Reports of Ferguson, Mo. police mistreating the media have gone viral, prompting President Barack Obama to call for fair treatment of the press in a Thursday news conference.
“Police should not be bullying or arresting journalists who are just trying to do their jobs,” Obama declared.
The criticism of the police’s treatment of the media transcended party lines.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) similarly declared in a Facebook post on Thursday that “(r)eporters should never be detained — a free press is too important — simply for doing their jobs.”
On Wednesday night, media representative caught in the crosshairs of the ongoing turmoil in Ferguson faced arrests, tear gas, and other tactics used by the Ferguson police force to curtail protests.
A video posted by St. Louis news outlet KSDK shows a news crew in Ferguson being hit with what appears to be tear gas. After the startled crew flees the premises, police can be seen taking down the crew’s equipment.
A KSDK crew member stationed nearby reported that while filming police activity in Ferguson, his camera was hit with a “bean bag round.”
Ferguson’s police force in military-style apparel also arrested two journalists Wednesday night, drawing further criticism that its tactics have been too aggressive.
The Huffington Post’s Ryan J. Reilly and the Washington Post’s Wesley Lowery were arrested after a police team entered a McDonalds where the two reporters were situated and demanded that the reporters vacate the premises. An officer accused them of resisting instructions and illegally detained them at the local prison.
Reilly posted this video of himself talking to police after he had been released from jail:
