Journalists shoved by law enforcement officers while covering Portland protests

At least two journalists were shoved by law enforcement officers while they were covering a protest in Portland, Oregon, early on the morning of Sept. 27, 2020.

Independent photojournalist Sean Bascom was pushed by officers several times, he said, including once when he was knocked down over another person. Oregon Public Broadcasting reporter Sergio Olmos was pushed by an officer into a tree, according to his social media posts.

The journalists were documenting one of the many protests that had been ongoing for months in downtown Portland and across the U.S. in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.

Law enforcement officers in Portland have targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The ACLU suit led to a temporary restraining order, and later a preliminary injunction, barring the Portland Police Bureau from harming or impeding journalists. Olmos provided a declaration in support of the class-action lawsuit involving a previous incident.

On Sept. 26, a rally organized by the Proud Boys far-right extremist group drew some 800 people to Portland, while at least 1,000 counter-protesters gathered nearby, The Oregonian reported. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown had declared a state of emergency ahead of the rally, putting officers from the Portland Police Bureau, Oregon State Police and the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office under a unified command. After those protests ended, left-leaning demonstrators gathered downtown later that night, according to The Oregonian, and police declared an “unlawful assembly” around 11:40 p.m.

Videos posted on social media into early the morning of Sept. 27 show police pushing many people who were marked as “press.”

Bascom, whose work has been published in outlets including the Portland Mercury and the Portland State Vanguard, said he was pushed by law enforcement officers at several points during the protest.

In a live video shot just after midnight on Sept. 27, journalists can be seen walking away from law enforcement officers before the camera shakes. That was when an officer knocked him down over another person, Bascom told the Tracker.

Later, the video shows officers once again starting to push Bascom and other journalists, ordering them to move down the street. They can be heard telling Bascom to “Go faster!” and “Stop interfering and move!”

Bascom repeatedly tells them he is a journalist. One officer responds, saying. “I understand that you’re press, but you have to move.” As Bascom walks backwards filming the officers, one tells him, “Turn around so you don’t trip.”

In a video Bascom uploaded to Twitter around 1 a.m., officers can be seen pushing Bascom and other journalists with batons as they try to clear the crowd. About 80 seconds into the video, an officer grabs a photographer by his body armor and flings him back towards where Bascom is retreating. In his tweet, Bascom described the officers as being from both the OSP and the PPB.

“Normally there is an avenue for us to go, for press to step aside and exist and document. But on that night it was like building-to-building, wall-to-wall police and pushing, and there was nowhere for anybody to go,” he told the Tracker.

Bascom, who was wearing a high-visibility vest with press markings that night, said officers appeared to be targeting members of the press.

Meanwhile, Olmos also captured footage of officers pushing journalists. He tweeted a video at 12:24 a.m. showing police officers pushing a crowd up a street, writing that OSP and PPB officers were pushing journalists, protesters and legal observers with batons.

Immediately after, he tweeted, “This reporter is pushed into a tree.”

The video posted with the tweet shows police pressing people along a street. An officer in riot gear can be seen pushing the back of someone with a camera in a vest labeled “press.” The Tracker couldn’t identify the journalist.

Then another officer can be heard in the video saying, “Go, go, go, get moving!” After Olmos replies, “I’m press,” the camera abruptly shakes and continues to record as it hits the ground, looking up the trunk of a tree. When Olmos leans over to pick up the device, his black vest, labeled with “press” in white letters, is visible.

Olmos didn’t respond to a request for comment.

OPB news director Anna Griffin retweeted Olmos’ video, noting that the enforcement actions against a journalist violated the temporary restraining order in the ACLU case. “I’d also love to hear elected officials explain why a reporter from my organization was subject to violence at the hands of law enforcement when judges have made it very clear this is not acceptable,” she wrote.

Afterwards, the ACLU called for the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate police treatment of journalists, The Oregonian reported. Photojournalist John Rudoff was also pushed to the ground by police while covering the same protest, shortly before midnight.

Brown tweeted on Sept. 27 that she asked the individual law enforcement agencies to investigate any allegations about the use of force against members of the press or public. In a statement on behalf of the three agencies, the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office said it was aware that video had been taken of several incidents involving force, which would be reviewed to determine whether any officers violated law enforcement policies, according to The Oregonian.

A spokesperson for the PPB declined to comment, citing ongoing litigation. A spokesperson for the OSP said they weren’t aware of the incidents.