Reporter Cam Higby said he was assaulted while attempting to report on the occupation of a building on the University of California, Los Angeles, campus on May 23, 2024.
UCLA’s student newspaper, the Daily Bruin, reported that protesters staged a sit-in at an academic building after law enforcement officers cleared a second pro-Palestinian encampment on campus.
Higby told the Tracker he was blocked from entering the building through the front doors but was able to find a way in through a side entrance. “I was just filming and kind of walking around, taking pictures of the graffiti they had spray-painted inside the building,” he said.
Shortly after, someone recognized him and called out, “This guy’s a Zionist!”
Multiple individuals then surrounded him near the top of a set of exit stairs, jeering at him and challenging his status as a journalist. Higby confirmed with the Tracker that he was wearing a press credential from Today Is America, which he described as a digital news media and commentary site.
Higby said he started to walk away from the individuals, but someone came from behind and struck his camera with what he believes was a closed fist.
In his footage of the incident, a voice can be heard asking Higby, “Who are you? What are you doing here?”
He said that while the individuals surrounded him, someone poured cold coffee into a pocket of his equipment bag, damaging his solar charger. In the footage, after Higby pulls out the soaked charger, a voice can be heard stating, “Your actions have consequences,” while others chant, “Busted!”
“They berated me, taunted me, told me it would be a shame if I slipped on the coffee that was now leaking out of my bag,” Higby said. “Then they pushed me down the stairs. I remained on my feet and then they pushed me out the door and I fell on my back.”
He added that he later attempted to reenter the building by donning a kaffiyeh and posing as a protester, but was again identified, assaulted and forced out of the building. Higby told the Tracker he filed a police report about the incidents.
This content originally appeared on U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: Incident Database and was authored by U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: Incident Database.
U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: Incident Database | Radio Free (2024-07-10T16:48:09+00:00) Journalist shoved, equipment damaged at UCLA student protest. Retrieved from https://www.radiofree.org/2024/07/10/journalist-shoved-equipment-damaged-at-ucla-student-protest/
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