Asian American reporter manhandled & arrested by LA deputies

ABC7 via Twitter user @TheChalkOutline

L.A. County deputies have journalist Josie Huang pinned to the ground as she was arrested.

An Asian American reporter for KPCC/LAist was arrested by Los Angeles deputies while covering the incident in which two deputies, who were ambushed while sitting in their patrol car.

On Saturday night, KPCC reporter Josie Huang was at the St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood, Calif. where the two deputies were being treated for their wounds. Huang had just finished covering a 10 p.m. news conference by Sheriff Alex Villanueva and other department officials when she heard noise like a scuffle nearby.

It looked like a confrontation between demonstrators and the police was brewing when she began recording the arrest of a demonstrator on her smartphone.

At one point, deputies ordered her to back up, which she said later that she had nowhere to go. That's when her arrest began.

JOSIE HUANG

Even as she was being thrown to the ground, Huang — who was wearing a lanyard with her press credential hanging from her neck — was recording the encounter, according to LAist. 

In Huang's video that continued to film after her phone was knocked from her hand, Huang can be heard repeatedly identifying herself as a reporter and shouting “KPCC” several times. You also can hear Huang yelling "you're hurting me" and crying out in pain.

A nearby ABC film crew recorded the arrest from a safe distance and recovered Huang's phone, which they returned to her.

Huang was taken to the women’s jail at the Century Regional Detention Center. She was released at about 4 a.m. without bail, but was cited for an obstruction charge. 

A KPCC newsroom executive said Huang had visible bruises and scrapes, a sore shoulder and a blackened eye. LAist and KPCC called for an apology from the department. Undersheriff Tim Murakami said he would look into the incident.

Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, who represents Lynwood, called for an investigation into the incident.

Huang, who has covered beats about and from underreported communities to housing, is one of KPCC’s most identifiable voices. In 2019, Huang wrote an acclaimed story documenting the fight over homeless housing in Koreatown.

LAist is Southern California Public Radio (SCPR), a member-supported public media network that operates across the Los Angeles region. SCPR and KPCC, its public radio  station, informs and interacts with  communities on the radio and through its websites, social media, apps and live events.

Deputy Juanita Navarro of the Sheriff's Information Bureau confirmed that deputies took Huang into custody on suspicion of obstruction of justice by "interfering with a lawful arrest," although Huang's video showed that she did not interfered with the arrest of a protestor or even question why the arrest was happening.

Navarro also said that Huang never identified herself as a journalist although the video captured her saying repeatedly that she was a reporter for KPCC and also clearly showed that Huang had her press credentials on a lanyard around her neck.

At one point, an officer could be heard "F**k you ..." and another saying, "I don't care if you're a journalist."

Here is Huang's Twitter thread on the incident with video she had captured and video from other journalists showing what happened. https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1305261859155505153.html

A statement from the Society of Professional Journalists strongly condemned the arrest and called for the charges to be dropped. The statement noted “this is at least the second time that a journalist of color from this news organization was mistreated and injured while reporting on civil protests.” In May, Long Beach Police fired a rubber bullet that hit LAist and KPCC Correspondent Adolfo Guzman Lopez in the neck.

"We stand in support of our fellow Asian American journalist," said a statement from the Asian American Journalists Association.  "Her arrest serves as a reminder of the risks that journalists face every day while reporting on the front lines during these uncertain times. 

"We hold the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department accountable to provide answers for the excessive use of force in the detainment of our colleague," the statement continued. "The Los Angeles chapter of AAJA demands an investigation and apology for her arrest. We will not idly stand by as the mistreatment of journalists, especially journalists of color, continues by law enforcement." 

The demonstrators at the hospital where the two deputies who were shot underwent surgery were reportedly yelling obscenities at the deputies on guard and blocking the ambulance entrances.

The incident, which authorities call an "ambush," was captured on a security camera. The video shows a short person approach the patrol car from the passenger side and firing multiple shots into the front seat.

At a news conference at the hospital late Saturday, Sheriff Alex Villanueva described one of the injured deputies as a 31-year-old mother of a 6-year-old boy and the other as a 24-year-old man. He said both deputies were sworn into office just 14 months ago.

“The two deputies were ambushed by a gunman in a cowardly fashion,” he said. “This is a dangerous job.”  

The wounded deputies' survival and ongoing recovery has been called a "miracle" by Villanueva.

The tension in the community has been simmering since deputies, while serving a warrant earlier last week, shot and killed a Compton man. 

All this is happening as the nation is on edge as it tries to survive a virtual lockdown because of the coronavirus pandemic and a summer of heightened racial tension after George Floyd, a black man, was killed while being arrested in Minneapolis and Jacob Blake was shot in the back seven times while being arrested in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

KPCC said the obstruction charge against Huang should be dropped.

"Her arrest is the latest in a series of troubling interactions between our reporters and some local law enforcement officers. Journalists provide an essential service, providing fair, accurate and timely journalism and without them, our democracy is at risk."

EDITOR'S NOTE: A word of caution, this is news sprinkled with opinion. Readers are encouraged to seek multiple news sources to formulate their own positions.