He Shot the Trump Inauguration Protests and Got More Than He Bargained For
I couldn’t get a good shot, but there was a sign I was able to sit on that put me about 8 feet up. I took a few shots, and then a group of maybe four or five Trump supporters (all wearing the easily identifiable red hats) tried to cross through the crowd to get to the other street. They were met with boos, and suddenly one of the protesters beaned a Trump supporter with what looked like a large bean bag.
The man was hit in the face and looked to see who had done it. Suddenly someone took a swing and there was an eruption of chaos. The riot police immediately engaged the crowd, spraying out mace and firing tear gas.
It wouldn’t be easy for me to get down, and everyone was running and fighting beneath me so I didn’t move — thinking the police probably saw I was just taking photos and wouldn’t pay too much attention to me.
They screamed “get down!” and I said “Okay, I’m coming down!” That statement was met with a large release of pepper spray directly into my eyes from about 2 to 3 feet away. I fell down to the ground hard, camera in hand. I angrily tried to stand and said “You c**ksuckers! I’m a photographer, not a protester!” before being slammed with a shield to the ground.
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