hollinshed shows a man following Gray and his camerawoman, Tauna Price, as they attempt to leave the protest.
KTVI reporter Dan Gray is followed and threatened by protesters while reporting in St. Louis.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
As Dan and Tauna attempt to extricate themselves from the protesters, a women can be seen several feet behind Gray, attempting to separate him from the protesters, saying “Go faster. Go faster.”
Then, a male protester moves toward Gray shouting, “You shouldn’t be over here man. You motherfuckers shouldn’t even be over here. Why the fuck would you come over? Why the fuck would you come over here though? You know you shouldn’t be over here. You should get your ass somewhere where you belong. Why the fuck are you trying to fuck my movement? Get your ass away and find you something better to do. Get the fuck out of my movement, motherfucker. And I’m saying it in your motherfucking face.”
At that point the man steps directly in the path of Gray who steps backward, briefly surrounded by commotion, before he’s pulled forward by the crew filming and several friendly protesters. One protester appears to throw water at him.
As Gray and Price continue to move up Market Street, the crowd diminishes and Hollinshed asks Gray how he’s doing.
“Shaken,” he says. “I’m shaken and a bit scared as the mob kind of surrounded me and my photographer. We got water thrown at us. We got yelled and shoved and pushed. I understand people’s frustrations with the judge’s decision, but they seem to be taking it out on the news media.. My boss said if there were any confrontation, any threat of violence, we’re leaving. So we’re leaving.”
Scariest moment in my career. Protesters upset about not guilty verdict for an officer accused of killing a suspect, turn on me and media. pic.twitter.com/iZyvg3gX0p
— Dan Gray KTVI Fox 2 (@DanGrayTV) September 15, 2017
A screengrab from a video shows protesters pouring water on KTVI reporter Dan Gray.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, court verdict, protest",,,,, White House press secretary says tweets criticizing Trump are 'a fireable offense',https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/white-house-press-secretary-says-tweets-criticizing-trump-are-fireable-offense/,2017-11-07 00:03:46.492044+00:00,2022-04-06 15:46:11.523725+00:00,2022-04-06 15:46:11.448845+00:00,,Chilling Statement,"Sarah Huckabee Sanders remarks on Jemele Hill (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOboLQMO4tQ) via Youtube, ESPN says it accepts Jemele Hill's apology after anti-Trump tweets (http://money.cnn.com/2017/09/13/media/jemele-hill-espn-white-house/index.html) via CNN, Sarah Huckabee Sanders Hit With Ethics Complaint Over Call for ESPN to Fire Jemele Hill (https://www.thewrap.com/sarah-huckabee-sanders-hit-with-ethics-complaint/) via The Wrap, Jones Wanting Players To Stand For National Anthem 'To Remove Debate' (http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2017/10/10/jones-mandating-players-stand-for-national-anthem-to-remove-debate-away-from-politics/) via CBS",,,Jemele Hill (ESPN),,2017-09-13,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"At a White House press briefing on Sept. 13, 2017, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that it should be a “fireable offense” for ESPN sports journalist Jemele Hill to criticize President Trump on Twitter.
On Sept. 11, Hill tweeted that Trump was “a white supremacist who has largely surrounded himself w/ other white supremacists.”
Donald Trump is a white supremacist who has largely surrounded himself w/ other white supremacists.
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) September 11, 2017
During the Sept. 13 briefing, a reporter asked Sanders whether the president was aware of Hill’s tweet.
“I’m not sure if he’s aware, but I think that’s one of the more outrageous comments that anyone could make and certainly something that is a fireable offense by ESPN,” she said.
Later that day, Hill later tweeted a public apology.
"My comments on Twitter reflected my personal beliefs," she said. "My regret is that my comments and the public way I made them painted ESPN in an unfair light. My respect for the company and my colleagues remains unconditional."
Shortly after, ESPN released its own statement, distancing itself from Hill’s comments.
“Jemele has a right to her personal opinions, but not to publicly share them on a platform that implies that she was in any way speaking on behalf of ESPN,” the statement said. “She has acknowledged that her tweets crossed that line and has apologized for doing so. We accept her apology.”
A Super PAC named The Democratic Coalition has filed an ethics complaint with the Office of Government Ethics against Sanders. Coalition Chairman Jon Cooper told TheWrap, “When Sarah Huckabee Sanders called for Jemele Hill to be fired by ESPN, she crossed the line and put herself in dubious legal territory.”
On Sept. 15, Trump criticized ESPN on Twitter.
ESPN is paying a really big price for its politics (and bad programming). People are dumping it in RECORD numbers. Apologize for untruth!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 15, 2017
On Oct. 9, ESPN announced that it had suspended Hill for two weeks in response to a tweet about a potential boycott of companies advertising with the Dallas Cowboys. Jerry Jones, the owner and general manager of the Cowboys, is reportedly close to Trump and received praise from the president after he threatened NFL players who refused to stand during the national anthem.
“Jemele Hill has been suspended for two weeks for a second violation of our social media guidelines,” the network said in a statement. “She previously acknowledged letting her colleagues and company down with an impulsive tweet. In the aftermath, all employees were reminded of how individual tweets may reflect negatively on ESPN and that such actions would have consequences. Hence this decision.”
On Oct. 10, President Trump once again criticized ESPN and Hill on Twitter.
With Jemele Hill at the mike, it is no wonder ESPN ratings have "tanked," in fact, tanked so badly it is the talk of the industry!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 10, 2017
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders holds the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S. September 12, 2017.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Donald Trump, Donald Trump administration",,,,, Missouri reporter assaulted at his home after reporting on sexual misconduct allegations,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/missouri-reporter-assaulted-his-home-after-reporting-sexual-misconduct-allegations/,2017-09-22 18:23:55.179375+00:00,2021-10-20 20:20:43.752580+00:00,2021-10-20 20:20:43.692055+00:00,,Assault,"Blogger says man knocked on his door, then punched him in the face (http://www.news-leader.com/story/news/crime/2017/09/12/blogger-says-man-knocked-his-door-then-punched-him-face/657729001/) via Springfield News-Leader, https://rturner229.blogspot.com/2017/09/links-provided-for-top-turner_16.html (https://rturner229.blogspot.com/2017/09/links-provided-for-top-turner_16.html) via The Turner Report, Facebook post by Joplin police department (https://www.facebook.com/JoplinPD/photos/pb.185456884943352.-2207520000.1505350289./907393606083006/)",,,Randy Turner (The Turner Report),,2017-09-11,False,Joplin,Missouri (MO),37.08423,-94.51328,"Randy Turner, a former newspaper reporter who now runs a blog called The Turner Report, was punched in the face at his home in Joplin, Missouri, on Sept. 11, 2017, after a man knocked on his door and asked, "Are you Mr. Turner?”
After confirming his name, the man punched Turner in the nose, causing him to fall to the floor, and then walked away. Turner, who saw a doctor following the attack, suffered bruises on his face, a black eye and injured knee, according to the Springfield News-Leader.
Turner told the Freedom of the Press Foundation, “I consider myself fortunate that all that happened was me being punched. The man could have had a gun or he could have kept on punching me. I am 61 years old and had triple bypass heart surgery a few months ago and I have a pacemaker.”
Turner believes that his assailant was Christopher Alred, a former supervisor at a local Sonic restaurant.
Turner had published articles on his blog about Alred on September 10 and 11, the day before and the day of the attack. The articles reported on allegations of sexual misconduct against Alred. According to Missouri court records, Alred has been charged with one count of “statutory sodomy” in the second degree. (Alred's attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.)
On September 13, Joplin Police announced: “We are seeking the arrest of Christopher Alred, 31, for the assault of local blogger Randy Turner. We know he frequents the area along with the Springfield area. Our detectives developed probable cause to arrest him yesterday afternoon and he hasn't been located.”
Following the attack at his home, Turner told the Springfield News-Leader, “I mainly want to show people that this is not going to stop me from doing what I'm doing and what I have been doing for the last 40 years.”
Andy Grimm, a news editor and photographer for The New Carlisle News, was shot while setting up his camera to photograph a traffic stop during a lightning storm, according to a statement from the Clark County Sheriff's Office. At around 10:15 pm on Sept. 4th, Grimm was holding his camera when Clark County Sheriff’s Deputy Jack Shaw shot him twice without warning.
According to WGCT Fox 45, one of the bullets struck him in the side and another grazed his shoulder. Grimm was taken to Miami Valley Hospital, where he underwent surgery and was released the next day. He’s expected to recover.
Grimm told Fox 45 that he and Shaw knew one another before the shooting. He said that after he was shot, he said, “What the [bleep] Jake Shaw, you shot me, dude” and Shaw responded, “Oh my God, Andy,” and repeatedly said, “I thought it was a gun.”
According to WHIO-TV 7, Shaw was placed on administrative leave and will attend a “critical incident debriefing.” At the request of the Clark County Sheriff’s Office, the Attorney General of Ohio’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation will conduct the investigation into the shooting.
“We’re still investigating to determine what exactly occurred,” a spokeswoman for the attorney general’s office said in a statement.
Grimm is confident in the investigation and told WRGT Fox 45 that he is not upset with Shaw.
"There's so much animosity toward police officers,” he said. “He was just doing his job. I think he made a bad decision. He shot somebody, an unarmed civilian. Realistically there's going to be consequences.”
“Our hearts and prayers are with Mr. Grimm as he recovers and with Deputy Jake Shaw and we ask the community to keep both of them in your hearts and prayers as well,” the Clark County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement.
Terry J. Allen, a senior editor for In These Times magazine, was stopped by U.S. Customs and Border Protection while attempting to cross the U.S.-Canadian border on Sept. 4, 2017 and ordered to delete images she had taken of the border crossing.
Allen, who has reported for the Guardian, Boston Globe, Harper’s, and Salon, told Freedom of the Press Foundation that she took photos of buildings and vehicle congestion near the Highgate Springs–St. Armand/Philipsburg Border Crossing connecting Quebec and Vermont. She was traveling with a friend at the time and she stepped out of the car to take photos while stuck in traffic, according to an account she wrote about her experience for the online news site VTDigger.
When Allen arrived at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection checkpoint approximately thirty minutes later, a CBP agent asked Allen if she had been photographing the area. She responded that she had and that she was a journalist who often photographed border patrol stations.
Allen told Freedom of the Press Foundation that the agent, whose name she did not specify, then demanded her phone to delete the images she had taken. She refused to hand over the phone and told the agent that the images were on a camera, not her phone.
Allen wrote in VTDigger that she eventually deleted the images from her camera.
“Look you don’t have the right to demand this, but, here, I’ll delete the SD card in my camera,” she told the agent.
After checking the display of her camera to confirm that the images had been deleted, the CBP agent continued to demand Allen’s phone and after she again refused, he instructed the two of them to park and enter a nearby building.
Allen and her companion were then questioned by a second CBP agent, Supervisor Mayo, who showed the journalist a copy of a provision in the Department of Homeland Security’s Code of Conduct in response to her question about which regulations prohibit photography.
According to the provision, people need permission to photograph space occupied by a federal agency. The text of the provision, however, permits photographs of building entrances and lobbies for news purposes:
Except where security regulations, rules, orders, or directives apply or a Federal court order or rule prohibits it, persons entering in or on Federal property may take photographs of--
(a) Space occupied by a tenant agency for non-commercial purposes only with the permission of the occupying agency concerned;
(b) Space occupied by a tenant agency for commercial purposes only with written permission of an authorized official of the occupying agency concerned; and
(c) Building entrances, lobbies, foyers, corridors, or auditoriums for news purposes.
41 CFR 102-74.420
After showing Supervisor Mayo her camera to prove the photos of the border stop had been deleted, he returned both passports, and Allen and her friend were permitted to depart.
Stephanie Malin, a spokesperson for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, told Freedom of the Press Foundation in an email:
“CBP Privacy policy prohibits us from discussing the details of a specific individual's inspection however while photography of federal facilities from outside is not prohibited for news purposes, all CBP federal inspection stations lend travelers a certain level of privacy protection under U.S. law and we must seek passenger permission to take photos of them if the photos show enough detail to identify someone or their property (vehicle, etc.). Additionally our officers are cognizant of the security risks that can accompany individuals taking photos of the ports, for example to be used to identify smuggling opportunities or to accomplish other nefarious activity. While we understand that was not the intent in this case, these are reasons why our officers may ask individuals not to take photos or ask to see the photos that have been taken.”
Journalist Terry Allen
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,Highgate Springs Station,True,U.S. citizen,False,False,yes,no,no,no,yes,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,United States,, University of Texas journalist attacked at immigrant rights protest,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/university-texas-journalist-attacked-immigrant-rights-protest/,2017-09-22 19:45:47.991151+00:00,2022-07-30 01:01:46.828904+00:00,2022-07-30 01:01:46.756591+00:00,,Assault,"UT Austin journalist assaulted while covering protest (http://www.splc.org/article/2017/09/uta-student-journalist-assaulted) via SPLC, Senate Bill 4 protest sends one student to hospital, one arrested (http://www.dailytexanonline.com/2017/09/01/senate-bill-4-protest-sends-one-student-to-hospital-one-arrested) via The Daily Texan",,,Chase Karacostas (The Daily Texan),,2017-09-01,False,Austin,Texas (TX),30.26715,-97.74306,"Chase Karacostas — a reporter for the The Daily Texan, the newspaper of the University of Texas, Austin — was attacked by a protester while covering a demonstration about immigrant rights on campus on Sept. 1, 2017.
In an interview with the Freedom of the Press Foundation, Karacostas said he had been covering the protest, a demonstration in response to a bill banning sanctuary cities in Texas, for about 20 minutes before he was attacked. He said that a protester knocked his phone into his head while he was conducting an interview. The phone cut his face and forced him to receive treatment at an urgent care clinic.
“I was holding my phone out in front of me while recording, and my assailant came up to me and knocked my phone directly into my face,” Karacostas said.
The Student Press Law Center published audio of the incident and immediate aftermath.
While his attacker re-joined the protest, Karacostas finished his interview and addressed his injury.
“At first I thought it was just a bruise, but then I noticed blood,” he said.
London Gibson, a campus reporter for The Daily Texan who also covered the demonstration, told the Freedom of the Press Foundation that she was interviewing another bystander when the altercation occurred.
“When I turned around, Chase’s face was covered in blood,” she said.
Karacostas said that he walked with his editor, Ellie Breed, to an urgent care center several blocks away, where he received six stitches near his eyebrow.
Karacostas identified the assailant as Eric Nava-Perez, a member of Sanctuary UT, one of the groups that organized the protest. Nava-Perez was arrested by the Austin Police Department and charged with assault. According to the Student Press Law Center, Nava-Perez was held for 12 hours at Travis County Jail and has been banned from entering UT Austin’s campus without permission from the dean.
Nava-Perez did not respond to a request for comment, but Charles Holm, an organizer with Sanctuary UT, criticized Nava-Perez’s arrest. In an interview with the Freedom of the Press Foundation, Holm said that the university’s tactics of policing had contributed to an unsafe atmosphere at the protest and that Nava-Perez felt harassed and defensive due to the presence of police and right-wing bystanders. Jennifer Campbell, another organizer with Sanctuary UT, said that there were multiple police departments present at the protest.
Holm said there was confusion at the protest as to who was a reporter, since multiple bystanders were documenting the demonstration and because the student journalists did not yet have their press badges for the semester. He said that Nava-Perez may have thought that Karacostas was a right wing heckler.
Holm said that, while the altercation was an unfortunate event in which a reporter was regrettably injured, he does not believe it was symbolic of an attack on press freedom.
“There was a general atmosphere of tension that created a chaotic situation,” Holm said.
Karacostas said that, although he was interviewing a bystander who disagreed with the message of the protest, there was no reason to believe he was with the alt-right. Even if he were sympathetic to the alt-right, he added, “it’s still not okay to knock phones into people’s faces and injure them.”
Karacostas was surprised by the randomness of the attack, and in contrast to Holm’s account, both he and Gibson described the atmosphere of the protest leading up to the altercation as relatively calm. Karacostas said that he remains committed to his work as a reporter.
“A lot of blood wasn’t going to stop me from recording,” he said.
Chase Karacostas
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"protest, student journalism",,,,, "Independent journalist covering pipeline protest arrested, camera seized",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalist-covering-pipeline-protest-arrested-camera-seized/,2019-11-14 16:44:01.092832+00:00,2022-05-13 14:48:23.165304+00:00,2022-05-13 14:48:23.097189+00:00,,"Arrest/Criminal Charge, Equipment Search or Seizure",,,,Leana Hosea,,2017-08-29,False,Douglas County,Minnesota (MN),None,None,"Independent journalist Leana Hosea was arrested while filming a protest at a pipeline construction site in rural Douglas County, Minnesota, on Aug. 29, 2017.
Protesters had gathered at a construction site for Enbridge Energy’s Line 3, where one activist had chained himself to an excavator. Two other activists were standing atop that piece of machinery.
The protestors Hosea was documenting were trying to halt the replacement of an aging segment of the pipeline constructed in the 1960s. Around 390,000 barrels of oil per day flow through Enbridge's Line 3, originating at the tar sands of Alberta, Canada, then stretching across northern Minnesota to the company's terminal in Superior, Wisconsin, according to Wisconsin Public Radio.
Hosea was filming from a public road as well as from the side of the road where the excavator was located. When a Douglas County Sheriff’s Deputy asked her to move off the side of the road, she complied. “In under 10 seconds I had obeyed their orders,” Hosea told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
Footage from the protest is included in Hosea's 2019 film about clean water, "Thirst for Justice." The incident in question can be seen at the 2:49 to 3:12 minute mark on the film's trailer. "You're under arrest, too," one of the deputies tells her.
Deputies arrested Hosea along with the activists, and even though she informed them she was a journalist, she was still searched and detained. "I was just not recognized as a journalist," Hosea told the Tracker. "There were five activists and there was me, we were all being lumped together."
Hosea was charged with one count of disorderly conduct and trespass to land. Two activists faced the same charges, and three others were charged with resisting an officer, disorderly conduct and trespass to land. Hosea posted bond and was released, but her video camera was was not returned to her for another two months, rendering her unable to continue work on her film.
On Feb. 12, 2018, Hosea pleaded no contest to the trespass charge and received a $358 fine, according to court records published by the Superior Telegram. The disorderly conduct charge was dismissed. First Amendment lawyer Henry Kaufman represented her on a pro bono basis.
In order to start a journalism fellowship at the University of Michigan's School of Environment and Sustainability, Hosea, a British citizen, had to leave the country to renew her U.S. visa while the charges were still pending. Due to the charges, she was called into a special interview at the U.S. Embassy. "I was very lucky I got my visa," she told the Tracker.
Hosea said that the arrest was a “complete overreaction” and the legal process left her feeling intimidated. "As a foreign journalist it made me very nervous,” Hosea said. "I am going to be much more cautious working in America. My status as a journalist didn't mean anything; it was shocking."
While filming protesters at this pipeline construction site in Minnesota for her documentary, journalist Leana Hosea was arrested and her video camera was seized for two months.
",arrested and released,convicted,Douglas County Sheriff’s Department,None,None,False,None,[],None,returned in full,False,law enforcement,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"pipeline, protest",trespassing: trespass to land,obstruction: disorderly conduct,,, Reporter Mike Kessler's camera is smashed in Berkeley,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-mike-kesslers-camera-smashed-berkeley/,2017-09-05 20:43:53.897109+00:00,2021-10-20 20:28:16.657687+00:00,2021-10-20 20:28:16.584040+00:00,,"Assault, Equipment Damage","Antifa Broke My Camera (https://newrepublic.com/article/144659/antifa-broke-camera) via The New Republic, Photographers: Beware Violent Antifa Protesters (https://petapixel.com/2017/08/29/photographers-beware-violent-antifa-protestors/) via PetaPixel",,"camera: count of 1, mobile phone: count of 1",Mike Kessler (Freelance),,2017-08-27,False,Berkeley,California (CA),37.87159,-122.27275,"Mike Kessler was covering a demonstration on Aug. 27, 2017, in Berkeley, California, when a group of protesters stole his camera and phone and attempted to break them. His phone was not damaged, but his camera was completely destroyed.
In an essay for The New Republic, Kessler described what happened:
Suddenly, from behind, someone knocked my camera out of my right hand, then did the same to my phone, which was in my left. I turned around to see a black leather boot stomping my phone (it survived—thanks, Otter case!), while another antifa picked up my camera, hurled it into the air, and got in my face. “No fucking pictures!”
The New Republic
Kessler said in an interview with the Freedom of the Press Foundation that his camera, a Canon G12, was complete destroyed. He also said that he saw three people trying to extract the memory card from his camera.
"After the crowd thinned out and police came, I saw three people attempting to get the SD card out of my camera," he said. "The camera itself was totally mangled. The guts of the camera were hanging out. I saw the battery on the ground later. They had smashed the body of the camera in such a way that prevented the SD card from being removed."
Thomas Hawk, an independent photojournalist who witnessed the incident, confirmed Kessler's account of what happened.
A protester swings Mike Kessler's camera before smashing it on the ground, on Aug. 27, 2017, in Berkeley, California.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"anti-fascist protest, protest",,,,, Documentary production assistant has phone knocked out of hands by protesters,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/documentary-production-assistant-has-phone-knocked-out-hands-protesters/,2017-09-12 17:49:38.481835+00:00,2021-10-20 20:33:42.183715+00:00,2021-10-20 20:33:42.129110+00:00,,Assault,The Ugly Side of Antifa (http://leightonwoodhouse.com/the-ugly-side-of-antifa/) via L@W,,,Nathan Hope (Independent),,2017-08-27,False,Berkeley,California (CA),37.87159,-122.27275,"An unidentified protester ordered freelance production assistant Nathan Hope to stop filming and knocked a phone out of his hands during protests in Berkeley, California, on Aug. 27, 2017.
Hope, who was assisting a production crew that day for a documentary about the alt right, said that it was one of a series of threats and intimidation that the crew experienced that day at the hands of people whom he described as anti-fascist or black bloc protesters.
The black bloc protesters arrived at a largely peaceful protest in Berkeley’s Civic Center Park. The protest was part of a “Rally Against Hate” in response to a much smaller group of right-wing protesters, according to press reports.
Hope told Alex Ellerbeck, a reporter with the Committee to Protect Journalists, that he was filming a group of protesters assaulting an unidentified man at the time that the incident occurred.
Hope said that one protester, wearing a bandana to disguise their identity, ordered him to stop filming and then knocked his phone of his hands. Hope said that the phone was not damaged after being knocked to the ground, but the video was interrupted. He stopped filming shortly afterwards.
While filming a protest in Berkeley on August 27, 2017, production assistant Nathan Hope had his camera knocked out of his hands by a masked protester.
Nathan Hope
Two other journalists working on the documentary project said that they also received threats while filming on that day.
Leighton Woodhouse, an independent documentary filmmaker, said that anti-fascist protesters approached him and told to stop filming.
“The only reason we didn’t get administered a beat down is because when we were ordered (not asked) to point our cameras elsewhere, we only pushed our right to film them so far,” Woodhouse wrote in a blog post on his website L@W.
“Nobody threatened us directly, but there was an implicit threat of violence because as it happened, people were being beaten up,” Woodhouse told Ellerbeck.
