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George Floyd riots: Aussie journalist detained amid US protests

A Channel 9 journalist has described the terrifying moment he became swept up in US protests and were detained at gunpoint by police.

Alex Turner-CohenAlex Turner-Cohen
@AlexTurnerCohen
4 min read
June 1, 2020 - 1:48AM
George Floyd protests: Visions of the riots raging on throughout America

An Australian reporter has told of the tense moments after a police officer “freaked out” and ordered him and his crew out of their car at gunpoint in the middle of the country’s riots.

The US has seen days of protests and violence following the death of George Floyd, a black man in custody.

Journalist Tim Arvier has been covering the tensions in the country for Channel 9 and has found himself right at the centre of the clashes including being within metres of a man who was stabbed in Minneapolis, where the crisis began.

On Sunday, Arvier became more than a bystander when he was pulled out of his vehicle and detained by police while reporting on the riots.

Tweeting about the incident on social media, Arvier told 9 News the group were clear and careful during the ordeal.

They were driving through the city when they heard gunfire and were then approached by police. While a curfew is in place to try and lessen the violence, journalists are exempt and are supposed to be able to operate freely.

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"We were yelling out we were press,” he told Channel 9.

"One police officer freaked out, pulled his gun out and got us to get out of the car.”

Protesters march by the burning trash cans during a protest over the death of George Floyd, a handcuffed black man in police custody in Minneapolis, in Los Angeles, Saturday, May 30, 2020. Picture: Ringo H.W. Chiu/AP
Protesters march by the burning trash cans during a protest over the death of George Floyd, a handcuffed black man in police custody in Minneapolis, in Los Angeles, Saturday, May 30, 2020. Picture: Ringo H.W. Chiu/AP

Arvier said police forced each person out of the car one-by-one and searched and handcuffed them. He wasn’t handcuffed but like all the crew was forced into the gutter.

"While they were a bit aggressive and confrontational at the start, it's how nervous they are after what has happened over the last few nights,” he said.

After police had established they were journalists, they were let go, Arvier said.

The Australian crew haven’t been the only journalists to get caught up in the police operations.

In Washington, a Fox News reporter was pummelled and chased by protesters who had gathered outside the White House as part of the nationwide unrest.

Reporter Leland Vittert, was swarmed by protesters and sworn at profusely.

Flanked by two security guards, he and photographer Christian Galdabini walked away from Washington DC’s Lafayette Park trailed by an angry group of protesters before they were dispersed by riot police.

“We took a good thumping,” Vittert told The Associated Press. “The protesters stopped protesting whatever it was they were protesting and turned on us.”

He compared it to when he was chased away from a demonstration in Egypt during the Arab Spring of 2011 by a group that shouted, “Fox News hates Muslims”.

Meanwhile in Phoenix, a CBS reporter was tackled live on camera, as a protester made a grab for her microphone.

A protester attacks a reporter while she is speaking live on air.
A protester attacks a reporter while she is speaking live on air.

The journalist, Briana Whitney, described the ordeal as “terrifying” and said she felt “violated”.

Demonstrators also broke windows and vandalised the Atlanta office building where CNN is headquartered, on Friday.

CNN correspondent Nick Valencia began reporting on the frightening scene from a stairway inside the building, behind a phalanx of SWAT officers in the lobby, with an angry mob standing on the other side of the broken and missing plate glass.

One photographer captured the dramatic moment police broke into the CNN headquarters, to get rioters out of the building.

As if it’s hard enough to do their jobs, American journalists are also under attack by law enforcement – who are more historically opposed to the fourth estate.

CNN reporter Omar Jimenez and his crew were arrested in Minneapolis during a live broadcast of protests.

Jimenez was taken into police custody while speaking live to camera on Friday night, despite identifying himself to officers.

A producer and camera operator were also placed in handcuffs.

Note the way the clip ends with some dodgy shots of the ground, as the cameraman himself is forced to put down his camera as he is arrested.

This is the dodgy-looking last shot of the CNN live broadcast as the entire crew are arrested, and are forced to leave their camera behind.
This is the dodgy-looking last shot of the CNN live broadcast as the entire crew are arrested, and are forced to leave their camera behind.

Chilling footage has also emerged of police officers shooting directly at a reporter and her cameraman, live on-air yesterday.

Wave 3 News reporter Kaitlin Rust was reporting live on the ground at protests against police brutality in Louisville, Kentucky when officers appeared to target her and the cameraman.

The pair were both hit repeatedly by rubber bullets, and viewers at home got a “bird’s eye view of what it’s like to get shot” as one officer pointed his weapon directly into the camera.

Within seconds, Rust could be heard screaming in terror off-camera.

“I’m getting shot!” she yelled. “Rubber bullets, rubber bullets, it’s those pepper bullets, I’m OK,” she said.

“Who are they aiming that at?” asked one of the anchor.

“At us! Directly at us!” she said, as one officer raised his weapon and pointed it directly at the camera.

The live broadcast captured this chilling shot of a police officer pointing directly at the camera.
The live broadcast captured this chilling shot of a police officer pointing directly at the camera.

Another journalist wasn’t quite so lucky, with the bullet finding its mark. The freelancer was hit by a rubber bullet in her left eye, and it has left her permanently blind.

Linda Tirado was photographing the protests in Minneapolis when she was shot in the face with what’s believed to be a rubber bullet fired by police.

Linda Tirado lost an eye while covering the riots.
Linda Tirado lost an eye while covering the riots.

She said protesters took her to hospital after the police shot her, giving her medical supplies and acting as her eyes after her own became bloodied and swollen.

After surgery, Tirado learned the incident had left her permanently blind in her left eye.

LA Times journalist Molly Hennessey-Fiske claimed she had a teargas canister thrown at her and a dozen other members of the media at point-blank range.

Her eyes were red-rimmed as she spoke directly to the camera, still reporting despite the ordeal.

“I was with a group of media. There was at least a dozen of us there … I had a notebook in my hand when the Minnesota State Patrol started advancing on protesters – and us,” Hennessey-Fiske said.

“We identified ourselves as press and they fired tear gas canisters on us at point-blank range.

“I asked them, ‘Where do we go, where do we go?’ They did not tell us where to go, they didn’t direct us, they just fired on us.”

However, it will take more than this to stop journalist’s doing their jobs. As can be seen, journalists often continue.

Continue the conversation | alex.turner-cohen@news.com.au | @AlexTurnerCohen

Originally published as George Floyd riots: Aussie journalist detained amid US protests

Original URL: https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/world/george-floyd-riots-us-journalists-beaten-arrested-shot-at-maimed-for-life/news-story/1ef2342aabd12b65652636e37103226e