United States: Laura Jedeed was tear-gassed and pushed to the ground. CFWIJ condemns the violence against the journalist

/
0.jpg

September 19, 2020— Freelance journalist Laura Jedeed was tear-gassed and shoved to the ground while covering a protest. Laura was at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement office (ICE) in Oregon to cover a demonstration on Friday, September 18. The protest outside the ICE facility was one of the several demonstrations held after the murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020. The journalist was targeted with munitions and later pushed to the ground by federal security agents. CFWIJ condemns the violence and demands authorities end their unwarranted interference with journalists at work. 


Laura, a contributor to Portland Monthly and the Willamette Week, shared a video from the protest showing how federal police were arresting people randomly. The street was consumed by tear gas as police fired munitions to disperse the crowd. Laura was filming the scene when a munition landed near her, making it impossible to record anything further. She shared on Twitter, "Gas and smoke deployment, including a green plume I think may have been intended to prevent me filming. Only press was where I was."

Later, the protesters regrouped, and federal police started arresting people. While recording the scenes from the demonstration, she was pushed by police personnel. Laura shared on Twitter, "Beginning of the push: Cops charge forward to make that arrest with the punching from earlier. I get shoved and skid along the asphalt. My camera turns off so you can't hear the door scream at me to get up which, dude, if you want me to get up don't f**ing push me maybe." The journalist suffered road rashes to her hands and arm.

The Coalition For Women In Journalism condemns the physical assault on Laura Jedeed. We believe that police should be ensuring the safety of journalists at such protests, not attacking them. We demand the Portland authorities identify and investigate the officers involved in assaulting Laura and other journalists.