He said that fear of violence affected how he reported on the protest and that there were times when they stopped filming or filmed from farther away. He said that there were three or four confrontations in which he was ordered to stop filming and that protesters would block the cameras with shields and would sometimes escort reporters away from the scene.
Armando Aparicio, Woodhouse’s partner on the documentary project, told Ellerbeck that one protester put a shield in his face and followed him everyone that he went. He said that protesters were screaming that they did not want to be in his video. Aparicio said that he put a cap on his lens and stepped back after being threatened.
Both Woodhouse and Aparicio said that the protesters seemed to have a conflicted relationship with the media. The protest took place in a public sphere and banners and signs seemed designed to be captured by the press, but at the same time protesters seemed to be afraid of having their identities captured on camera.
“There is a fear of doxing [having identities publicly revealed] both by the alt right and law enforcement,” said Aparicio.
“We were in a public park,” Woodhouse wrote on his blog. “It was a big news event, where everybody knew there would be media. Activists in the Black Bloc were concealed by sunglasses and ski masks to protect their identity for exactly this reason. They carried flags and banners, to make themselves a spectacle. Yet for their personal security, many of them decided that it was their right to command photographers not to take their pictures, to physically block them from doing so, and if they persisted, to smash their equipment and assault them.”
A screengrab from a video shot by Nathan Hope shows a protester trying to block him from filming an assault.
,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"anti-fascist protest, protest",,,,, KTVU reporter assaulted while covering protest in Berkeley,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/ktvu-reporter-assaulted-while-covering-protest-berkeley/,2017-09-15 23:37:35.608578+00:00,2020-03-18 19:49:11.706887+00:00,2020-03-18 19:49:11.526480+00:00,,Assault,"Police identify 13 people arrested in Berkeley demonstrations (http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-bay-area-protests-police-identify-13-people-arrested-in-1503900705-htmlstory.html) via Los Angeles Times, Tweet from KTVU (https://twitter.com/KTVU/status/901914750954618880), Tweet from Leigh Martinez (https://twitter.com/LeighMartinezTV/status/901916110781419521)",,,Leigh Martinez (KTVU),,2017-08-27,False,Berkeley,California (CA),37.87159,-122.27275,"Leigh Martinez, a freelance reporter for KTVU, was covering an anti-fascist protest in Berkeley, California, on Aug. 27, 2017, when a protester knocked her phone out of her hand.
In a video of the altercation shared by KTVU on its Facebook and Twitter accounts, one protester is shown attempting to block Martinez’s ability to film the march with a poster. A second protester approaches Martinez, saying, “Hey, can you not film this right now?” The protester then knocks Martinez's phone out of her hand. The protester was later arrested on suspicion of battery.
KTVU's Leigh Martinez had her phone hit out of her hand during a confrontation at Berkeley's protests. She was not injured.
KTVU
Martinez could not be reached for comment, but KTVU wrote on Facebook that Martinez says “the incident happened after an altercation with her photographer.”
In a response to KTVU photojournalist Randee Deason on Twitter, Martinez tweeted, “Yes, I’m okay. She hit my wrist. I was able to continue working.”
Screengrab from KTVU video showing protesters trying to block Leigh Martinez
,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"anti-fascist protest, protest",,,,, Protesters in Berkeley steal local TV reporter's phone and dunk it in water,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/protesters-berkeley-steal-local-tv-reporters-phone-and-dunk-it-water/,2017-10-12 00:26:27.957864+00:00,2022-04-04 21:01:49.024455+00:00,2022-04-04 21:01:48.930564+00:00,,"Assault, Equipment Damage",Tweet from Thom Jensen (https://twitter.com/ThomNBCBayArea/status/902056981279551488),,mobile phone: count of 1,Thom Jensen (KNTV NBC Bay Area),,2017-08-27,False,Berkeley,California (CA),37.87159,-122.27275,"Thom Jensen, a freelance reporter for NBC affiliate KNTV, had his phone taken by protesters while covering an anti-fascist demonstration on Aug. 27, 2017, in Berkeley, California.
Lizzie Johnson, a reporter at the San Francisco Chronicle, tweeted a video that shows protesters chasing Jensen and yelling, “Take his camera, take his phone!”
"Take his camera, take his phone," they are shouting at a journalist. #berkeley pic.twitter.com/hvsQ5eXalE
— Lizzie Johnson (@lizziejohnsonnn) August 27, 2017
Thomas Hawk, an independent photojournalist who also covered the rally, told the Freedom of the Press Foundation that he saw Jensen arguing with a group of protesters after they took his phone.
Jensen later tweeted that the protesters who took his phone submerged it in a water-filled barricade. He said that he got the phone back and it continued to work.
My phone was taken & submerged in one of the water-filled barricades. Thankfully it had a waterproof case & find my iPhone works under water https://t.co/rOTfQmbeyK
— Thom Jensen (@ThomNBCBayArea) August 28, 2017
Thom Jensen, a freelance journalist for KNTV, argues with protesters after they steal his phone, in Berkeley, California, on Aug. 27, 2017.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"anti-fascist protest, protest",,,,, Independent journalist Dave Minsky beaten and attacked with pipe by protesters in Berkeley,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-dave-minsky-beaten-and-attacked-pipe-protesters-berkeley/,2017-10-25 20:19:54.224957+00:00,2021-10-20 20:34:01.232571+00:00,2021-10-20 20:34:01.153220+00:00,,"Assault, Equipment Damage","Video from KNTV helicopter of protesters chasing and beating Dave Minsky (https://twitter.com/nbcbayarea/status/901975197976289280) via KNTV, Antifa Broke My Camera (https://newrepublic.com/article/144659/antifa-broke-camera) via The New Republic, Photographers: Beware Violent Antifa Protestors (https://petapixel.com/2017/08/29/photographers-beware-violent-antifa-protestors/) via PetaPixel",,"camera: count of 1, mobile phone: count of 2, camera lens: count of 1, notebook: count of 1",Dave Minsky (Independent),,2017-08-27,False,Berkeley,California (CA),37.87159,-122.27275,"Dave Minsky — an independent journalist and photographer who freelances for Reuters, Vice, the Miami New Times and the Santa Barbara News-Press — was beaten by masked protesters on Aug. 27, 2017, while covering an anti-fascist protest in Berkeley, California.
Minsky told the Freedom of the Press Foundation that he was in Martin Luther King, Jr. Civic Center Park to cover an aborted white nationalist protest in Berkeley, which turned into a anti-fascist demonstration.
He said that he was carrying two iPhones, a reporter’s notebook in the back pocket and a DSLR camera with a zoom lens around his neck. He was using the iPhone in his left hand to livestream the anti-fascist protest on Instagram, while using the iPhone in his right-hand to take pictures of police officers in riot gear and anti-fascist protesters.
According to Minsky, he was taking photographs of the scene when a masked protester approached him and tried to grab his phone.
“This individual came up to me and tried to swat the phone out of my right hand,” he said. “You know, I moved my hand out of the way as he did that that and apparently that enraged him and so he started kind of like coming after me, and that’s when I started backing up.”
Minsky said that another protester tried to trip him as he moved backward towards the edge of the park, which caused him to lose his balance and fall down. Once he was on the ground, he said, a group of protesters began to beat him.
“Two, three people started tried to grab my phones out of my hands, grab the [camera] off my neck,” he said. “They were hitting me in the face and kicking me in the face and the torso, in the ribs and more people joined in — you know, I think at this point there were four, five, maybe six people.”
Masked protesters beat independent journalist Dave Minsky, in this video recorded by Nathan Hope. One of the protesters then knocks the phone out of Hope's hands to prevent him from filming the beating.
Nathan Hope
Minsky said that he tried to flee the scene, but a group of protesters chased him down. One of the masked protesters swung a pipe at him.
“She came up to me, and she cracked me in the ribs with a pipe … then that’s when two other people kind of tackled me and started hitting me in the head and trying to take my phone and my DSLR, and at one point someone ripped the lens right off my camera.”
Masked protesters chase independent journalist Dave Minsky, before hitting him with a pipe and tackling him to the ground.
Berkeleyside/Chris Polydoroff
Eventually, two Oakland police officers approached Minsky and escorted him away from the protesters. His shirt was ripped in half and he was missing one of his two iPhones, his camera’s 70-200mm zoom lens and his reporter’s notebook.
Minsky said that he was examined by EMTs and put in ambulance, but that he refused to go to the hospital because he did not have health insurance.
“I refused medical attention,” he said. “I don’t have medical insurance. … After the police brought me to the sidewalk and the EMTs looked at me, I was put in the back of the ambulance. I continually told them, you know, ‘I don’t want medical attention, please leave me here, it’s fine.’”
After being let out of the ambulance, Minsky said, he bought a new shirt at Walgreens and then returned to the park to continue covering the protest, only to find that it had already ended.
Minsky later noticed a sharp pain in his chest and had difficulty breathing — a possible sign of a bruised or broken rib.
“I didn’t realize I was hit on the ribs until after I started driving home,” he said. “It became very apparent that it was hard to breathe and there was a sharp pain in my right rib cage and at one particular spot. I was touching it, and it felt really tender and hurt really bad. You know, it was difficult to breathe and it still kind of hurts.”
Minsky said that the pain in his ribs lasted about a week and that he still finds it difficult to breathe, especially when he is lying down or trying to sleep. He said that his wife, a physician’s assistant, believes that his rib is broken, but that he does not know for sure because he has not had a chest X-ray.
https://t.co/DItm9Zkx0J pic.twitter.com/2vCMu40lNE
— NBC Bay Area (@nbcbayarea) August 28, 2017
A masked demonstrator strikes photographer Dave Minsky with a pipe in Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park, in Berkeley, California, on August 27, 2017.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"anti-fascist protest, Donald Trump protest",,,,, "Protesters attack independent livestreamer in San Francisco, steal his phone",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/protesters-attack-independent-livestreamer-san-francisco-steal-his-phone/,2017-09-08 18:39:00.533633+00:00,2022-03-11 14:52:16.287316+00:00,2022-03-11 14:52:16.194947+00:00,,"Assault, Equipment Damage","Video of protesters stealing Nathan Stolman's phone (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uX3x2wh-6ys) via Ruptly, Nathan Stolman's livestream of the incident (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zl7OoKfxC6U&t=38m45s) via Lift the Veil Too, Livestream of protesters stealing Nathan Stolman's phone (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-zWZ7OL_DY&t=26m30s) via Ruptly, Video of Nathan Stolman asking protesters for his phone back (https://twitter.com/neumannbrian_/status/901527169796513792) via Golden Gate Xpress",,mobile phone: count of 1,Nathan Stolpman (Independent),,2017-08-26,False,San Francisco,California (CA),37.77493,-122.41942,"Nathan Stolpman, an independent journalist who runs the YouTube channel Lift the Veil Too, was attacked and had his phone stolen while filming an anti-fascist protest on Aug. 26, 2017, in San Francisco, California.
In an interview with the Freedom of the Press Foundation, Stolpman said that he was livestreaming the protest to his YouTube channel when several protesters attempted to block his camera with an umbrella. Stolpman continued his livestream, telling the protesters, “I’m just a journalist, I have a YouTube channel.”
The livestream posted on the Lift the Veil Too YouTube channel shows one person present at the protest asking Stolpman why he was wearing a polo shirt, stating that “polos are on the other side”. Stolpman asked protesters why they did not want coverage of the event, and a larger group of protesters began to chant “Nazi, go home.”
As Stolpman continued to livestream, the group of protesters — holding a large black banner with “Fascist Scum You Are Done” written on it — followed him and wrapped him in the banner, restricting his ability to move.
Ruptly, a livestreaming service owned by Russian broadcaster RT, captured footage of Stolpman's encounter with the protesters. The video published by Ruptly shows a masked protester quickly approach Stolpman, who is largely covered by the black banner, and then grab Stolpman's phone and run off.
Video of protesters stealing Nathan Stolpman's phone
Ruptly
After the altercation, Stolpman was interviewed about what happened by several outlets. As he answered a question, one protester wearing a red nose stroked his hair, while other protesters off camera yelled and denounced the media outlets interviewing him for “giving the fascist a camera.”
A video filmed by Brian Neumann, a student journalist at San Francisco State University, shows Stolpman arguing with protesters and asking for his phone back.
Stolpman told the Freedom of the Press Foundation that he believes he was targeted because he was livestreaming and because of his clothing. He said that his phone was never returned to him.
A screenshot from Ruptly's livestream shows anti-fascist protesters wrapping independent livestreamer Nathan Stolpman in a banner after stealing his phone.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"anti-fascist protest, protest, robbery",,,,, Journalists in Phoenix tear-gassed while covering protest,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalists-phoenix-tear-gassed-while-covering-protest/,2017-08-25 18:31:14.718550+00:00,2022-03-10 22:24:59.262746+00:00,2022-03-10 22:24:59.206252+00:00,,Other Incident,"A sudden change, a cloud of gas and real news in the making (http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2017/08/24/president-donald-trump-rally-arizona-republic-journalists-gas-pepper-spray/595894001/) via Arizona Republic",,,,,2017-08-22,False,Phoenix,Arizona (AZ),33.44838,-112.07404,"Seventeen Arizona Republic journalists were exposed to tear gas or pepper spray while covering anti-Trump protests on Aug. 22, 2017, in Phoenix, Arizona, according to Republic editor Nicole Carroll.
Reporter Laura Gomez and photographers Rob Schumacher and Jason Pohl told Carroll about their experiences reporting on the protests.
“The air around me was thin with that layer of tear gas,” Gomez said. “The skin around my mouth and nose started to burn badly."
"As parents with kids rushed away, we moved in," Schumacher said. "I kept shooting until I couldn't see any longer. Coughing and gagging, I rushed my way up Second Street to the office to wash off and file. As we were filing, we heard the flash-bangs going off outside our building. So I went back to cover the action in front of our employee entrance.
“Some people in the crowd were immediately saying, ‘OK, time to go home,’" Pohl said. "Others were becoming more confrontational. By the time the crowd dispersed to the west, near the parking garage, the burning started in my throat and nose. I had goggles on, so my eyes were fine, but it was clear it would only get worse."
Police officials lob tear gas to try and disperse demonstrators after a Donald Trump campaign rally on Aug. 22, 2017, in Phoenix, Arizona.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,Arizona Republic,"chemical irritant, Donald Trump protest, protest",,,,, President Trump tells supporters that journalists 'don't like our country',https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/president-trump-tells-supporters-journalists-dont-our-country/,2017-08-25 18:53:29.405404+00:00,2022-03-11 15:00:58.078582+00:00,2022-03-11 15:00:58.022080+00:00,,Other Incident,President Trump Ranted For 77 Minutes in Phoenix. Here’s What He Said (http://time.com/4912055/donald-trump-phoenix-arizona-transcript/) via TIME,,,,,2017-08-22,False,Phoenix,Arizona (AZ),33.44838,-112.07404,"During a combative speech delivered in Phoenix, Arizona on Aug. 22, 2017, President Trump blamed the media for fomenting division in the country and told his supporters that journalists dislike the United States.
"You're taxpaying Americans who love our nation, obey our laws, and care for our people," President Trump told his supporters. "It's time to expose the crooked media deceptions, and to challenge the media for their role in fomenting divisions. And yes, by the way — and yes, by the way, they are trying to take away our history and our heritage. You see that."
"These are truly dishonest people," Trump said later in the speech, referring to the journalists who report on his administration. "And not all of them. Not all of them. You have some very good reporters. You have some very fair journalists. But for the most part, honestly, these are really, really dishonest people, and they're bad people. And I really think they don't like our country. I really believe that. And I don't believe they're going to change, and that's why I do this."
Trump then falsely suggested that CNN and other cable networks had turned off their cameras to avoid broadcasting his speech. In fact, CNN continued to air the speech live.
"You would think — you would think they'd want to make our country great again, and I honestly believe they don't," he said. "I honestly believe it. If you want to discover the source of the division in our country, look no further than the fake news and the crooked media..."
President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Phoenix, Arizona, on August 22, 2017.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,Media,Donald Trump,,,,, Journalist arrested while interviewing students at public college in New York City,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-arrested-while-interviewing-students-public-college-new-york-city/,2017-08-18 19:48:16.848662+00:00,2021-11-01 17:47:53.565065+00:00,2021-11-01 17:47:53.523725+00:00,(2017-09-30 13:45:00+00:00) Charges dropped for journalist arrested while interviewing students at a New York City public college,Arrest/Criminal Charge,"Video: Reporter Arrested For Interviewing Bronx Community College Students About Confederate Statues (http://gothamist.com/2017/08/18/reporter_arrested_confederate_statues.php) via Gothamist, [UPDATED] Robert E. Lee & Stonewall Jackson Are Part Of Bronx Community College's 'Hall Of Fame' (http://gothamist.com/2017/08/16/robert_e_lee_stonewall_jackson_bron.php) via Gothamist",,,J.B. Nicholas (Gothamist),,2017-08-16,False,Bronx,New York (NY),None,None,"Journalist J.B. Nicholas was interviewing students on the campus of Bronx Community College, a public college that is part of the City University of New York, when he was arrested by CUNY public safety officers and charged with trespassing.
Nicholas was on BCC's campus on Aug. 16, 2017, reporting a story for Gothamist, a local news site, about the presence of statues of Confederate generals in BCC's "Hall of Fame."
Nicholas documented part of his interaction with public safety officers on video.
Video of public safety officers talking to J.B. Nicholas
Gothamist
"I was interviewing the last student for the story, and she was very cool, and then I notice the white police car pull up," Nicholas told Gothamist. "I had my press pass on, I had my credentials. They come up and say, 'This interview is over. Leave.' So I turn my camera on."
Video published by Gothamist shows the officers telling him that he needs to leave the campus, because BCC is "not an open campus" and what he is doing "is not official college business."
Nicholas told Gothamist that officers then restrained him, handcuffed him and issued him a summons for trespassing.
After Gothamist published Nicholas' story on the statues, a BCC administrator sent an email to Nicholas and BCC faculty about the arrest.
"The journalist was on campus today aggressively questioning students and faculty and became combative with our Public Safety Officers," Karla Renee Williams, executive legal counsel and deputy to the president, wrote in the email. "He was arrested for trespassing. We will keep you updated and have increased public safety monitoring of the campus and Hall."
Nicholas' case is scheduled to go to court in October 2017.
A screenshot from a video recorded by J.B. Nicholas at Bronx Community College shows two CUNY Public Safety Officers. The officers arrested Nicholas for trespassing.
,arrested and released,charges dropped,CUNY public safety officers,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,trespassing,,, CBS 6 photojournalist attacked with stick while filming anti-fascist march,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cbs6-photojournalist-attacked-stick-while-filming-anti-fascist-march/,2017-08-15 03:54:44.901812+00:00,2022-02-17 18:25:16.612061+00:00,2022-02-17 18:25:16.532899+00:00,(2017-08-17 22:00:00+00:00) Anti-fascist group releases statement blaming photojournalist for attack,Assault,CBS 6 journalist attacked during Richmond protest (http://wtvr.com/2017/08/14/cbs-6-journalist-attack-richmond-protest/) via CBS 6,,,Unidentified photojournalist 19 (WTVR CBS 6),,2017-08-13,False,Richmond,Virginia (VA),37.55376,-77.46026,"A CBS 6 photojournalist had to be taken to the emergency room after he was struck in the back of the head by an anti-fascist protester, the channel reported on Aug. 13, 2017.
The photojournalist, whose name has not been released, was using his phone to film a peaceful anti-fascist protest march in Richmond, Virginia.
He told CBS 6 that a group of people came up to him and told him to stop filming the march. When he continued to record, he said, people started putting flags in front of his phone to block him from recording.
"That’s when then I extended my arm above the flags to try to get a better shot of the protest," he told CBS 6. "One member of the group hit the phone out of my hand and my natural reaction was to push them out of my personal space. Immediately following I was hit in the back of the head with a some type of blunt object."
The photojournalist was then taken to the hospital, where he received four staples in his head. His colleagues at CBS 6 later tweeted photographs of his injured head.
Our @CBS6 photojournalist assaulted in the head while shooting protests in Richmond. In the hospital getting stitches. Stop the VIOLENCE! pic.twitter.com/xGEWu0SWr4
— Laura French (@lfrenchnews) August 14, 2017
Our photojournalist reported back that he got 4 staples after a protester hit him in the head. pic.twitter.com/bG5JRYfksJ
— WTVR CBS 6 Richmond (@CBS6) August 14, 2017
One of our photographers was hit with a stick in the back of the head by a protestor for shooting video of protest with his phone. @CBS6 pic.twitter.com/vnuJ12KfLQ
— Melissa J. Hipolit (@MelissaCBS6) August 14, 2017
A reporter for local North Carolina TV station WLOS was assaulted while live-streaming a peaceful anti-racist demonstration in Asheville, North Carolina, on Aug. 13, 2017.
The reporter was streaming video of the demonstration live to the Facebook page of WLOS, also known as ABC 13, when a man in the crowd approached him and told him to stop filming the crowd.
Much of the man's interaction with the reporter was captured on the Facebook Live stream:
"I'm a reporter with WLOS," the reporter says. "Right now, we're doing a Facebook Live."
The man then attempts to grab the reporter's camera.
"Dude, you need to get your hands off of me," the reporter says. "Do not touch me!"
"Get that camera out of my fucking face!" the man says. "Do it again."
He tries to grab the reporter's camera again and appears to push the reporter.
At this point, a second man intervenes, separating the first man from the reporter.
"Hey, you should go," the second man says to the reporter. "You should go. Go."
"I'm a reporter for — do not touch me!" the reporter says. "Get your hands off me."
"Hey, you're asking for it, man!" the second man says.
"Get out of the fucking crowd, dude!" the first man says, approaching the reporter. "Move it! I will fuck you up!"
"Oh, that was a threat," the second man says to the first. "Dude, you can't say that."
The first man then lunges for the reporter's camera again.
"Dude, I will break you," he says, while being held back by other protesters.
The reporter then walks away to film other parts of the crowd.
About a minute later, the first man reappears, walking toward the reporter.
"I'm a reporter with WLOS," the reporter says.
"I don't care who the fuck you are," the man says. "Move! Where's your fucking camera crew? Move the fuck off the block!"
"Dude, get away from me," the reporter says. "Seriously. I will go get a police officer."
"Go get a police officer," the man says, as the reporter repeatedly asks him to leave him alone. "Do it. Move. Move it. You got some fucking skills? Bring it. You motherfucker! Take a fucking walk."
"I'm literally a reporter for WLOS," the reporter says.
"Put the camera down," the man says, reaching for the reporter's camera for the fourth time.
At this point, another bystander intervenes and encourages the man to ignore the reporter and go stand somewhere else in the crowd.
After the man finally walks away, the reporter finds a police officer and says that the man assaulted him multiple times and he has evidence of the assault on camera.
The Asheville Police Department later published the man's photo on its Facebook page and asked the community to help identify him. The police department later announced that a 38-year-old man named Michael Patrick Faulkner had been arrested and charged with misdemeanor assault in connection with the incident.
A court hearing in Faulkner's case is scheduled for September 6, 2017.
