“From signatures to behind bars”: journalists arrested while covering demonstrations

Editor's note: “From Bylines to Behind Bars” was recorded before the arrival of a Stanford Daily student journalist was announced. stopped while covering the occupation of a building on the Stanford University campus by pro-Palestinian protesters.

Alarming new data from the US Press Freedom Tracker shows that with 2024 less than halfway through, the number of journalists arrested or detained so far this year is already higher than in the past two years. combined.

Most of these arrests and detentions took place during demonstrations, particularly during the national demonstrations surrounding the war between Israel and Gaza. The Tracker has also documented numerous cases of attacks on journalists and reports of property damage.

On June 5, we spoke with two experts, Mickey Osterreicher of the National Press Photographers Association and law professor Susan E. Seager, about why protests remain one of the most dangerous places for journalists and why what journalists and everyone can do to fix it.

Listen to the full conversation on X.

Police arrest journalists doing their job

Both Seager and Osterreicher recounted incidents in which police arrested or detained journalists covering protests, despite the First Amendment and laws intended to protect their right to report on protests.

Police in California, where Seager is based, “generally ignore the law by arresting journalists who are just doing their job,” she said.

Osterreicher described the situation in New York as “mixed.” After police beat, arrested and harassed numerous journalists in New York while covering protests for racial justice following the police killing of George Floyd, the NPPA and others filed a lawsuit and secured a settlement intended to rein in the New York City Police Department. abuse against journalists.

But that hasn't stopped police from violating journalists' rights during more recent protests, including using “catch and release” tactics where officers take journalists into custody for several hours or more, preventing them to report but without ever indicting them.

Protection or peril of press accreditations

Independent journalists and visual journalists are particularly vulnerable to police, Seager and Osterreicher said, and both stressed the importance of having a press card that journalists can use when interacting with law enforcement. the order.

Accreditations issued by a media outlet or journalism organization like the NPPA, or even created by journalists themselves, can help journalists identify themselves as part of the press and assert their rights.

Yet at the same time, clearly identifying oneself as a journalist can expose journalists to violence from protest participants who may not wish to be recorded or photographed. “It’s a very fine line for visual journalists to walk,” Osterreicher said. He recommended that journalists remain situationally aware at all times and continue recording, even if they are attacked.

Search and seizure of journalists' devices

Osterreicher and Seager also discussed the seizure of journalists' equipment by police and the risk that police might try to obtain a search warrant to search the devices, even though the law prohibits it.

“If they charge you with conspiracy or if the arrest documents indicate that you were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy,” Seager warned reporters, “then that's a sign that they're probably going to get a search warrant to search your phone.”

Seager cited the case of journalist Pablo Unzueta, who was arrested in 2020 while covering a protest and whose device was seized, as well as that of several protesters accused of conspiracy. Seager's Press Freedom Project ultimately won a settlement on Unzueta's behalf, based in part on illegal searches of his devices.

Most recently, at the University of California, Los Angeles, police arrested journalist Sean Beckner-Carmitchel and prominent police critic William Gude while they were documenting the detentions of protesters in May 2024. Police charged Beckner-Carmitchel of conspiracy to commit burglary and seized his phone, and Seager believed they intended to obtain a search warrant to search it. Thanks to the settlement in the Unzueta case and other legal precedents, Seager was able to convince the police to return the device.

Preventing future violations of the First Amendment

Finally, Osterreicher and Seager spoke about what can be done to prevent further violations of journalists' rights to cover protests.

Osterreicher highlighted the shocking lack of understanding among many police officers of the legal rights of journalists and the need for additional training. “The fact is that all law enforcement takes an oath, they take an oath to uphold the Constitution,” Osterreicher said. “It’s a little difficult to do that when you don’t understand what’s in it.”

Osterreicher also stressed the importance of communication between journalists and police ahead of protests, advocating for discussions to establish rules of engagement. “You’re not going to be able to have a good conversation in the middle of a protest,” Osterreicher said. Instead, conversations between media and police need to happen in advance.

Seager suggested engaging with local government agencies to advocate for public hearings on how police departments treat the press. “Local city councils and the board of supervisors have been too passive,” she said. The hearings could be an opportunity to “bring in the police to talk about what they do and have journalists testify about what happened to them.”

Listen to the full conversation with Osterreicher and Seager here.