A photographer with television station KTBC in Austin was thrown to the ground and arrested by Texas Department of Public Safety officers on April 24, 2024, while filming a pro-Palestinian protest at the University of Texas. The photographer, who was not named by the station, was charged with criminal trespassing and released the next day.
As seen in video footage taken by the photographer, who was livestreaming the student protest, and in a report by KTBC, the journalist was filming members of law enforcement as they moved back the protest line when he was either pushed or fell into an officer.
The photographer was then pulled backward onto the ground by an officer, who can be heard shouting at him to “Get on the ground,” to which the journalist replied, “I was moving.” He was then placed in handcuffs and escorted to a police car outside the protest zone.
His video camera continued to film the events, as it was picked up and carried by an unidentified person who walked alongside the photographer and the police until the livestream was cut off.
In a video posted on the social platform X by Nabil Remadna, a reporter with Austin station KXAN-TV, the photographer identifies himself only as “Carlos” and says, “They were pushing me and they said I hit an officer. I didn’t hit an officer. They were pushing.” He added, “I told them I was the press.”
KTBC said the photographer was booked at Travis County jail and charged with criminal trespassing. He was released the following morning, it added.
Nearly 60 people were arrested during the April 24 protest, in which students walked out of classes to demand that the university divest from companies supplying weapons to Israel used in its war in Gaza.
In a statement on X, the Texas Department of Public Safety said it responded to the University of Texas campus in Austin “at the request of the University and at the direction of Texas Governor Greg Abbott, in order to prevent any unlawful assembly and to support UT Police in maintaining the peace by arresting anyone engaging in any sort of criminal activity, including criminal trespass."
The Texas Department of Public Safety and KTBC didn’t respond to requests for additional information about the incident, including the photographer’s full name and details of the charges.
This content originally appeared on U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: Incident Database and was authored by U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: Incident Database.
This post was originally published on Radio Free.
