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Bea Lake, who works as a staffer for podcasts hosted by journalist Robert Evans on iHeartMedia radio network, was arrested in Portland, Oregon, while covering protests on June 7, 2020. A video of the incident shows an officer telling Lake to leave, Lake asking for the officer’s name, then Lake being arrested. Police and other records show Lake was charged with “interfering with a Peace Officer” and released several hours later.

Protesters gathered outside the Multnomah County Justice Center in downtown Portland the night of June 7 as part of ongoing protests against police brutality and racial injustice. Shortly before midnight, law enforcement declared the gathering an unlawful assembly after protesters threw water bottles, cans and other objects over a fence and in the direction of police officers, according to the Portland Police Bureau and live streams from the scene. The officers ordered anyone in the area to leave and fired flash grenades to clear the area.

Lake was filming officers dispersing the crowd when an officer approached and said to leave. At 17:45 into a video recording of the incident posted to Twitter, the officer is heard saying “press passes don’t matter.”

Lake then asks the officer for his name, to which he replies by pointing to a number written on his shirt. He then says “keep moving.” After Lake asks again for his name, the officer says “You want to go to jail? You’re under arrest.” As the officer grabs and arrests Lake, she can be heard shouting repeatedly “I am press, I am not resisting.”

iHeart Radio’s Evans posted the video on Twitter June 8, followed by the message “She is free with a citation, which we will fight.” The arrest of Lake is described, without giving Lake’s name, on page 21 of a complaint filed by the ACLU against the city of Portland; Portland police records note the arrest of Bea Lake, 31, charged with “interfering with a Peace Officer.”

The Tracker was unable to reach Lake and Evans for comment, and it is unclear if the charge is still pending against Lake. The Portland Police Bureau did not respond to an email seeking comment on the incident.

In July 2020, Lake and Evans joined a class action lawsuit against the city of Portland. In the complaint, the journalists alleged that police officers used unnecessary force and interfered with their abilities to do their jobs as members of the press during the protests, according to news reports. No information on the status of the lawsuit was available from any of the involved parties as of March 2021.

The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.


This content originally appeared on U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: All Incidents and was authored by U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: All Incidents.

Citations

[1] UPDATE: Arrest Information for June 7, 2020 Demonstrations ➤ https://www.portlandoregon.gov/police/news/read.cfm?id=250860[2]https://t.co/E1zPepX4Ev[3]https://twitter.com/IwriteOK/status/1269890280016105472?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw[4]https://aclu-or.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/woodstock_portland_aclu_or_06282020.pdf[5] UPDATE: Arrest Information for June 7, 2020 Demonstrations ➤ https://www.portlandoregon.gov/police/news/read.cfm?id=250860[6] Evans et al v. City of Portland 3:2020cv01142 | US District Court for the District of Oregon | Justia ➤ https://dockets.justia.com/docket/oregon/ordce/3:2020cv01142/153526[7] City of Portland now faces a 3rd class-action lawsuit over police use of force at protests - oregonlive.com ➤ https://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/2020/07/city-of-portland-now-faces-a-3rd-class-action-lawsuit-over-police-use-of-force-at-protests.html[8] Press Freedom in Crisis - U.S. Press Freedom Tracker ➤ http://pressfreedomtracker.us/george-floyd-protests/