Freelance photojournalist Tod Seelie was shoved by police and struck by a crowd-control projectile while covering an immigration protest in downtown Los Angeles on June 14, 2025.

The demonstration was one of many “No Kings” protests held across the country in opposition to President Donald Trump. In Washington, D.C., the protests coincided with a military parade marking the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army. In LA, the political climate was already tense following a series of aggressive immigration raids across Southern California.

Seelie told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was trying to move through a line near downtown’s Grand Park when deputies with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department shoved him from behind. They were forming a containment line around demonstrators, and he was caught in the space between deputies and protesters.

Seelie was wearing a helmet marked with a press patch and had media credentials around his neck, he said. As tensions escalated, a crowd-control projectile struck his right leg, leaving a bruise and a visible residue on his pants. Tear gas filled the area, affecting both protesters and journalists.

“A lot of it I don’t know, because it was all happening at the same time,” said Seelie, speaking of when he was struck by the projectile. He said he doesn’t believe law enforcement had intentionally targeted him. Later that day, a group of protesters attacked him for taking their photo.

In a statement emailed to the Tracker, the Sheriff’s Department said it prioritizes maintaining access for credentialed media, “especially during emergencies and critical incidents.”

“The LASD does not condone any actions that intentionally target members of the press, and we continuously train our personnel to distinguish and respect the rights of clearly identified journalists in the field,” a public information officer wrote. “We remain open to working with all media organizations to improve communication, transparency, and safety for all parties during public safety operations.”

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

Freelance journalist Sean Beckner-Carmitchel was knocked to the ground by police and then struck in the back with a baton in Whittier, California, while documenting immigration protests on June 11, 2025.

The protests began June 6 in response to federal raids in and around LA of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After demonstrators clashed with local law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard and then the U.S. Marines over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass.

Beckner-Carmitchel told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was freelancing for the Los Angeles Public Press, reporting on demonstrations at the DoubleTree Hotel in Whittier, where protesters believed federal immigration officials were staying as they carried out raids throughout Los Angeles County.

In a post on the social platform Bluesky, Beckner-Carmitchel wrote that Whittier Police Department officers arrived after a window was broken. In photos and footage he posted, the officers appear to be positioned to prevent protesters from entering the hotel.

He told the Tracker that officers then came rushing out of the hotel to push back the crowd.

“When Whittier PD surged out of the hotel, an officer pushed me with his baton and I lost my balance and fell,” Beckner-Carmitchel said. “While I was on the ground, I also had an officer put his hand on me. I don’t necessarily want to call it a punch, but there was force.”

In footage he posted to Bluesky, officers can be seen charging forward, pushing the crowd with their batons and shouting “Back! Get the fuck back!” It appears that two officers pushed Beckner-Carmitchel, knocking him to the ground. As he begins to get up, another officer seems to rush toward him, striking and pushing the journalist back down despite him shouting, “Press! Press! Press!”

Beckner-Carmitchel told the Tracker he was able to get up once the officers had moved past him, but he was left with bruises on his left arm and hip.

In a statement posted on Instagram, the city of Whittier and the Whittier Police Department said that the claims that federal agents were staying at the hotel were incorrect.

“In response to an urgent plea from hotel management, a regional law enforcement response, led by the Whittier Police Department, was activated to help restore safety,” the statement said. “The crowd was safely dispersed around 2:00 a.m., with no injuries reported and no arrests made.”

Whittier police did not respond to a request for further comment.

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

Unicorn Riot reporter and editor Chris Schiano was struck and shoved by police while reporting on an anti-deportation march in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on June 14, 2025.

Schiano told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was covering the immigration enforcement protest, separate from the “No Kings” protest in Philadelphia the same day. The march began around 6 p.m. at the Federal Detention Center in the Center City neighborhood and continued around nearby streets.

Bicycle officers from the Philadelphia Police Department began working to encircle the protesters, who in turn used improvised barriers to slow down the police, Schiano told the Tracker. He said officers finally surrounded the demonstrators at around 7 p.m. outside a Holiday Inn Express hotel.

Schiano filmed protesters as they fled the scene until two police officers slammed their bikes into the journalist and ordered him to move. “I only heard their orders by the time I was already being struck,” Schiano said.

Schiano said he was wearing a vest with “PRESS” written across it in large white letters, as well as his Unicorn Riot press pass.

“I’m a journalist. I’m a journalist, sir,” Schiano told the police in a video of the incident. “Move back,” a police officer said as he shoved Schiano. At that moment, the reporter told the Tracker he worried he would be hit again.

Looking back, Schiano says he has the “strong impression” that the police didn’t care that he was a journalist. He added that he did not sustain any injuries.

After that incident, Schiano said he was caught in the kettle for about one more minute before he was allowed to leave with the remaining protesters.

The reporter said he then documented protesters being followed by dozens of police officers on motorcycles. While filming, Schiano said police officers sped up and came “within an inch or so of striking me.” The people Schiano was following eventually dispersed, and the police on motorbikes stopped following them.

Schiano filed a complaint against the police over the incident June 22.

When reached by email for comment, PPD spokesperson Jasmine Colón-Reilly said, “The role of the Philadelphia Police Department is not to interfere with the expression of any First Amendment rights, but to manage public safety during demonstrations to prevent the loss of life, injury, or property damage, and minimize disruption to persons (and communities) who are uninvolved; as well as those who are involved.”

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

KPRC-TV reporter Gage Goulding was shoved and his camera smacked out of his hands while reporting at a Houston-area used-car dealership in Pasadena, Texas, on Dec. 5, 2024.

