Photojournalist arrested, equipment seized while documenting homeless encampment

Freelance photojournalist Jeremy Portje was arrested and charged with two misdemeanors and a felony while documenting a homeless encampment in Sausalito, California, on Nov. 30, 2021, according to an officer from the Sausalito Police Department.

Portje was filming for a documentary about homelessness in Marin County, according to the Pacific Sun, a weekly newspaper in the county. A witness identified as a volunteer at the encampment told the Pacific Sun that an officer was following Portje and deliberately stood in front of his camera as he tried to film.

The volunteer told the newspaper an officer grabbed Portje’s camera without provocation, and appeared to accidentally hit himself with the equipment.

“The officer reacted to the camera hitting him,” the volunteer told the Pacific Sun. “He started punching Jeremy.”

Portje attempted to defend himself from the blows but was quickly forced to the ground and placed under arrest, the newspaper reported. At some point during the altercation the officer threw Portje’s camera to the ground. No equipment damage was mentioned in initial reports of the incident.

In footage of Portje’s arrest published by the Pacific Sun, the photojournalist can be heard saying, “Why are they doing this? Because I asked them questions?”

Neither Portje nor his attorney responded to requests for comment.

Portje’s camera can be seen lying on the pavement behind him as two officers work to place him in handcuffs while a third keeps the growing crowd back as voices can be heard shouting “let him go” and “don’t hurt him.”

An officer from the Sausalito Police Department told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that Portje was arrested shortly after 5 p.m. and charged with resisting an executive officer, battery on a police officer and battery on a police officer with injury. If convicted on all charges, Portje faces up to $5,000 in fines, three years imprisonment or both.

Charles Dresow, a criminal defense attorney representing Portje, told the Pacific Sun the photojournalist spent the night in jail and was released the following morning on $15,000 bail.

“My journalist client ended up on the ground,” Dresow said. “It’s clear the Sausalito police used force to arrest a journalist. To say this is an outrage of constitutional proportions is an understatement.”

When reached for comment, Sausalito Mayor Jill Hoffman told the Tracker officers were called to the park to respond to a disturbance and that Portje had interfered with police activity, injuring a police sergeant in the process.

“We have shown that we support and respect the right to free speech,” Hoffman said. “What is unacceptable is impeding a police investigation and injuring a member of our department.”

Hoffman confirmed that Portje’s camera equipment was seized as evidence.

The Pacific Sun reported that the three officers who arrested him were the same officers who arrested two homeless people for camping in a park two weeks prior. According to the newspaper, Portje had recently made a public records request for the body camera footage from that incident.