A screenshot from the WLOS Facebook Live video shows a man grabbing a reporter's camera.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"anti-fascist protest, protest",,,,, Journalist Taylor Lorenz punched while filming aftermath of fatal attack,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-taylor-lorenz-punched-while-filming-aftermath-fatal-attack/,2017-08-15 03:30:54.615129+00:00,2022-07-30 00:23:00.530886+00:00,2022-07-30 00:23:00.462315+00:00,,Assault,"Man Arrested in Charlottesville Was Counter-Protestor Who Punched Female Reporter (https://www.mediaite.com/online/one-of-the-men-arrested-in-charlottesville-was-a-counter-protestor-who-punched-a-female-reporter/) via Mediaite, Virginia State Police announcement on Twitter (https://twitter.com/VSPPIO/status/896559256803127296), Court records related to the assault (https://pressfreedomtracker.us/documents/1/Lorenz_assault_courtdocs_redacted.pdf) via Click to download, Horror and hate in Charlottesville (http://thehill.com/homenews/news/346359-horror-and-hate-in-charlottesville) via The Hill",,,Taylor Lorenz (The Hill),,2017-08-12,False,Charlottesville,Virginia (VA),38.02931,-78.47668,"Taylor Lorenz, a journalist for The Hill, was punched in the side of the head while live-streaming the aftermath of a fatal attack on anti-fascist protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia.
On Aug. 12, 2017, Lorenz was covering an anti-fascist march in downtown Charlottesville. While using her phone to live-stream the peaceful march, she caught footage of a man driving a car at high speed into a crowd of anti-fascist protesters. The car attack killed one protester and left dozens injured.
In an interview with the Freedom of the Press Foundation, Lorenz said that as she documented the aftermath of the attack, a shirtless man came up to her and repeatedly ordered her to stop recording. According to Lorenz, she showed the man her press pass and said that she was a journalist, at which point the man walked behind her and then punched her hard in the side of her face. She fell down and dropped her phone. As she reached for her phone, she said, the man tried to kick it away from her.
"Stop fucking recording!" he yelled.
Lorenz and other bystanders called for the police, who spoke to witnesses and then took the man into custody.
A 21-year-old Virginia man named Jacob Smith was arrested and charged with misdemeanor assault and battery in connection with the assault. He was released on a $1,000 bail and ordered not to have any contact with Lorenz. A hearing in the case is scheduled for August 18, 2017.
Jen Patrice, an independent journalist who livestreams under the handle witlessX, was repeatedly attacked by white nationalist protesters while livestreaming demonstrations in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Aug. 12, 2017.
Patrice told the Freedom of the Press Foundation that she was filming a group of marching protesters at a "Unite the Right" rally when three of the protesters assaulted her. She said that one protester knocked her camera to the ground, a second tried to grab it after she picked it up, and a third kicked her in the back of the shin to try to trip her. She said that the kick was forceful enough to bruise her bone.
Patrice, who identifies as a trans woman, said that many of the protesters also mocked her gender identity and appearance.
Later in the protest, she said, a wearing a "Traditionalist Worker Party" shirt grabbed her shoulders and threw her to the ground.
The witlessX livestream recorded a 'Unite the Right' protester grabbing Jen Patrice camera.
witlessX
Christopher Schiano — a reporter for Unicorn Riot, a radical, non-profit journalism organization — was attacked while attempting to interview participants in a white nationalist march in Charlottesville, Virginia, on the night of Aug. 11, 2017.
In an interview with the Freedom of the Press Foundation, Schiano said that he and a colleague were repeatedly pushed and shoved by white nationalist marchers as they tried to interview Jason Kessler, one of the leaders of the march, and other participants.
A video recorded by Schiano on his phone and published by Unicorn Riot shows Schiano interviewing one of the marchers, before being interrupted by a second marcher. The second marcher complains that Schiano is asking irrelevant questions and then reaches for his phone.
"OK, that's it," the second participant says before reaching for the phone. "That's a fucking rabbit hole."
The march finished near a statue of Thomas Jefferson on the University of Virginia camp, where the marchers aggressively confronted a small group of college students and anti-racist protesters. At that point, Schiano said, one of the marchers hit him in the head with a tiki torch.
When we asked other #UniteTheRight attendees about their 'white genocide' claims, some of them responded violently pic.twitter.com/erxgZ3aFG1
— Unicorn Riot (@UR_Ninja) August 12, 2017
Our reporter repeatedly had phone thrown to ground and was hit in face with a tiki torch by Jason Kessler's security after we asked him Qs
— Unicorn Riot (@UR_Ninja) August 12, 2017
A screenshot from a video captured by a Unicorn Riot journalist shows a man reaching for the reporter's camera.
,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"protest, white nationalist protest",,,,, New York Times editor testifies in defamation suit brought by former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/new-york-times-editor-testifies-defamation-suit-brought-former-vice-presidential-candidate-sarah-palin/,2019-08-20 19:53:31.062767+00:00,2022-02-16 17:43:01.478160+00:00,2022-02-16 17:43:01.402666+00:00,"(2022-02-15 17:47:00+00:00) Jury finds that The New York Times did not defame Sarah Palin, (2019-08-06 15:52:00+00:00) An appeals court reopens Sarah Palin's 2017 lawsuit against The New York Times",Other Incident,,,,,,2017-08-10,False,New York,New York (NY),None,None,"A New York Southern District judge ruled on Aug. 10, 2017, that the author of a New York Times article would have to testify under oath in connection to a lawsuit filed against the newspaper.
Former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin filed a defamation suit against The New York Times alleging that the newspaper knowingly published false and misleading information about her in an editorial article published in June 2017. The editorial connected Palin’s rhetoric with the 2011 mass shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and at least 17 others. The Times quickly issued a correction and issued an apology on Twitter.
Twelve days after the editorial was published, Palin sued The Times in federal court. Palin said in the lawsuit that The Times’s response “did not approach the degree of the retraction and apology necessary and warranted by The Times’s false assertion that Mrs. Palin incited murder,” The Times reported.
The Times filed a motion in July 2017 seeking to dismiss the case. Southern New York District Court Judge Jed Rakoff issued an order on Aug. 10 for the author of the editorial to testify, stating that it was necessary in order for him to determine whether to grant The Times’s motion, the newspaper reported.
David McCraw, deputy general counsel for The Times, said the witness would be James Bennet, the newspaper’s editorial page editor who had introduced the statements cited in the lawsuit during the editorial process.
At a hearing on Aug. 16, Bennet testified that his intention was not to blame Palin for the 2011 shooting. “I did not intend and was not thinking of it as a causal link to the crime,” Bennet said under oath.
Rakoff dismissed the case on Aug. 29, saying that Palin’s complaint failed to show that the mistakes in the editorial were made maliciously. The “actual malice” standard requires public officials show that news organizations knowingly published false information or acted with “reckless disregard for the statement’s truth or falsity,” according to the Digital Media Law Project.
Rakoff said in his judgment, “What we have here is an editorial, written and rewritten rapidly in order to voice an opinion on an immediate event of importance, in which are included a few factual inaccuracies somewhat pertaining to Mrs. Palin that are very rapidly corrected.”
“Negligence this may be; but defamation of a public figure it plainly is not,” Rakoff wrote.
Former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin filed a defamation suit against The New York Times for an editorial it published in June 2017.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,The New York Times,,,,,, Attorney general considers making it easier to subpoena journalists,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/attorney-general-considers-making-it-easier-subpoena-journalists/,2017-08-05 21:33:26.548515+00:00,2020-03-19 14:24:28.650081+00:00,2020-03-19 14:24:28.554349+00:00,,Chilling Statement,"Sessions, threatening leakers, says DOJ is reviewing policy on media subpoenas (https://mic.com/articles/183349/sessions-threatening-leakers-says-doj-is-reviewing-policy-on-media-subpoenas) via Mic, Jeff Sessions’ Tough Talk On Leaks Heightens Fears Of Jailing Journalists (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/sessions-jailing-journalists-media_us_5984dcbae4b041356ebfc875) via HuffPost, Trump Is Going After Legal Protections for Journalists (http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/08/10/trump-is-going-after-legal-protections-for-journalists/) via Foreign Policy, New guidelines issued for US news media leak investigations (https://www.ap.org/ap-in-the-news/2015/new-guidelines-issued-for-us-news-media-leak-investigations) via AP",,,,,2017-08-04,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced on Aug. 4, 2017, that the Department of Justice was "reviewing our policies affecting media subpoenas" as part of a broader crackdown on unauthorized leaks of information to the press.
Sessions suggested news organizations had endangered people's lives by publishing stories based on leaked information, though he did not provide any evidence for this claim.
"We respect the important role that the press plays, and we’ll give them respect, but it is not unlimited," he said at the press briefing. "They cannot place lives at risk with impunity. We must balance the press’s role with protecting our national security and the lives of those who serve in the intelligence community, the armed forces, and all law-abiding Americans."
The current Justice Department guidelines were implemented in 2015, after extensive discussion between then-Attorney General Eric Holder and a coalition of journalism organizations and press freedom groups, led by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. They direct the Department of Justice to only subpoena journalists for information as a last resort and require the attorney general to personally approve any subpoena of a journalist or news organization.
The guidelines also instruct the department to provide news organizations of advance notice of subpoenas and records requests related to journalism, so that the news organizations have a chance to fight the subpoenas in court before they are carried out.
The "advance notice" policy is a relatively recent addition to the guidelines. It was partly a response to concern that the Justice Department had secretly obtained journalists' communications as part of its leak investigations.
In 2013, it was revealed that the Justice Department secretly obtained access to a Fox News reporter's private email account, and to months of phone records belonging to the Associated Press newsroom, in an attempt to identify journalists' sources.
If the Department of Justice makes it easier to subpoena journalists, then more journalists are likely to be threatened with jail time. The U.S. does not have a federal shield law, which means that reporters subpoenaed to testify about confidential sources in front of a federal grand jury must either comply — which means violating the promises of confidentiality they have to their sources — or risk being held in contempt of court and jailed.
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions speaks at a briefing on leaks of classified material threatening national security at the Justice Department in Washington, on August 4, 2017.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,Department of Justice,,,,, Customs officers search reporter's car and phone at Canadian border,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/customs-officers-search-reporters-car-and-phone-canadian-border/,2018-10-22 15:17:49.996670+00:00,2019-12-11 17:00:01.031325+00:00,2019-12-11 17:00:00.938511+00:00,,"Border Stop, Equipment Search or Seizure",2018 CBP directive (https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/assets/documents/2018-Jan/CBP-Directive-3340-049A-Border-Search-of-Electronic-Media-Compliant.pdf),"mobile phone: count of 1, vehicle: count of 1",,Anne Elizabeth Moore,,2017-08-03,False,Detroit,Michigan (MI),42.33143,-83.04575,"Anne Elizabeth Moore — a cultural critic and reporter who has written for Salon, Teen Vogue, Jacobin, and The New Inquiry — was driving across the Ambassador Bridge into Detroit, Michigan, on Aug. 3, 2017, when she was stopped and questioned by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers.
Moore told the Committee to Protect Journalists that she had crossed the border earlier that day to cover a cultural event in Toronto. During this first crossing, Moore recalled, the officer had asked her an “unusual” number of questions. She said that typically the officers will ask five or six questions, but this time the officer asked twice as many. Moore said that the CBP officers asked her why she was entering Canada, and after she said that she was a journalist about to write about an event, one of the officers “said something like, ‘We’re going to keep an eye on you,’ or something ominous like that.”
She didn’t give the comment a second thought — until that evening, when she tried to cross the border back into the United States around 11:30 p.m. Immediately after she pulled up to the U.S. border stop, she said, CBP officers told her to park her car and leave her phone on the dashboard, powered on and unlocked. The officers also asked her if she had a passcode on her phone, which she did not.
The officers directed Moore into an office to wait, and while she wasn’t questioned, the officer working at the desk would not tell her how long the search would take and that she’d simply need to wait. After about 15 minutes, she was allowed to return to her car, which had clearly been searched. Moore told CPJ that the officers left some of her belongings strewn on the ground and the doors and trunk partially open.
Moore also noticed that her phone had been moved, and she is believes it is possible, if not likely, that the CBP officers may have accessed some of her confidential information and sources, including information related to a piece she is currently working on that involves illegal border crossing.
Journalists have little legal protection when it comes to electronic device searches at the border. A 2018 CBP directive requires agents to consult legal counsel if an individual objects to a search on the grounds of attorney–client privilege, but does not provide the same protection for journalists protecting confidential sources or materials. This can leave reporters, their unpublished work, and their sources vulnerable.
Isma’il Kushkush — a former acting bureau chief of the New York Times in East Africa and International Center for Journalists fellow — was stopped at the U.S.-Canadian border in Vermont on July 30, 2017, while driving back from Montreal.
Kushkush, a Sudanese-American dual citizen, is one of 11 plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security, brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the ACLU of Massachusetts. According to the legal complaint, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers directed him to a secondary screening area.
After waiting for an hour, an officer instructed Kushkush to unlock his phone, threatening to seize it if he did not comply. Stating that he was doing so against his will, Kushkush unlocked his phone. According to the complaint, the officer wrote down the password and took the phone out of Kushkush’s sight for at least an hour.
According to the complaint, three hours after Kushkush was initially detained, he was escorted to a separate area where officers questioned him about his journalistic work. The complaint does not detail what questions the officers asked him during that time.
After a total of three and a half hours in the inspection area, Kushkush was released.
Kushkush has reported being detained at the border on at least five previous occasions between 2013 and 2016. He said that these stops lasted between two and three hours and frequently involved requests for access to his electronic devices. CBP officers also directed Kushkush to secondary screening in Jan. 2017, detained him for almost two hours and searched his notebooks and cellphone.
In 2018, Kushkush told the Committee to Protect Journalists, “Clearly I was singled out. It was clear that there was a pattern, that I was specifically being, you know, targeted and questioned about my whereabouts.”
Kushkush said the screenings made him more hesitant around traveling and reporting abroad.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker includes incidents only from 2017 forward.
On Nov. 12, 2019, a federal court in Boston ruled in favor of Kushkush and the other plaintiffs in the ACLU and EFF’s case against DHS, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and CBP. The court found that warrantless searches of electronic devices at the border violate the Fourth Amendment, the Associated Press reported. Moving forward, border officers must now demonstrate individualized suspicion before searching a traveler’s device.
In a press release from EFF, ACLU attorney Esha Bhandari said, “This ruling significantly advances Fourth Amendment protections for millions of international travelers who enter the United States every year.”
“By putting an end to the government’s ability to conduct suspicionless fishing expeditions, the court reaffirms that the border is not a lawless place and that we don’t lose our privacy rights when we travel,” Bhandari said.
Andrew Desiderio, a Congressional reporter for The Daily Beast, was covering the arrest of protests in a Senate hallway on July 25, 2017, when he was reportedly ordered by a U.S. Capitol Police officer to delete a video that he had filmed.
Other journalists in attendance, such as Gabby Morongiello of the D.C. Examiner, reported that a Senate press gallery staffer told journalists not to take any photos or video of the protesters being arrested.
According to Jonathan Peters, the Columbia Journalism Review's press freedom correspondent, journalists are generally prohibited from taking photos and videos in the Senate's second and third-floor hallways — but that doesn't give the U.S. Capitol Police the right to force journalists to delete photos and videos that have already been captured.
""Journalists have Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures of their persons and equipment, and they have rights under the Privacy Protection Act, a federal law that generally requires law enforcement officers to get a subpoena to search or seize a journalist’s documentary or work-product materials,"" Peters writes. ""That includes photos and videos. Police may not delete footage, photographs, or social media posts from a journalist’s device, nor can police force a journalist to do those things.""
Journalists interview Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) before she enters the Senate chamber to vote on a health care bill, on July 25, 2017.
Katherine Timpf, a co-host on the show "Fox News Specialists" and a reporter for National Review Online, said that she was attacked at a Brooklyn bar on July 24, 2017.
Timpf was there to speak during a campaign event for Ben Kissel, who is running for Brooklyn borough president in New York.
In a series of tweets, she described in a series of tweets how a man that she did not know walked into Union Pool in Brooklyn and dumped a 1.5 liter bottle of water on her head, preventing her from speaking at the event.
"This wasn’t just some random drunk guy; this was a targeted attack," Timpf wrote in the National Review. "I know this because I saw the security footage while I was filing a police report. He walked into the venue confidently, saw me, did it, and left. He knew I would be speaking there; I was the reason he was there; that was the reason he was there . . . to prevent me from speaking."
Katherine Timpf's tweets about the incident
,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, Univision journalist threatened by white nationalists,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/univision-journalist-threatened-white-nationalists/,2017-10-02 23:27:00.405210+00:00,2019-10-14 14:04:50.798732+00:00,2019-10-14 14:04:50.695955+00:00,,Other Incident,"Into the Lion's Den (http://www.univision.com/univision-news/united-states/into-the-lions-den) via Univision, Afro-Latina Journalist Ilia Calderón Speaks About Her Terrifying Interview With KKK Members (http://remezcla.com/culture/ilia-calderon-univision-kkk-members/) via Remezcla, x KKK leader threatens to ‘burn’ Latina journalist, the first black person on his property (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/08/21/kkk-leader-threatens-to-burn-latina-journalist-the-first-black-person-on-his-property/) via Washington Post, Univision press release about the interview (https://corporate.univision.com/corporate/press/2017/08/25/univision-ranks-no-1-network-aqui-y-ahora-interview-correspondent-ilia-calderon-kkk-leader/)",,,Ilia Calderón (Univision),,2017-07-24,False,Caswell County,North Carolina (NC),None,None,"Ilia Calderón, an Afro-Hispanic journalist and nightly news anchor for Univision, was threatened while interviewing white supremacists Christopher and Amanda Barker for “Aquí y Ahora,” an American news program, in July 2017.
Univision reports that Barker is a leader of the “Loyal White Knights,” which has 130 active chapters in 22 states according, and refers to himself as an “imperial wizard” of the KKK. Barker and his wife deny that their group is racist.
During the hour-long special, titled “En La Boca Del Lobo”, Barker told Calderón that she was the first black person to set foot on his property. During the interview, he repeatedly used racial slurs against her, called her a “mongrel” and told her to go back to her country.
Univision reporter Ilia Calderón interviews white nationalist Christopher Barker on "Aquí y Ahora"
Univision
“Are you going to chase me out of here?” Calderón asked at one point.
“No, we’re gonna burn you out,” Barker replied.
“We killed six million Jews the last time,” he added. “Eleven million is nothing.”
“You’re telling me you’re going to burn me?” Calderón asked.
“Yeah, you’re sitting on my property now,” Barker said.
“I don’t care what he’s saying,” Calderón said later during the special. “It doesn’t matter. You can insult me. I don’t care. In that moment, I was really scared. But you have to be brave and keep going with your goal and think about your objectives.”
Immediately following the special’s full airing on August 20th, Calderón appeared with Jorge Ramos on Noticias Univision Edición Nocturna.
“During many moments, I felt very bad, and my team felt bad for me, because they didn’t think an interview should go that way, that there needed to be so much hate and so many insults and so much denigration of a person,” she told Ramos. “But that’s why we stayed, because that’s what millions of people experience every day and we need to show it to the world.”
Calderón later tweeted about the interview.
“Sometimes our job involves a risk,” she said.
A screengrab from "Aquí y Ahora" shows white nationalist Christopher Barker and Univision journalist Ilia Calderón.
,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, Freelance photojournalist arrested by police while filming aftermath of car crash,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/freelance-photojournalist-arrested-police-while-filming-aftermath-car-crash/,2018-01-16 09:22:24.312665+00:00,2022-07-18 21:52:28.130190+00:00,2022-07-18 21:52:28.017113+00:00,,Arrest/Criminal Charge,"Local news photographer, former police volunteer, arrested while filming accident scene (https://riversidecountynewssource.org/2017/07/26/hemet-local-news-photographer-former-police-volunteer-arrested-while-filming-accident-scene/) via Riverside County News Source, Local photo journalist and freelancer arrested at scene of 3-vehicle crash in Hemet (https://www.pe.com/2017/07/27/local-photo-journalist-and-freelancer-arrested-at-scene-of-3-vehicle-crash-in-hemet/) via The Press-Enterprise",,,John Strangis,,2017-07-24,False,Hemet,California (CA),33.74761,-116.97307,"John Strangis, a freelance videographer and photojournalist, was arrested while filming the scene of a car crash in Hemet, CA, on July 24, 2017.
According to Riverside County News Source, Strangis responded to the location of the three-vehicle crash to film footage that he intended to sell to news organizations.
Although the scene had not been established or indicated to be a crime scene, Strangis was ordered several times to stop filming by City of Hemet police officers to move further away from the scene.
When he did not comply and remained filming, he was handcuffed and arrested on suspicion of resisting, delaying or obstructing a public officer and given a citation to appear in court, according to the Press-Enterprise.
Strangis and the Hemet Police Department did not respond to requests by the Freedom of the Press Foundation for comment.
A Louisiana-based reporter—who asked that his name not be used for fear of reprisal—was flagged for secondary screening at the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport while traveling from Bogota, Colombia, on July 10, 2017.
The reporter told the Committee to Protect Journalists that he had been in Colombia on vacation. He made it through primary screening but was flagged for secondary screening.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers directed the reporter to empty his pockets and then searched everything in his bag and wallet. He told CPJ that the officers did not search his electronic devices, which he said would have been a red line.
The reporter said the officers came across an old note in his wallet that he had written to remind himself to file a Freedom of Information Act request for documents in connection with an incident in Louisiana. The reporter told CPJ that the CBP officers assumed the note was referring to the shooting of Louisiana representative Steve Scalise and others at a baseball practice in Virginia the month before. Though he told the officers that wasn’t the case, they took the notes out of the room and photocopied them. When they returned, the reporter said the officers questioned him about his work and the notes for approximately an hour before he was released.
The reporter told CPJ that he filed a FOIA request for his records within a few days of the incident because “I knew something wasn’t right.” He received the documents on Sept. 12, which he said showed that he had been specifically flagged for an “enforcement referral” screening.
White House advisers reportedly discussed using the multibillion-dollar merger between AT&T and Time Warner as leverage over cable news network CNN to sway its coverage of President Donald Trump and his administration, according to an article in The New York Times.
The article, published on July 5, 2017, cited an unnamed senior administration official. CNN’s parent company is Time Warner, and the Justice Department has been investigating the antitrust implications of this merger. CNN President Jeff Zucker said that the merger had not affected his journalistic or management choices, according to the article. Trump’s relationship with CNN is extremely contentious. He has repeatedly called the network “fake news” and “garbage journalism.”
A Time Warner Cable truck returns to its office in San Diego, California, U.S., November 2, 2016.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,CNN,,,,,, Trump tweets video of him wrestling 'CNN',https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/trump-tweets-video-him-wrestling-cnn/,2017-08-01 12:17:20.534748+00:00,2022-04-06 14:31:00.982993+00:00,2022-04-06 14:31:00.850170+00:00,,Chilling Statement,"Trump's tweet (https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/881503147168071680), Why pro wrestling is the perfect metaphor for Donald Trump's presidency (http://www.cnn.com/2017/07/02/politics/trump-wrestling-tweet/index.html) via CNN",,,,,2017-07-02,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"President Trump tweeted a short video from @realDonaldTrump on July 2, 2017, that showed him wrestling a figure whose head had been replaced by the CNN logo.
