OSCE Media Freedom Representative concerned about violence against journalists covering protests in USA, calls for protection of journalists

VIENNA, 1 June 2020 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, expressed his concern today regarding the wave of violence against journalists covering protests across the United States of America in recent days.

“I am deeply concerned by the number of incidents and attacks by police and demonstrators against journalists covering protests in the United States over the past few days,” said Representative Désir. “Many of these incidents involved arrests and the use of force by police, including rubber bullets, pepper bullets, tear gas and pepper spray, as well as acts of violence by protesters. I call on the authorities to exercise restraint and to ensure that journalists can work safely while reporting on public protests. The role of a free press must be safeguarded at all times and journalists must be free to report without facing violence, arrest or intimidation.”

Protests erupted in Minneapolis on 25 May, following the killing of a black man, George Floyd, and have since spread across the country.

According to media reports, over the past few days, several journalists, who identified themselves as members of the press by wearing armbands, press cards or vests, were injured by police firing rubber bullets, pepper bullets, and tear gas. These included Reuters camera operator Julio-Cesar Chavez and his security advisor (Minneapolis); photographer Hyoung Chang and journalist Elise Schmelzer, both from the Denver Post (Colorado); photojournalist Jan Czernik of Denver 7 News, who also had his camera broken (Denver); reporter Kaitlin Rust and photojournalist James Dobson of WAVE3 News (Louisville); freelance journalist Linda Tirado, who was left permanently blind in one eye (Minneapolis); and Swedish Expressen journalist Nina Svanberg, and Norwegian photographer Thomas Nilsson of Verdens Gang (Minneapolis). Police also fired pepper spray against other journalists, including Molly Hennessy-Fiske, a Los Angeles Times journalist (Minneapolis); Michael Adams, a VICE News journalist (New York City); and RIA Novosti correspondent Mikhail Turgiev (Minneapolis).

Alongside this, police also reportedly arrested or detained several journalists. These included Review-journal photographer Ellen Schmidt, and Bridget Bennett, a freelance journalist on assignment for AFP (Los Angeles); photographer Tom Aviles of WCCO, a local CBS station (Minneapolis); Huffington Post reporter Chris Mathias (New York City); Adam Gray, a New York-based British photojournalist for SWNS (New York City); Amandine Atalaya and Mathieu Derrien from French TV TF1 (Minneapolis); and Tim Arvier and his crew from Nine News Australia (Minneapolis).

A number of incidents involving attacks by protesters against journalists were also recorded. Paul Ahmann of WLKY was knocked over and beaten by protesters, suffering a concussion and having to be taken to hospital (Louisville); Leland Vitter and his crew from Fox News were attacked and chased by protesters (Washington, D.C.); Ian Smith, a photojournalist for KDA TV, was beaten by protesters and had his equipment destroyed (Pittsburgh); and Briana Whitney of CBS was harassed by a protester who pushed her and attempted to grab her microphone (Phoenix).

In addition, several TV crews had their equipment or vehicles damaged. According to reports, protesters threw rocks at a WSB-TV news van (Atlanta), while two vehicles belonging to WLKY News and one belonging to WAVE3 News were also vandalized (Louisville).  

The Representative recalled his Office’s “Special Report on Handling of the Media during Political Demonstrations: Observations and Recommendations”, which states that “law-enforcement officials have a constitutional responsibility not to prevent or obstruct the work of journalists during public demonstrations, and journalists have a right to expect fair and restrained treatment by the police.”

The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media observes media developments in all 57 OSCE participating States. He provides early warning on violations of freedom of expression and media freedom and promotes full compliance with OSCE media freedom commitments. Learn more at www.osce.org/fom, Twitter: @OSCE_RFoM and on www.facebook.com/osce.rfom.