Editors Note: On Saturday, June 26 at the G20 summit in Toronto, Canada, video journalist Jesse Freeston of The Real News Network was assaulted by police while filming peaceful protests outside the meeting. Freeston donned press credentials and was documenting police aggression on protesters when he was then grabbed by police and punched in the face. His experience was well documented and appears in the video, below. In a press conference, Toronto Police Chief William Blair said that the aggressive police action was a response to a group of anarchists using destructive tactics. The anarchists were separate from the largely peaceful protest and smashed the windows of banks and burned police cars. However, Freeston states that the anarchist actions were nowhere in the vicinity of the protesters who were assaulted when he was documenting the situation. More than 400 people were arrested. Freeston ends his report on the situation below by saying that the police attack on the media is an attack on democracy. – s.g.
Media that fights fascism
Truthout is funded almost entirely by readers — that’s why we can speak truth to power and cut against the mainstream narrative. But independent journalists at Truthout face mounting political repression under Trump.
We rely on your support to survive McCarthyist censorship. Please make a tax-deductible one-time or monthly donation.