The video, which had been posted on Reddit earlier, uses footage from the 2007 WrestleMania, an annual professional wrestling event, during which Trump participated in a mock "battle of the billionaires." CNN's logo in the edited video was superimposed on the head of WWE President Vince McMahon. The tweet was tagged "#FraudNewsCNN" and "#FNN", which stands for "Fake News Network."
The official presidential account @potus retweeted the video the same day.
#FraudNewsCNN #FNN pic.twitter.com/WYUnHjjUjg
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 2, 2017
Image of tweet from @readlDonaldTrump
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,CNN,,,,,, Albuquerque news crew watches as news van stolen during report on local crime,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/albuquerque-news-crew-watches-news-van-stolen-during-report-local-crime/,2020-01-24 17:53:34.007804+00:00,2021-10-06 16:12:37.482024+00:00,2021-10-06 16:12:37.435841+00:00,,Equipment Damage,,,vehicle: count of 1,,,2017-06-23,False,Albuquerque,New Mexico (NM),35.08449,-106.65114,"A news van belonging to NBC-affiliate KOB-TV was stolen in downtown Albuquerque, New Mexico, on June 23, 2017, while the news crew was gathering footage for a story on local crime.
KOB News Director Michelle Donaldson told the Albuquerque Journal that the journalists were following up on recent concerns about crime in the area when they watched as a thief drove away in the station’s SUV.
“I have a rule: That you can never be the lead of your own newscast,” Donaldson said. “So this violates that rule.”
According to the Journal, KOB used the GPS tracking device in the van to locate the vehicle within a half hour without police assistance. When they arrived at the location, the thief had already fled and the SUV had sustained damages. The Journal did not detail the extent of the damage done to the vehicle.
“I’m relieved that our people are OK and I’m relieved that we’ve recovered our property, but I’m very angry that somebody can walk up to a parked, locked vehicle in front of you in this city and drive it away,” Donaldson told the Journal. “It’s a helpless feeling to know you can’t do anything about it.”
Brooke Anderson, an independent photojournalist, was hit with a baton and had her camera pushed into her face by police while covering a protest at a city council meeting in Berkeley, California, on June 20, 2017.
Anderson told the Freedom of the Press Foundation that she attended a special Berkeley City Council held meeting at Longfellow Middle School as a credentialed photographer. During the meeting, as the city council moved to vote not to end its participation in a controversial police training program called Urban Shield, a group of activists unfurled a banner in protest and were quickly arrested by police.
Anderson said she followed a group of the activists took photographs of the interactions between the protesters and the police. (Three of her photographs were later used by the San Francisco Chronicle as part of its coverage of the protest and aftermath.)
“The police started screaming, ‘Get back, get back,’” Anderson said. “But there wasn’t really anywhere to go because the crowd was so dense.”
She said that she walked backwards, while facing the police and showing them her press badge.
“I said multiple times, ‘I’m a journalist, I’m documenting, I’m not interfering,’” she said.
At this point, she said, a police officer hit her right arm — which was already bandaged due to an unrelated injury — and her camera multiple times with a baton.
“He hit my camera and then pushed it into my face,” she said.
She was left with bruises on her arm and face.
Anderson is a member of the Pacific Media Guild, which is part of the News Guild-CWA union. After the incident, Pacific Media Guild executive officer Carl Hall sent a letter to Berkeley mayor Jesse Arreguin and police chief Andrew Greenwood, documenting what had happened to Anderson and requesting a meeting. Anderson also spoke about her experiences at a subsequent Berkeley City Council meeting.
According to Anderson, the Berkeley police have so far refused to meet with her or with a representative of her union.
Anderson said that her experience has made her concerned about the Berkeley police department’s tactics and training.
“I repeatedly identified myself as a journalist,” Anderson said. “It’s not as if they didn’t care — but they acted as if it was their intention to prevent me from documenting.”
Brooke Anderson
,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, Student journalist arrested while covering protest in Minnesota,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-journalist-arrested-while-covering-protest-minnesota/,2017-07-28 06:13:41.529405+00:00,2022-08-04 20:26:02.985965+00:00,2022-08-04 20:26:02.924014+00:00,,Arrest/Criminal Charge,"Journalists among those arrested at Castile rally (http://www.mndaily.com/article/2017/06/journalists-among-those-arrested-at-castile-rally) via Minnesota Daily, 18 Arrested, Including 2 Journalists, During Protests Over Officer’s Acquittal in Philando Castile Killing (http://splinternews.com/18-arrested-including-2-journalists-during-protests-o-1796195652) via Splinter News",,,David Clarey (Minnesota Daily),,2017-06-17,False,Minneapolis,Minnesota (MN),44.97997,-93.26384,"David Clarey, the campus editor for University of Minnesota student newspaper Minnesota Daily, was arrested along with 18 others after a mass protest following the acquittal of former police officer Jeronimo Yanez in the shooting death of Philando Castile.
In the early evening of June 17, 2017, around 500 protesters obstructed Interstate 94 in both directions. As the protest ended, Minnesota State Patrol and St. Paul police corralled dozens who remained onto an exit ramp.
Clarey was arrested while filming shortly after midnight on June 17, 2017, alongside City Pages reporter Susan Du. The two journalists were held for nine hours and charged with unlawful assembly and being a public nuisance.
The charges were later dropped.
Members of the Minnesota State Patrol arrest protesters on Interstate 94 after a jury found St. Anthony Police Department officer not guilty in the death of Philando Castile in St. Paul, Minnesota, June 16, 2017.
",arrested and released,charges dropped,Minnesota State Patrol,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, court verdict, kettle, protest, student journalism",,"obstruction: being a public nuisance, rioting: unlawful assembly",,, Minneapolis journalist arrested while covering protest,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/minneapolis-journalist-arrested-while-covering-protest/,2017-07-28 06:16:26.534887+00:00,2022-08-04 20:26:11.038954+00:00,2022-08-04 20:26:10.957326+00:00,,"Arrest/Criminal Charge, Equipment Search or Seizure","Two journalists among 18 arrested during overnight freeway standoff (http://www.startribune.com/18-arrested-in-overnight-protests-over-yanez-verdict/429098693/) via Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Journalists among those arrested at Castile rally (http://www.mndaily.com/article/2017/06/journalists-among-those-arrested-at-castile-rally) via Minnesota Daily, 18 Arrested, Including 2 Journalists, During Protests Over Officer’s Acquittal in Philando Castile Killing (http://splinternews.com/18-arrested-including-2-journalists-during-protests-o-1796195652) via Splinter News","mobile phone: count of 1, camera: count of 1, laptop: count of 1, notebook: count of 1",,Susan Du (City Pages),,2017-06-17,False,Minneapolis,Minnesota (MN),44.97997,-93.26384,"Susan Du, a journalist at Minneapolis alt-weekly City Pages, was arrested shortly after midnight on June 17, 2017, after covering a mass protest against the acquittal of former police officer Jeronimo Yanez in the shooting death of Philando Castile.
On the evening of June 16, around 500 protesters obstructed Interstate 94 in both directions. As the protest ended, Minnesota State Patrol and St. Paul police corralled dozens who remained onto an exit ramp.
Du attempted to follow other members of the media over a fence in order to get off the exit ramp but was stopped by an officer. She was arrested alongside another reporter — Minneapolis Daily city editor David Clarey — and detained for nine hours. Minneapolis State Patrol officers seized her phone, camera, keys, notes, and laptop, which were returned to her hours after she was released from custody.
Du was being charged with unlawful assembly and being a public nuisance. The charges against her were later dropped.
SWAT teams move to arrest protesters on Interstate 94 after a jury found police officer Jeronimo Yanez not guilty in the death of Philando Castile in St. Paul, Minnesota, on June 16, 2017.
",arrested and released,charges dropped,Minnesota State Patrol,None,None,False,None,[],None,returned in full,False,law enforcement,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Black Lives Matter protest, court verdict, protest",,"obstruction: being a public nuisance, rioting: unlawful assembly",,, "Courthouse security officer handcuffs Syracuse court reporter, seizes his phone",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/security-officer-seizes-journalists-phone-after-he-photographs-arrest-courthouse/,2017-07-26 02:21:16.507855+00:00,2021-10-21 17:07:33.428470+00:00,2021-10-21 17:07:33.365422+00:00,,"Arrest/Criminal Charge, Equipment Search or Seizure","Courthouse guard handcuffs Syracuse.com reporter, seizes phone for photographing arrest (http://www.syracuse.com/crime/index.ssf/2017/06/court_officer_handcuffs_syracusecom_reporter_who_photographed_arrest_in_courthou.html)",mobile phone: count of 1,,Douglass Dowty (Syracuse Post-Standard),,2017-06-14,False,Syracuse,New York (NY),43.04812,-76.14742,"Syracuse Post-Standard court reporter Douglass Dowty was briefly detained by a security officer in the Onondaga County Courthouse in upstate New York on June 14, 2017, the Post-Standard reported.
Dowty reportedly took a photograph of officers arresting a man in the courthouse hallway. Another officer then approached Dowty, ordered him to hand over his mobile phone and handcuffed him.
Dowty was then escorted to a security office, where he waited for a few minutes before being released. The security officers returned his equipment to him and Dowty told the Post-Standard that it did not appear that his phone had been searched.
Handcuffs
,detained and released without being processed,not charged,Onondaga County Courthouse Security,None,None,False,None,None,None,returned in full,False,law enforcement,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, Alpha News reporter Preya Samsundar attacked by protesters in Minnesota,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/alpha-news-reporter-preya-samsundar-attacked-protesters-minnesota/,2018-01-16 10:09:46.050223+00:00,2020-06-14 12:55:40.850966+00:00,2020-06-14 12:55:40.782807+00:00,,"Assault, Equipment Damage","Anti-Sharia, ANTIFA, and Assault (http://alphanewsmn.com/anti-sharia-antifa-assault/) via Alpha News",,mobile phone: count of 1,Preya Samsundar (Alpha News),,2017-06-10,False,St. Paul,Minnesota (MN),None,None,"Preya Samsundar, a reporter for online media startup Alpha News, was livestreaming at rally outside the Minnesota state capitol building on June 10, 2017, when an anti-fascist protester physically attacked her and damaged her recording device.
Samsundar's livestream captured part of the altercation.
Near the end of Preya’s over two-and-a-half hour livestream, she speaks with a group of anti-fascist protesters, one of whom asks what news organization she is with and whether it is a right-wing source. At the time, Samsundar was reporting for Alpha News, an online news organization that covers Minnesota politics.
“I cover the news,” she tells the protesters.
One of the protesters repeatedly tells her to leave. She continues filming — "It's a free country," she says — and then a man in black baseball cap briefly appears on screen before the picture quickly shudders and momentarily cuts out.
Samsundar described what happened in an article on Alpha News, published June 11, 2017.
“He then grabbed my work phone, which was mounted on a portable selfie-stick, shoved me out of the way and threw the phone several feet away, in front of a line of State Patrol Officers," she wrote. "The screen was completely shattered, but still recording.”
Samsundar believes that protesters also stole her personal phone, in addition to grabbing and throwing her work phone.
“I had my second phone in my backpack where I kept all of my equipment," she said. "After I moved away from the group to be a bit safer, I went to look for my personal cell phone to see if I could use it to call my boss. ... That's when I knew it was gone.
After the protest, Samsundar said, some of the anti-fascist protesters followed her to her car after the protest.
“I got into my car and that’s when they surrounded me and my car, started pounding on the windows," she said, adding the protesters threatened to break her windows if she didn't leave.
Mitch Berg, a local conservative radio show host, had planned to interview Samsundar after the rally. He said that Samsundar called him and told him that she had been surrounded by protesters angry with her reporting.
“I sent her a Facebook message asking if she could come on the air with me when she got clear of whatever was going on," Berg told the Freedom of the Press Foundation. "She said she’d try and then she called me when she was going towards her car, and she mentioned she was being followed to her car. I could hear in the background, some yelling and some commotion. ... She mentioned, as I recall, her car was surrounded and people were a little too close for comfort, a little too animated for civil society, and she hung up and called me back about ten or fifteen minutes later.”
After the protest, Samsundar filed a police report with the St. Paul police department.
A spokesman for the St. Paul Police Department confirmed the contents of Samsundar’s police report, and told the Freedom of the Press Foundation the case is currently listed as inactive.
“Based on the reports, it looks like the journalist's personal cell phone was stolen and her work phone (and a selfie stick) were grabbed by a suspect and thrown about 25 to 30 feet, causing its face to crack. A group also followed her to her car, pounded on the vehicle and threatened her as she drove away.
An investigator worked to identify the suspect but was unfortunately able to do so.”
When asked for comment, a spokesperson for the Minnesota State Patrol said simply, “The items reported stolen occurred on a city street, which is St. Paul Police's jurisdiction.”
After learning about what happened to Samsundar on June 10, Alpha News hired private security for her.
Samsundar said that a bodyguard accompanied her the next time she reported on a protest, but she was still harassed.
"I was being threatened and people came up to me and said I need to behave myself or else," she said. "The bodyguard with me was like, 'I don’t want you to get hurt. I want you to be safe, so if you please could just do as little as possible in this situation to make it work that’d be great.' I was a little bummed because as a journalist I want to talk to these people, find out why they’re here, and I’m being told I can’t.”
Samsundar said that she continued filming the protest march for ten to fifteen minutes, until the harassment escalated and her security guard pulled her back and advised her to leave the protest.
After that experience, Samsundar left journalism. She is now a communications specialist for the Minnesota GOP.
“These guys targeted me from day one once they knew who I was," she said. "It got to the point where my bosses didn't want me going out to cover stories because they feared for my safety. It was one reason I changed jobs. If I couldn't go out and do my job, there was no point.”
Organizers of the June 10 counter-protest did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Reality Winner, a 25-year-old Air Force veteran and federal contractor, was arrested and charged under the Espionage Act on June 3, 2017.
Winner is accused of sending journalists a top-secret NSA intelligence report, which showed that the NSA had collected intelligence suggesting that Russian military intelligence had tried to gain access to states' electronic voting systems in 2016. The Intercept published a partially-redacted version of the report on June 5, 2017.
On June 8, Winner was arraigned on one count of violating the the Espionage Act, a century-old law that criminalizes the disclosure of national defense information. Winner pleaded not guilty.
She was denied bail and is currently being held in jail pending trial.
The Intercept has said that the NSA report it published was mailed to it anonymously, so it does not technically know whether Winner was its source. First Look Media, parent company of The Intercept, has pledged to support Winner's legal defense through its Press Freedom Defense Fund.
Winner is the first person to be prosecuted under the Espionage Act since Trump took office. During the Obama administration, the Department of Justice prosecuted eight people under the Espionage Act for sharing classified information with journalists.
Ali Latifi, a journalist for Al Jazeera English, was flagged for secondary screening by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers when he flew to Los Angeles from Istanbul on May 27, 2017.
Latifi is a dual Afghani and American citizen who has reported for the New York Times, the Telegram, the Los Angeles Times, and the Chicago Tribune. He told the Committee to Protect Journalists that when he arrived in Los Angeles, he scanned his U.S. passport at the customs area and received a document with an ‘X’ printed over his face. When he reached the passport counter, a CBP officer instructed him to step aside for additional screening.
Latifi said that the CBP officer emptied his backpack and took both his U.S. and Afghan passports. The officer also asked Latifi to unlock and turn over his phone, which Latifi told CPJ he did, believing he didn’t have much of a choice. Latifi said that the officer looked through his phone for approximately five minutes, but did not ask to search his computer.
After finishing the search, the officer asked Latifi a number of questions, including details about where he lives in Kabul, Afghanistan. He also asked Latifi for his U.S. address and phone number, although Latifi hasn’t lived in the United States in four years. The CBP officer also asked Latifi about his occupation and, upon hearing that he was a journalist, what he writes about. He then asked Latifi to name a recent article that he had written that he had really liked and asked, “If I Google your name and LA Times, will it come up?”
All told, Latifi said, the questioning and search were “annoying but fine.”
This was far from Latifi’s first secondary screening, he told CPJ that he has been stopped everywhere from Heathrow to Dubai. He plans to file a FOIA request to see what information he can glean about the rationale behind his repeated stops.
“I’ve always wondered what they see on the screen and what makes them suspect,” he said.
Greg Gianforte, the Republican nominee in a special congressional race in Montana, physically assaulted Guardian U.S. reporter Ben Jacobs on May 24, 2017, while Jacobs tried to interview him at his campaign headquarters in Bozeman, MT.
A crew of Fox News journalists who witnessed the attack described it as brutal and unprovoked:
At that point, Gianforte grabbed Jacobs by the neck with both hands and slammed him into the ground behind him. Faith, Keith and I watched in disbelief as Gianforte then began punching the reporter. As Gianforte moved on top of Jacobs, he began yelling something to the effect of, "I'm sick and tired of this!"
Jacobs scrambled to his knees and said something about his glasses being broken. He asked Faith, Keith and myself for our names. In shock, we did not answer. Jacobs then said he wanted the police called and went to leave. Gianforte looked at the three of us and repeatedly apologized. At that point, I told him and Scanlon, who was now present, that we needed a moment. The men then left.
To be clear, at no point did any of us who witnessed this assault see Jacobs show any form of physical aggression toward Gianforte, who left the area after giving statements to local sheriff's deputies.
Fox News
Audio of Greg Gianforte assaulting Ben Jacobs
Guardian U.S.
Following the attack, which left Jacobs’ glasses broken, police arrived to interview witnesses and an ambulance took Jacobs to the hospital, where he got an X-ray on his elbow. A few hours later, Gallatin county sheriff Brian Gootkin announced that Gianforte had been cited for misdemeanor assault.
“The nature of the injuries did not meet the statutory elements of felony assault,” Gootkin said in a statement.
Responding to reports that he had donated $250 to Gianforte’s campaign in March, Gootkin confirmed that he had made the donation but said that “this contribution has nothing to do with our investigation which is now complete.”
Gianforte's campaign initially released a statement claiming that Jacobs was to blame for the incident.
After winning the election on May 25, Gianforte publicly apologized to Jacobs during his victory speech.
On June 7, as part of a settlement with Jacobs, Gianforte pledged to donate $50,000 to the Committee to Protect Journalists — which used the money to help fund the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker — and wrote a lengthy apology to Jacobs:
I write to express my sincere apology for my conduct on the evening of May 24. My physical response to your legitimate question was unprofessional, unacceptable, and unlawful. As both a candidate for office and a public official, I should be held to a high standard in my interactions with the press and the public. My treatment of you did not meet that standard.
Notwithstanding anyone's statements to the contrary, you did not initiate any physical contact with me, and I had no right to assault you. I am sorry for what I did and the unwanted notoriety this has created for you. I take full responsibility.
I understand the critical role that journalists and the media play in our society. Protections afforded to the press through the Constitution are fundamental to who we are as a nation and the way government is accountable to the people I acknowledge that the media have am obligation to seek information. I also know that civility in our public discourse is central to a productive dialogue on issues. I had no right to respond the way I did to your legitimate question about healthcare policy. You were doing your job.
Greg Gianforte's letter of apology to Ben Jacobs
On June 12, Gianforte pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault. He was sentenced to community service and anger management classes, but did not face any jail time.
Gianforte was sworn into the U.S. House of Representatives on June 21 and has already filed for re-election in 2018.
Montana Republican congressman-elect Greg Gianforte appears in court to face a charge of misdemeanor assault after he was accused of attacking a reporter on the eve of his election, in Bozeman, Montana, U.S., June 12, 2017.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,politician,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,election,,,,, Journal & Topics editor Todd Wessell subpoenaed to reveal source,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journal-topics-editor-todd-wessell-subpoenaed-reveal-source/,2018-04-20 20:15:56.638823+00:00,2020-03-19 20:00:38.636395+00:00,2020-03-19 20:00:38.467332+00:00,,Subpoena/Legal Order,"Claims Of Porn In Police Department Prompt Probe (https://www.journal-topics.com/articles/claims-of-porn-in-police-department-prompt-probe/) via Journal & Topics, Give Us Your Source: City (https://www.journal-topics.com/articles/give-us-your-source-city/) via Journal & Topics, Update On Journal’s Challenge Of Subpoena (https://www.journal-topics.com/articles/update-on-journals-challenge-of-subpoena/) via Journal & Topics, Journal Complies With Court Order, Won’t Reveal Source (https://www.journal-topics.com/articles/journal-complies-with-court-order-wont-reveal-source/) via Journal & Topics",,,Todd Wessell (Journal & Topics),,2017-05-20,True,Des Plaines,Illinois (IL),42.03336,-87.8834,"Todd Wessell — editor at Journal & Topics Media Group in Des Plaines, Illinois — was issued a subpoena In May 2017 as part of a defamation lawsuit filed by police Sgt. Michael Holdman against the city of Des Plaines, Des Plaines Police Chief William Kushner, and police Sgt. John Rice.
In 2015, Wessell wrote an article about Des Plaines police officers viewing a pornographic image on a department computer inside the Des Plaines Police Station. The article relied on an anonymous source who gave the paper a copy of a photograph that showed officers looking at the image.
Holdman was accused of leaking the photograph to the paper and demoted. In 2017, he filed a lawsuit against the City of Des Plaines, the police chief, and a fellow officer.
In May 2017, the defendants in that lawsuit subpoenaed Wessell, seeking to uncover the identity of his source for the 2015 story.
Wessell told the Freedom of the Press Foundation that he believes the defendants subpoenaed him in an attempt to confirm that Sgt. Holdman was the leaker, which would potentially exonerate them of wrongdoing.
In accordance with a court order, Wessell ultimately agreed to answer a single yes/no question.
“I was not going to reveal any source whatsoever, I was steadfast in that,” he said. “In the settlement, I agreed to them asking me one question. The one question was, ‘Did I get the information, the picture, from Holdman?’ and the answer was ‘no,’ and that was it. It was over. So they have no idea where I got it and they never will.”
Although Wessell was not forced to reveal his source, the case presented a financial burden for him.
“It was a very strange case to begin with and I knew we were in the right,” he said. “My lawyer had to make motions and go to court and it cost a lot of money, you know.”
The Des Plaines police department did not immediately return a request for comment. Holdman’s defamation lawsuit remains unresolved.
Ali Hamedani, a reporter for BBC World Service, was stopped in Chicago O’Hare airport on May 18, 2017, two days after President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning entry to the U.S. for 90 days for individuals from seven countries, including Iran.
The British-Iranian journalist, who said he was traveling on a Media I Visa, told the Committee to Protect Journalists that border agents detained and questioned him for over two hours. Hamedani also said that border agents searched his phone and computer and read his Twitter feed.
