April 25, 2024
Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas statement on arrest of FOX 7 TV journalist at UT-Austin protest:
The Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas strongly denounces the arrest of a FOX 7 news photographer who was covering a pro-Palestinian protest at the University of Texas at Austin.
Law enforcement officers arrested the journalist and charged him with criminal trespass along with more than 50 protestors on campus Wednesday.
The Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas, which stands up for the First Amendment rights of free speech and free press, calls on law enforcement to respect those rights. That includes peaceful protest and news gathering. The police should not interfere with a working journalist doing his job covering the news in a public place.
Contact: Kelley Shannon, Executive Director
[email protected]
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See news coverage below from the Austin American-Statesman:
By Robbie Farias
Austin American-Statesman
Originally published April 24, 2024
A photojournalist with FOX 7 Austin was arrested during a pro-Palestinian protest at the University of Texas at Austin on Wednesday.
Video footage posted on YouTube by FOX 7 Austin shows the photographer taking footage of the moment law enforcement began pushing back the protest line, resulting in the photographer being pushed into an officer. A Texas Department of Public Safety trooper pulled him backward before detaining him, according to FOX 7 Austin.
In another clip shared on X, formerly Twitter, the photographer identified himself as Carlos and said that he was being pushed and was told he had hit an officer. When asked if this has ever happened and if he told troopers he was a journalist, Carlos said, “No, this has never happened to me. I was just covering things and they were pushing. Yeah, I told him that I was the press. This one says I was hitting an officer. I was not hitting nobody.”
Carlos was charged with criminal trespassing, FOX 7 reporter Meredith Aldis said on X.
See the full story and video here.