Journalists In MN Rounded-Up By Police For Identification

Journalists covering a protest in a Minneapolis suburb Friday night were forced on their stomachs by law enforcement, rounded up and were only released after having their face and press credentials photographed.

USAToday reports the incident occurred hours after a judge issued a temporary order barring the Minnesota State Patrol from using physical force or chemical agents against journalists. It also barred police from seizing photographic, audio or video recording equipment, or press passes.

Minnesota State Patrol on Saturday said in a statement, "troopers checked and photographed journalists and their credentials and driver's licenses at the scene in order to expedite the identification process."

While some journalists were "detained and released during enforcement actions after providing credentials, no journalists have been arrested," MSP said. 

Demonstrators gathered to protest the death of Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, where the 20-year-old Black man was fatally shot by a white police officer during a traffic stop Sunday.

USAToday photos

Approximately 500 protesters were marching peacefully until around 9 p.m. when an incident triggered police to start using chemical irritants such as tear gas, pepper balls and projectiles, Jasper Colt, a photojournalist with the USA TODAY Network, reported.

After about 30 minutes, law enforcement told protesters to the leave the area in a loudspeaker announcement calling the demonstration an unlawful assembly. The crowd thinned out, and a small number of protesters and media were left.

“A lot of journalists like myself were slow to leave the area,” Colt said. “We didn’t think we needed to, and we wanted to cover what was happening.”

Colt described police then corralling protesters and media into one group and yelling for them to get “flat on our stomachs.”

Law enforcement quickly identified media and escorted them to a line where they were asked for credentials and identification. Law enforcement took pictures of journalists' credentials and IDs as well as photos of the journalists’ faces.

The Minnesota State Patrol issued guidance to its troopers and other law enforcement agencies, MSP said in its statement. The guidance highlights the orders in the temporary restraining order prohibiting MSP from enforcing general dispersal orders against the press.