In a report for the outlet, Goulding recounted that he and photojournalist Oscar Chavez went to the business to investigate a young woman’s allegations that she was conned out of $1,500 when trying to buy a car.

Goulding reportedly went undercover as a potential customer to see whether he’d have a similar experience.

“Wearing a microphone, but without a camera, Goulding got the keys to a Jeep and with the salesman, started the engine and talked about test-driving the vehicle,” KPRC-TV reported. “At that point, he informed the salesman who he was and why he was there.”

In recordings of the exchange that followed, the salesman is heard inviting Goulding inside to speak with the manager, David Estrada. Goulding — with Chavez following behind with a camera — began asking Estrada about the woman’s experience.

“When we do these stories and confront businesses, we usually are met with one simple answer: Please leave. And we do, we abide by that,” Goulding reported. “But this story was different from the get-go.”

Estrada stood and without warning placed his hand on Chavez’s camera and began pushing the photojournalist outside. Outside the office, Estrada continued grabbing the camera while Goulding yelled for him not to touch their equipment and Chavez said that they were leaving.

“Meanwhile, the car salesman is grabbing (Chavez’s) camera, twisting his arm and throwing elbows,” Goulding said in his report.

Estrada also smacked Goulding’s phone “through the air” and pinned Chavez in the journalists’ vehicle.

Neither journalist responded to requests for additional comment.

KPRC-TV reported that Estrada was arrested that day on two counts of assault. Estrada is also facing unrelated charges for allegedly embezzling more than $140,000 from another dealership, according to the station.

The woman whose experience sparked the investigation was contacted by the dealership and told she would be overnighted a check for the full $1,500.

“The goal of this story wasn’t to create any drama,” Goulding reported. “It was to get answers for (the woman) and her family. And the good news is: We did get those answers.”

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

Freelance photojournalist Susan Stava was shoved to the ground by police while reporting outside a campaign event for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, on Oct. 20, 2024.

Stava told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she went to cover the town hall event at the Lancaster County Convention Center but stayed outside to conduct interviews as part of an ongoing project about women who support the former president.

“I went to leave and I saw a bunch of demonstrators outside in Lancaster Square, and it was basically a Harris group, and what struck me was it was pretty peaceful and the Harris-Walz group was just mingling with the Trump supporters,” she said. “It got a little crazy around the center, where there were a bunch of kids that were sort of antagonizing the Harris supporters.”

Then a woman Stava had been speaking with noticed that her friend was under arrest following an altercation.

“We all were going around to see where they were taking her, and it was sort of on the street and I was going to actually run to the other corner of the street when I could, to get a front shot of her coming toward me,” she said. “And I never got there.”

Stava said an officer suddenly broadsided her, shoving her to the ground.

“I landed on my back, and I really didn’t know what hit me,” she told the Tracker. “He didn’t even bother to see if I was OK. He just backed up, standing there. Another cop came over and hoisted me up very quickly without assuring that I wasn’t injured.”

She said she was examined by emergency responders at the scene and they transported her to a hospital to ensure that she didn’t have any internal bleeding. Stava said she suffered from whiplash and has a “huge lump” on her head, a large bruise on her arm and jaw pain. One of her camera lenses was also damaged during the incident.

“I’ve been in this business for 30-35 years: I’ve never had that happen,” Stava said. “I’ve been to January 6, I’ve been to all kinds of places and I’m pretty careful. I’m very savvy about what’s around me.”

Stava told the Tracker that after she was released from the hospital she went straight to the Lancaster City Bureau of Police to file a complaint about the incident.

Women Press Freedom condemned the “violent actions” taken by the police officer, stating that it was “a clear violation of press freedom and the rights of journalists to report safely and without interference.”

“This incident not only highlights the concerning aggression faced by journalists in the field but also raises serious questions about the training and conduct of law enforcement officers,” the advocacy organization wrote in its statement. “We call for a thorough investigation into this incident, and we urge the Lancaster City Police to take immediate action to address the serious issues raised by Stava’s experience.”

When reached by email, the police directed the Tracker to its statement issued on Oct. 23, announcing that it had completed its investigation and concluded that the officer had not engaged in any misconduct.

“A scene like this can escalate quickly and officers may not always be able to immediately identify an individual’s intent when the group is rapidly moving toward a restricted area,” the statement said. “It’s important for everyone, including media personnel, to remain aware of their surroundings during dynamic situations where safety conditions can change rapidly.”

Stava told the Tracker that she has been in contact with the National Press Photographers Association and is considering next steps.

“I’m worried about the fascist directions the cops and the police department are going into. I don’t know if journalists are being singled out, I don’t know what’s happening for sure, but that’s my sense. So, big concern,” Stava said.

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

Freelance videojournalist Peter Hambrecht was shoved repeatedly with batons by New York City police while documenting protests outside a fundraiser for Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign on Aug. 14, 2024.

State Democratic leaders — including Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul — and labor union members gathered in Harlem in a show of support for the Harris-Walz campaign ahead of the Democratic National Convention, Politico reported. Pro-Palestinian protesters rallied outside the event, demonstrating against the Biden administration’s military support for Israel amid the ongoing Israel-Gaza war.

Hambrecht told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the protest outside the campaign event was uneventful, but tensions escalated after protesters marched the 10 blocks north to a restaurant where the Democratic officials were holding an after-party. He said he was one of five or six journalists to make it into the restaurant alongside approximately 15 demonstrators.

“I was kind of pulled out of the restaurant by the cops, who eventually came in. And then they just start pushing people down the sidewalk away from the restaurant for a while, just really ramming people,” Hambrecht said. “Most of us at the front were press anyway, by the end of it, and they just continued to do it.”

