Following the murder of George Floyd and the killing of Breonna Taylor at the hands of police, millions took to the streets across America and the world in the spring of 2020 to protest police brutality and a system of law enforcement that has historically and disproportionately targeted Black and brown people.
What followed was months of protests, clashes with riot police and mass arrests of largely peaceful protesters and demonstrators. This is not a new phenomenon. The country witnessed similar situations transpire in Ferguson, Missouri, following the police killing of Michael Brown, an unarmed 18-year-old Black man, in 2014.
What struck more urgently this time was the public and violent disregard for the practice of journalism by some police, including mass arrests and assaults on the rights of journalists covering these protests.
