United States: Police fired rubber bullets, leaving journalist Linda Tirado permanently blind.
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Nashville, Tennessee, UNITED STATES, June 2 2020- We are deeply saddened to hear about the severe injury photojournalist Linda Tirado suffered on May 30, 2020 while capturing the protests in Nashville Tennessee.
“I was aiming my next shot, put my camera down for a second, and then my face exploded,” she said in a telephone interview after being released from the hospital. “I immediately felt blood and was screaming, ‘I’m press! I’m press!’”
Shortly after she told her story she informed via Twitter that she has been left permanently blind in the left eye.
an update: I am permanently blind in my left eye, and the docs absolutely refuse to let me go back to work for they say six weeks. I’m definitely not allowed to be near smoke or gas.
— Linda Tirado (@KillerMartinis) May 30, 2020
Usually if I had to stay home I’d spend a lot of time amplifying folk but reading hurts today
Demonstrations sparked across the United States after murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, in the pursuit of justice. With numerous police forces deployed to protest sites, journalists face constant threat of violence, arrest and censorship. Hundreds of journalists have reported to have faced attempts at censorship, verbal attacks, blatant threats and police violence. Hundreds of journalists have been arrested while on duty and black journalists who take the ongoing civil unrest very personally are especially targeted. CFWIJ follows the events closely with great concern.
CFWIJ is alarmed by such degree of violence against journalists taking place in the United States. We find police violence targeting journalists unacceptable and strongly condemn the perpetrators.