He said that he was wearing his city-issued credentials while police shoved him multiple times with their batons, and he received multiple bruises around his ribs. Hambrecht said he licensed his footage from the protest to News2Share, a collective that sells footage to news outlets.

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

An independent journalist who writes under the moniker Spyder Monkey was repeatedly shoved with batons by New York City police while documenting protests outside a fundraiser for Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign on Aug. 14, 2024.

State Democratic leaders — including Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul — and labor union members gathered in Harlem in a show of support for the Harris-Walz campaign ahead of the Democratic National Convention, Politico reported. Pro-Palestinian protesters rallied outside the event, demonstrating against the Biden administration’s military support for Israel amid the ongoing Israel-Gaza war.

Spyder Monkey, who asked to be identified only by his pen name for safety reasons, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the protest outside the campaign event was uneventful, but tensions escalated after protesters marched the 10 blocks north to a restaurant where the Democratic officials were holding an after-party. He said protesters went into the restaurant, yelled at attendees and quickly exited.

“As they were leaving, that’s when the police who were monitoring them from earlier in the day came in and immediately arrested two or three protesters, and that’s when the cop riot basically started,” Spyder Monkey said. “That’s where most of the violence kind of happened, with all the press filming everything around them, smoke bombs being thrown, arguments between police and protesters.”

He said that the press became trapped between the protesters and a line of officers from the department’s Special Response Group, a rapid response unit that the New York Civil Liberties Union calls notoriously violent.

“It was a lot of shoving, a lot of police pushing press who, including me, were just trying to hold their arms up to show nonviolence, but we just kept getting manhandled and pushed around,” Spyder Monkey said.

In a clip Spyder Monkey posted on the social platform X, a supervisory officer can be seen using a baton to shove back independent photojournalist Gerard Dalbon — wearing a black shirt — while the journalist’s press credential is visible on a lanyard.

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

Independent photojournalist Gerard Dalbon was struck repeatedly with a baton by New York City police while documenting protests outside a fundraiser for Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign on Aug. 14, 2024.

State Democratic leaders — including Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul — and labor union members gathered in Harlem in a show of support for the Harris-Walz campaign ahead of the Democratic National Convention, Politico reported. Pro-Palestinian protesters rallied outside the event, demonstrating against the Biden administration’s military support for Israel amid the ongoing Israel-Gaza war.

Dalbon told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the protest outside the campaign event was uneventful, but tensions escalated after protesters marched the 10 blocks north to a restaurant where the Democratic officials were holding an after-party. Officers with the department’s Special Response Group, a rapid response unit that the New York Civil Liberties Union calls notoriously violent, quickly arrived and began pushing everyone back and hitting people with batons.

He said that he was shoved by a supervisory officer who was one of the first to pull out his baton and begin striking at people. “I was repeatedly hit with a baton by him as we were getting pushed back. I was showing him my press badge and he did not care,” Dalbon said. “He was saying ‘fuck your press badge’ as he was hitting people.”

In a clip posted on the social platform X, a supervisory officer can be seen using a baton to shove back Dalbon — wearing a black shirt — while the journalist’s press credential is visible on a lanyard.

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

Independent photojournalist Alexa Wilkinson was repeatedly shoved with a baton by New York City police officers while documenting protests outside a fundraiser for Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign on Aug. 14, 2024.

State Democratic leaders — including Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul — and labor union members gathered in Harlem in a show of support for the Harris-Walz campaign ahead of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Politico reported. Pro-Palestinian protesters rallied outside the event, demonstrating against the Biden administration’s military support for Israel amid the ongoing Israel-Gaza war.

Wilkinson told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the protest outside the campaign event was uneventful, but tensions escalated after protesters marched the 10 blocks north to a restaurant where the Democratic officials were holding an after-party. She said she was near the front of the march when protesters arrived, and she was one of five or six journalists to make it into the restaurant alongside approximately 15 protesters.

After yelling back and forth between demonstrators and event attendees in the restaurant, Wilkinson said the manager ordered the protesters and press out of the restaurant. As they exited, she added, police had already begun making arrests and she was quickly trapped between planter boxes by officers from the department’s Special Response Group, a rapid response unit that the New York Civil Liberties Union calls notoriously violent.

“As I looked to my left, a door or two down there was one cop — who I now know to be one of the ones who had his baton out incorrectly and handle facing outward toward people — he was to the left sort of cornering press, an acquaintance of mine, and cracked him in the ribs,” Wilkinson said. “As press were trying to document that pocket of violence, SRG was then trying to push press and protesters out, very violently, down the sidewalk away from the restaurant and into the street.”

She told the Tracker that a group of journalists accidentally became trapped between a line of police and the protesters. At least four journalists, including Wilkinson, were struck or pushed by officers with batons that night. Wilkinson said she was repeatedly shoved and an officer grabbed her by the arm and threw her sideways during the chaos.

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

Independent photojournalist Madison Swart was repeatedly pushed and bruised by Chicago Police Department officers while documenting a pro-Palestinian protest coinciding with the nearby Democratic National Convention on Aug. 20, 2024.

A small gathering of protesters, unaffiliated with and more militant than other groups that had organized larger demonstrations earlier in the week, converged around 7 p.m. outside the Israeli Consulate in Chicago’s West Loop section. The demonstrators and police, who far outnumbered them, clashed repeatedly. The protesters were later ordered to leave the area and police began arresting them, Block Club Chicago reported.

Swart told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she was repeatedly shoved by officers who used batons or bicycles as they moved in to control the crowd and make arrests.

“They were just trying to push the press back from taking photos of them arresting the protesters,” Swart said. “They were just shoving us back with their batons very forcefully.”

