Photojournalist threatened while covering public drug use in Boston

Boston Globe photojournalist Barry Chin was confronted by at least three men on July 16, 2025, while reporting on public drug use in the South End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, according to local media reports.

Chin was reporting near Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard — an area known as Mass. and Cass where drug use is common — alongside his colleague, reporter Niki Griswold. The journalists were also accompanied by two South End residents.

In an article for the Globe, Griswold reported that at least three men approached and began threatening the group after seeing Chin take pictures of the area. Two of the men were holding hammer-like tools and pursued the journalists and residents until they were able to find shelter in a nearby building, Griswold wrote.

The Boston Guardian, citing the two residents who were accompanying the journalists, also reported that the situation had escalated when Chin began to take photos. One man approached the group while swinging a metal rod with nails sticking out of it.

While they were able to deter the first man, the group was then approached by two others who demanded that the photojournalist delete the photos and turn over the camera, according to the Guardian.

In an effort to protect Chin, one of the residents tried to direct the group out of the area, drawing the attention of one of the men.

“He starts going toe-to-toe with me, saying, ‘I’m going to ruin your life,’” the resident told the Guardian. “Then he reaches for his pocket, and I think he’s going for a knife or a gun or something, and I’ve got one second here.”

The resident managed to flip the assailant to the ground, stunning him, and the group was able to run to safety.

“I am well and grateful that no one was injured in the incident,” Chin said in an email to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. He declined to comment further. A Globe spokesperson also declined to comment.

But Globe editor Nancy Barnes addressed the incident in an internal memo, which Northeastern Professor Dan Kennedy republished in his Media Nation newsletter.

“The incident at Mass. and Cass involving our journalists, Niki Griswold and Barry Chin, is understandably concerning to everyone who goes out on assignment in places that might be dangerous,” Barnes said in the letter. Barnes added that going forward the Globe would require anyone reporting from Mass. and Cass to have security.

“The work of a journalist, serving as a witness, is a challenging job on many days. We never want our journalists to put themselves in danger, or to lack the security and training they need to stay safe,” Barnes wrote.