Australian News Team Assaulted by Police Outside White House
Furious over an attack on a TV news team near the White House by U.S. Park Police clearing the way for President Donald Trump to walk to a church for a photo opportunity, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison demanded answers.
Foreign Minister Marise Payne said Morrison “contacted the Australian Embassy in Washington DC ... instructing them to investigate the troubling incident and provide further advice on registering the Australian government's concern.
US ambassador to Australia, Arthur B. Culvahouse Jr., tweeted that “Freedom of the press is a right Australians and Americans hold dear. We take the mistreatment of journalists seriously,” not mentioning Morrison's government raiding journalists homes and critics saying he wants to muzzle the media in his country.
"We remain steadfast in our commitment to protecting journalists and guaranteeing equal justice for all under the law," Culvahouse said without explaining the contradiction of scores of journalists being assaulted across the U.S.
While he was sitting on a wall, Australia's Network Seven cameraman Tim Myers was struck hard in the stomach with a shield and punched in the face but managed to protect reporter Amelia Brace as police swung at her with a baton, and she said they were hit with rubber bullets.
"There was no escape at that moment, we had the (National Guard) behind us the police coming through so quickly there was nowhere for us to go," Brace added.
"They don't care; they are being indiscriminate," she said. "They chased us down that street. They were firing these rubber bullets at everyone. There's tear gas now and we're surrounded."
Australia's Ambassador to the US, Arthur Sinodinos said that, “We are providing consular support to the Australian citizens involved and my team will continue to check on their well-being.”
“I understand that Channel 7 will make a formal police complaint asking to have the matter investigated, he said, adding that, “We are in discussion with the State Department and they have offered assistance to identify where the complaint should be targeted.
The U.S. Park Police said it has placed two officers on administrative leave after video showed the attack which Network Seven News Director Craig McPherson described as “nothing short of wanton thuggery.”
The Committee to Protect Journalists said at least 125 press freedom violations were reported by journalists covering protests triggered by the death of George Floyd, a black man who died in police custody in Minneapolis.