She added that there appeared to be significant miscommunications and inconsistencies between the officers and in their directives toward the press. “A lot of them were telling us different things about where to go, and then we would go there and we would get in trouble for going where an officer had told us to go,” she said.

Ultimately, Swart was in the crowd when she said police surrounded them using a technique called kettling, which is often followed by mass arrests.

“I didn’t even realize that I had been pushed and wasn’t allowed to get out until I tried to,” Swart said. “The officers told me that I couldn’t go through and I was like, ‘OK, but I’m press, I’m just trying to get out.’ So one officer told me to go over to that side but when I did another officer said, ‘Nope, you’re all under arrest.’”

In a clip shared with the Tracker, Swart and multiple other journalists can be seen standing across the street from the consulate when she tells officers that press had been directed there. One of the officers reviewed their credentials and then allowed them out of the kettle, at one point telling someone, “Yeah, you look like press, come on down.”

While Swart said she was released relatively quickly, at least three journalists were arrested that night, and others were shoved or pulled by officers.

“There seemed to be a blatant disrespect of the press in general from the CPD, even going so far as mocking a lot of the press, which I’ve never seen before,” Swart said.

When reached by email for comment, the Chicago Police Department directed the Tracker to CPD Superintendent Larry Snelling’s news conferences during the DNC, declining to respond to questions about officers’ aggression toward journalists and attempts to revoke press credentials.

During Snelling’s Aug. 21 news conference, he said that the department wants journalists to be able to do their jobs, but highlighted that the press must comply with police orders and step to the side when officers move in to make arrests. “If you don’t do that, it’s obstructing us and it makes it harder for us to take the people into custody that we’re trying to take into custody. And what we don’t want is for you to get caught in the middle of it and injured and hurt,” Snelling said.

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

Independent photojournalist Madison Swart was repeatedly pushed and bruised by Chicago Police Department officers while documenting a pro-Palestinian protest coinciding with the nearby Democratic National Convention on Aug. 20, 2024.

A small gathering of protesters, unaffiliated with and more militant than other groups that had organized larger demonstrations earlier in the week, converged around 7 p.m. outside the Israeli Consulate in Chicago’s West Loop section. The demonstrators and police, who far outnumbered them, clashed repeatedly. The protesters were later ordered to leave the area and police began arresting them, Block Club Chicago reported.

Swart told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she was repeatedly shoved by officers who used batons or bicycles as they moved in to control the crowd and make arrests.

“They were just trying to push the press back from taking photos of them arresting the protesters,” Swart said. “They were just shoving us back with their batons very forcefully.”

She added that there appeared to be significant miscommunications and inconsistencies between the officers and in their directives toward the press. “A lot of them were telling us different things about where to go, and then we would go there and we would get in trouble for going where an officer had told us to go,” she said.

Ultimately, Swart was in the crowd when she said police surrounded them using a technique called kettling, which is often followed by mass arrests.

“I didn’t even realize that I had been pushed and wasn’t allowed to get out until I tried to,” Swart said. “The officers told me that I couldn’t go through and I was like, ‘OK, but I’m press, I’m just trying to get out.’ So one officer told me to go over to that side but when I did another officer said, ‘Nope, you’re all under arrest.’”

In a clip shared with the Tracker, Swart and multiple other journalists can be seen standing across the street from the consulate when she tells officers that press had been directed there. One of the officers reviewed their credentials and then allowed them out of the kettle, at one point telling someone, “Yeah, you look like press, come on down.”

While Swart said she was released relatively quickly, at least three journalists were arrested that night, and others were shoved or pulled by officers.

“There seemed to be a blatant disrespect of the press in general from the CPD, even going so far as mocking a lot of the press, which I’ve never seen before,” Swart said.

When reached by email for comment, the Chicago Police Department directed the Tracker to CPD Superintendent Larry Snelling’s news conferences during the DNC, declining to respond to questions about officers’ aggression toward journalists and attempts to revoke press credentials.

During Snelling’s Aug. 21 news conference, he said that the department wants journalists to be able to do their jobs, but highlighted that the press must comply with police orders and step to the side when officers move in to make arrests. “If you don’t do that, it’s obstructing us and it makes it harder for us to take the people into custody that we’re trying to take into custody. And what we don’t want is for you to get caught in the middle of it and injured and hurt,” Snelling said.

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

Diego Spairani, a photojournalist for the Argentinian TV news channel Todo Noticias, was pushed by police attempting to force him and a colleague from a stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, while reporting live before a soccer match on July 14, 2024.

The New York Times reported that mayhem broke out at the Copa América final between Argentina and Colombia, when throngs of unticketed fans attempted to enter Hard Rock Stadium in the Miami suburb, delaying kickoff for more than an hour.

In Todo Noticias’ live footage, reporter Leo Paradizo can be seen walking toward one of the closed entrances when suddenly the gate opens and individuals start rushing in. Law enforcement and event security quickly respond, and a Miami-Dade Police Department officer can be seen pushing Spairani back from the entrance while he says in Spanish that they’re cooperating.

The officer appears to direct the journalists to stand in a particular location, but a stadium employee approaches and erroneously asserts that the journalists had opened the gate for the crowd, saying that they should be forced to leave.

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

Leo Paradizo, a reporter for the Argentinian TV news channel Todo Noticias, was pushed by police attempting to force him and his photographer from a stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, while reporting live before a soccer match on July 14, 2024.

The New York Times reported that mayhem broke out at the Copa América final between Argentina and Colombia, when throngs of unticketed fans attempted to enter Hard Rock Stadium in the Miami suburb, delaying kickoff for more than an hour.

