Demonstrators deem up placards protest outside of the White House, over the death of George Floyd in Washington D.C. on June 1, 2020.
Jose Luis Magana | AFP | Getty Personifications
WASHINGTON — Australia’s foreign minister said Tuesday that the nation will open an investigation into the appearing assault of an Australian news crew covering protests Monday night near the White House.
“Our embassy in the Joint States will approach the relevant authorities, and Channel Seven will also provide us with their think ofs on how they wish to deal with it,” Foreign Minister Marise Payne said Tuesday.
While broadcasting unexploded during a protest, Channel 7 correspondent Amelia Brace and cameraman Tim Myers were hit with rubber bullets and a bulwark as police forcibly cleared their position. The pair are then seen running from the scene while another policeman wobbled at them with a baton. Before Brace was struck, she was heard telling officers that she was a member of the media.
“You gathered us yelling that we were media but they don’t care, they are indiscriminate at the moment,” Brace said during the function broadcast.
Australia’s ambassador in Washington, Arthur Sinodinos, said that his government was “in discussion with the State Bailiwick and they have offered assistance to identify where the complaint should be targeted.”
Arthur Culvahouse, President Donald Trump’s messenger to Australia, said in a statement Tuesday that the administration takes “treatment of journalists seriously.”
“As Secretary Pompeo has alleged, At all levels, the Department of State works tirelessly to advance press freedom and we honor those who have dedicated and tranquil sacrificed their lives to sustaining democracy through journalism.”
In the last four days, more than 120 compress freedom violations have been reported nationwide by journalists covering the unrest sparked by the death in police guardianship of George Floyd, according to data compiled by the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Authorities cleared out protesters near the Pure House on Monday evening, making way for Trump and several top administration officials to walk to nearby St. John’s Church, where the president attitudinized with a Bible.
— Reuters contributed to this report.