Freelance photojournalist arrested at pro-Palestinian protest at DNC in Chicago

Freelance photojournalist Sinna Nasseri was arrested by Chicago Police Department officers Aug. 20, 2024, while on assignment for German news outlet Zeit covering a pro-Palestinian protest planned to coincide with the nearby Democratic National Convention.

A small gathering of protesters, unaffiliated with and more militant than other groups that had organized larger demonstrations earlier in the week, converged around 7 p.m. outside the Israeli Consulate in Chicago’s West Loop section. The demonstrators and police, who far outnumbered them, clashed repeatedly. The protesters were later ordered to leave the area and police began arresting them, Block Club Chicago reported.

Other journalists besides Nasseri were among the dozens detained, according to the Chicago chapter of the National Lawyers Guild. CBS News reported that Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling said three journalists were arrested for not complying with officers’ orders when police began moving in to arrest protesters who had attacked police.

Independent photojournalist Josh Pacheco, one of those arrested, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the scene was chaotic, with officers issuing conflicting, often inaudible commands to the crowd, and pushing people onto the sidewalk, which was already crowded with police bicycles. Pacheco said that members of the press were caught between protesters and police as officers tried to keep demonstrators out of the roadway and intersections.

An attorney for photojournalist Olga Fedorova confirmed on Aug. 21 that she and “at least two other credentialed photo journalists who were covering the protest last night were swept up in the mass arrest and detained for many hours at the Area 3 Chicago Police headquarters.” The third photojournalist is widely reported to have been Nasseri.

The DNC’s Public Safety Joint Information Center confirmed that Nasseri had been cited for disorderly conduct — breach of peace. It did not respond to an additional question about why the journalist was arrested.

Nasseri did not respond to a request for comment from the Tracker, but did post on Instagram a series of photos the next day, including from the protest, with the caption “Swallowed my memory card.”

Mickey Osterreicher, general counsel for the National Press Photographers Association, told the Tracker that in advance of the DNC, he had offered the Chicago Police Department a training on interacting with the press similar to one he gave the Milwaukee Police Department before the Republican National Convention in July.

“They told me that they had been providing First Amendment training and they didn’t need anything from NPPA,” Osterreicher said. “Given the events of last night, I would have to say that that alleged training was an abysmal failure.”

The three journalists were charged “for simply doing their jobs as reporters,” Baron told the Tracker. “We are disappointed that the City of Chicago chose to sweep the First Amendment under the rug with its heavy-handed tactics against working journalists.”