MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 31st May, 2020) The work of journalists covering the ongoing Minneapolis protests is similar to one in military conflict zones, Russian Union of Journalists' Secretary Timur Shafir told Sputnik on Sunday, calling on the Russian diplomats to draw the US authorities' attention to unlawful police actions against Mikhail Turgiyev, a RIA Novosti correspondent, who was harmed while performing his journalistic duty.
"The main thing is that at the moment nothing is threatening our colleagues' health, and they can continue their work. At the same time, correspondents covering these events - even while observing the maximum precautions at the level of violence demonstrated both by the protesters and the law enforcement agencies - work in a real hot spot," Shafir said, adding that that the US law enforcement officers must justify their actions in relation to Turgiyev.
On Saturday night, the Minneapolis police deliberately used pepper spray on journalists, including Turgiyev, after the protest was already dispersed. The incident was caught on a video that circulated online.
The video shows Minneapolis police getting out of a minibus and immediately firing rubber bullets against journalists taking shelter at a gas station. Once the law enforcement officers heard people screaming "press," they ceased firing rubber bullets.
One of the journalists knelt down with the words "okay, I'm going down" and showed his press card. Nonetheless, the police officer headed straight to him and pepper-sprayed him. The journalist was identified as a staffer of the VICE broadcaster.
Protests erupted in various cities across the United States this week after George Floyd, an African-American man, died in police custody on Monday after Derek Chauvin, a Minneapolis white police officer, pinned him to the ground with his knee, depriving of air.