In Todo Noticias’ live footage, Paradizo can be seen walking toward one of the closed entrances when suddenly the gate opens and individuals start rushing in. Law enforcement and event security quickly respond, and a Miami-Dade Police Department officer can be seen pushing photographer Diego Spairani back from the entrance while he says in Spanish that they’re cooperating.

The officer appears to direct the journalists to stand in a particular location, but a stadium employee approaches and erroneously asserts that the journalists had opened the gate for the crowd, saying that they should be forced to leave.

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

Reporter Cam Higby said he was assaulted while attempting to report on the occupation of a building on the University of California, Los Angeles, campus on May 23, 2024.

UCLA’s student newspaper, the Daily Bruin, reported that protesters staged a sit-in at an academic building after law enforcement officers cleared a second pro-Palestinian encampment on campus.

Higby told the Tracker he was blocked from entering the building through the front doors but was able to find a way in through a side entrance. “I was just filming and kind of walking around, taking pictures of the graffiti they had spray-painted inside the building,” he said.

Shortly after, someone recognized him and called out, “This guy’s a Zionist!”

Multiple individuals then surrounded him near the top of a set of exit stairs, jeering at him and challenging his status as a journalist. Higby confirmed with the Tracker that he was wearing a press credential from Today Is America, which he described as a digital news media and commentary site.

Higby said he started to walk away from the individuals, but someone came from behind and struck his camera with what he believes was a closed fist.

In his footage of the incident, a voice can be heard asking Higby, “Who are you? What are you doing here?”

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

Independent journalist Tina-Desiree Berg was shoved multiple times and her phone briefly stolen while documenting clashes between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli protesters in Los Angeles, California, on June 23, 2024. At least nine journalists were assaulted while covering the violence that day.

The conflict began after the Southern California chapter of the Palestinian Youth Movement called for demonstrators to meet at noon outside the Adas Torah synagogue in the heavily Jewish Pico-Robertson neighborhood in west LA to protest the alleged sale of occupied Palestinian land in the West Bank, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Multiple journalists told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that scuffles, brawls and exchanges of pepper spray broke out in the streets nearby between the protesters and counterprotesters.

Individuals from both sides — including a rabbi and security volunteers from the Jewish community — attempted to intervene and prevent the violence from escalating. CNN reported that Los Angeles Police Department officers established a perimeter around the synagogue.

Berg was targeted with aggressions multiple times throughout the day, according to reports from other journalists covering the protests. Berg did not respond to requests for comment.

Investigative journalist Kate Burns, who was covering the protest for Left Coast Right Watch, captured footage shortly after 2 p.m. of multiple men watching Berg film the protests. At 0:11 in the clip, one man appears to lightly push a second toward Berg. The second man then crashes into her with his shoulder and raised arms, toppling her several feet over and sending her phone flying.

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

Fatih Aktaş, a photojournalist for the Turkish state-run outlet Anadolu Agency, was shoved to the ground by multiple New York City police officers while covering a pro-Palestinian protest in Brooklyn on May 31, 2024.

Protesters gathered outside Barclays Center arena at 3 p.m., NBC News reported, before walking the mile to the Brooklyn Museum, where they occupied the plaza and entered the building, hanging banners both inside and on the facade and calling for a cease-fire in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

Aktaş told Anadolu he was photographing the violent police response to the protests when he became a target of it. “While I was trying to capture the police intervention in the protests, a police officer strongly pushed me backward,” Aktaş said. “To avoid damaging my camera, I had to fall on my back, hitting my elbow hard on the ground.”

In footage of the incident, Aktaş appears to be standing and photographing police while demonstrators march in front of the museum. At least three officers can then be seen shoving Aktaş, with the photojournalist landing on the ground approximately 10 feet back from the officers. Moments later, another officer can be seen helping him to his feet as two supervisory officers walk past, with one of the higher-ranking officers then pushing him again and ordering him to back up.

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

Independent photojournalist Peter Hambrecht was shoved with a baton by a New York City police officer while covering a pro-Palestinian protest in Manhattan on May 6, 2024.

Hambrecht told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was reporting on a protest that began at Hunter College at 4 p.m. and marched toward the Met Gala, an annual fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 15 blocks away. WCBS-TV reported that the protesters were stopped by police before they reached the museum.

At one point when police were making arrests, Hambrecht said, an officer tackled a demonstrator against a car near where he was standing.

“The police really started aggressively pushing us back,” Hambrecht said. “Then an officer came with their club and just rams me on my side and slams me against a car. They tried to push me back onto the sidewalk, behind the car so I can’t see what they’re doing to this person.”

Hambrecht said it appeared to be a deliberate police strategy to obstruct the press, as he was standing alongside other journalists who were also forced out of view of the detainment.

At 1:10 in the WCBS-TV video report on the protests, police can be seen using batons to push multiple individuals who appear to be wearing press credentials and holding professional cameras, including Hambrecht and independent photojournalist Josh Pacheco.

Pacheco reported on social media that as the march moved up Madison Avenue, police arrested multiple protesters and attacked members of the press with batons. In their footage, someone can be heard saying, “We’re all press, stop pushing us!”

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

Independent photojournalist Peter Hambrecht was shoved into a bus mirror by a New York City police officer, damaging his microphone, while he was covering a pro-Palestinian protest near the Manhattan Bridge on May 11, 2024.

Hambrecht told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the protest began in downtown Brooklyn near Barclays Center before demonstrators marched up Flatbush Avenue. The protest broke into separate groups following rounds of arrests by police, with a large group walking beside and attempting to enter the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway.

He said that he was walking behind officers from the New York City Police Department’s Strategic Response Group, a heavily armored unit used for crowd control, and higher-ranking officers wearing white shirts when they arrested a demonstrator who had been drumming.

