Washington D.C. June 3, 2020—Canadian journalist Anna Slatz, reporter for the independent news website Rebel News, remains in New York custody since being arrested yesterday evening while covering protests, Eitan Gillboord, vice president of operations at Rebel News told CPJ this afternoon.
“We call on New York authorities to quickly release Anna Slatz without charges. It is unacceptable to arrest journalists who are doing their jobs and reporting on matters of public interest, including protests,” CPJ Program Director Carlos Martinez de la Serna said today in New York. “Detaining journalists for reporting is always abhorrent–and especially problematic during a global pandemic.”
Since May 29, at least 251 press freedom violations have been reported nationwide by journalists covering demonstrations against the death of a black man, George Floyd, in Minneapolis police custody. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, a nonpartisan website of which CPJ is a founding partner, is investigating each report and will publish confirmed incidents to its database.
CPJ’s calls to the booking and arraignment numbers at the central courthouses in both Brooklyn and Manhattan went unanswered.