Passengers arrive at O'Hare airport in Chicago, Illinois, U.S. February 4, 2017.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,returned in full,False,law enforcement,O'Hare International Airport,True,U.S. non-resident,False,False,yes,yes,no,unknown,yes,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,"Iran, United Kingdom",, FCC security guards pin reporter against wall as he tries to ask FCC commissioner a question,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/fcc-security-guards-pin-reporter-against-wall-he-tries-ask-fcc-commissioner-question/,2018-03-20 20:09:26.063599+00:00,2018-03-20 22:08:04.793275+00:00,2018-03-20 22:07:50.402907+00:00,,"Assault, Denial of Access","Roll Call Reporter Says F.C.C. Security Pinned Him to a Wall (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/19/us/politics/fcc-security-reporter.html) via New York Times, Reporter manhandled by FCC guards because he asked question (https://www.press.org/news-multimedia/news/reporter-manhandled-fcc-guards-because-he-asked-question) via National Press Club, FCC apologizes for its treatment of a reporter (https://www.politico.com/story/2017/05/19/fcc-apologizes-manhandles-cq-reporter-238606) via Politico, FCC Responds to Senate Query on Reporter Incident (https://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/federal-communications-commission-reporter) via Roll Call",,,John Donnelly (CQ Roll Call),,2017-05-18,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"CQ Roll Call reporter John Donnelly was forcibly removed from the Federal Communications Commission headquarters on May 18, 2017, after trying to ask FCC commissioner Michael O’Rielly a question as he was leaving a scheduled press conference.
Donnelly, who is also the chair of the National Press Club’s Press Freedom Committee, told the NPC that two of O’Rielly’s security guards pinned him up against a wall as O’Reilly walked past him and he attempted to ask the commissioner a question. Once O’Rielly had passed, one of the security guards asked Donnelly why he had not asked a question during the press conference and then forcibly escorted him from the building.
“I could not have been less threatening or more polite,” Donnelly told NPC. “There is no justification for using force in such a situation.”
The FCC later apologized for its treatment of Donnelly.
“We apologized to Mr. Donnelly more than once and let him know that the FCC was on heightened alert today based on several threats,” an FCC spokesperson said in a statement sent to Politico.
The FCC meeting room is seen empty following a security threat ahead of the vote on the repeal of so called net neutrality rules, on December 14, 2017.
After President Trump was presented with a ceremonial saber at a commencement ceremony for the U.S. Coast Guard on May 17, 2017, Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly made a joking comment to the president, which was caught on a hot mic.
"Use that on the press, sir," Kelly said.
"Yeah," the president responded, chuckling.
Trump was handed the sword as token of appreciation following remarks in which he stated, “No other politician in history… has been treated worse or more unfairly.” He also claimed that “the more righteous your fight, the more opposition that you will face."
Trump's comments at the U.S. Coast Guard ceremony occurred during a tense time for the president and the press. On May 15, two days before the ceremony, the Washington Post reported that Trump had revealed classified information to Russia's foreign minister and its ambassador to the U.S. during a White House meeting. The following day, the New York Times reported that that Trump had asked F.B.I. director James Comey to consider imprisoning journalists who published classified information.
On July 31, Kelly replaced Reince Priebus as Trump’s chief of staff.
President Donald Trump and U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly attend the Coast Guard Academy commencement ceremonies in New London, Connecticut.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,Donald Trump,,,,, Reporter arrested for shouting questions at Trump cabinet official,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-dan-heyman-arrested-shouting-questions-hhs-secretary/,2017-05-18 06:14:28.159430+00:00,2022-05-13 14:54:42.058457+00:00,2022-05-13 14:54:41.962510+00:00,(2017-09-06 15:12:00+00:00) Charges dropped against Heyman,Arrest/Criminal Charge,"Press agency condemns arrest of journalist at WV Capitol (http://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/20170517/press-agency-condemns-arrest-of-journalist-at-wv-capitol) via Charleston Gazette-Mail, Journalist arrested at healthcare event after asking Trump officials questions about pre-existing conditions (https://www.dailydot.com/layer8/reporter-arrested-kellyanne-conway-tom-price/) via The Daily Dot, Criminal complaint against Dan Heyman (https://twitter.com/jake_zuckerman/status/862081963242532864), I was arrested for asking Tom Price a question. I was just doing my job. (https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2017/05/16/i-was-arrested-for-asking-tom-price-a-question-i-was-just-doing-my-job/) via The Washington Post, Daniel Heyman on Getting Arrested for Asking Tom Price a Question (https://www.corporatecrimereporter.com/news/200/daniel-heyman-getting-arrested-asking-question/) via Corporate Crime Reporter, Public News Service statement after charges were dropped (https://twitter.com/PNS_News/status/905488443148353536)",,,Dan Heyman (Public News Service),,2017-05-09,False,Charleston,West Virginia (WV),38.34982,-81.63262,"Public News Service radio journalist Dan Heyman was arrested in the West Virginia Capitol building on May 9, 2017, while attempting to interview Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price.
Video footage of the incident shows two police officers holding Heyman and escorting him to a police office in the capitol building. Heyman was released on a $5,000 bail about four hours after being arrested.
Heyman was charged with “willful disruption of governmental processes,” a misdemeanor. The criminal complaint against him accused him of “causing a disturbance by yelling questions at Ms. Conway and Secretary Price.”
Heyman appeared at a court hearing on Aug. 29.
Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price testifies on Fiscal Year 2018 Budget Blueprint before the Committee on Appropriations at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on March 29, 2017.
",arrested and released,charges dropped,West Virginia Capitol Police,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,Donald Trump administration,,obstruction: willful disruption of governmental process,,, South Dakota state prosecutor subpoenas journalist,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/south-dakota-state-prosecutor-subpoenas-journalist/,2017-07-31 06:10:57.134498+00:00,2022-04-06 14:32:52.530164+00:00,2022-04-06 14:32:52.462870+00:00,,Subpoena/Legal Order,"AG drops subpoena for Argus Leader reporter (https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/05/15/ag-drops-subpoena-argus-leader-reporter/323786001/) via USA Today, State prosecutor orders reporter to testify in Flandreau marijuana case (https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/05/13/state-prosecutor-orders-reporter-testify-flandreau-marijuana-case/320248001/) via USA Today",,,Dana Ferguson (Argus Leader Media),,2017-05-08,False,Sioux Falls,South Dakota (SD),43.54997,-96.70033,"Dana Ferguson, a reporter with Argus Leader Media, a South Dakota news outlet that forms part of the USAToday network, received a subpoena on May 8, 2017. The subpoena from the South Dakota Attorney General's Office ordered the reporter to testify in a criminal trial of an individual who allegedly helped the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe in an aborted attempt to open a recreational marijuana resort. On May 15, prosecutors withdrew the subpoena, according to USA Today.
A cannabis plant. The Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe attempted to set up a marijuana resort in Flandreau, South Dakota but later suspended the project in the wake of legal pressure.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,other testimony,['DROPPED'],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, Puerto Rico Department of Justice executes search warrant against three student media outlets,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/puerto-rico-department-justice-executes-search-warrant-against-three-student-media-outlets/,2019-10-23 17:42:58.819197+00:00,2022-04-06 14:39:00.870071+00:00,2022-04-06 14:39:00.807065+00:00,,Subpoena/Legal Order,,,,,,2017-05-05,False,San Juan,Puerto Rico (PR),None,None,"The Puerto Rico Department of Justice issued a search warrant for the Facebook accounts of three university publications on May 5, 2017, seeking information about student protestors who had rallied that April against austerity cuts at a meeting of the University of Puerto Rico's governing board.
Seven of those students will go on trial this November for interrupting the meeting. That interruption was part of a lengthy student-led protest movement against austerity cuts that effectively shut down the majority of the university’s eleven campuses for several months in the spring of 2017.
Superior Court Judge Rafael E. Jimenez-Rivera signed off on the search warrant, which requested Facebook data covering the period between April 26-28, 2017, from three student publications: Pulso Estudiantil, UPR Dialogue, and Centro de Comunicación Estudiantil.
Facebook provided some 1,553 pages of information from Pulso Estudiantil's Facebook account to the Puerto Rico Department of Justice, including private messages, photos, videos, comments and the names of those who commented on the account’s posts. Facebook provided another 1,500 pages from the account of Centro de Comunicación Estudiantil, according to a statement from CCE spokesman Gabriel Casals published by Metro Puerto Rico. Casals went on to demand that the charges against the student protesters be dropped.
The terms of the search warrant prevented Facebook from notifying the impacted parties for 90 days. Neither Facebook nor the Department of Justice notified the student media outlets about the search warrant after that period expired, according to a report from Pulso Estudiantil. Facebook’s policies require such notification, NoticEl reported, citing an attorney from the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and so this constitutes a lapse on the part of the social networking site.
Editors at Pulso Estudiantil only learned of the search warrant on Sept. 27, 2019, when a staffer for Denis Márquez Lebrón, a member of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives, contacted them via Facebook about the matter. Lawyers representing the seven students on trial had uncovered the documents in the course of the discovery process, Marisol Nazario, executive director of Pulso Estudiantil, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
"We consider this to be a violation of our freedom of the press and our privacy," Nazario said. “If this happened to us, this could happen to any news outlet in Puerto Rico.”
At the time the search warrant was issued, now-Governor Wanda Vázquez Garced was then Puerto Rico’s Secretary of Justice. When asked about the warrant at a press conference in October, Vázquez Garced said the warrant was issued properly as part of a criminal investigation, El Nuevo Dia reported.
A lawyer representing one of the seven students on trial for interrupting the university board meeting plans to challenge the legality of the search warrant, Metro Puerto Rico reported.
Márquez Lebrón introduced a House resolution on Sept. 19, 2019, calling for the body to investigate the matter and weigh in on whether the search warrant was constitutional.
"The House of Representatives must conduct an investigation in order to assess whether public security agencies are complying with the requirements established in the Constitution of Puerto Rico when accessing electronically stored information," the resolution says.
University of Puerto Rico students protest budget cuts in the spring of 2017. In May, the Department of Justice issued warrants for three student publications' Facebook accounts seeking information on student protesters.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,Facebook,other,warrant,None,"Centro de Comunicación Estudiantil, Pulso Estudiantil, UPR Dialogue",student journalism,,,,, Alaska state senator slaps journalist,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/alaska-state-senator-slaps-journalist/,2017-05-18 07:12:00.350939+00:00,2021-10-19 20:40:08.958749+00:00,2021-10-19 20:40:08.913452+00:00,,Assault,Alaska Dispatch News reporter slapped by Wasilla lawmaker (https://www.adn.com/politics/alaska-legislature/2017/05/03/alaska-dispatch-news-reporter-says-he-was-slapped-by-wasilla-lawmaker/) via Alaska Dispatch News,,,Nathaniel Herz (Alaska Dispatch News),,2017-05-02,False,Juneau,Alaska (AK),58.30194,-134.41972,"Alaska Dispatch News journalist Nathaniel Herz was slapped by Alaska state senator David Wilson on the main stairs of the Alaska Capitol in Juneau on May 2, 2017.
Herz reports that he had approached Wilson to get his reaction to a recent report he had published on Wilson’s new bill. After a brief, awkward exchange, Wilson slapped Herz in the face. Herz recorded the entire incident.
Herz filed a police report after the incident, but no charges were filed against Wilson.
The Third District Court of Appeal in Florida ruled on April 26, 207, that a pre-trial hearing in a Florida murder case can be held in secret, siding with a Miami-Dade Circuit Judge’s ruling to close a bond hearing for two defendants, citing “pervasive publicity” as a threat to their right to fair trial.
Miami Herald and WPLG-ABC10 opposed the closure and, in a brief filed to the Third DCA, argued: “That hearings of such magnitude and public importance should be held in secret and outside the presence of the public is unconstitutional.”
The appellate court affirmed “evidence of extensive local, national and international print and broadcast media coverage of the instant case,” which jeopardized the defendant's’ right to a fair trial.
“The speed of dissemination and the high percentage of likely jurors with access to social media and the internet also support the trial judge’s concern,” the opinion states. “The Closure Order is a temporary ruling subject to reconsideration as to subsequent hearings and the trial itself.. Following our review of the petitioners’ requests, the records themselves, and the trial court’s analysis, we find no departure from the essential requirements of law.”
Scott Ponce, a lawyer for the Miami Herald, said, “The courtroom belongs to the public, and it’s difficult to accept that the public is being kicked out of a hearing during which the judge will consider whether two people indicted for first-degree murder should be released into public pending trial.”
Reporter Ben Hall of NewsChannel 5 was assaulted on April 26, 2017, while reporting on an individual living in a vacant home in Mount Juliet, Tennessee.
According to NewsChannel 5, Hall was investigating claims that the individual, Jude Pischke, had been living in an unoccupied house in a suburban Nashville neighborhood for more than two years despite not having any legal claims to the property. Hall confirmed to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that photojournalist Bob Stinnett was with him at the time of the incident.
Video of the incident shows Hall approaching Pischke and questioning him about the house. Pischke demands that the reporter and news crew leave, then retrieves an ax from the bed of a pickup truck and charges toward the reporter.
As Hall and Stinnett back away from Pischke, Hall can be heard saying, “We’re backing up. We’re leaving right now,” as Pischke swung the ax toward the news crew’s feet.
The Tennessean reported that as the news crew rushed to leave, Pischke got into his vehicle and drove aggressively toward them. Police officers issued an arrest warrant for Pischke, and he was detained during a traffic stop later that same day. Pischke was charged with three counts of aggravated assault and three counts of reckless endangerment for assaulting the news crew.
The Tracker filed a public records request for the incident report with the Mt. Juliet Police Department, which was unfulfilled as of publication.
Photojournalist Bob Stinnett of NewsChannel 5 was assaulted on April 26, 2017, while reporting on an individual living in a vacant home in Mount Juliet, Tennessee.
According to NewsChannel 5, Stinnett and reporter Ben Hall were investigating claims that the individual, Jude Pischke, had been living in an unoccupied house in a suburban Nashville neighborhood for more than two years despite not having any legal claims to the property. Hall, whose assault was documented here, confirmed to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that Stinnett was with him at the time of the incident.
Video taken by Stinnett of the incident shows Hall approaching Pischke and questioning him about the house. Pischke demands that the reporter and news crew leave, then retrieves an ax from the bed of a pickup truck and charges toward the reporter.
As Stinnett and Hall back away from Pischke, Hall can be heard saying, “We’re backing up. We’re leaving right now,” as Pischke swung the ax toward the news crew’s feet.
The Tennessean reported that as the news crew rushed to leave, Pischke got into his vehicle and drove aggressively toward them. Police officers issued an arrest warrant for Pischke, and he was detained during a traffic stop later that same day. Pischke was charged with three counts of aggravated assault and three counts of reckless endangerment for assaulting the news crew.
The Tracker filed a public records request for the incident report with the Mt. Juliet Police Department, which was unfulfilled as of publication.
After the Justice Department indicated it planned on pursuing WikiLeaks and its publisher with criminal charges, Attorney General Jeff Sessions refused to rule out using any potential precedent set by such a dangerous prosecution to go after other US-based news organizations.
When appearing on CNN on April 21, 2017, CNN anchor Kate Bolduan asked Sessions whether “folks should be concerned that this would also open up news organizations like CNN and the New York Times to prosecution.”
Sessions steadfastly refused to rule anything out, replying, “That’s speculative, and I’m not able to comment on that.”
Prosecuting WikiLeaks would be a grave threat to all journalists.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,Department of Justice,,,,, The Justice Department and CIA threatens legal action against WikiLeaks for publishing,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/justice-department-and-cia-threatens-legal-action-against-wikileaks-publishing/,2017-08-02 02:59:51.510991+00:00,2022-04-06 14:39:54.404008+00:00,2022-04-06 14:39:54.333592+00:00,(2018-11-16 17:17:00+00:00) DOJ has charged Assange,Chilling Statement,"Trump's CIA Director Pompeo, targeting WikiLeaks, explicitly threatens speech and press freedoms (https://theintercept.com/2017/04/14/trumps-cia-director-pompeo-targeting-wikileaks-explicitly-threatens-speech-and-press-freedoms/) via The Intercept, Arresting Julian Assange is a priority, says US attorney general Jeff Sessions (https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/apr/21/arresting-julian-assange-is-a-priority-says-us-attorney-general-jeff-sessions) via The Guardian, Julian Assange has been charged, prosecutors reveal inadvertently in court filing (https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/julian-assange-has-been-charged-prosecutors-reveal-in-inadvertent-court-filing/2018/11/15/9902e6ba-98bd-48df-b447-3e2a4638f05a_story.html?utm_term=.a97be026cc2e) via Washington Post",,,,,2017-04-20,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"After reports in April 2017 indicated that the Justice Department would seek to prosecute WikiLeaks and its editor Julian Assange for its publishing activities, Attorney General Jeff Sessions told a group of reporters on April 20 that arresting Assange was "a priority."
“We are going to step up our effort and already are stepping up our efforts on all leaks," Sessions said. "This is a matter that’s gone beyond anything I’m aware of. We have professionals that have been in the security business of the United States for many years that are shocked by the number of leaks and some of them are quite serious.”
He added: “So yes, it is a priority. We’ve already begun to step up our efforts and whenever a case can be made, we will seek to put some people in jail.”
The Justice Department's statements followed a speech by CIA director Mike Pompeo at a DC think tank on April 13, where he called the publisher a “a non-state hostile intelligence service,” claiming that “we have to recognize that we can no longer allow Assange and his colleagues the latitude to use free speech values against us.” Pompeo falsely claimed that "Julian Assange has no First Amendment privileges" because he is "not a U.S. citizen." (Non-citizens have just as many First Amendment protections as US citizens.)
Central Intelligence Agency Director Mike Pompeo speaks at The Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, U.S. April 13, 2017.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,WikiLeaks,Department of Justice,,,,, Photojournalist Nebyou Solomon arrested at Trump rally,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-nebyou-solomon-arrested-trump-rally/,2017-05-18 06:56:39.556525+00:00,2022-05-13 14:59:57.520120+00:00,2022-05-13 14:59:57.360083+00:00,(2019-04-17 13:28:00+00:00) Solomon files First Amendment lawsuit against Las Vegas police,Arrest/Criminal Charge,Journalist arrested during tax protest outside Trump International in Las Vegas (https://www.reviewjournal.com/local/local-las-vegas/journalist-arrested-during-tax-protest-outside-trump-international-in-las-vegas/) via Las Vegas Review-Journal,,,Nebyou Solomon (8 News Now),,2017-04-15,False,Las Vegas,Nevada (NV),36.17497,-115.13722,"Nebyou Solomon, a photojournalist for 8 News Now, was arrested on April 15, 2017, while documenting a rally held outside Trump International Hotel Las Vegas. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department released a statement saying that Solomon continued recording from private property belonging to the Fashion Show Mall after security officers requested him to move. Amy Rose, of the ACLU's Nevada chapter, said that Solomon was recording from a sidewalk.
Solomon was released eight hours later on the night of his arrest. He was charged with trespassing and obstruction of a police officer.
Las Vegas police stand between protesters against and supporters of the election of Republican Donald Trump as President of the United States on Nov. 12, 2016, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
",arrested and released,charges dropped,Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department,None,None,False,2:19-cv-00652,['ONGOING'],Civil,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Donald Trump rally, protest",,"obstruction: obstruction of a police officer, trespassing",,, Morning Joe hosts claim that administration officials tried to use Enquirer story as leverage,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/morning-joe-hosts-claim-administration-officials-tried-use-enquirer-story-leverage/,2017-08-01 11:00:27.634361+00:00,2022-08-10 18:39:35.459395+00:00,2022-08-10 18:39:35.395034+00:00,,Chilling Statement,,,,"Joe Scarborough (MSNBC), Mika Brzezinski (MSNBC)",,2017-04-12,True,New York,New York (NY),None,None,"MSNBC hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough claimed in a Washington Post op-ed that senior White House officials used the threat of an Enquirer story about their then-private romantic relationship to try to extract an apology from them to President Donald Trump.
According to Scarborough, Jared Kushner was one of the administration officials who spoke with him him about the Enquirer story. Scarborough texted with Kushner in April 2017 and the latter said that the host should personally apologize to Trump for negative coverage on his show, according to a report in New York Magazine.
A Fox News article citing an unnamed White House aide claimed that the exchange with Kushner was not a quid pro quo and that the suggestion of an apology was merely a suggestion for how Scarborough could get back on speaking terms with the president.
On June 30, Trump tweeted, “Watched low rated @Morning_Joe for first time in long time. FAKE NEWS. He called me to stop a National Enquirer article. I said no! Bad show.”
Scarborough says that he never called Trump to apologize.
MSNBC's Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski arrive for the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner in Washington, U.S. on April 25, 2015.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, Egyptian talk show host slapped on the back of the neck,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/egyptian-talk-show-host-slapped-back-neck/,2017-07-31 05:33:59.643118+00:00,2022-07-30 00:09:12.450589+00:00,2022-07-30 00:09:12.379078+00:00,,Assault,Egypt journalist attacked by anti-Sisi protesters in Washington streets (https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2017/4/4/egypt-journalist-attacked-by-anti-sisi-protesters-in-washington-streets) via The New Arab,,,Youssef al-Hosiny (Cairo Time),,2017-04-03,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"Egyptian talk show host Youssef al-Hosiny was accosted by protesters in Washington, D.C. on April 3, 2017, and slapped on the back of the neck.
According to an article in The New Arab ("Al-Araby Al-Jadeed" in Arabic), being slapped on the back of the neck is an extremely insulting form of assault in Egypt.
Al-Hosiny was in D.C. to cover Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's visit to the White House.
On March 30, 2017, President Trump tweeted, “The failing @nytimes has disgraced the media world. Gotten me wrong for two solid years. Change libel laws?”
The failing @nytimes has disgraced the media world. Gotten me wrong for two solid years. Change libel laws? https://t.co/QIqLgvYLLi
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 30, 2017
There are currently no federal libel laws, and Supreme Court has said that plaintiffs must meet a very high standard in order to win a libel suit. Trump would have a difficult time following through on his threat, according to First Amendment lawyers.
This tweet is not the first time that Trump suggested changing libel laws. On Feb. 26, 2016, during the Republican primary campaign, Trump said that he wanted to “open up libel laws.”
Trump says that he will open up libel laws during a campaign event in Fort Worth, Texas on February 26, 2016.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, ICE denies parole to Mexican journalist seeking asylum,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/ice-denies-parole-mexican-journalist-seeking-asylum/,2017-07-26 02:00:48.560178+00:00,2020-03-19 18:44:36.878661+00:00,2020-03-19 18:44:36.809256+00:00,(2017-09-13 12:00:00+00:00) CBP refuses to allow Pineda into U.S.,Other Incident,"Mexican journalist held at US border for past two months (RSF) (https://rsf.org/en/news/mexican-journalist-held-us-border-past-two-months), Threatened Mexican journalist not allowed to enter United States (https://rsf.org/en/news/threatened-mexican-journalist-not-allowed-enter-united-states)",,,Martín Méndez Pineda,,2017-03-28,False,El Paso,Texas (TX),31.75872,-106.48693,"Martín Méndez Pineda, a Mexican journalist legally seeking asylum in the United States was denied parole on March 28, 2017. Pineda arrived in the U.S. the previous month on February 5 and entered an asylum claim alleging that he received death threats in relation to his reporting on the federal police in the Mexican state of Guerrero.
On March 1, Pineda passed a “credible fear interview” to establish whether a real threat exists. U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement refused to grant parole to Méndez, however, on the grounds that he was a “flight risk” and did not have substantial ties to the community.
Pineda spent almost four months in detention before returning to Mexico in May 2017.