“They grabbed someone and pushed them against the school bus that’s right next to me,” Hambrecht said. “I’m trying to back up a little bit and then I get shoved by a white shirt, ramming me into the front mirror and it ends up cutting my shoulder open and pinning my microphone, which damaged it.”

In Hambrecht’s footage of the drummer’s arrest, an officer can be seen pushing a second individual against the bus in front of Hambrecht. Within seconds and without warning, a commanding officer shoves Hambrecht backward into the mirror extending from the hood of the bus and the sound on the footage cuts out. When sound resumes, the officer can be heard saying, “On the sidewalk.”

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

Independent photojournalist Michael Nigro was shoved and his camera equipment damaged by a New York City police officer while documenting a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Brooklyn on May 18, 2024.

Brooklyn Paper reported that the rally marking Nakba Day — which commemorates the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians during the Arab-Israeli war of 1948 — has been held in the Bay Ridge neighborhood for years without incident.

Nigro told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he has documented the rally six or seven times in years prior and described the demonstration as a generally family-friendly, community event. He said that the police response was markedly different this year, with officers in riot gear and from the NYPD’s Strategic Response Group, a heavily armored group used for crowd control, present from the beginning.

Shortly after protesters took to the street, Nigro said, officers made the first arrest of the day. Nigro said he filmed the detainment and had complied with orders to step back when an officer assaulted him.

“I didn’t see him coming,” Nigro said, “he just came over and smacked my camera. With the vibration in the camera and the sound that I heard, I thought, ‘He just broke my lens.’ Then I saw that the hood was cracked and thankfully the lens was not.”

In footage of the incident captured by another photojournalist, a commanding officer can be seen grabbing Nigro’s camera and using it to shove him back and to the side, striking the camera against another photographer in the process. As the first officer walks away, a second can be seen pushing Nigro backward.

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

Independent journalist Alissa Azar was shoved to the ground and later arrested by law enforcement while covering a pro-Palestinian protest at Portland State University in downtown Portland, Oregon, on May 2, 2024.

Students first erected an encampment on April 25, The Oregonian reported, calling for a cease-fire in the Israel-Gaza war and for the university to sever any ties with Boeing, which is a supplier for the Israeli Air Force. Students then occupied the university’s main library, barricading one of the entrances.

Azar told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she had been covering the student protests since they began. In the early morning of May 2, she said she received multiple calls informing her that Portland Police Bureau and Oregon State Police officers were on campus preparing to raid the encampment.

After initially clearing demonstrators out of the library, law enforcement engaged in standoffs with the students and other protesters, at times retreating before returning in what Azar characterized as violent pushes. She said it was during one of the latter instances that an officer shoved her to the ground while she was filming in front of the police line.

“I kept getting pushed with the baton and they were telling me to get back even though at that point it was physically impossible,” Azar told the Tracker. “I ended up getting pushed to the ground and immediately after the cops rushed the group and started hitting and shoving everyone.”

Following another period of retreat in which officers pulled back to a nearby campus building, Azar said, the demonstrators returned to the area around the library.

“I was standing next to a bunch of other journalists, reporters and photographers,” Azar told the Tracker, noting that the group included those from local outlets and a reporter from The New York Times. She said the journalists were standing in a city park across from the library.

She said that after some time the officers suddenly emerged from the other side of the building and began making arrests.

“I was standing there recording because they immediately went after random people. It was a really intense situation: Almost everyone I saw that was arrested had already been detained and had more than four cops on them,” Azar said.

In Azar’s footage of the incident, groups of police can be seen arresting each protester, and one officer waves at the journalist as he jogs past her. Seconds later, a Portland police officer approaches Azar and, in quick succession, says, “Leave. You’re under arrest.” He then pulls Azar’s arms behind her back and tells her that if she resists, force will be used against her.

Azar said she was detained at approximately 7 p.m. She added that she was wearing press credentials issued by the National Press Photographers Association and believes the police targeted her for arrest.

“Exactly one minute before my video of my arrest started, I took photos of two of the cops, one whispering to the other and just staring at me,” Azar said, sharing the photo with the Tracker. “After I was arrested they made a handful of comments about me and ‘our time together in 2020,’ because I was out there reporting almost every night at that time.” Azar extensively covered Portland protests against police brutality following the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, that year.

Azar told the Tracker she was transported to the Multnomah County Justice Center, where she was processed and placed in a cell.

She noted that when she was able to make a phone call to the National Lawyers Guild’s Mass Defense Hotline, officers played an alert that said “no third-party caller” every 10 to 15 seconds. “The person on the other end of the line said they sometimes do that to certain callers to mess with them,” Azar said.

Azar told the Tracker she was released at around 1:30 a.m. the following day, charged with one count of criminal trespass. Her initial appearance hearing is scheduled for June 7.

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

Freelance photojournalist Olga Fedorova was shoved to the ground and arrested by New York City police while documenting a pro-Palestinian protest on May 7, 2024.

Officers had moved in to dismantle a protest outside of Manhattan’s Fashion Institute of Technology, the last campus encampment in the city, according to Gothamist. A separate group of protesters had marched from Union Square a mile to the campus in solidarity with the calls for a cease-fire in the Israel-Gaza war and divestment from Israeli companies.

Fedorova told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she was on assignment for two news outlets — taking stills for the European Pressphoto Agency and video for FreedomNews.TV while covering the Union Square march and then the student rally to protect the encampment.

“There were reports that a police sweep of the encampment was imminent,” Fedorova said. “When there eventually was a sweep, I ran around to where the students who had been arrested would be loaded into buses and taken away. And, as has happened pretty frequently recently, people tried to block the buses from leaving and attempt to de-arrest the students.”

