United States: Women Press Freedom Raises Alarm at Journalists Attacked, Arrested, and Detained for Covering Nationwide Student Protests
Women Press Freedom calls upon university authorities and law enforcement agencies to respect press freedoms and to ensure that journalists can perform their duties without fear of violence, obstruction, or reprisal
Location: United StatesDate: May 2, 2024Update: May 16, 2024
NYPD tackle, intimidate, and detain Photojournalists Olga Fedorova on May 8, 2024, while covering a pro-Palestine protest outside the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in midtown Manhattan.
Women Press Freedom is gravely concerned by the escalating arrests, assaults, detentions, and obstructions faced by predominantly student journalists covering protests on campuses across the United States. These protests, calling for university divestments from interests tied to Israel, are pivotal events, and student journalists are often the primary source of coverage. Restricted press access at some locations has made these young reporters often the sole witnesses. While reporting on the college protests and aggressive police interventions, journalists have been assaulted by counter-protestors and subject to arrest and unjust detention by law enforcement. Women Press Freedom commends the student journalists for their dedication to covering events unfolding and demands that they are safe to do so. Any attacks on reporters covering events are unacceptable. Law enforcement must cease arresting and detaining the press covering the protests. Any charges leveled against journalists for doing their jobs must be immediately dismissed. We urge college authorities and law enforcement to respect the rights of the press to report and demand accountability for those attacking journalists.
Arrests and Detentions of Journalists:
Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), New York City, New York
On May 8, 2024, photojournalists Olga Fedorova and Josh Pacheco were tackled and arrested by New York City Police Department officers while covering a pro-Palestine protest outside the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in midtown Manhattan. The arrests occurred as police dismantled a pro-Palestine encampment amid escalating tensions related to Israel's control of Gaza's Rafah border crossing.
Despite clearly identifying themselves as press and displaying press badges, Fedorova and Pacheco were forcefully accosted, pushed to the ground, and detained by police during the operation.
Fedorova described being tackled while documenting police actions that included an officer dragging a woman by her hair. Police kicked both reporters repeatedly while they were on the ground.
Independent photojournalist Jon Farina captured video footage of the altercation, showing police arresting the journalists.
This marks Fedorova's second arrest as she was previously detained during a pro-Palestine protest on April 15, 2024.
Dartmouth College, New Hampshire
On May 1, 2024, student reporters Charlotte Hampton and Alesandra “Dre” Gonzales, were apprehended by New Hampshire state troopers during campus protests at Dartmouth College.
Despite their clear press identification and professional purpose, both reporters were subjected to arrest, zip-tied, and charged with criminal trespass. Following their arrest, they were detained at the Lebanon Police Station before being released on bail.
Hampton and Gonzales, both journalists for the student publication The Dartmouth, were live reporting when they were apprehended. At the time of their arrests, they were properly identified as press personnel.
A week later, Grafton Assistant County Attorney Mariana Pastore filed a motion with the Second Circuit Court to remove the bail conditions imposed on Hampton and Gonzales, according to court documents viewed by Women Press Freedom.
On May 16, 2024, prosecutors dropped the criminal trespassing charges against the Dartmouth student journalists. Initially, Dartmouth indicated it would allow the legal process to unfold, but faced criticism from press freedom advocates including Women Press Freedom. President of Dartmouth Sian Beilock stated the journalists, Hampton and Gonzales, should never have been arrested.
California State Polytechnic University, Arcata, California
“They didn't care that I was a reporter," says Adelmi Ruiz, a television news reporter for ABC affiliate KRCR. "They just said, 'As long as you're on campus, we're able to detain you.'"
In the early hours of April 30, 2024, Ruiz was detained alongside three other journalists while covering the protests at California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt campus.
Ruiz was livestreaming and wearing a press badge when officers from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) approached her.
“I was told to move to the side and then I was told to go with them,” explains Ruiz. Police removed the journalist’s backpack and told her she was being detained. “I was explaining to them that 'I'm news!' I was showing them my press badge, I was showing them my jacket,” Ruiz continues, but her pleas were to no avail. “They basically told me that I shouldn't have been on campus at that time and that, because of that, they were taking us away.”
She was taken to Humboldt County Jail and later released without charge after the Humboldt County Sheriff intervened.
Columbia University, New York City, New York
On April 30, 2024, Columbia Journalism School student Iryna Humenyuk was forcibly detained inside a campus building by New York City police during a police operation to clear a building occupied by pro-Palestinian protesters. With external press access restricted, student journalists like Humenyuk were the sole media representatives present on campus.
Humenyuk described the police's use of batons to usher them from Hamilton towards John Jay Hall around 9 p.m.. Approximately 50 people, including Humenyuk, were confined in a cramped entryway within John Jay Hall as NYPD officers secured the doors, hindering their movement and obstructing their view of the unfolding events at Hamilton.
Despite efforts to engage with the officers and seek information, the student journalists were met with silence. At midnight Humenyuk and the others were informed they could depart in pairs, under police escort.
