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Reporters fired upon by police as tension grows over George Floyd protests

May 31, 2020

A reporter covering the George Floyd protests in Louisville was struck with pepper balls by police while attempting to report on the protests on television. 

The Wave3 crew had been filming in downtown Louisville when an officer turned towards the pair and started firing. 

In the broadcast, reporter Kaitlin Rust could be heard yelling out in pain, saying she'd shot by rubber bullets. 

It was later clarified by the Louisville Metropolitan Police department that they would have been pepper balls, a pepper spray projectile which contains a powdered chemical intended to irritate the eyes and nose.  

A photographer for the Denver Post had also been struck down by pepper balls, claiming that he had been directly aimed at by police while capturing shots of the protests in downtown Denver. 

Hyoung Chang said the officer had fired multiple shots directly at him despite wearing his press credentials. 

"If it was one shot, I can say it's an accident. I'm very sure it was the same guy twice. I've very sure he pointed directly at me," he told the Denver post. 

This comes after a reporting crew was arrested by police in during a protest while also reporting live on air from Minneapolis as the epicentre of the George Floyd protests. 

CNN correspondent Omar Jimenez has been standing near a line of police during his live cross before he was approached and handcuffed by police. 

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