Police then moved in to arrest everyone in the street, Fedorova said, and she remained to document the violent detention of a woman, the photographer kneeling to capture an image of the woman’s face between the legs of the officers.

In footage from Status Coup photojournalist Jon Farina, officers can be seen arresting protesters and directing everyone to get off the street or face arrest. At 1:04 in the video, Fedorova can be seen beginning to kneel and raise her camera when an officer forcefully pushes her to the ground and shouts for her to go to the edge of the street.

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

Status Coup photojournalist Jon Farina was shoved multiple times by a police officer while documenting a pro-Palestinian protest in New York City on March 28, 2024.

Farina told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was reporting live on the demonstration held outside Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan, where Democrats were holding a reelection campaign fundraiser for President Joe Biden.

Demonstrators were marching in the street and blocking traffic, Farina said, when police began making arrests, targeting one of the organizers.

“I’m in the street documenting, my credentials are out and I’m obviously filming,” Farina told the Tracker. “A cop grabs me by my jacket and shoves me back. I tell him that I’m press and that I can be here to document. And he just kept screaming in my face, ‘Get on the sidewalk!’”

As the march continued, Farina said he looked for the officer in order to obtain his name and badge number. Once he saw him, the photojournalist said he walked into a crosswalk that the officer was nearing and filmed his badge.

“He grabbed me again by my shirt, by my jacket, and lifted me up off the street and pushed me all the way back onto the sidewalk,” Farina said. “He bruised up my arm from that.”

In Farina’s footage of the second encounter, the officer can be heard threatening the photojournalist with arrest the next time he steps foot in the street.

Farina told the Tracker that the incident was symptomatic of a police crackdown on protests and the press that covers them.

“This is just getting worse. NYPD is getting worse. Attacks on journalists are getting worse,” he said. “It’s the same strategy to eliminate the witness so that there’s no documentation, no proof of crimes being committed.”

At a protest a few days later, Farina said he approached a police captain to identify himself as a journalist and “set some ground rules” for covering the protest, telling the officer that he had been assaulted a few days prior.

“He kind of just said, ‘Oh, when things are getting crazy and chaotic, we don’t know who’s who, and we can’t distinguish who’s press and who’s not,’” Farina recounted. “I said, ‘Well that’s why we have our credentials out. Once you see these and our cameras, you should know we’re there documenting and just leave us alone.’”

The New York Police Department did not respond to a request for comment.

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

Status Coup photojournalist Jon Farina was shoved multiple times by a police officer while documenting a pro-Palestinian protest in New York City on March 28, 2024.

Farina told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was reporting live on the demonstration held outside Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan, where Democrats were holding a reelection campaign fundraiser for President Joe Biden.

Demonstrators were marching in the street and blocking traffic, Farina said, when police began making arrests, targeting one of the organizers.

“I’m in the street documenting, my credentials are out and I’m obviously filming,” Farina told the Tracker. “A cop grabs me by my jacket and shoves me back. I tell him that I’m press and that I can be here to document. And he just kept screaming in my face, ‘Get on the sidewalk!’”

As the march continued, Farina said he looked for the officer in order to obtain his name and badge number. Once he saw him, the photojournalist said he walked into a crosswalk that the officer was nearing and filmed his badge.

“He grabbed me again by my shirt, by my jacket, and lifted me up off the street and pushed me all the way back onto the sidewalk,” Farina said. “He bruised up my arm from that.”

In Farina’s footage of the second encounter, the officer can be heard threatening the photojournalist with arrest the next time he steps foot in the street.

Farina told the Tracker that the incident was symptomatic of a police crackdown on protests and the press that covers them.

“This is just getting worse. NYPD is getting worse. Attacks on journalists are getting worse,” he said. “It’s the same strategy to eliminate the witness so that there’s no documentation, no proof of crimes being committed.”

At a protest a few days later, Farina said he approached a police captain to identify himself as a journalist and “set some ground rules” for covering the protest, telling the officer that he had been assaulted a few days prior.

“He kind of just said, ‘Oh, when things are getting crazy and chaotic, we don’t know who’s who, and we can’t distinguish who’s press and who’s not,’” Farina recounted. “I said, ‘Well that’s why we have our credentials out. Once you see these and our cameras, you should know we’re there documenting and just leave us alone.’”

The New York Police Department did not respond to a request for comment.

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

Freelance journalist Carlos Berríos Polanco was tear-gassed and pushed by police while documenting a demonstration against the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center on Nov. 13, 2023.

Berríos Polanco told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that approximately 500 protesters had gathered in Gresham Park for a “Block Cop City” protest march to the construction site for the center in a forest southeast of Atlanta.

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

A Boston TV reporter was allegedly assaulted on July 26, 2023, by a man leaving a courthouse after his arraignment for impersonating a police officer, according to law enforcement officials and news reports.

Byron Boisseau, 44, allegedly grabbed the TV reporter and shoved him multiple times outside the District Court in Chelsea, Massachusetts, following Boisseau’s arraignment, the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office said in a Sept. 12 release.

Police did not name the reporter, but WFXT-TV reported on July 26 that Boisseau shoved reporter Bob Ward after he approached Boisseau for comment. Ward later turned over footage of the alleged attack to the Massachusetts State Police.

The station said at the time that Ward was OK and had been checked out by medical professionals as a precaution.

Boisseau was charged with assault and battery of a person over 60 years old, according to the district attorney. Massachusetts law carries enhanced penalties for assaults on elderly people and people with disabilities.

“This individual chose to commit another crime right after answering on a different one. We all have a job to do. Use of force or violence against someone performing their professional duties will never be tolerated, as this individual has found out,” DA Hayden said in a news release.

