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Australia probes US police assault on its journalists
SYDNEY, June 2, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Australia is investigating a US
police attack on two Australian television journalists outside the
White House, the foreign minister said Tuesday, expressing “strong
concerns” about the assault caught live on camera.
“We have asked the Australian embassy in Washington, DC to
investigate this incident,” Marise Payne said after the journalists
were slammed with a riot shield, punched and hit with a baton while
broadcasting from the protest.
“I want to get further advice on how we would go about registering
Australia’s strong concerns with the responsible local authorities in
Washington,” she said, indicating a formal complaint would follow.
Footage showed 7NEWS reporter Amelia Brace being clubbed with a
truncheon and cameraman Tim Myers being hit with a riot shield and
punched in the face by police clearing Washington’s Lafayette Square
of protesters on Monday.
The journalists said they were later shot with rubber bullets and
tear-gassed, which Brace said left the pair “a bit sore”.
The incident was widely broadcast in Australia, causing
consternation in a country that has been a close US ally.
The US ambassador to Australia, Arthur B. Culvahouse Jr., said on
Twitter: “We take mistreatment of journalists seriously, as do all who
take democracy seriously.”
– ‘Very troubling –
US police — with support from military personnel — had forcibly
cleared the square of peaceful protesters to allow President Donald
Trump to leave the White House for a photo opportunity.
Trump has faced fierce criticism for his handling of week-long
protests over the death in custody of an unarmed African-American man
in Minneapolis.
George Floyd died after a white police officer knelt on his neck
for nearly nine minutes.
In several cities, the demonstrations have spiralled into rioting,
violent confrontations with police and looting, prompting National
Guard deployments to around two dozen US states and strictly enforced
curfews.
Payne steered clear of criticising Trump directly, highlighting the
delicate balancing act US allies face when registering unease with his
administration.
“This is obviously a very troubling period in the United States and
a very tough period at so many levels,” she told ABC radio.
“We are always supportive of people’s right to peaceful protest and
we encourage all involved on both sides to exercise restraint and
avoid violence.”
Meanwhile in Sydney more than 1,000 people marched by the US
consulate in solidarity with American protesters, and called on their
own government to do more to stop the abuse of Aboriginal Australians.
“Black Lives is a worldwide movement, it is not just an American
movement,” said Tristan Field, a First Nations protester.
“There are black people dying in Australia just as much as there
are black people dying in America right now.”
In the three decades since a government inquest into Aboriginal
deaths in custody, there have been 420 more cases, according to an
Amnesty International tally, without any convictions being recorded as
a result.
BFF/AFP/MRU/1750hrs