Minnesota police pledge not to harass journalists at protests [YEAH RIGHT...] (4-18-2021) - "Police impeded the work of journalists even after a judge in the United States issued a temporary restraining order that forbade them from arresting, threatening to arrest, or using physical force against journalists. USA Today videographer Jasper Colt tweeted that he and other reporters were forced to lie on their stomach on Friday evening while police photographed them and their credentials before letting them leave. 'We condemn the actions of the police in Brooklyn Center in the strongest possible terms, USA Today publisher Maribel Perez Wadsworth said in an email to The Associated Press news agency. 'Requiring journalists to lie prone on the ground and photographing their credentials are purposeful intimidation tactics.' Freelance photographer Tim Evans told AP that officers surrounded protesters after a 10pm curfew passed. They charged into the crowd and started pepper-spraying and tackling people, he said. Evans said one officer punched him in the face and tore off his credentials, forced him onto his stomach and pressed a knee into his back. 'I was yelling 'press.' He said he didn't care,' Evans said. Evans said another officer came over and smashed his head into the ground. He was zip-tied before a third officer freed him and let him leave. 'I'm extremely upset,' Evans said. 'I felt like they were targeting the press in general. I'm out there doing what I'm doing because I have such strong convictions about the importance of this work.' Other journalists posted photos and videos online showing police detaining them while checking their credentials, and in at least one case spraying chemical irritants. 'We are extremely troubled by how the media is being treated and have repeatedly shared those concerns with the authorities,' said Suki Dardarian, senior managing editor and vice president at the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota said the behaviour of some officers 'went beyond unlawful detention to include outright retaliatory assault' against journalists, whose work to inform the public is protected against government interference by the US Constitution. "

Gov. Tim Walz calls assault, detention of journalists covering protests 'unacceptable' [YOU'RE FULL OF SHIT WALZ.] (4-17-2021) - "Joshua Rashaad McFadden, a freelance photographer working for the New York Times, said he was covering protests outside the police station Tuesday night when officers moved in to arrest protesters. McFadden, who is Black, said he and another journalist were in a vehicle about to leave the area when officers surrounded them and beat on the windows with wooden batons, yelling for them to get out. The officers pulled the other journalist, who was white, from the car and then beat McFadden with their sticks as they tried to get him out, he said. 'They're hitting me, they're hitting my camera as if they're trying to break my camera lens, over and over again, telling me to get out, but I clearly couldn't get out because now they're blocking the doors,' said McFadden, who added that he told officers he was a journalist but that they did not believe him. When the other journalist said McFadden was press, the officers let them go. 'I am assuming because I am a Black photographer that they would not believe me or look at my press credential until who I was with said, 'Oh, he's with the Times,' ' McFadden said. He said he was detained a second time while covering protests Friday, and once again, it took another photojournalist backing him up for officers to believe he was a journalist. Freelance journalist J.D. Duggan said he was with a group of journalists Friday night who were surrounded by law enforcement and forced to the ground. When Duggan got down to his knees, an officer pushed him onto his stomach, he said. 'We weren't supposed to be detained,' he said."

Protests continue in Brooklyn Center for a seventh night (4-17-2021) - "Criticism of the tactics used by law enforcement grew during the day Saturday, with photos and videos spreading across social media. The detention and pepper-spraying of journalists drew particular scrutiny, as it appeared to violate a court order filed hours before the protest. As part of an ongoing lawsuit tied to the treatment of media at protests in Minneapolis last summer, U.S. District Judge Wilhelmina Wright issued a temporary restraining order Friday prohibiting police at the protests in Brooklyn Center from arresting journalists, forcing them to disperse or using force against them. In a letter sent to state officials on Saturday on behalf of more than 25 media organizations, including MPR News, attorney Leita Walker wrote that in recent days, 'law enforcement officers have engaged in widespread intimidation, violence, and other misconduct directed at journalists that have interfered with their ability to report on matters of intense public interest and concern.'"

