Two journalists hit with projectiles fired by federal agents while covering Portland protest

Two journalists were hit with projectiles fired by federal law enforcement officers while they were covering protests in Portland, Oregon, on July 19, 2020.

Independent journalists Jake Johnson and Donovan Farley were covering one of the many protests that had broken out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement after the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.

The Portland protests, held nightly since late May, had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists wasn’t expanded to include federal agents until July 23. Both Johnson and Farley are involved in the class action lawsuit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon, which led to the TRO.

On the night of July 19, Johnson was hit in the stomach by a projectile fired by a federal officer. He was standing in Chapman Square, near the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse, when he was hit by an agent retreating toward the courthouse. At that point, most of the protesters were on Southwest Main Street or in Lownsdale Square, a park area next to Chapman Square and across from the courthouse.

Toward the end of a video taken by journalist Robert Evans and retweeted by Johnson at 10:38 p.m., Johnson can be seen standing on a diagonal path that runs through Chapman Square. “I’m walking down the diagonal path very slowly because I’m not trying to startle any officers by rushing at them. I’m giving them plenty of time to see I’m approaching slowly, they can see that I’m press, the park is lit up,” Johnson told the Tracker, noting that his helmet says “press” on five sides.

Around 2:33:30 into Evans’s video, Johnson can be heard groaning as he gets hit in the stomach. He then kneels down to try and retrieve the projectile. “Based on the injury and the bruising pattern, my best guess is that it was a rubber bullet,” he said.

Donovan Farley also took a projectile in the ribs. “No one there was aggressive, and I was just filming and holding up my press pass, fed essentially shot my pass,” he tweeted at 11:58 p.m. Farley was also in the vicinity of the federal courthouse when he was shot, filming a line of mom protesters.

“My press pass was on my right hand this is where the munition hit me on the right side. He obviously shot directly at my press pass,” Farley wrote in a followup tweet with a picture of the wound on his rib. He had to cut his reporting short because he was having trouble breathing, according to a later tweet. Farley didn’t respond to a request for further comment.

The Department of Homeland Security, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, also didn’t respond to a request for comment.