Reporters Covering Wisconsin Anti-Racism Protests Slammed to Ground (+Video)
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Journalists sustained injuries during arrest by police officers while covering protests in Wauwatosa, US state of Wisconsin.
Two Daily Caller journalists, as well as other reporters, sustained injuries from police officers while covering protests in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin and were detained for breaking curfew, despite identifying themselves as press.
In video footage from the incident, Daily Caller Chief Video Director Richie McGinnis is filming an arrest being made by officers when he is asked to show his press badge, which he does. He is then told to leave the area, an order he complies with, RT reported.
“Don’t let me catch you!” an officer yells as the journalist is walking away.
“I’m out,” McGinnis says, making his way to a car in a parking lot. McGinnis is then slammed to the ground and officers can be heard yelling at others at the scene to “get on the ground” and “out of the car.” The journalists showed images of injuries sustained during the altercation, which were reportedly given with billy clubs.
Other reporters at the scene included Daily Caller’s Shelby Talcott, independent reporter Brandon Gutenschwager, and Campus Reform senior campus correspondent Blair Nelson.
Talcott reported that she and McGinnis were detained, but released, while Gutenschwager and Nelson were arrested for violating a curfew order (which is supposed to not apply to press on the job) and weren’t released for hours.
Talcott tweeted that McGinnis’ press credentials were clearly visible when he was taken to the ground by an officer and she was forced out of the vehicle she was in.
Video of the altercation captured by local reporter Caroline Reinwald actually shows the journalists being forced out of the car and detained by police.
“We're now at the point where journalists are not just detained and arrested, but now beaten by police for reasons that seem impossible to justify,” Daily Caller reporter David Hookstead tweeted, in a thread about the incident involving his colleagues.
The reporters were in the city of Wauwatosa covering protests over the announcement that police officer Joseph Mensah will not face criminal charges in the shooting of 17-year-old Alvin Cole. Officers reported that Cole was fleeing from police and shot at them with a handgun.
