A Journalist Blinded, a Child Maced, and a Congresswoman Pepper-Sprayed:
Police Violence Explodes Across the Country
By Paul Gottinger, Reader Supported News31 May 20
Authorities in ten states have activated the National Guard and adopted
curfews in an effort to crack down on nationwide demonstrations, which have
spread to at least 75 cities following the police killing of George Floyd on
May 25.
Despite authorities' efforts, the unrest has only grown. Tens of thousands
of Americans are in the streets to protest what many Americans see as a
violent and racist justice system.
In response, police have resorted to increasingly brutal methods. Social
media has been flooded with videos of police across the country firing
projectiles at protesters' heads and even driving vehicles into protesters.
In Minneapolis, where the protests against the police killing of George
Floyd started, law enforcement has repeatedly targeted journalists with
arrests, projectiles, and tear gas.
These acts are clearly being carried out by law enforcement in response to
the protests in Minneapolis; however, it's not always clear which specific
agencies are involved. In addition to the Minneapolis police, the state's
National Guard, the Minnesota State Patrol, the Hennepin County Sheriff's
Office, and other local police agencies are on the scene.
On May 29, Minnesota's governor Tim Walz apologized after a CNN news crew
was arrested, but the arrests and targeting of reporters have continued.
On May 30, a reporter, this one wearing a vest labeled PRESS, was hit by a
police projectile in Minneapolis.
Last night, a Star Tribune reporter had his car window shot out by police in
Minneapolis while he was trying to get out of the way of a police line, and
an award-winning photographer with a local Minneapolis news station was hit
by a police projectile and arrested.
Also last night, police in Minneapolis tear-gased an entire group of media
who were identifying themselves when hit. A Los Angeles Times reporter with
the group described how she was hit with a barrage of tear gas at "point
blank range" outside the Minneapolis 5th precinct after they had identified
themselves as press.
Police in Minneapolis threw a Vice News reporter to the ground while he was
holding up his press badge, then held him down and pepper-sprayed him in the
face, and MSNBC television host Ali Velshi was hit in the leg by a police
rubber bullet in Minneapolis.
Tragically, a photojournalist covering the protests in Minneapolis was
blinded when a police projectile hit her in the left eye. She was rushed to
surgery but ended up losing vision in the eye.
But the police targeting of journalists hasn't only happened in Minneapolis.
A journalist at the NPR affiliate KCRW in Los Angeles was hit by a police
projectile while holding her press pass, and also in LA, police punched a
reporter in the stomach while he was identifying himself as a member of the
press.
Beyond the targeting of journalists, police have also adopted the tactic of
firing projectiles at the heads of protesters and even passersby. In Dallas,
a young woman was walking home with groceries when she was hit in the head
by a police projectile. An image of her after being hit shows blood pouring
down her face.
A video shared on social media from a protest in Sacramento shows an African
American boy being carried away from a protest bleeding from his eye after
being hit by a police projectile. A similar video in San Diego shows an
African American Woman bleeding from her face after being shot by the police
with something, and a photo of a protester in Indiana shows a young man
bleeding from his face after an impact from a projectile.
In Seattle, a video captured a young girl screaming in pain after being
maced by police while attending a protest, and in New York City an officer
pulled down the mask of a young African American protester with his hands up
to spray him in the face with mace.
In Columbus, Ohio, Democratic congresswoman Joyce Beatty was pepper-sprayed
by police at a protest. Rep. Beatty said she was sprayed when she rushed to
try to de-escalate a situation with police.
"I just felt like maybe I could protect her," Beatty said in a telephone
interview, referring to the female protester. "I'm trying to push the bike
away and get her into a safe space, and the next thing I know pepper spray
is everywhere."
If the protests continue, we're likely to see increasingly brutal police
response across the country as authorities attempt to reassert control over
the country, which has witnessed one horrific police killing after another.
