NY, LA Reporters 'Detained' During BLM Protests

Rochester NY Police handcuffed and detained more than 70 people during Friday's Black Lives Matter protest in downtown Rochester, including two WHAM-TV13 journalists — who also happened to be black.

Justin Carter

Carlet Cleare and Justin Carter were covering the demonstration Friday evening from the corner of East Avenue and Alexander Street with two photographers and another reporter, Jennifer Lee. More than 400 people were present for the protest, which served as a response to national violence and tension between law enforcement and the public.

According to a statement released by WHAM-TV, Cleare and Carter — along with many other reporters — were in the street recording a woman who was voicing her opinions. Police approached and arrested the woman. Following the arrest, the group of reporters had moved to the sidewalk and continued reporting live via Facebook.

Carlet Cleare

At that point, Cleare and Carter were handcuffed by police and led away without warning.

WHAM-TV General Manager Chuck Samuels said in an interview that his main concern was how quickly drastic action was taken to remove the reporters from the area. Police detained Cleare, who was wearing a WHAM-TV shirt, with no dialogue, something Samuels said he doesn't understand.

"Carlet is approached from behind and you know, my concern is this: why the need for this? Why the need for handcuffs? You could have approached her and said, 'Excuse me miss, what are you doing here?' You know, anything," Samuels said. "But to immediately slap cuffs on somebody and take them away — that's why I have a concern."

The two reporters were taken from the group but then released within minutes, Samuels said, adding Cleare had been able to talk with a supervising officer who promptly managed her release.

Cleare and Carter were the only two reporters detained that night.

Samuels described Cleare and Carter as "absolutely terrific people" who were, in no way, being disruptive while covering last night's protest. He said WHAM-TV will be following up with both reporters and with the respective law enforcement agencies involved in the coming weeks.

WHAM-TV released a statement concerning the incident:

All of us at 13WHAM are concerned about the events that occurred last night during the protest in downtown Rochester. We certainly understand the sensitivities of the Rochester Police Department to the potential for the protest to turn ugly. 

A group of reporters, including some from other media organizations, was standing in the street recording a woman who was loudly voicing her concerns. Police approached and arrested the woman. The group of reporters then moved to the sidewalk and continued reporting live via Facebook. Without warning, 13WHAM reporters Carlet Cleare and Justin Carter were handcuffed by officers and led away. Carlet and Justin were the only African American journalists in the group. 

We do thank RPD for quickly recognizing that this was an inappropriate way to handle the situation and 13WHAM appreciates the public apology issued by both Chief Michael Ciminelli and Mayor Lovely Warren. We encourage further dialogue with law enforcement to better identify reporters in the field to avoid a situation like this. 

As a news organization, we are continuing to investigate the police handling of the situation and will have further dialogue on the issue with the city in the coming days. While we understand and value the importance of the police in our communities, we are also very protective of our First Amendment Rights as free journalists. No society can be fully secure if journalists cannot freely report on important events that affect the people of a community.

In Louisiana, A WAFB-TV9 assistant news director was among three journalists arrested Saturday in connection with the Alton Sterling protest in Baton Rouge.

Reporter Ryan Kailath was released Sunday

Slaughter was arrested around 10:30 p.m. Saturday, WAFB reported. He told station management that he was arrested when he put one foot onto Airline Highway to try to get a better angle while recording the protest.

Slaughter appeared to be bumped from the sidewalk where he'd been standing -- along with a number of other television journalists -- after a line of officers in riot gear charged into the crowd. Slaughter, who was wearing a WAFB shirt and media credentials, was immediately grabbed by officers and led away. He did not appear to resist or argue.

Slaughter remained in parish prison as of noon Sunday on one charge of obstruction of a highway, WAFB reported.

Breitbart News reporter Lee Stranahan was also arrested Saturday and charged with obstruction of a highway, the website reported Sunday. He was arrested with a group of protesters, a family member told the website.

Ryan Kailath, a reporter with Non-Com WWNO 89.9 FM in New Orleans, was also arrested on one count of simple obstruction of a highway.