‘Aggressive’ Chicago police intimidate journalists at pro-Palestine protests, says attacked Anadolu videojournalist

WASHINGTON 

Police are attempting to create an environment of fear and intimidation for journalists as they cover pro-Palestinian demonstrations during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois, an Anadolu journalist who was attacked by law enforcement said Wednesday.

Mostafa Bassim recalled being threatened with having his press credentials taken away “many times” throughout the day Monday in what he said was an effort to curtail journalists’ movement.

“They said, you gotta get out of here, or we’re gonna confiscate your press pass,” he recalled.

Things took a turn for the worse Tuesday night when he and other journalists went to the Israeli consulate in Chicago’s West Loop Gate neighborhood to cover a pro-Palestinian demonstration. Clashes soon broke out between protesters and police with multiple arrests made that night, including of at least three journalists who were attempting to chronicle the events, according to Bassim.

“At one point, police started getting really aggressive with journalists. They wanted every journalist out of there. In the beginning, they asked every journalist to leave and go to the sidewalks and tried to kettle people, but then later on they got really aggressive,” he said. “They started pushing us. They were kettling everyone.”

Video footage from the scene recorded by Bassim depicts the pandemonium.

In it, a group of riot gear-clad police can be seen pulling a demonstrator away. One of the officers then turns to Bassim, putting his hands on the videojournalist and trying to pull him in to the group of officers.

“Press! Press! Press!” Bassim shouts.

“Move!” the officer responds.

“To where?” responds Bassim, acknowledging the throng of people in which he was stuck. Moments later, another photojournalist can be seen being taken away by officers amid more shouts of “Press!”

“After that, for like, maybe five minutes, they kept pushing people all into each other, like, to the point that we couldn’t really breathe. Like, everyone was, like, just smashing each other,” he recalled.

One police officer later instructed his fellow officers to create an exit for everyone to flee.

Large-scale pro-Palestine demonstrations are expected to continue Thursday, and Bassim said he will return to document what happens, and fulfill his professional duties.

“I’m supposed to show what’s happening to everyone. It’s just what I do,” he said.