Martín Méndez Pineda
,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,ICE,,,,, OC Weekly photographer Julie Leopo attacked at pro-Trump rally,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/oc-weekly-photographer-julie-leopo-attacked-pro-trump-rally/,2017-07-28 20:40:15.516833+00:00,2022-08-09 20:19:58.345180+00:00,2022-08-09 20:19:58.215035+00:00,,Assault,"Huntington Beach Pro-Trump March Turns Into Attack on Anti-Trump Protesters, OC Weekly (http://www.ocweekly.com/news/huntington-beach-pro-trump-march-turns-into-attack-on-anti-trump-protesters-press-7991623) via OC Weekly, OC Weekly Reporters, Photographers, Intern Talk About Huntington Beach's Trumpbro Free-for-All (http://www.ocweekly.com/news/oc-weekly-reporters-photographers-intern-talk-about-huntington-beachs-trumpbro-free-for-all-7997408) via OC Weekly, Reporter and photographers say they were assaulted by Trump supporters at Huntington Beach rally (http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-trump-rally-20170326-story.html) via Los Angeles Times",,,Julie Leopo (OC Weekly),,2017-03-25,False,Huntington Beach,California (CA),33.6603,-117.99923,"Julie Leopo, a photographer for OC Weekly, was assaulted alongside OC Weekly photographer Brian Feinzimer and intern Frank Tristan on March 25, 2017, while covering a pro-Donald Trump march in Huntington Beach, California.
After one demonstrator approached Leopo yelling “fake news” and repeatedly hit her with an American flag, Feinzimer turned his camera on the demonstrator and a violent 30 minute brawl ensued.
Leopo claims that she reported her attacker to a police officer, but the officer refused to write a report.
Participants carry flags during the Southern California Make America Great Again march in support of President Trump, the military and first responders in Huntington Beach, California, on March 25, 2017.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Donald Trump protest, protest",,,,, OC Weekly photographer Brian Feinzimer attacked at pro-Trump rally,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/oc-weekly-photographer-brian-feinzimer-attacked-pro-trump-rally/,2017-07-30 04:42:22.006402+00:00,2022-08-09 20:18:41.089802+00:00,2022-08-09 20:18:41.026398+00:00,,Assault,"Huntington Beach Pro-Trump March Turns Into Attack on Anti-Trump Protesters, OC Weekly (http://www.ocweekly.com/news/huntington-beach-pro-trump-march-turns-into-attack-on-anti-trump-protesters-press-7991623) via OC Weekly, OC Weekly Reporters, Photographers, Intern Talk About Huntington Beach's Trumpbro Free-for-All (http://www.ocweekly.com/news/oc-weekly-reporters-photographers-intern-talk-about-huntington-beachs-trumpbro-free-for-all-7997408) via OC Weekly, Reporter and photographers say they were assaulted by Trump supporters at Huntington Beach rally (http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-trump-rally-20170326-story.html) via Los Angeles Times",,,Brian Feinzimer (OC Weekly),,2017-03-25,False,Huntington Beach,California (CA),33.6603,-117.99923,"Brian Feinzimer a photographer for OC Weekly, was assaulted alongside OC Weekly photographer Julie Leopo and intern Frank Tristan on March 25, 2017, while covering a pro-Donald Trump march in Huntington Beach, California.
After photographing a demonstrator who repeatedly hit Leopo with an American flag, the demonstrator turned on Feinzimer. He was then shoved and punched by an unidentified assailant.
According to OC Weekly editor Gustavo Arellano, an officer was asked to pursue the man but refused.
Pro-Trump rally participants mix with Anti-Trump protesters as the two sides clash during a Pro-Trump rally in Huntington Beach, California, U.S., March 25, 2017.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Donald Trump protest, protest",,,,, OC Weekly intern Frank Tristan attacked at pro-Trump rally,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/oc-weekly-intern-frank-tristan-attacked-pro-trump-rally/,2017-07-30 04:47:56.356311+00:00,2022-08-09 20:18:23.532984+00:00,2022-08-09 20:18:23.460568+00:00,,Assault,"Huntington Beach Pro-Trump March Turns Into Attack on Anti-Trump Protesters, OC Weekly (http://www.ocweekly.com/news/huntington-beach-pro-trump-march-turns-into-attack-on-anti-trump-protesters-press-7991623) via OC Weekly, OC Weekly Reporters, Photographers, Intern Talk About Huntington Beach's Trumpbro Free-for-All (http://www.ocweekly.com/news/oc-weekly-reporters-photographers-intern-talk-about-huntington-beachs-trumpbro-free-for-all-7997408) via OC Weekly, Reporter and photographers say they were assaulted by Trump supporters at Huntington Beach rally (http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-trump-rally-20170326-story.html) via Los Angeles Times",,,Frank Tristan (OC Weekly),,2017-03-25,False,Huntington Beach,California (CA),33.6603,-117.99923,"Frank Tristan, an intern at OC Weekly, was assaulted alongside OC Weekly photographers Julie Leopo and Brian Feinzimer on March 25, 2017, while covering a pro-Donald Trump march in Huntington Beach, California.
As demonstrators attacked Brian Feinzimer, Tristan attempted to intervene and was repeatedly punched by an unidentified assailant.
According to OC Weekly editor Gustavo Arellano, an officer was asked to pursue the man but refused.
Demonstrators send off white doves from the beach as they protest in support of U.S. President Donald Trump during a rally in Huntington Beach, California, U.S., March 25, 2017.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Donald Trump protest, protest",,,,, "Journalist, graduate student stopped for secondary screening, electronic devices searched",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-graduate-student-stopped-secondary-screening-electronic-devices-searched/,2019-11-08 17:26:47.213697+00:00,2022-01-14 16:44:48.643519+00:00,2022-01-14 16:44:48.587981+00:00,"(2019-11-12 12:43:00+00:00) Federal court finds warrantless searches of devices violates Fourth Amendment of travelers, (2021-06-28 00:00:00+00:00) Supreme Court declines to hear case on warrantless electronic device searches at border","Border Stop, Equipment Search or Seizure",,,,Zainab Merchant (Independent),,2017-03-05,False,Toronto,Canada,None,None,"Zainab Merchant, a graduate student at Harvard University and founder of the online publication Zainab Rights, was subjected to secondary screening and her devices searched by Customs and Border Protection officers at preclearance in Toronto, Canada, on March 5, 2017.
Merchant is one of 11 plaintiffs in a pending lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security, brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the ACLU of Massachusetts. According to the legal complaint, filed in Sept. 2017, Merchant was returning to the U.S. after visiting her uncle in Toronto. When CBP officers directed her to secondary inspection, they took her laptop and and ordered her to turn over her smartphone.
Merchant objected, in part because her phone contained pictures of her without her headscarf that she did not want the male officers to see, but also because it contained information and communications related to her blog. According to the complaint, a CBP officer told her that her phone would be seized indefinitely if she did not comply.
“In tears, Ms. Merchant unlocked her phone. She also provided the password to unlock her laptop,” the complaint added.
During the hour and a half that Merchant’s electronic devices were out of her sight, CBP officers thoroughly searcher her bags, read her graduate school notebooks and questioned her about her religious affiliation and her blog. Officers specifically asked about an article she had written for Zainab Rights describing her experience at the border in 2016 which was critical of CBP’s actions.
Merchant spent approximately two hours in the inspection area before she was permitted to leave for the boarding area. When her devices were returned, her Facebook app was open to her friends list, which was not the case when she turned over her phone.
According to a separate complaint the organizations filed with DHS on Merchant’s behalf in 2018, when she arrived at the boarding gate, she underwent another pat-down.
The complaint states that Merchant was also subjected to additional screening when she landed in Newark, New Jersey for her connecting flight. The Transportation Security Administration officer checking Merchant’s boarding pass told her she would need to pass through security again, a process which took an hour and caused her to miss her flight.
In a 2018 opinion article in The Washington Post, Merchant outlined how she was detained for secondary screenings multiple times in the previous two year period, including one in 2016 that involved her husband and then-6-month-old baby for six hours. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker includes incidents only from 2017 forward.
In the Post, Merchant said that as the stops continued she filed a complaint through DHS’s Travel Redress Inquiry Program, wrote to members of Congress and applied for TSA Precheck and CBP Global Entry, programs designed to expedite domestic and international travel. She said her efforts were to no avail.
“Am I being stopped because I am Muslim, or because my family once traveled to Iran to visit a holy shrine? Is it because of my criticism of U.S. policies on the multimedia website I run to raise awareness about injustices around the world? Maybe it’s all three,” Merchant wrote. “Federal officers have asked me about my writing and religion, both of which are protected by the First Amendment.”
Merchant did not respond to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker’s requests for comment.
In a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Feb. 24, 2017, Trump referred to the media as the "enemy of the people."
A week earlier, Trump had tweeted "The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @CNN, @NBCNews and many more) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American people. SICK!"
During the CPAC conference, Trump referenced his earlier tweet, saying that he called the "fake media" the enemy of the people because they had no sources. He also said that the phrase only replied to "dishonest" reporters.
During the conference, Trump also said that journalists should not be allowed to use anonymous sources. "They shouldn't be allowed to use a source, unless the use somebody's name," he said.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, in Oxon Hill, Maryland, U.S., February 24, 2017.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, Reporters excluded from press briefing,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporters-excluded-press-briefing/,2017-08-02 06:11:40.032611+00:00,2022-03-28 17:13:05.889755+00:00,2022-03-28 17:13:05.830078+00:00,,Denial of Access,,,,,,2017-02-24,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"Aides to White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer barred 11 news outlets from attending an informal briefing known as a “gaggle” held in lieu of a daily press briefing on Feb. 24, 2017. When reporters tried to enter Spicer's office for the briefing, they were told that they were not on the list of attendees. The press pool was invited to attend along with several handpicked outlets.
CNN, The New York Times, Politico, The Hill, the BBC, the Daily Mail, the Guardian, BuzzFeed, Huffington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and New York Daily News were excluded.
White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders claimed that the briefing had taken place in a smaller office and that the press pool had been invited.
“We invited the pool so everyone was represented. We decided to add a couple of additional people beyond the pool. Nothing more than that," she said.
The pool consisted of Hearst Newspapers and CBS. NBC, ABC, Fox News, One America News Network, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Breitbart, McClatchy and The Washington Times were also invited and attended.
Reporters from The Associated Press, Time and USA Today declined to attend.
Journalists work in the briefing room at the White House on Feb. 24, 2017. Several major news organizations were excluded from an off camera "gaggle" meeting with White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,"BBC News, BuzzFeed News, CNN, Daily Mail, HuffPost, Los Angeles Times, New York Daily News, Politico, The Guardian, The Hill, The New York Times",press briefings,,,,, Journalist Tracie Williams arrested at Standing Rock,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-tracie-williams-arrested-standing-rock/,2017-05-24 21:51:13.234889+00:00,2022-05-13 15:01:31.668027+00:00,2022-05-13 15:01:31.560352+00:00,"(2018-07-11 17:20:00+00:00) Charges dismissed, (2018-01-29 12:00:00+00:00) Tracie Williams statement","Arrest/Criminal Charge, Equipment Search or Seizure",Photojournalists Arrested at Protests Work to Have Confiscated Gear Returned (https://nppa.org/news/confiscated-cameras-returned),"camera: count of 1, memory card: count of 1, mobile phone: count of 1, voice recorder: count of 1, camera lens: count of 1",,Tracie Williams,,2017-02-23,False,Morton County,North Dakota (ND),None,None,"Tracie Williams, an independent photojournalist, was arrested on Feb. 23, 2017, while covering events at the Dakota Access Pipeline camp. Police seized her phone, camera, lenses, external battery packs, blank flash cards, and data discs and held them as evidence.
Williams is charged with physical obstruction of government function, a Class A misdemeanor that could result in a year in jail. According to police records, Williams pleaded not guilty.
According to the National Press Photographers Association, Williams’ seized equipment was returned to her on March 1.
Williams is scheduled to go to trial in June 2018.
A law enforcement officer points his gun at two Water Protectors praying near a Dakota Access Pipeline resistance camp, on Feb. 23, 2017. Photojournalist Tracie Williams took this photograph moments before she was arrested.
",arrested and released,charges dropped,Morton County Sheriff's Department,None,None,False,None,[],None,returned in full,False,law enforcement,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"pipeline, protest",,obstruction: physical obstruction of a government function,,, Filmmaker Jahnny Lee charged with obstruction at Standing Rock,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/filmmaker-jahnny-lee-charged-obstruction-standing-rock/,2017-05-23 20:03:46.122162+00:00,2022-05-13 15:02:25.070312+00:00,2022-05-13 15:02:24.973906+00:00,"(2018-04-27 12:40:00+00:00) Charges dismissed, (2017-02-25 17:17:00+00:00) Law enforcement returns equipment seized during filmmaker’s arrest","Arrest/Criminal Charge, Equipment Search or Seizure",Reed Lindsay's Facebook post about Jahnny Lee's arrest (https://www.facebook.com/reed.lindsay.33/posts/10154135894940653),"camera: count of 1, mobile phone: count of 1",,Jahnny Lee (Sundance Institute),,2017-02-22,False,Morton County,North Dakota (ND),None,None,"Jahnny Lee, a filmmaker working with the Sundance Institute, was arrested on Feb. 22, 2017, while filming a standoff between police and protesters at Standing Rock. On the day of his arrest, Lee was filming on Highway 1806, along with Jack Smith IV. During his arrest, Lee’s camera and phone were seized.
Reed Lindsay, who witnessed the arrest, claimed on Facebook that police initially told journalists that they could film events on Highway 1806, but then later arrested journalists who did so.
Lee was charged with physical obstruction of government function, a Class A misdemeanor that could result in a year in jail. He is scheduled to go to trial in June 2018.
The Oceti Sakowin camp is seen at sunrise during a protest against plans to pass the Dakota Access pipeline near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, near Cannon Ball, North Dakota, U.S. November 2, 2016.
",arrested and released,charges dropped,Morton County Sheriff's Department,None,None,False,None,[],None,returned in full,False,law enforcement,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"pipeline, protest",,obstruction: physical obstruction of a government function,,, Reporter Jack Smith IV charged with obstruction at Standing Rock,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-jack-smith-iv-charged-obstruction-standing-rock/,2017-05-23 20:20:24.754797+00:00,2022-05-13 15:02:52.861384+00:00,2022-05-13 15:02:52.776274+00:00,(2017-12-07 15:14:00+00:00) Charges dropped,"Arrest/Criminal Charge, Equipment Search or Seizure",I watched Standing Rock protesters dance for victory. Then the police arrested us. (https://mic.com/articles/169482/i-watched-standing-rock-protesters-dance-for-victory-then-the-police-arrested-us) via Mic,"mobile phone: count of 1, laptop: count of 1",,Jack Smith IV (Mic),,2017-02-22,False,Morton County,North Dakota (ND),None,None,"Jack Smith IV, a journalist with Mic, was arrested on Feb. 22, 2017, while documenting law enforcement’s efforts to clear protesters from the Oceti Sakowin camp at the Standing Rock reservation in North Dakota.
Smith described his arrest in a first-person account published on Mic:
When it came time for police to move in, they slowly marched forward in a line on the road above the camp. They stopped at the head of a camp entrance, flag road, leading many to believe the media could be at a safe distance to film while police entered camp.
But the police didn't veer down the hill along a separate entrance into the camp, as expected. Instead, they sprinted forward on the road toward a handful of protesters and the media covering them, batons waving in full riot gear. Burdened by the weight of luggage, a camera and a hefty portable battery there was no way I was going to continue to retreat quickly enough. They were five feet away. I dropped to my knees, head bowed, hands up. Nine of us were arrested at first — me, an independent journalist and seven water protectors — charged with obstructing a government function (Mic is contesting this charge).
Smith was charged with physical obstruction of government function, a Class A misdemeanor that could result in a year in jail. Police also seized his camera and laptop, which have not been returned to him.
Smith is scheduled to go to trial in June 2018.
Jack Smith IV on the ground at Standing Rock
",arrested and released,acquitted,Morton County Sheriff's Department,None,None,False,None,[],None,in custody,False,law enforcement,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"pipeline, protest",,obstruction: physical obstruction of a government function,,, Journalist Tonita Cervantes arrested at Standing Rock,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-tonita-cervantes-arrested-standing-rock/,2017-05-24 22:01:58.221086+00:00,2022-05-13 15:03:36.494429+00:00,2022-05-13 15:03:36.389727+00:00,(2018-04-27 17:15:00+00:00) Charges dismissed,"Arrest/Criminal Charge, Equipment Search or Seizure","NPPA, Joined by Other Groups Sends Letter Requesting Return of Seized Equipment (http://blogs.nppa.org/advocacy/2017/02/28/nppa-joined-groups-sends-letter-requesting-return-seized-equipment/)","mobile phone: count of 1, camera: count of 1, memory card: count of 1, camera lens: count of 1",,Tonita Cervantes,,2017-02-22,False,Morton County,North Dakota (ND),None,None,"Tonita Cervantes, a freelance photojournalist, was arrested on Feb. 22, 2017, while covering events at the Dakota Access Pipeline camp. Police seized her phone, camera, lenses, external battery packs, blank flash cards, and data discs and held them as evidence.
Cervantes is charged with physical obstruction of government function, a Class A misdemeanor that could result in a year in jail. According to police records, Cervantes pleaded not guilty.
Cervantes' seized equipment was returned to her on March 1, according to the National Press Photographers Association.
Cervantes is scheduled to go to trial in June 2018.
Police use a water cannon on protesters during a protest against plans to pass the Dakota Access pipeline near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, near Cannon Ball, North Dakota, U.S. Nov. 20, 2016.
",arrested and released,charges dropped,Morton County Sheriff's Department,None,None,False,None,[],None,returned in full,False,law enforcement,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"pipeline, protest",,obstruction: physical obstruction of a government function,,, Reporter John Sepulvado subpoenaed to testify in Bundy occupation trial,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-john-sepulvado-subpoenaed-testify-bundy-occupation-trial/,2017-07-30 22:34:31.227819+00:00,2022-06-23 20:16:43.919750+00:00,2022-06-23 20:16:43.835012+00:00,,Subpoena/Legal Order,"Judge quashes subpoena of former OPB reporter in refuge occupation trial (http://www.oregonlive.com/oregon-standoff/2017/02/judge_quashes_subpoena_of_form.html) via The Oregonian, A Former OPB Journalist Just Beat the Trump Administration in Court (http://www.portlandmercury.com/news/2017/03/01/18873290/a-former-opb-journalist-just-beat-the-trump-administration-in-court) via The Portland Mercury, Sepulvado's motion to quash subpoena (http://issuu.com/maxinebernstein/docs/quashsubpoenaopb?e=27254625/44712638)",,,John Sepulvado (Oregon Public Broadcasting),,2017-02-16,False,Portland,Oregon (OR),45.52345,-122.67621,"Radio journalist John Sepulvado was subpoenaed on Feb. 16, 2017, to testify at trial about an interview he conducted with Ryan Bundy, one of the leaders of the group that forcibly occupied the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in 2016. Sepulvado conducted that interview while still a journalist at Oregon Public Broadcasting; he later moved to California and now works for San Francisco radio station KQED.
Federal prosecutors first asked Sepulvado in 2016 to voluntarily testify about the interview. He refused, and the Obama administration's Department of Justice declined to issue a subpoena that would force him to testify.
But that changed under the Trump administration. Shortly after being sworn in as attorney general, Jeff Sessions personally approved the subpoena, which was then served on Sepulvado.
Although the prosecution did not explicitly ask Sepulvado to testify about his confidential sources, but Sepulvado later said that defense attorneys looking to discredit his testimony began asking him about his confidential sources.
In a first-person piece for The Portland Mercury, Sepulvado wrote that he believed it was his responsibility to fight the subpoena and protect his sources.
"To violate the trust of my named source, and the audience, by testifying for or against anyone in a criminal trial would erode both my credibility and OPB’s, impeding our ability to report freely under the First Amendment," he wrote. "My unnamed sources are people who have entrusted me to protect their identity no matter what, in exchange for information of importance to the public."
On Feb. 24, a federal judge in Portland ruled in Sepulvado's favor and quashed the subpoena.
Leader of a group of armed protesters Ammon Bundy talks to the media at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge near Burns, Oregon, January 8, 2016.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,other testimony,['QUASHED'],None,None,None,None,None,None,,Department of Justice,,,,, Trump reportedly urges FBI director James Comey to jail journalists,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/trump-allegedly-urges-comey-jail-journalists/,2017-08-01 11:52:58.226582+00:00,2020-03-19 14:15:29.407316+00:00,2020-03-19 14:15:29.303666+00:00,(2018-04-19 01:06:00+00:00) Comey memo,Chilling Statement,"Comey Memo Says Trump Asked Him to End Flynn Investigation (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/16/us/politics/james-comey-trump-flynn-russia-investigation.html) via The New York Times, James Comey memos (https://static01.nyt.com/files/2018/us/politics/20180419-james-comey-memos.pdf)",,,,,2017-02-14,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"During an Oval Office meeting on Feb. 14, 2017, President Trump allegedly asked James Comey, then the FBI director, to consider putting journalists in prison for publishing classified information.
Trump began the private meeting by condemning leakers and telling Comey that he should consider putting journalists in prison, according to a memo written by Comey, parts of which were read to The New York Times by an associate of the former FBI director. During the same meeting, Trump allegedly asked Comey to end the FBI investigation, according to the Times.
The Trump administration released a statement disputing the accuracy of information allegedly contained in the memo, saying that it was not a "truthful" or "accurate" representation of the conversation. The statement did not address the statement related to jailing journalists.
President Donald Trump reaches out to shake hands with Federal Bureau of Investigations director James Comey.
,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,Department of Justice,,,,, Marine Corps bans journalist and veteran James LaPorta from Camp Lejeune base,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/marine-corps-bans-journalist-camp-lejeune-base/,2017-07-17 00:41:58.889842+00:00,2022-08-12 15:05:23.277269+00:00,2022-08-12 15:05:23.212609+00:00,,Denial of Access,Letter to James LaPort announcing debarment from Camp Lejeune (https://twitter.com/JimLaPorta/status/871819522709303296),,,,,2017-02-10,False,Jacksonville,North Carolina (NC),34.75405,-77.43024,"James LaPorta, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and independent journalist, was indefinitely barred from accessing Camp Lejeune, a major Marine Corps base in North Carolina, on Feb. 10, 2017.
Camp Lejeune is not open to the general public, but military personnel have access to it and civilians can visit the base if they are sponsored by someone on the base. As a member of the Marine Corps' inactive reserves, LaPorta had free access to the base with his military ID.
LaPorta is a frequent contributor to The Daily Beast and has reported extensively on the Marine Corps, including sensitive subjects like revenge porn and sexual harassment among Marines.
On Feb. 5, 2017, LaPorta said, he visited Camp Lejeune to meet with a source who lives on the base. LaPorta said that his source — a woman who accused a high-ranking officer of sexually assaulting her — invited him into her home on the base so that he could interview her. LaPorta said that he did not notify Camp Lejeune's public affairs office before his visit, in part because his source specifically told him that she did not trust the public affairs office.
After interviewing the woman, LaPorta said, he went to Camp Lejeune's brig to visit the officer accused of sexual assault. Camp Lejeune's public affairs office prohibits journalists from interviewing detainees in the brig without permission, but LaPorta said that he only went to briefly visit the officer, not to formally interview him. (LaPorta said that he had already interviewed the officer twice before he was taken into custody and so had no reason to interview him again during the February visit.)
