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Category: Physical Attack

  • Louisiana reporter assaulted during investigation of mistaken release of convict

    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.

    In response to a note asking if they were OK, Hammer wrote that they had suffered “just a couple bumps and bruises.”

    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.


    This content originally appeared on U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: All Incidents and was authored by U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: All Incidents.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Louisiana photojournalist assaulted during investigation of mistaken release of convict

    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.

    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.


    This content originally appeared on U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: All Incidents and was authored by U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: All Incidents.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Multimedia journalist assaulted while reporting from scene of Providence shootout

    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.”

    Bouras did not respond separately to a request for further comment.


    This content originally appeared on U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: All Incidents and was authored by U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: All Incidents.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Independent journalist assaulted while documenting anti-vaccine protest

    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.

    “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.


    This content originally appeared on U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: All Incidents and was authored by U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: All Incidents.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Photojournalist arrested, equipment seized while documenting homeless encampment

    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.


    This content originally appeared on U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: All Incidents and was authored by U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: All Incidents.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • San Francisco Chronicle photographer robbed at gunpoint in Oakland, cameras stolen

    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.

    ​​“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.


    This content originally appeared on U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: All Incidents and was authored by U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: All Incidents.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Bay Area broadcast security guard shot, killed in attempted robbery of news crew

    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.

    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.


    This content originally appeared on U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: All Incidents and was authored by U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: All Incidents.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Multimedia journalist pushed by police officer while covering riot in Portland

    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.

    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.”

    “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.


    This content originally appeared on U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: All Incidents and was authored by U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: All Incidents.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • KATU journalist assaulted, crew harassed in Portland protest

    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.


    This content originally appeared on U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: All Incidents and was authored by U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: All Incidents.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • KATU camera operator assaulted, camera damaged amid Portland protests

    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.


    This content originally appeared on U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: All Incidents and was authored by U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: All Incidents.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Salon reporter assaulted while documenting Virginia gubernatorial campaign rally

    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.

    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.”


    This content originally appeared on U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: All Incidents and was authored by U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: All Incidents.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • CBS journalist shoved by University of Colorado football coach

    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.

    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.”

    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.”

    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.


    This content originally appeared on U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: All Incidents and was authored by U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: All Incidents.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Bangladeshi journalist assaulted during press conference in New York

    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.


    This content originally appeared on U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: All Incidents and was authored by U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: All Incidents.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Independent journalist harassed, equipment damaged at LA anti-vaccine rally

    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.

    “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.


    This content originally appeared on U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: All Incidents and was authored by U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: All Incidents.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Video journalist attacked, sprayed with chemical irritant while covering anti-vaccine rally in LA

    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.


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  • Independent journalist chased, assaulted by mob during protest in Oregon

    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.

    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.


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  • NBC News correspondent harassed while reporting live on Hurricane Ida in Mississippi

    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!”

    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.


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  • Journalist at advocacy news organization dragged from press conference

    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 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.


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  • Independent journalist assaulted, equipment damaged during Portland protest

    Independent journalist Maranie Rae 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.”

    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.

    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.


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  • Freelance journalist struck with projectiles amid Portland demonstrations

    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.

    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.


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  • Reporter shoved, punched during anti-mask demonstration in Traverse City, Michigan

    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 Liverating 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.”


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  • Journalist assaulted twice during anti-vaccine rally in LA

    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, who was not immediately available for comment, told Democracy Now she arrived approximately 45 minutes before the violence began. In footage Berg posted of the incident shortly after 2:30 p.m. on the day of the march, 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. 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!”

    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.”

    It was not immediately clear whether Berg filed a police report about the incidents; she told Democracy Now no arrests have been made in connection with the assaults that day.


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  • Reporter assaulted during Miami anti-mask mandate protest

    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.

    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.


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  • Photojournalist aimed at with realistic AR-15 style airsoft gun in Portland

    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.

    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.


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  • ACLU files for ‘false imprisonment’ against Washington, D.C. police after photojournalist arrested, equipment seized

    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 on Aug. 29.

    MPD told the Tracker they did not comment on ongoing cases.


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  • Correspondent threatened, kicked during anti-vaccine protest at LA’s City Hall

    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.

    “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.


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  • Colorado Politics reporter assaulted by member of the public in Denver Capitol newsroom

    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.”

    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.”


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  • Journalists for Polish news station were assaulted, chased out of D.C.’s Lafayette Square park during Cuba protest

    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.


    This content originally appeared on U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: All Incidents and was authored by U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: All Incidents.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Cameraman and journalist for Polish TV station chased from D.C.’s Lafayette park during protest for Cuba

    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.


    This content originally appeared on U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: All Incidents and was authored by U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: All Incidents.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Parent accosts Michigan journalist after school board meeting

    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.


    This content originally appeared on U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: All Incidents and was authored by U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: All Incidents.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.