Independent journalist shoved with batons by NYC police at protest

An independent journalist who writes under the moniker Spyder Monkey was repeatedly shoved with batons by New York City police while documenting protests outside a fundraiser for Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign on Aug. 14, 2024.

State Democratic leaders — including Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul — and labor union members gathered in Harlem in a show of support for the Harris-Walz campaign ahead of the Democratic National Convention, Politico reported. Pro-Palestinian protesters rallied outside the event, demonstrating against the Biden administration’s military support for Israel amid the ongoing Israel-Gaza war.

Spyder Monkey, who asked to be identified only by his pen name for safety reasons, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the protest outside the campaign event was uneventful, but tensions escalated after protesters marched the 10 blocks north to a restaurant where the Democratic officials were holding an after-party. He said protesters went into the restaurant, yelled at attendees and quickly exited.

“As they were leaving, that’s when the police who were monitoring them from earlier in the day came in and immediately arrested two or three protesters, and that’s when the cop riot basically started,” Spyder Monkey said. “That’s where most of the violence kind of happened, with all the press filming everything around them, smoke bombs being thrown, arguments between police and protesters.”

He said that the press became trapped between the protesters and a line of officers from the department’s Special Response Group, a rapid response unit that the New York Civil Liberties Union calls notoriously violent.

“It was a lot of shoving, a lot of police pushing press who, including me, were just trying to hold their arms up to show nonviolence, but we just kept getting manhandled and pushed around,” Spyder Monkey said.

In a clip Spyder Monkey posted on the social platform X, a supervisory officer can be seen using a baton to shove back independent photojournalist Gerard Dalbon — wearing a black shirt — while the journalist’s press credential is visible on a lanyard.

At least four journalists, including Spyder Monkey and Dalbon, were struck or pushed by officers with batons during the chaos. Spyder Monkey told the Tracker that his city-issued press credentials were visible and that he was clearly identifiable as press.

The New York City Police Department did not respond to a request for comment.