Protests continue Saturday in Brooklyn Center and Stillwater (4-17-2021) - "The protest followed six nights of unrest in Brooklyn Center after the fatal shooting of Wright, 20. Friday night's protest riled media members who were detained briefly after the crowd was told to disperse. Of the 136 arrested Friday, none were journalists. U.S. District Judge Wilhelmina Wright issued a temporary restraining order Friday prohibiting police at the protests in Brooklyn Center from arresting journalists or using force against them, including flash-bang grenades, nonlethal projectiles, pepper spray and batons, unless they know the person committed a crime."

WCCO Journalists Detained, Told To Lay On Ground During Brooklyn Center Protests (4-17-2021) - "Journalists with WCCO were detained by law enforcement officers on Friday night while reporting on a demonstration outside the Brooklyn Center Police Department, where a crowd gathered to protest the police killing of 20-year-old Daunte Wright. WCCO's Reg Chapman reported that during the height of the chaos - which came after hours of peaceful protesting - law enforcement told him, along with other WCCO photojournalists to get on the ground. They took pictures of the journalists and checked their credentials before allowing them to continue on. A federal judge earlier Friday evening had ruled that law enforcement were not permitted to arrest, threaten, or use physical force against journalists, after the ACLU filed a motion asking for a temporary restraining order to stop law enforcement from targeting reporters."

Federal judge's order temporarily halts MN law enforcement from arresting, attacking journalists (4-17-2021) - "Troopers this week shot journalists with rubber bullets, pepper-sprayed them, and arrested or threatened them with arrest, the motion alleges. State troopers also have commanded reporters to leave the area and abandon their reporting, even though curfews in Brooklyn Center and Hennepin County specifically exempted journalists. Both mainstream media outlets and local, independent journalists have been targeted by the police. 'While covering protests for Daunte Wright, I got maced and shot with a rubber bullet,' wrote local, independent journalist Georgia Fort on Instagram on Thursday. '79 people arrested Tuesday, 24 arrested last night, and several injuries sustained by protestors, media, and volunteers. We should be asking ourselves why is this the response to those objecting Black Death?' "

Federal judge grants restraining order stopping Minnesota law enforcement from arresting, using force against journalists (4-16-2021) - "Friday night, a federal judge granted a temporary restraining order that bars Minnesota state law enforcement officers from arresting or using force against the press. The restraining order, filed against Minnesota Department of Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington and Minnesota State Patrol Col. Matthew Langer, comes amid protests over the killing of Daunte Wright by a police officer in Brooklyn Center. The plaintiffs in the case, which includes the Communications Workers of America and Jared Goyette, a local freelance journalist, cite several alleged examples of police firing rubber bullets at press, ordering press to disperse despite their exemption to curfew orders and 'other acts impeding the press's ability to observe and report about,' the protests going on in Brooklyn Center. The temporary restraining order stops state police from arresting, threatening to arrest or using physical force such as flash-bang grenades, non-lethal projectiles, riot batons and other means against journalists. The ruling also does not require journalists to disperse when dispersal orders are given by law enforcement. State law enforcement officers are also barred from seizing cameras and audio recordings from journalists. "

Tensions build between Gov. Tim Walz, progressives over Brooklyn Center response (4-16-2021) - "At the center of the criticism is his role in Operation Safety Net, a phased-in coordinated response between law enforcement agencies and the Minnesota National Guard, which Walz leads, around the Chauvin trial. But the situation in Brooklyn Center escalated the timeline for bolstering a security presence that was originally planned around the time of the verdict."

Community Groups Call on Walz to End Operation Safety Net (4-16-2021) - "A coalition of more than 35 community groups is calling on Governor Tim Walz to stop 'Operation Safety Net' immediately. They claim the state is using pre-emptive force against its people in response to unrest after the police killing of Daunte Wright. The governor said in response, 'we have not had businesses burn down. We've not had other people seriously injured or killed, and we're trying to use the least amount necessary as the situation warrants.' The community groups point to reports from Brooklyn Center of youth sent to the E-R after being struck by a tear gas canister. They say 'militarization of Minnesota cities is adding to the public health crisis of COVID, police brutality and systemic racism."

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