MINNEAPOLIS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 31st May, 2020) The Minneapolis police deliberately used pepper spray on journalists, Mikhail Turgiyev, who himself was harmed, said on Sunday, adding that the incident happened already after a protest was dispersed.
A VICE television crew of four and an agency correspondent found themselves at the gas station during riots. The US National Guard allowed journalists to remain in the area after protesters were dispersed.
Suddenly, a police minibus drove nearby, and immediately used rubber bullets against the people at the gas station. Once the law enforcement officers heard people screaming "press" and understood that it was private property, they ceased firing rubber bullets. Then, the policemen ordered everyone to get inside the building.
The journalists knelt down and showed their press cards. Nonetheless, the police officer pepper-sprayed a television crew member. One of the officers, who was wearing a gas mask and was standing by a car, approached reporters and told them something but journalists could not understand him properly. The reporters thought that the masked officer wanted them to sit in the car.
The Sputnik correspondent, who also showed his press card beforehand, was standing beside the car. When he was going to sit inside, another police officer approached him, and the correspondent showed him his badge and told him that he is a journalist. In response, the policeman pepper-sprayed him, without saying anything.
