VIENNA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th June, 2020) Deliberate pepper-spraying in the face of RIA Novosti correspondent Mikhail Turgiyev by a Minneapolis policeman is the manifestation of unjustified brutality, Alexander Lukashevich, Russia's Permanent Representative to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), said on Thursday.
"The Russian Foreign Ministry has already assessed the actions of the police, which used rubber bullets and tear gas against the media. We will repeat that we consider the targeted pepper-spraying in the face of RIA Novosti correspondent Mikhail Turgiyev by Minneapolis police, despite his clear identification as a journalist, as a manifestation of unjustified brutality," Lukashevich said at an online meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council.
On Sunday, Turgiyev was pepper-sprayed in the face by a Minneapolis police officer despite identifying himself as a reporter, while covering the protests. A VICE television crew was also affected during the incident.
Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency demanded an investigation into the actions of the police. The Russian Foreign Ministry previously regarded the Turgiyev incident as a manifestation of unjustified brutality. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz apologized to reporters who had been detained or attacked by the police on Sunday night. The Russian Embassy in the US, in turn, sent a note to the US State Department.
Protests erupted last week after George Floyd, a 46-year old African American man, was killed after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes. On Monday, the county examiner ruled Floyd's death a homicide.
