#LIVE #Philadelphia #GeorgeFloyd Solidarity Protests Against #Police Killings pscp.tv/w/caGr2zFheVFW…
Philly police pin young black man to the ground with their knees, swat our field reporter with a baton for filming the scene.
"Beat it."
"I'm a journalist, sir!"
"I don't care what you are. Beat it."
"Beat it."
"I'm a journalist, sir!"
"I don't care what you are. Beat it."
We’ve ended our ground reporting from Philadelphia for the night due to repeated assaults by officers on our reporter making it unsafe and impractical to continue. Our Philly staff is safe at home now but Philly Police made it clear our 1st Amendment press freedoms are suspended
In Philly tonight we repeatedly saw some officers charging ahead to beat people with batons while their commanders yelled at them to stop and hold their line. Police personnel generally seemed quite on edge and quick to verbally insult, taunt, and push/strike protesters
Whether police command structures can actually control their rank and file during these escalating protests is a question we find ourselves asking a lot
Tonight wasn’t the first time Philadelphia Police have hit us with batons while we recorded their violent interactions with protesters critical of law enforcement
.@PhillyPolice like to swat cameras with batons. A lot. At a 2018 prison strike solidarity march, they slammed a protester head first into a window then came after us with a baton for filming it:
At the 2016 Democratic Convention in Philly, PPD also struck our camera with a baton, the officer then kicked the phone as he saw our reporter trying to pick it up
We are not the story but there is clearly a pattern here.
