British embassy in US raises issue of police conduct during unrest

The UK embassy in Washington raised concerns about the conduct of US police officers during protests over the death of George Floyd, including allegations of violence against British journalists, No 10 has said.

It follows reports that members of the media were targeted by police as they reported on protests, looting and riots across US cities.

Donald Trump has been accused of inciting violence against journalists since demonstrations began over the death of Floyd, a black man who died after a Minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck for more than eight minutes.

In an unusual intervention with a close ally, the prime minister’s spokesman said diplomats in Washington officially voiced their concern with the US government about the protests and the treatment of journalists.

The spokesman said: “Our embassy has raised the issue of the protests with the US administration including on behalf of British journalists.

“The prime minister and the foreign secretary have both spoken publicly to condemn the death of George Floyd, to express concern at the violence we have seen and to underline the rights of people to protest peacefully.

“We have said from the beginning of the protest that journalists must be free to do their job without fear of arrest or violence.”

Adam Gray, a British photographer who works for the UK-based news agency SWNS in New York, was arrested and charged while covering the protests on Saturday.

He said he was thrown to the ground by police with several officers climbing on top of him to restrain him and forcing him into handcuffs.

Despite showing his press pass, issued by the US State Department, Gray was arrested and put into a police vehicle.

He was charged with unlawful assembly near Union Square and spent 12 hours through the night in custody with protesters.

Gray said: “The whole time that I was being arrested, I was shouting that I was press and showing them my foreign press card, but they just didn’t seem to care.

“I get that in the heat of the moment you might get pushed or grabbed, but as soon as you say that you’re press, it normally stops there, but not this time.

“I’ve worked in many other countries doing work like this and never has it gone as far as this. I couldn’t believe it,” he told the Press Gazette.

So far, there have been 148 arrests or attacks on journalists in the US between 26 May and 2 June recorded by the Guardian in collaboration with Bellingcat. The figures are based on known incidents and the true total could be higher.

They included the blinding of Linda Tirado, a freelance photojournalist and activist who has contributed to the Guardian, who was hit in the eye with a non-lethal round while covering unrest in Minneapolis; the arrest of the HuffPost US reporter Chris Mathias during protests in New York; and the shooting of the Swedish foreign correspondent Nina Svanberg, who was struck in the leg by several rubber bullets on Friday night.

Many of Saturday’s attacks were filmed by the reporters involved. In his footage, the Vice News correspondent Michael Anthony Adams could be heard shouting “press” repeatedly as an officer approached him with his gun raised.

“I’m press,” he says. “I don’t care,” the officer replies. He was pepper sprayed while lying on the ground shortly afterwards.

Trump has criticised the media during the riots. Over the weekend, he tweeted: “The Lamestream Media is doing everything within their power to foment hatred and anarchy. As long as everybody understands what they are doing, that they are FAKE NEWS and truly bad people with a sick agenda, we can easily work through them to GREATNESS!”