Paul Mahoney, Boisseau’s defense attorney, declined to comment on the assault charge. Boisseau is due back in court on Nov. 1.

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

Marissa Barnwell, a 15-year-old high school student in Lexington, South Carolina, was joined by her parents and the family's lawyer on Thursday as they spoke publicly about a federal lawsuit they filed against her school district, the state Department of Education, and a teacher who they say assaulted Barnwell late last year for not reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.

Surveillance footage from River Bluff High School shows Barnwell walking through a school hallway on November 29, 2022 when the pledge began playing over a loudspeaker.

A state law passed three decades ago requires public schools to play the Pledge of Allegiance over their intercom systems each day at a specific time, but it prohibits any punishment of people who refuse to recite the pledge as long as "they are not disruptive or do not infringe on others."

Barnwell continued walking and was quickly confronted by a special education teacher, Nicole Livingston, who yelled at her and pushed her against a wall before sending her to the principal's office.

"I was just in disbelief," Barnwell said at the press conference Thursday. "You can hear me say in the video, 'Get your hands off of me.'"

Barnwell's parents learned about the incident when she called them in tears, according to the Associated Press. The school did not talk to them about the alleged assault and has reportedly "never responded" to their requests for an explanation.

"It will not be tolerated, and we will get justice for this action that [Livingston] did," Fynale Barnwell, Marissa's mother, told News 19 WLTX, a local CBS affiliate.

The lawsuit was filed last month, with the family arguing Livingston violated Barnwell's "constitutional rights by yelling and demanding that M.B. stop walking and physically assaulting her by pushing M.B., on the wall and forcefully touching M.B., in an unwanted way without her consent."

The Secular Coalition for America applauded the family for taking legal action.

None

— (@)

Tyler Bailey, the Barnwells' attorney, said Barnwell was "threatened for exercising [her] constitutional rights."

"The thing that's beautiful about America is we have freedoms," Bailey said Thursday. "Students in our schools should feel safe."

According to The State, a local newspaper, Livingston is still employed by the school.

"Nobody did anything," Bailey said. "This is why the federal civil rights lawsuit has been filed."

This content originally appeared on Common Dreams and was authored by Julia Conley.

Independent journalist Steven Monacelli was assaulted while documenting a protest in University Park, Texas, on Oct. 22, 2022.

Monacelli, who reports on extremism, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the protest in Coffee Park was organized by a group that often attracts individuals connected to extremist groups and militias. That day’s demonstration was planned against a judge who granted full custody to a Texas mother advocating for her child’s transgender identity.

Shortly after he arrived at the park, a protest organizer recognized Monacelli and singled him out by name. The organizer claimed Monacelli, who had his press credentials in his pocket, was an “Antifa journalist.” Monacelli told the Tracker another individual called him an anti-Semitic slur.

“They wanted to make me feel unwelcome and in fact, explicitly said so,” Monacelli said.

After deciding the event was unsafe, Monacelli started walking away but noticed a woman following him. In a video he posted on Twitter, Monacelli asks the woman to stop following him when a man comes by and shoves him. Monacelli told the Tracker he recognized the man from a September protest in Plano.

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

Photographer Park Zebley was shoved to the ground by Raiders wide receiver Davante Adams after a Monday Night Football game in Kansas City, Missouri, on Oct. 10, 2022.

In footage published by SportsCenter and shared widely, Adams can be seen pushing Zebley with two hands following a 30-29 Raiders loss.

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

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, who was not immediately available for comment, told the Times she was documenting the arrest of an abortion rights proteser 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.

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

Beverly Hills Courier reporter Sam 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.

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

Documentary photographer Joey Scott reported that he was shoved to the ground 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.

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.

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

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.

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

Two Buffalo, New York police officers were cleared of any wrongdoing on Friday related to their actions knocking an elderly peace activist to the ground, causing him a fractured skull and weeks in the hospital, amid protests sparked by the police killing of George Floyd nearly two years ago.

The arbitrator's decision stems from officers Aaron Torgalski and Robert McCabe's actions toward then-75-year-old Martin Gugino at a June 4, 2020 Black Lives Matter protest outside City Hall.

"Upon review," wrote arbitrator Jeffrey M. Selchick, "there is no evidence to sustain any claim that respondents had any other viable options other than to move Gugino out of the way of their forward movement."

"While Gugino might well have believed that he was engaged in some type of civil disobedience or, perhaps, acting out a role in some type of political theater, Gugino was definitely not an innocent bystander but comfortably fell within the definition of 'suspect' under the Use of Force Continuum," he wrote, suggesting blame for Gugino falling was due to the fact that he was holding objects in his hands or "his advanced age."

Torgalski and McCabe are expected to return to duty; following a 30-day suspension without pay after the incident, they've been on paid leave since.

Video footage captured by a local reporter of the 2020 encounter, showing Gugino being shoved to the concrete and blood immediately gushing from his head, went viral and sparked outrage over the use of force.

Selchick's decision, which followed a three-day hearing in November at which Gugino did not testify, came after a grand jury in February 2021 declined to indict the two officers on felony assault charges. Gugino filed suit against the city that same month.

Melissa D. Wischerath, an attorney for Gugino, said that the arbitrator's decision was unsurprising and that it would not impact the lawsuit against the city.

"We are not aware of any case where this arbitrator has ruled against on-duty police officers, so his ruling here on behalf of the police was not only expected by us, but was certainly expected by the union and city who selected and paid him. His decision has absolutely no bearing on the pending lawsuit," she told Buffalo News.

This content originally appeared on Common Dreams - Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community and was authored by Andrea Germanos.