Danny Rivero, a reporter for south Florida’s NPR and PBS stations, WLRN Public Media, was assaulted after taking a photo of anti-mask demonstrators in Miami, Florida, on Aug. 18, 2021.
Rivero, who did not respond to messages requesting comment, wrote on Twitter he was covering protests against coronavirus mandates outside the Miami-Dade County Public Schools headquarters. At 6:45 p.m., Rivero said he had just been assaulted by a man he identified as a member of the Proud Boys, a violent far-right group.
Was just assaulted for doing my job at an anti-mask mandate protest @MDCPS headquarters by this Proud Boy in the yellow, for taking this photo. (I took many photos of many people on the scene.)
— Danny Rivero (@TooMuchMe) August 18, 2021
Some @MiamiPD officers came and pushed the Proud Boys off of me. No arrests. pic.twitter.com/GIm9Zn7bUw
In Rivero’s police report about the incident, reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, he said that he was approached by three suspects, one of whom grabbed him by the arm and pushed him, telling him, “I will fuck you up!"
“The police escorted me across the street, and for a minute all eyes were on me on both sides of the line. But it’s not about me, it’s about the story,” he wrote in a follow-up tweet. Rivero added that he was “totally fine” and was able to continue conducting interviews and photographing the demonstrations.
The Miami Police Department confirmed to the Tracker that Rivero filed a police report about the incident on Aug. 19.
This content originally appeared on U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: All Incidents and was authored by U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: All Incidents.