Five days later, Camp Lejeune deputy commander Col. Scalise sent a letter to LaPorta informing him that he had violated regulations by interviewing the woman and visiting the officer in the brig. The letter warned that he would be indefinitely "debarred" from entering the base:
On 5 February 2017, you participated in inappropriate and unethical activities by attempting to interview a victim of an alleged crime aboard Marine Corps base, Camp Lejeune, (MCB CAMLEJ); which is in violation of [a regulation], by gathering information/taking photographs/videotaping/exposing TV motion picture film within the Camp Lejeune area without prior approval of the Consolidated Public Affairs Office. Additionally, you violated [another regulation]; which states "Personal interviews and telephonic communications between prisoners and media representatives is not authorized, unless a determination is made that such an interview serves the legitimate public interest, or is in the best interest of the military.
Based upon the serious nature of your misconduct, you are being debarred from MCB CAMLEJ. I have determined that your presence aboard MCB CAMLEJ is detrimental to the security, good order and discipline of the Installation. Accordingly, you are hereby notified, upon the receipt of this letter, that you are ordered not to reenter, or be found within the limits of MCB CAMLEJ.
Lejeune is one of only three major Marine Corps bases — the other two are in southern California and Okinawa, Japan — and LaPorta said that being debarred from the North Carolina base will make it much more difficult to report on the Marine Corps.
"Being debarred from Camp Lejeune, it’s almost like losing 25 to 40 percent of your coverage area," he said.
LaPorta finished his service in the reserves in June 2017 and was honorably discharged. He remains debarred from Camp Lejeune, prohibited from entering the base even if explicitly invited by a resident of the base.
Rep. Jackie Speier, a Democratic congresswoman from California, has tried to intercede on LaPorta's behalf. She sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Gen. James Mattis and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford asking them to explain why LaPorta was debarred from Camp Lejeune. The generals have not yet responded.
Editor's Note: An earlier version of this post stated that a major Marine Corps base is located in northern California. The base, Camp Pendleton, is actually located in southern California.
James LaPorta in southern Helmand Province, Afghanistan, during his first combat deployment in 2009. LaPorta is now an independent journalist covering the U.S. Marine Corps.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,military,,,,,United States Marine Corps Senior White House official mentions 'dossier' on reporter,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/senior-white-house-official-mentions-dossier-reporter/,2017-08-01 11:21:44.616598+00:00,2020-03-19 14:13:59.102752+00:00,2020-03-19 14:13:59.022022+00:00,,Chilling Statement,Journalist says Omarosa Manigault bullied her and mentioned a ‘dossier’ on her (https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/journalist-says-omarosa-manigault-bullied-her-and-mentioned-a-dossier-on-her/2017/02/13/d852926e-f131-11e6-8d72-263470bf0401_story.html) via The Washington Post,,,April Ryan (American Urban News Networks),,2017-02-08,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"April Ryan, a White house correspondent for American Urban News Networks, claims that she was “physically intimidated” by a political aide in the White House on Feb. 8, 2017. Omarosa Manigault, the Director of Communication for the Office of Public Liaison, and Ryan got into a heated argument near the White House press secretary office, according to the Washington Post.
Among witnesses of the confrontation were various White House staffers and Washington Post reporter, Abby Phillip.
Ryan claims that Manigault, who was appointed by president Trump and served as his campaign's Director of African-American outreach during the campaign, accosted her and threatened her with a “dossier” containing negative information. Ryan said that Manigault told her that several African American journalists were subjects of dossier, according to the Washington Post.
Omarosa Manigault (L), aide to U.S. President Donald Trump, stands beside White House spokesman Sean Spicer (R) at a press briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S., February 14, 2017.
DNAinfo reporter Noah Hurowitz was punched in the face by Salvatore Cipolla, a member of the alt-right group "Proud Boys," on Feb. 2, 2017, DNAinfo reported.
Hurowitz was reporting at New York University, where "Proud Boys" founder Gavin McInnes was scheduled to speak and where large groups of protesters and counter-protesters had gathered.
Hurowitz told the Freedom of the Press Foundation in an email that he was attempting to photograph Cipolla, a member of the "Proud Boys" who was yelling at protesters, when Cipolla approached him and physically accosted him.
"As I backed up, verbally identifying myself as press and holding up my NYPD-issued press pass, which was around my neck, Cipolla shoved me, grabbed me by the collar of my coat, and yanked on my press pass, damaging it," Hurowitz said. "He was immediately arrested."
Cippola was cited for disorderly conduct and second-degree harassment. After pleading guilty, he was sentenced to community service.
Jake Offenhartz, a reported for Gothamist, reported that he was pushed into a tree by Salvatore Cipolla, a member of the alt-right group "Proud Boys," on Feb. 2, 2017.
Offenhartz was reporting at New York University, where "Proud Boys" founder Gavin McInnes was scheduled to speak and where large groups of protesters and counter-protesters had gathered.
In an article for Gothamist, Offenhartz wrote that a "Proud Boy" counter-protester called for violence against anti-fascist protesters and then tried to punch him.
"One of the Proud Boys urged the others to join him in battling the 'faggots wearing black that won’t let us in,' then, perhaps believing that I fit the bill, ended up taking a few swings at me," Offenhartz wrote. "He ended up shoving me into a tree, though some of his fellow Proud Boys did attempt to restrain him. The man was later arrested for punching a DNAinfo reporter."
A distraught "Proud Boy" outside the NYU protest pic.twitter.com/GOmu8RebbV
— Jake Offenhartz (@jangelooff) February 3, 2017
Salvatore Cippola was immediately arrested after accosting Noah Hurowitz, a DNAinfo reporter. He was cited for disorderly conduct and second-degree harassment. After pleading guilty, he was sentenced to community service.
Jenni Monet — a freelance journalist who has written for The Center for Investigative Reporting, Indian Country Today, and Yes! Magazine — was arrested while covering protests opposing the Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota. Monet had been continuously embedded at Standing Rock since December 2016. On Feb. 1, 2017, she was detained and arrested after presenting law enforcement officers with her press credentials.
Writing in Indian Country Today, Monet reported that she was denied a phone call to her attorney until 25 hours after her arrest and was detained for more than 30 hours before finally being released. She also said that she and other Native American and non-white detainees were subjected to strip searches that their white counterparts were not.
Monet was charged with criminal trespassing and engaging in a riot, both Class B misdemeanors that could result in up to two months in jail, a fine, or both.
She is scheduled to go to trial in June 2018.
For her coverage of the Standing Rock protests, she has received Columbia University's 2017 Paul Tobenkin Memorial Award and the Hugh M. Hefner Foundation's 2017 First Amendment Award.
Jenni Monet at Standing Rock
",arrested and released,acquitted,Morton County Sheriff's Department,2017-02-02,2017-02-01,True,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"pipeline, protest",,"rioting: engaging in a riot, trespassing: criminal trespass",,, CNN producer detained in Atlanta airport,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cnn-producer-detained-atlanta-airport/,2017-05-18 06:59:58.775743+00:00,2022-03-21 18:45:35.172850+00:00,2022-03-21 18:45:35.045601+00:00,(2017-08-11 00:00:00+00:00) CNN producer’s lawsuit dismissed following changes to executive order,Border Stop,,,,Mohammed Tawfeeq (CNN),,2017-01-29,False,Atlanta,Georgia (GA),33.749,-84.38798,"Mohammed Tawfeeq, a CNN editor and producer, was detained Sunday at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and subjected to secondary screening while returning from an assignment on Jan. 29, 2017.
Tawfeeq, an Iraqi who is a legal permanent resident of the U.S., has filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging that the president's executive order was used to unlawfully detain him, reports said.
A traveler arriving from overseas is fingerprinted while his paperwork is checked by a border patrol official at the passport control line in Newark International Airport Aug. 24, 2009 in Newark, New Jersey.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,1:17-cv-00353,['DISMISSED'],Civil,None,False,None,Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport,True,U.S. permanent resident (green card),False,False,unknown,unknown,unknown,yes,unknown,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,Iraq,, Police and private security prevent journalists from covering protests at JFK airport,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/police-and-private-security-prevent-journalists-covering-protests-jfk-airport/,2017-08-01 06:51:51.179533+00:00,2022-08-05 18:30:44.500940+00:00,2022-08-05 18:30:44.437976+00:00,,Other Incident,,,,Charlotte Alter (Time magazine),,2017-01-28,False,New York,New York (NY),None,None,"On Jan. 28, 2017, protesters across the country flocked to airports to protest President Donald Trump's executive order banning citizens of six Muslim-majority countries from traveling to the United States, and journalists raced to cover the protests.
In New York City, a focus of travel ban protests was John F. Kennedy airport's Terminal 4, which is the airport's main site for international arrivals. But journalists were prevented from going to the terminal to cover the protests, according to one reporter on the scene.
Charlotte Alter, a journalist at Time magazine, said that the terminal's private security forces, with assistance from New York police officers, blocked the entrance to Terminal 4, preventing journalists from documenting the protests and interviewing people affected by the ban.
Port authority police stationed at the door of JFK, refusing to allow any press in #MuslimBan
— Charlotte Alter (@CharlotteAlter) January 28, 2017
Port Authority Police Officers stand guard outside Terminal 4 during a protest against Donald Trump's travel ban at John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens, NY, on Jan. 28, 2017.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,protest,,,,,NYPD "Vocativ journalist charged with rioting in Washington, D.C.",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/vocativ-journalist-charged-with-rioting-in-washington/,2017-05-24 01:48:49.773084+00:00,2022-08-04 20:40:01.375779+00:00,2022-08-04 20:40:01.294400+00:00,(2021-09-17 00:00:00+00:00) Vocativ journalist receives payout from class-action settlement with District of Columbia,"Arrest/Criminal Charge, Equipment Search or Seizure, Assault",What happened during my arrest at Trump's Inauguration (https://freedom.press/news/what-happened-during-my-arrest-trumps-inauguration/),"camera: count of 1, mobile phone: count of 1",,Evan Engel (Vocativ),,2017-01-20,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"Evan Engel was arrested on Jan. 20, 2017, while covering protests in Washington, D.C., on the day of President Donald Trump's inauguration. At the time, Engel was a senior producer at Vocativ. Vocativ spokeswoman Ellen Davis told the Committee to Protect Journalists that police seized Engel’s camera and mobile phone.
In a blog post for the Freedom of the Press Foundation, Engel wrote about the circumstances of his arrest:
The group – which included protesters, journalists (including myself), medics, and legal observers – raised their hands in the air and awaited further instructions from the police.
I livestreamed the detention on Facebook. After about 40 minutes, police officers from DC’s Metropolitan Police Department began pulled me from the group (livestreamers were among the first arrested). As I’ve done in numerous protests since 2008, I showed officers my camera and business cards and explained that I was a journalist.
“That’s great,” one officer replied. “I’m a sergeant.”
Engel was charged with the highest level of offense under Washington, D.C.’s law against rioting, which applies when there are injuries as a result of the activity or property damage in excess of $5,000, which can be punished by a maximum of 10 years in jail and fines of up to $25,000.
Engel wrote that he was detained for over 27 hours. He said that he and other detainees were subjected to abusive treatment, including being locked in the back of an overheated van.
On Jan. 27, all charges against Engel were dropped. Police later returned his phone and camera.
Aaron Cantú — an independent journalist who has written for The Baffler, the website Truthout, and Al-Jazeera — was arrested on Jan. 20, 2017, while covering protests on the day President Donald Trump's inauguration.
Cantú was among more than 230 people arrested in Washington on Inauguration Day after some individuals set fire to a car and broke windows of downtown businesses.
Cantú was one of nine journalists arrested during the protests. Charges were later dropped against most of the journalists, but not Cantú. On April 27, a grand jury indicted him on eight separate felony counts — inciting a riot, rioting, conspiracy to riot, and five counts of destruction of property. If convicted on all counts, he could face to 75 years in prison.
He is scheduled to go to trial in October 2018.
Journalist Aaron Cantú was required to wear this bracelet while detained, after he was arrested while covering protests against President Trump's inauguration in Washington, D.C.
",arrested and released,charges dropped,Metropolitan Police Department,None,None,False,1:20-cv-00130,['ONGOING'],Civil,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Donald Trump protest, election, Election 2016, kettle, protest",,"destruction of property, rioting, rioting: conspiracy to riot, rioting: inciting a riot",,, Producer Jack Keller arrested at Trump inauguration protest,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/producer-jack-keller-arrested-trump-inauguration-protest/,2017-05-25 21:09:36.767540+00:00,2022-08-04 20:40:15.807472+00:00,2022-08-04 20:40:15.707095+00:00,,"Arrest/Criminal Charge, Equipment Search or Seizure",,"camera: count of 1, mobile phone: count of 1, memory card: count of 1",,Jack Keller (Story of America),,2017-01-20,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"Jack Keller, producer of the web documentary series Story of America, was arrested on Jan. 20, 2017, while covering protests on the day of President Donald Trump's inauguration. Annabel Park, the co-director of the web series, confirmed that Keller was arrested and detained for 36 hours while covering the protest. He was returned his video camera after being released, but both the video and his cell phone remained in police custody.
He was charged with the highest level of offense under Washington D.C.’s law against rioting, which applies when there are injuries as a result of the activity or property damage in excess of $5,000, which can be punished by a maximum of 10 years in jail and fines of up to $25,000.
On Jan. 30, the charges against Keller were dropped.
A demonstrator smashes a Starbucks window using a trash can at 12th and I streets in Washington, D.C., on Friday, during a march that ended with a partial encirclement and mass arrest.
",arrested and released,charges dropped,Metropolitan Police Department,None,None,False,None,[],None,returned in part,False,law enforcement,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Donald Trump protest, election, Election 2016, kettle, protest",,rioting,,, Photojournalist Matthew Hopard arrested at Trump inauguration protest,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-matthew-hopard-arrested-trump-inauguration-protest/,2017-05-25 21:15:44.100054+00:00,2022-08-04 20:40:23.288504+00:00,2022-08-04 20:40:23.201365+00:00,,Arrest/Criminal Charge,,,,Matthew Hopard (Independent),,2017-01-20,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"Matthew Hopard — an independent photojournalist who has published with The New York Times, Fox News, and Business Insider — was arrested on Jan. 20, 2017, while covering protests on the day of President Donald Trump's inauguration.
He was charged with the highest level of offense under Washington D.C.’s law against rioting, which applies when there are injuries as a result of the activity or property damage in excess of $5,000, which can be punished by a maximum of 10 years in jail and fines of up to $25,000.
On Jan. 30, the charges against Hopard were dropped.
Washington DC police made a number of arrests, including of journalists, after protests against Donald Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, 2017, resulted in windows being smashed and other damage.
",arrested and released,charges dropped,Metropolitan Police Department,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Donald Trump protest, election, Election 2016, kettle, protest",,rioting,,, Reporter Alex Stokes charged with rioting at Trump inauguration protest,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-alex-stokes-charged-rioting-trump-inauguration-protest/,2017-05-25 21:19:08.544615+00:00,2022-08-04 20:40:46.072344+00:00,2022-08-04 20:40:45.990018+00:00,(2021-09-17 00:00:00+00:00) Independent journalist receives payout as plaintiff in class-action lawsuit,"Arrest/Criminal Charge, Equipment Search or Seizure",,"camera: count of 2, mobile phone: count of 1",,Alex Stokes (Independent),,2017-01-20,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"Alexander Stokes — an independent journalist whose show was broadcast on Albany Public Access TV news show — was arrested on Jan. 20, 2017, while covering protests on the day of President Donald Trump's inauguration. Stokes, whose full name is Alexander Stokes Contompasis, stated that he was never asked for press credentials despite informing officers that he was press, and his cell phone and two cameras were seized by police during his arrest.
He was charged with the highest level of offense under Washington D.C.’s law against rioting, which applies when there are injuries as a result of the activity or property damage in excess of $5,000, which can be punished by a maximum of 10 years in jail and fines of up to $25,000.
On Feb. 21, the charges against Stokes were dropped. On March 1, his cameras and cell phone were returned, though he told Buzzfeed that he was uncertain whether they had been searched.
Stokes is now a member of "Press Connection," a group that advocates for those still facing criminal charges in connection with the Inauguration protests.
Protesters and journalists scramble as stun grenades are deployed by police during a protest near the inauguration of President Donald Trump in Washington, DC, U.S., Jan. 20, 2017.
",arrested and released,charges dropped,Metropolitan Police Department,None,None,False,1:18-cv-00120,['SETTLED'],Class Action,returned in full,False,law enforcement,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Donald Trump protest, election, Election 2016, kettle, protest",,rioting,,, Photojournalist Cheney Orr arrested at Trump inauguration protest,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-cheney-orr-arrested-trump-inauguration-protest/,2017-05-25 21:25:00.130739+00:00,2022-08-04 20:40:59.790372+00:00,2022-08-04 20:40:59.699227+00:00,,"Arrest/Criminal Charge, Equipment Search or Seizure",,"camera: count of 3, memory card: count of 3, film: count of 1, mobile phone: count of 1",,Cheney Orr (Independent),,2017-01-20,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"Cheney Orr, an independent photographer, was arrested on Jan. 20, 2017, while covering protests on the day of President Donald Trump's inauguration. Orr was doing a portrait series that day when he was arrested with a group of 60 protesters, handcuffed with zip ties, and his gear confiscated: this included his digital Canon DSLR camera, two lenses, a Contaxt point-and-shoot, memory cards, a Rolleiflex 120 film camera, and his cell phone.
He was one of more than 200 people arrested and charged with felony rioting, the highest level of offense under Washington D.C.’s law against rioting. While he was released the next day, law enforcement wanted to use his images as evidence, but couldn’t access them without a warrant or Orr’s permission. When Orr’s attorney advised him that the warrant would almost certainly be granted and that waiting for the warrant would leave his equipment impounded for weeks or months, Orr granted his permission.
The felony charges were dropped on Feb. 21, though Orr is still waiting for the return of both his film and memory cards.
DC riot police form a line across K Street Northwest at 13th Street as protesters react to the swearing in of U.S. President Donald Trump in downtown Washington, U.S., Jan. 20, 2017.
",arrested and released,charges dropped,Metropolitan Police Department,None,None,False,None,[],None,returned in part,False,law enforcement,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Donald Trump protest, election, Election 2016, kettle, protest",,rioting,,, RT America reporter arrested at Trump inauguration protest,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/rt-america-reporter-arrested-trump-inauguration-protest/,2017-07-12 19:39:24.339114+00:00,2022-08-04 20:41:07.844788+00:00,2022-08-04 20:41:07.759426+00:00,,Arrest/Criminal Charge,"RT America reporter arrested while covering inauguration protests (https://www.rt.com/usa/374421-rt-reporter-arrested-inauguration-protests/) via RT America, Two journalists covering inauguration protests face felony riot charges (https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/23/two-journalists-trump-inauguration-protests-felony-riot-charges-evan-engel-alex-rubinstein) via Guardian U.S., Updates on journalists arrested and charged with rioting during Presidential Inauguration protests (RCFP) (https://www.rcfp.org/inauguration-protest-arrests)",,,Alexander Rubinstein (RT America),,2017-01-20,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"Alexander Rubinstein, a reporter with the Russian state-funded broadcaster RT America, was arrested while covering protests on the day of the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump. RT said in a Jan. 20, 2017, report on its website that Rubinstein showed his media credentials to police before he was encircled with a crowd of people who were all arrested.
He was charged with the highest level of offense under Washington D.C.’s law against rioting, which applies when there are injuries as a result of the activity or property damage in excess of $5,000, which can be punished by a maximum of 10 years in jail and fines of up to $25,000.
On Jan. 30, the charges against Rubinstein were dropped.
Protesters and journalists scramble as stun grenades are deployed by police during a protest near the inauguration of President Donald Trump in Washington, DC, U.S., January 20, 2017.
Independent photojournalist Alexei Wood was arrested while covering protests on Jan. 20, 2017 — the day of the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump.
Wood was among more than 230 people arrested in Washington on Inauguration Day after some individuals set fire to a car and broke windows of downtown businesses.
Wood told the Freedom of the Press Foundation that, when he was arrested, he was carrying a lot of professional equipment — including a Canon 7D camera body with a 16–35 L lens, at least four memory cards with over 200 GB of photos, a Rode external microphone, a monopod, and an Android phone (which he used to livestream the protest on Facebook Live).
All of his equipment was seized and searched by police after he was arrested. The lens was later returned to him, but the rest of his equipment was not.
Like other journalists arrested during the Inauguration protests, Wood was initially charged with one count of rioting, a felony which carries a penalty of up to 10 years in jail.
But on April 27, a grand jury indicted him on eight separate felony counts:
The eight counts carry a combined maximum sentence of more than 60 years in prison.
Alexei Wood stands outside D.C. superior court.
",arrested and released,acquitted,Metropolitan Police Department,None,None,False,1:20-cv-00130,['ONGOING'],Civil,returned in full,False,law enforcement,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Donald Trump protest, election, Election 2016, kettle, protest",,"destruction of property, rioting, rioting: conspiracy to riot, rioting: inciting a riot",,, Washington Post reporter thrown to ground by police at Inauguration protest,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/washington-post-reporter-thrown-ground-police-inauguration-protest/,2017-07-31 06:22:54.285953+00:00,2022-08-04 20:41:50.297970+00:00,2022-08-04 20:41:50.230449+00:00,,Assault,Washington Post videojournalist wrestled to ground by police (https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/2017/live-updates/politics/live-coverage-of-trumps-inauguration/washington-post-videojournalist-wrestled-to-ground-by-police/) via Washington Post,,,Dalton Bennett (The Washington Post),,2017-01-20,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"Washington Post videojournalist Dalton Bennett was thrown to the ground by police while covering a protest of President Donald Trump's inauguration in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 20, 2017.
Alex Emmons, a reporter at The Intercept, captured video of the altercation and published it on Twitter.
Washington Post reporter Dalton Bennett thrown to the ground by riot police. pic.twitter.com/4I442QhEqM
— Alex Emmons (@AlexanderEmmons) January 20, 2017
A screencap from a video showing Washington Post photographer Dalton Bennett after being knocked to the ground by police officers during protests in Washington, D.C. on January 20, 2017.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Donald Trump protest, election, Election 2016, protest",,,,, WJLA photographer injured during Trump Inauguration protest,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/wjla-photographer-injured-during-trump-inauguration-protest/,2017-07-31 06:36:26.674996+00:00,2022-08-04 20:41:58.268425+00:00,2022-08-04 20:41:58.196768+00:00,,Assault,"WATCH: ABC7 photographer knocked down, injured in downtown inauguration protests (http://wjla.com/news/local/wjla-photographer-knocked-down-injured-in-downtown-inauguration-protests) via WJLA",,,Vanessa Koolhof (WJLA-TV),,2017-01-20,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"Vanessa Koolhof — a photographer at WJLA, the local ABC affiliate in Washington, D.C. — was knocked down and injured while covering a protest in response to President Donald Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20, 2017.
WJLA reported that Koolhof found herself in the middle of a shoving match between a group of anti-Trump protesters and a Trump supporter. After Koolhof fell down, D.C. police moved in to break up the struggle and help Koolhof up off the ground.
