Journalists targeted during protests in the United States

Journalists have been taken to task in several cities in the United States during demonstrations in recent days in reaction to the death of George Floyd, by police and demonstrators, attacked, arrested or targeted by gunfire.

The most publicized scene remains that of the arrest of CNN reporter Omar Jimenez, handcuffed by police officers in full live in Minneapolis on Friday May 29 in the morning, before being released, an hour later.

But several other incidents have taken place in the country, including in Louisville, Kentucky, where a riot police fired tear gas canisters at a local television crew that was filming him. " I'm being shot! Shouted Kaitlin Rust from local WAVE 3 on the air.

In Minneapolis, a freelance journalist, Linda Tirado, received a rubber bullet to the face and said that she had permanently lost the use of her eye.

" Local authorities must order their police forces not to target journalists ," said the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on Saturday evening.

Growing hatred against journalists

Members of the media were also attacked by demonstrators, such as photographer Ian Smith, who claimed to have been beaten in Pittsburgh before other demonstrators intervened.

In Atlanta, the headquarters of the CNN news channel was attacked Friday by a group of dozens of people, who notably sent a detonating grenade to the hall where the police were.

On Saturday morning, a reporter for the Fox News station outside the White House was chased by protesters and chased for several hundred meters before police dispersed the attackers. " If you are protesters, do what you think is right, but don't stop us from doing our work for the public, " the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) asked on Saturday.

President Donald Trump retweeted a message explaining: " Ironically, the headquarters of CNN are attacked by rioters whom the chain presented as noble and just. Oops. Since his election, the head of state has regularly attacked the media, accused of distorting the truth or even fabricating false information in order to harm him. He regularly called them " enemies of the people ", with special mention to CNN, his favorite target.