‘Black Bloc’ Occupiers Turn on Media
Occupy Wall Street protesters attacked some photographers covering the May Day protests today in New York, trying to damage or seize their cameras. There are no reported injuries but one photographer was hit in the face, another got in a “tug-of-war” with a protester over her camera, and another had her camera smashed into her face by a protesters, according to those at the scene.
“The black bloc crowd has been making grabs for cameras,” C.S. Muncy, a freelance photographer on assignment for the Village Voice, told BuzzFeed. The “black bloc” is a group of protesters all dressed in black, wearing masks.
“I had a couple people make grabs for my gear,” Muncy said. “They just didn’t want their pictures taken.”
“One girl walks up to one of the photogs and nailed him right in the face,” Muncy said. “He popped her right back.” Muncy said the photographer was Lucas Jackson of Reuters.
Stephanie Keith, a freelance photographer, said that a black bloc protester tried to forcibly take her camera out of her hands. It happened around 1 p.m. at the beginning of the “Wildcat March” leaving from a park in Lower Manhattan.