Vanessa Koolhof after being knocked down during a protest of President Donald Trump's inauguration, on January 20, 2017.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,no,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Donald Trump protest, election, Election 2016, protest",,,,, Shay Horse arrested at Trump inauguration protest,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/shay-horse-arrested/,2017-08-01 15:19:53.063008+00:00,2022-08-04 20:42:12.126287+00:00,2022-08-04 20:42:12.046862+00:00,"(2017-06-21 15:45:00+00:00) Photojournalist arrested while covering Inauguration Day protests named as plaintiff in ACLU lawsuit, (2021-04-26 00:00:00+00:00) DC settles class action lawsuit brought by independent journalist, others",Arrest/Criminal Charge,,,,Shay Horse (Independent),,2017-01-20,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"Independent journalist Shay Horse was arrested on Jan. 20, 2017, in Washington, D.C., while covering protests around the inauguration of President Donald Trump.
Like other journalists and protesters arrested that day, Horse was charged with the highest level of offense under the district's law against rioting, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in jail and fines of up to $25,000.
In February, the charges against Horse were dropped.
Activists stand amid smoke from a stun grenade during a protest against President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the inauguration in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 20, 2017.
",arrested and released,charges dropped,Metropolitan Police Department,None,None,False,1:17-cv-01216,['SETTLED'],Class Action,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"Donald Trump protest, election, Election 2016, kettle, protest",,rioting,,, Chicago Sun-Times reporter punched while covering inauguration protest,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/chicago-sun-times-reporter-punched-while-covering-inauguration-protest/,2017-09-07 19:05:57.313070+00:00,2022-08-04 20:42:32.185448+00:00,2022-08-04 20:42:32.117150+00:00,,Assault,Tweet from Sam Charles about the incident (https://twitter.com/samjcharles/status/822634725252694016),,,Sam Charles (Chicago Sun-Times),,2017-01-20,False,Chicago,Illinois (IL),41.85003,-87.65005,"Chicago Sun-Times reporter Sam Charles was punched in the chest while covering an anti-Trump protest in Chicago on Jan. 20, 2017 — the day of Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration.
Charles told the Freedom of the Press Foundation that, while reporting on the Chicago protest, he spotted a woman with a black mask spray painting “Die Fascist Scum” on a bus stop and took out his phone to record it. When he started recording, another man attacked him.
“Two seconds into the video, a guy runs over to me, knocks the phone out of my hand and then punches me in the chest,” he said.
Video filmed by Charles shows a man quickly approaching the camera, just before the camera seems to be thrown violently to the side. “Get the fuck out of here!” a man can be heard yelling on the video.
After being punched, Charles left the area but continued to cover the protest. He said that he did not notify police about the assault because his priority was continuing to report on the protest.
“It’s one of those things where, in that moment, it’s not my main focus,” he said. “My main focus is on getting back to work.”
I just got punched in the chest for recording a masked woman tagging a bus stop on Michigan Ave pic.twitter.com/WQxFjR5740
— Sam Charles (@samjcharles) January 20, 2017
Sam Charles was attacked while filming a protester spray paint this "Die Fascist Scum" graffiti in Chicago, Illinois, on January 20, 2017.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"anti-fascist protest, Donald Trump protest, election, Election 2016, protest",,,,, Independent journalist Jon Ziegler injured by rubber bullet at Standing Rock,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalist-jon-ziegler-injured-rubber-bullet-standing-rock/,2017-08-24 08:51:21.953352+00:00,2022-03-10 20:03:38.270538+00:00,2022-03-10 20:03:38.204489+00:00,,Assault,Rebelutionary_Z live-stream (https://youtu.be/XX4B_malwk8),,,Jon Ziegler (Independent),,2017-01-18,False,Morton County,North Dakota (ND),None,None,"Independent journalist Jon Ziegler, also known as "Rebelutionary_Z," was shot with rubber bullets while filming a police action against anti-pipeline protesters at Standing Rock, on Jan. 18, 2017.
Video recorded by Ziegler shows a line of riot police, armed with rubber bullet shotguns and carrying shields, approaching a line of protesters near a bridge. As the police officers approach, they begin shooting rubber bullets at the protesters, who crouch behind shields of their own.
"Go back to your camp!" the officers yell at the protesters.
"You're on sovereign territory," some of the protesters respond.
"They're firing on people for no reason, at this point," Ziegler reports in the video. "They're now just taking potshots at people!"
"It's Jon Ziegler!" one of the officers yells.
A few seconds later, Ziegler is hit by rubber bullets.
Ziegler continued live-streaming for the next few minutes, as he called for a medic and described his injuries, even holding his bloody hand in front of the camera.
"I'm going to take the feed down so I can get some medical treatment, guys," he finally said. "Please wish me luck."
Video of police shooting at Jon Ziegler and protesters
Rebelutionary_Z
In an interview with the Freedom of the Press Foundation, Ziegler said that he was hit with rubber bullets twice in the leg and once in his right hand, which was holding his camera. One of the rubber bullets shattered the bone in his little finger, which required him to go to the hospital in Bismarck, North Dakota, for immediate reconstructive surgery. He underwent a second surgery and months of physical therapy. In all, Ziegler had to pay more than $30,000 in medical costs as a result of the injury from the rubber bullet.
Ziegler said that he believes that the police deliberately targeted him and aimed for his camera.
He also said that the police response was unprovoked. Earlier in the day, he said, a group of teenagers on the bridge had tossed snowballs at the police, but they had left hours before.
I'm heading to ER now...cops shot me at least twice, aiming for my phone, they broke my pinky and its bleeding BAD..#NoDAPL pic.twitter.com/orw8toclxH
— Rebelutionary Z (@Rebelutionary_Z) January 19, 2017
Jon Ziegler, also known as "Rebelutionary_Z," at Standing Rock
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"pipeline, protest, shot / shot at",,,,, Trump International Hotel bans journalists during Inauguration week,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/trump-international-hotel-bans-journalists-during-inauguration-week/,2017-08-02 07:52:40.115762+00:00,2022-08-09 20:09:50.040513+00:00,2022-08-09 20:09:49.953021+00:00,,Other Incident,Trump's D.C. hotel bans press during inauguration week (http://www.politico.com/blogs/donald-trump-administration/2017/01/trump-dc-hotel-bans-media-inauguration-week-233766) via Politico,,,,,2017-01-17,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"A Politico reporter was prevented from entering the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., for a previously-scheduled meeting on Jan. 17, 2017. When he identified himself as a journalist, he was told that "media" would not be allowed in the hotel during the week of Donald Trump's presidential inauguration.
"Media is not allowed in this week in respect of the privacy of our guests," the hotel's director of sales and marketing told Politico in a statement.
The hotel is owned by Trump's family real-estate company, The Trump Organization, which won a bid to redevelop the property for the federal government in 2012. The Trump Organization has a 60-year lease on the property; one condition of the lease is that the public must be granted access to certain areas of the building.
The entrance of Trump International Hotel in downtown Washington, D.C.
",None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,Politico,"election, Election 2016",,,,, Journalist Jenifer Stum charged with trespassing and rioting at Standing Rock,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-jenifer-stum-charged-trespassing-and-rioting-standing-rock/,2017-07-26 05:10:07.285730+00:00,2022-05-13 15:12:16.038547+00:00,2022-05-13 15:12:15.970965+00:00,,Arrest/Criminal Charge,Journalists covering Standing Rock face charges as police arrest protesters (https://cpj.org/blog/2017/02/journalists-covering-standing-rock-face-charges-as.php),,,Jenifer Stum (Independent),,2017-01-16,False,Morton County,North Dakota (ND),None,None,"Stum, an independent journalist, was arrested on Jan. 16, 2017, while filming an anti-pipeline protest on a bridge at the Standing Rock reservation in North Dakota.
She was charged with criminal trespass, a Class A misdemeanor, and engaging in a riot, a class B misdemeanor. If convicted, she faces 60 days imprisonment and a $3,000 fine.
Stum is scheduled to go to trial in April 2018.
A man walks through the Dakota Access Pipeline protest camp on the edge of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation near Cannon Ball, North Dakota, U.S., Jan. 24, 2017.
",arrested and released,unknown,Morton County Sheriff's Department,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,"pipeline, protest","rioting: engaging in a riot, trespassing: criminal trespass",,,, Russian documentary journalist denied entry to the U.S.,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/russian-documentary-journalist-denied-entry-us/,2017-07-31 21:56:17.136188+00:00,2021-11-16 20:10:23.603618+00:00,2021-11-16 20:10:23.554178+00:00,,Border Stop,,,,Anonymous documentary journalist 1 (RTD),,2017-01-15,False,Moscow,Russia,None,None,"A Russian documentary reporter was denied entry to the U.S. while trying to fly from Moscow's Shremetyevo airport to New York City on Jan. 15, 2017.
The journalist, who asked to remain anonymous, works for RTD — a documentary channel that's part of Russia's government-funded TV network RT — and has dual Russian and Canadian citizenship. As a citizen of Canada, she can visit the United States without a visa. She has visited the U.S. on multiple occasions and had never had any problems entering the country.
On Jan. 15, though, she attempted to check-in to her flight but was informed that her name had been flagged by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. She said that Russian border officials told her that, because she was flagged, they had to check with U.S. border officials before allowing her on the flight.
She said that the Russians spoke on the phone with their American counterparts for over an hour and then asked her whether she had ever been to Iraq or Syria. She answered that her work for RTD had taken her to both countries. Following more discussions with American border officials, the Russians told her that the U.S. would not allow her to enter the country.
She later asked the U.S. Embassy why she was not allowed to travel to the U.S., but the embassy referred her to to the Department of Homeland Security. A few months later, she received a letter from the Department of Homeland Security stating that the department could neither confirm nor deny that she had been stopped for any reason.
The logo of Russian television network RT is seen on a board at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2017.
,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,Shremetyevo Airport,False,U.S. non-resident,True,False,no,no,no,yes,no,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,"Canada, Russia",, Congressman blocks journalist from photographing protestors,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/congressman-blocks-journalist-photographing-protestors/,2017-07-31 22:49:24.657652+00:00,2020-03-19 14:52:50.328773+00:00,2020-03-19 14:52:50.199047+00:00,,Denial of Access,Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert accused of blocking journalist from photographing protesters (https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2017/01/11/texas-rep-louie-gohmert-accused-blocking-journalist-photographing-protesters) via Dallas News,,,Jim Lo Scalzo (European Pressphoto Agency),,2017-01-10,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"European Pressphoto Agency photographer Jim Lo Scalzo told the Dallas News that Rep. Louie Gohmert, a Republican congressman representing Texas, physically blocked him from photographing protestors during the nomination hearings for Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Jan. 10, 2017.
Lo Scalzo said that Gohmert deliberately tried to prevent him from reporting on the protestors' disruption of the hearing.
"When I asked him, 'Are you seriously blocking me from making these pictures of these protesters?' he said, 'Yes,' " Lo Scalzo told the Dallas News." He said, 'The story is not there,' and then he pointed to Sessions and said, 'The story is over there.' "
In an interview with the Dallas News, Gohmert defended his actions and claimed that Lo Scalzo had blocked his view of the hearing.
"There were plenty of cameras to capture what was going on, so there was no censorship, but the rule-breaking, distracting, view-blocking cameraman was blocking my view requiring me to stand," Gohmert said. "He wasn't determined to get the truth out, he was selfishly disrupting the view he was not allowed to, to try and prevent one of the many other photographers who were not violating rules from having a better picture than him."
But video of the hearing shows Gohmert getting up from his seat to block Lo Scalzo from taking photos of the protestors.
Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) speaks with a journalist at the 2016 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at National Harbor, Maryland, on March 4, 2016.
While attempting to interview a woman accused of child cruelty in Cape Coral, Florida on Jan. 5, 2017, cameraman Channing Frampton was nearly run over by an angry neighbor of the woman, who drove his car at Frampton and his colleague, reporter Nicole Valdes.
Frampton and Valdes are journalists at WINK News, a local CBS affiliate in southern Florida.
A video filmed by Frampton that was later broadcast on WINK shows Frampton and Valdes attempting to interview Janet Crappse, the woman at the center of the story, when a man across the street begins yelling and swearing at them. He accuses the journalists of invading his privacy and trespassing, and repeatedly demands that they turn off their cameras and stop interviewing his neighbor. Later in the video, the man can be seen driving his car at high speed toward Frampton and Valdes.
The car missed Frampton but grazed Valdes, who sustained no injuries.
The man behind the wheel was later arrested.
Screenshot from Wink News Video shows the man driving his car directly toward the camera.
,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, Florida TV correspondent nearly run over by man upset with her reporting,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/florida-tv-correspondent-nearly-run-over-man-upset-reporting/,2017-07-30 17:45:47.764865+00:00,2020-03-18 19:31:20.773153+00:00,2020-03-18 19:31:20.670420+00:00,,Assault,"WINK News reporters attacked in Cape Coral (http://www.winknews.com/2017/01/05/wink-news-reporters-attacked-in-cape-coral/) via WINK News, Man nearly hits Florida news crew with car (http://www.wptv.com/news/local-news/water-cooler/man-nearly-hits-nicole-valdes-and-channing-frampton-from-wink-tv-with-car) via WPTV",,,Nicole Valdes (WINK News),,2017-01-05,False,Cape Coral,Florida (FL),26.56285,-81.94953,"While attempting to interview a woman accused of child cruelty in Cape Coral, Florida on Jan. 5, 2017, journalist Nicole Valdes was hit and nearly run over by an angry neighbor of the woman, who drove his car at Valdes and cameraman Channing Frampton.
Valdes and Frampton are journalists at WINK News, a local CBS affiliate in southern Florida.
A video filmed by Frampton that was later broadcast on WINK shows Frampton and Valdes attempting to interview Janet Crappse, the woman at the center of the story, when a man across the street begins yelling and swearing at them. He accuses the journalists of invading his privacy and trespassing, and repeatedly demands that they turn off their cameras and stop interviewing his neighbor. Later in the video, the man can be seen driving his car at high speed toward Frampton and Valdes.
The car clipped Valdes, who sustained no injuries. Frampton was not hit.
The man behind the wheel was later arrested.
Schreenshot from a video filmed by Channing Frampton shows Nicole Valdes immediately after being clipped by a driver upset with her reporting.
,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,,, Journalist questioned at Dulles International Airport,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-questioned-dulles-international-airport/,2017-07-26 09:49:39.629656+00:00,2021-12-08 22:22:41.217549+00:00,2021-12-08 22:22:41.158828+00:00,(2021-06-28 00:00:00+00:00) Supreme Court declines to hear case on warrantless electronic device searches at border,"Border Stop, Equipment Search or Seizure",,mobile phone: count of 1,,Isma’il Kushkush,,2017-01-03,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"Isma'il Kushkush — a former acting bureau chief of the New York Times in East Africa and International Center for Journalists fellow — was stopped at the border on Jan. 3, 2017, after arriving on a flight from Israel.
Kushkush, a Sudanese-American dual citizen, told the Committee to Protect Journalists that Customs and Border Protection officers were waiting for him as he got off from the plane and took him to the inspection area where they went through his bags and notebooks. He said that he was detained for about an hour and a half. Officers searched through his notebooks and one officer asked for his cell phone.
Kushkush has reported being detained at the border on at least five previous occasions between 2013 and 2016. He said that these stops lasted between two to three hours and frequently involved requests for access to his electronic devices.
International passengers arrive at Washington Dulles International Airport in Dulles
,None,None,None,None,None,False,1:17-cv-11730,['DISMISSED'],Civil,returned in full,False,law enforcement,Dulles International Airport,True,U.S. citizen,False,True,yes,unknown,unknown,yes,yes,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,,,"Sudan, United States",, Journalist Adam Schrader arrested at Standing Rock,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-adam-schrader-arrested-standing-rock/,2017-07-26 05:42:38.049644+00:00,2022-08-04 20:27:06.086903+00:00,2022-08-04 20:27:05.979945+00:00,(2017-08-21 19:00:00+00:00) All charges against Schrader dropped,"Arrest/Criminal Charge, Equipment Search or Seizure",Journalist arrested at pipeline protest (Bismarck Tribune) (http://bismarcktribune.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/journalist-arrested-at-pipeline-protest/article_4df76157-c2ab-57cc-9f2c-936a94bfb5b1.html) via Bismarck Tribune,"voice recorder: count of 1, notebook: count of 1",,Adam Schrader (Independent),,2016-10-27,False,Morton County,North Dakota (ND),None,None,"Adam Schrader, an independent journalist who contributes to the New York Daily News and other outlets, was arrested on Oct. 27, 2016 while filming clashes between police and protesters. Schrader told the Bismarck Tribune that he was arrested after asking a police officer about the use of pepper spray against protesters.
Schrader was initially charged with endangering by fire or explosion (a class C felony), maintaining a public nuisance (a class A misdemeanor), and engaging in a riot (a class B misdemeanor). The felony endangerment charge was dropped in November 2016, though he still faces the misdemeanor charges. If convicted, he faces one year and 30 days imprisonment and a $4,500 fine.
Police impounded Schrader's rental car following his arrest. Schrader told the Tribune that some items he left in the car — including a notebook and a $400 voice recorder — disappeared while the car was in police custody. A police spokeswoman told the Tribune that police did not search or take any evidence from cars that were impounded.
Sara Lafleur-Vetter, an independent photojournalist and filmmaker, was arrested and charged with three misdemeanors while filming protests at Standing Rock for The Guardian U.S. on Oct. 22, 2016.
Lafleur-Vetter told the Freedom of the Press Foundation that Morton County police arrested her while she was filming a prayer walk near the construction site of the Dakota Access Pipeline near State Highway 1806 in North Dakota.
Lafleur-Vetter said that she identified herself as a journalist to the police, and a video of her arrest posted on Facebook shows another person informing police that Lafleur-Vetter was a member of the press. Still, police arrested her.
“It didn’t matter to them who was and wasn’t press,” Lafleur-Vetter said.
She said that she was swept up in a mass arrest of over 140 people and was held in jail for two nights. She said that police seized her camera and SD cards. When she was released from jail, police returned her camera but not the SD cards.
Lafleur-Vetter was initially charged with criminal trespass and engaging in a riot. Those charges were dismissed on June 8, 2017.
But on May 17, 2017, Lafleur-Vetter was charged with three other misdemeanors: physical obstruction of a government function, disobedience of safety orders during a riot, and disorderly conduct.
On Oct. 18, nearly a year after she was first arrested, Lafleur-Vetter appeared at the Morton County courthouse for a trial before surrogate judge Thomas Merrick. She was the first journalist to be tried in connection with the Dakota Access Pipeline protests. She was acquitted on all charges.
“There's no evidence against her," judge Merrick said at the trial. "All it shows is she was working."
After the trial, police returned Lafleur-Vetter's SD cards to her.
Lafleur-Vetter said that she believes that the charges brought against her were intended to scare other journalists and deter them from covering protests.
Nydia Tisdale, an independent video journalist, was arrested and charged with criminal trespass and obstruction of an officer while filming Republican candidates’ speeches at a rally in Dawsonville, Georgia, on Aug. 23, 2014.
On Dec. 4, 2017, Tisdale was convicted of misdemeanor obstruction of a law enforcement officer but acquitted of felony charges.
Tisdale runs and owns AboutForsyth, an independent news website, and regularly documents and films videos of public meetings.
She told the Freedom of the Press Foundation that, on Aug. 23, 2014, she attended a rally for Republican candidates at Burt’s Farm, a private pumpkin farm in Dawsonville, Georgia.
As she was filming the speeches, she said, she was physically accosted by Dawson County Sheriff’s Office Captain Tony Wooten.
“Fifteen minutes into the rally, I was attacked,” Tisdale said. “I was grabbed out of my chair, twisted up, and one hand was yanked off my tripod. I was pushed and pulled and dragged and spinned in circles, and [Wooten] twisted my arm behind my back, and forced me into the barn, and slammed me against the countertop.”
Tisdale's video of her arrest
Nydia Tisdale
In video of the altercation recorded by Tisdale, she can be heard repeatedly asking Wooten, “What is your name? What is your name, sir?”
Wooten refuses to give her his name and says, “I’ve been real nice, but now you’re going to jail for resisting arrest.”
“You’ll see [my name] on the warrant when we get to the jail,” he tells her at another point in the video.
Tisdale protests that she has the right to film the public rally — “this was a public event posted on Facebook by [Georgia] governor [Nathan] Deal,” she says — and claims that she received permission to film from Kathy Burt, who owns Burt’s Farm along with her husband.
“I spoke with several candidates, and they didn’t mind,” she says. “Kathy Burt said it was OK. I spoke with her when I first arrived!”
In the video, Johnny Burt says that she does not permission to film the rally: “Listen, I’m the owner and I say no.”
Burt’s Farm did not respond to a request for comment.
The video ends shortly after Wooten forcibly pushes away Tisdale’s camera, at which point Tisdale can be heard screaming off-screen, “Ow, that hurts! You’re hurting me! You are really hurting me!”
Tisdale told the Freedom of the Press Foundation that after the video was shut off, two uniformed Dawson County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrived to take her into custody. At this point, she said, Wooten finally revealed his name and formally placed her under arrest, but did not give a reason for the arrest or read Tisdale her Miranda rights.
Tisdale was eventually charged with felony obstruction, felony trespassing, and misdemeanor obstruction of an officer. At trial, prosecutors accused her of elbowing and kicking Wooten.
The Dawson County Sheriff’s Office seized Tisdale’s camera when she was arrested and held it in custody for six days before returning it to her.
Tisdale believes that the police may have edited her video footage of the altercation.
She said that she checked the video footage on her camera once it was returned to her and noticed that her video footage had been split into two separate videos, and the portion of the video in which she could be heard screaming had been inexplicably deleted.
An audio recording of the incident, captured by Brian Pritchard of FetchYourNews, clearly shows that Tisdale screamed for help during the altercation.
Dawson County Sheriff Billy Carlisle told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the department had not edited Tisdale’s video footage.
Tisdale said that she had bruises on her arms, feet, and pelvic region for days after the altercation and had trouble eating and sleeping.
In August 2016, Tisdale filed a sexual assault complaint against Captain Tony Wooten, alleging that he pushed his crotch into her buttocks while he bent her over a countertop. That case was stayed pending the outcome of the criminal charges against Tisdale.
On Aug. 8, 2016, Tony Wooten resigned from the Dawson County Sheriff’s Office.
On Dec. 4, 2017, a Dawsonville jury convicted Tisdale on a misdemeanor charge of obstruction of an officer, but acquitted her of felony charges of obstruction and trespassing.
“This is a partial victory, but not a complete victory, and I maintain my innocence of all charges,” Tisdale told the Freedom of the Press Foundation. “Video recording is not a crime.”
On Dec. 18, 2017, Tisdale was sentenced to 12 months probation, 40 hours of community service, and a $1000 fine.
A screengrab from Nydia Tisdale's video shows Dawsonville County Sheriff's Office deputy Tony Wooten pushing her into a countertop before taking her into custody.
",arrested and released,convicted,Dawson County Sheriff’s Office,None,None,True,None,[],None,returned in full,False,law enforcement,None,False,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,,,obstruction: obstruction of a law enforcement officer,"obstruction, trespassing",,,