Portland State University, Portland, Oregon
On May 2, 2024, Alissa Azar was detained by Portland Police while photographing a protest at Portland State University. Azar had been documenting the pro-Palestine encampments on campus for a week before her arrest. During the incident, police officers forcibly pushed her to the ground as she recorded them arresting other protesters. Video footage analyzed by Women Press Freedom shows the police ordering Azar to "leave." Before she could comply, they arrested her and quickly threatened to use force if she resisted.
After her arrest, Azar was transported to the Multnomah County Justice Center, where she was processed, placed in a cell, and charged the following day with one count of criminal trespass. Her initial appearance hearing is scheduled for June 7.
University of Texas, Austin, Texas
NYPD tackle, intimidate, and detain Photojournalists Olga Fedorova on May 8, 2024, while covering a pro-Palestine protest outside the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in midtown Manhattan.
On April 24, 2024, Carlos Sanchez, a photojournalist with FOX 7 Austin was violently arrested by University of Texas police while he was covering pro-Palestinian campus protests in Austin.
Initially arrested for criminal trespassing, the charges were dropped the next day. Then he was charged with felony assault of a peace officer, but those charges were also dismissed. However, on April 30, Sanchez was hit with two new misdemeanor charges: impeding a public servant and assault.
Women Press Freedom alongside fellow press freedom organizations have denounced the violent arrest and have called for all charges against Sanchez to be immediately dropped.
Assault and Harassment of Journalists:
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), California
In the early hours of May 1, 2024, a demonstration at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) turned violent as four student journalists from the UCLA Daily Bruin were attacked by pro-Israel counterprotesters.
Reporters from the Daily Bruin, Catherine Hamilton, Anna Dai-Liu, and their colleagues were targeted. The assailants encircled the journalists, sprayed them with mace or pepper spray, flashed lights in their faces, and chanted Hamilton’s name.
Hamilton was repeatedly punched in the chest and abdomen, while another student journalist was pushed to the ground and subjected to a brutal assault.
Hamilton expressed shock, “We expected to be harassed by counter protesters, but I truly did not expect to be directly assaulted.”
The attack lasted approximately five minutes before the journalists managed to escape to the safety of the Daily Bruin newsroom. Hamilton was later taken to the hospital due to injuries that made it difficult for her to stand and breathe but has since been released.
Hamilton, who has been a reporter for three years, says there has been on the shift in attitudes towards the press: instead of being viewed as neutral arbiters, journalists are increasingly becoming targets of violence.
In a searing editorial, the Daily Bruin blamed the escalation of violence on the administration of UCLA.
In response to the attack, University of California President Michael V. Drake has ordered an independent review of the university’s actions and law enforcement’s response. UCLA Chancellor Gene Block assured that a thorough investigation would be conducted, potentially leading to arrests, expulsions, and dismissals.
Impeding Press:
CNN reporter and graduate student Julia Vargas Jones reporting from the scene at Columbia Univeristy on April 30, 2024
Columbia University, New York:
At Columbia University on April 30, 2024, journalists were barred from covering the unrest as police officers breached an academic building where demonstrators were barricaded.
CNN reporter Julia Vargas Jones, a graduate student at Columbia Journalism School, reported live from the scene, showing police breaching the building and arresting several demonstrators amid a chaotic scene.
“[Police] came in and just very clinically pushed everyone to one side. As far as they were concerned there was no press there, they were just expecting to see students,” Vargas Jones said. “The officers didn’t know we were live on CNN.”
Without a production crew, Vargas Jones recruited fellow students to help her broadcast live on CNN. The journalist was eventually pushed off campus by law enforcement.
Student Journalists are Vital in Reporting on Demonstrations
Women Press Freedom condemns these attacks on the press in the strongest possible terms. Student journalists must not be silenced or sidelined, their insight into the protests happening on their campuses is invaluable. The violence and obstruction they face are antithetical to the principles of a free and open society. Student journalists are not just witnesses; they are the future of our media landscape, and their voices must be heard.
We urge universities and law enforcement to uphold the rights of journalists to report without fear of reprisal. Any assault, arrest, detention, or obstruction of the press is an affront to the values enshrined in the First Amendment.
Women Press Freedom calls for the immediate dropping of all charges against journalists covering the protests and demands the implementation of measures to safeguard press access on campuses nationwide.
Women Press Freedom is an initiative by The Coalition For Women In Journalism
The Coalition For Women In Journalism is a global organization of support for women journalists. The CFWIJ pioneered mentorship for mid-career women journalists across several countries around the world and is the first organization to focus on the status of free press for women journalists. We thoroughly document cases of any form of abuse against women in any part of the globe. Our system of individuals and organizations brings together the experience and mentorship necessary to help female career journalists navigate the industry. Our goal is to help develop a strong mechanism where women journalists can work safely and thrive.
If you have been harassed or abused in any way, and please report the incident by using the following form.
WPF strongly condemns the forceful expulsion of Caroline Haskins from the MindTheTech conference in New York City on March 4, 2024.