New York City police officers surrounded, shoved and yelled expletives at two Associated Press (AP) journalists covering protests Tuesday in the latest aggression against members of the media during a week of unrest around the country.
Portions of the incident were captured on video by videojournalist Robert Bumsted, who was working with photographer Maye-E Wong to document the protests in lower Manhattan over the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
The video shows more than a half-dozen officers confronting the journalists as they filmed and took photographs of police ordering protesters to leave the area near Fulton and Broadway shortly after an 8 p.m. curfew took effect.
An officer, using an expletive, orders them to go home. Bumsted is heard on video explaining the press are considered "essential workers" and are allowed to be on the streets. An officer responds "I don't give a s∗∗t." Another tells Bumsted "get the f∗∗k out of here you piece of s∗∗t."
Bumsted and Wong said officers shoved them, separating them from each other and pushing them toward Bumsted's car, which was parked nearby. At one point Bumsted said he was pinned against his car. He is heard on video telling the officer that Wong has his keys and he needs them to leave the area. Officers then allowed Wong to approach and the two got in the vehicle and left.
Both journalists were wearing AP identification and identified themselves as media.
"They didn't care," Wong said. "They were just shoving me."
NYPD officials said they would "review this as soon as possible."
Journalists have faced aggressive police and protesters during demonstrations across the U.S. over the killing of Floyd, a handcuffed black man who died after a white officer pressed his knee on Floyd's neck.
Police in Louisville, Kentucky, apologized after an officer fired what appeared to be pepper bullets at a TV news crew, and a journalist in Minneapolis was shot by a rubber bullet.
Journalists have faced other risks while covering the unrest, in addition to dealing with aggression from police. In South Carolina, a television news reporter was hit in the head by a thrown rock and outside the White House, a Fox News reporter was chased and pummeled by protesters. Someone grabbed the reporter's microphone and threw it at his back, and a Fox News photographer's camera was smashed.
In Atlanta, demonstrators who fought with police and set cars on fire also broke windows and scrawled obscene graffiti at CNN headquarters.
AP spokeswoman Lauren Easton criticized the officers' actions Tuesday, which occurred as thousands of people in New York were defying a curfew put in place following several nights of violence and destruction. Journalists covering the story are exempt from the curfew.
"The role of journalists is to report the news on behalf of the public," Easton said. "It is unacceptable and deeply troubling when journalists are harassed simply for doing their job."
AUSTRALIA INVESTIGATES
Australia's Foreign ministry Tuesday said it would investigate an assault by US police and security forces on two Australian television journalists outside the White House as US President Trump had the area cleared for a photo opportunity.
Foreign minister Marise Payne said she has asked the Australian Embassy in Washington to investigate the incident in which the journalists can be seen on video being slammed with a riot shield, punched and hit with a baton while broadcasting from the protest.
Video showed Australian TV reporter Amelia Brace being clubbed with a truncheon and cameraman Tim Myers being hit with a riot shield and punched in the face by personnel clearing Washington's Lafayette Square of protesters Monday. The square is directly across the street from the White House.
The incident was widely broadcast in Australia, causing consternation in a country that has been a close US ally. The journalists said they were later shot with rubber bullets and tear-gassed, which Brace said left the pair "a bit sore".
Payne said wants further advice on how she would go about registering Australia's strong concerns with the responsible local Washington authorities, indicating a formal complaint would follow.
US ambassador to Australia Arthur B. Culvahouse Jr. said on Twitter: "We take mistreatment of journalists seriously, as do all who take democracy seriously." He said the US stays "steadfast in our commitment to protecting journalists and guaranteeing equal justice under law for all."
National Guard troops and federal law enforcement personnel had forcibly cleared the square of peaceful protesters to allow U.S. President Donald Trump to conduct a photo opportunity.
Trump has faced fierce criticism for his handling of days of protests over the death in police custody of an unarmed African-American man in Minneapolis. George Floyd died after a white police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.
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