Australia Asks for Investigation After Police Attack 2 Journalists

The U.S. ambassador to Australia, Arthur B. Culvahouse Jr., issued a statement of support for the news media on Tuesday, although he did not directly address what happened to the Channel 7 journalists.

“Freedom of the press is a right that Australians and Americans hold dear,” Mr. Culvahouse said on Twitter. “We take mistreatment of journalists seriously, as do all who take democracy seriously.”

Demonstrators had gathered outside the White House on Monday, waving signs and chanting slogans to protest the death of George Floyd in police custody on May 25 in Minneapolis. Mr. Trump, who had been sheltering in an emergency White House bunker meant to protect presidents from terrorist attacks, previously threatened protesters with “vicious dogs” and “ominous weapons.”

Mr. Trump was reportedly frustrated by media coverage that depicted him hiding in the bunker, so he and other aides planned the 17-minute photo op at the nearby St. John’s Church — the so-called Church of the Presidents — on Monday evening.

At a little before 7 p.m., when the capital’s curfew was set to begin, police officers began dispersing the crowd, which had been assembled peacefully, with flash bangs and tear gas. The tactics were widely condemned, and Bishop Mariann E. Budde of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, which includes St. John’s, said she was upset that the White House had used the church as “a prop.”

Two members of the clergy were also reported to have been affected by the tear gas, according to the website Religion News Service.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/02/business/media/australia-reporters-police-protest.html