SPJ Oregon, Portland media coalition letter to Mayor Ted Wheeler

Tuesday, June 16, 2020 

Mayor Wheeler, Chief Lovell: 

We, the undersigned representatives of the news media, wish to share with you our heightened concerns about how Portland police officers under your command continue to use force on people engaged in journalism. We are requesting additional action that goes beyond what has already been requested, including your response and a public report. 

As the Oregon Territory Society of Professional Journalists noted to you in a June 9 letter, documenting protests and the police response to them represents a First Amendment-protected task of vital public interest. That includes documenting confrontations and actions taken to disperse crowds. The practice of journalism is enshrined in the U.S. Constitution and protected as a central check and balance on abuses of power. 

The June 9 letter requested training for officers on how to engage with people who are engaged in journalism, a full investigation of all force used on people engaged in journalism, and a strong message from both of you that people may not be targeted, arrested or assaulted for engaging in journalism. 

Neither the letter nor the three requests have received a response from either of you, other than an auto-generated form letter to SPJ addressing a variety of topics. 

We believe that the events that have occurred since June 9 raise additional concerns and merit distinct additional action — action that goes beyond Mayor Wheeler’s two tweets of June 15. 

Since June 9, several additional people engaged in journalism have been subjected to use of force, including Zane Sparling of the Portland Tribune and Beth Nakamura of The Oregonian. 

When the recent incidents are considered alongside previous ones — which included similar treatment of independent and freelance journalists — the trend is clear and disturbing. While using force on people engaging in journalism, some officers are explicitly telling those who identify as press that they do not care — or “give a shit,” as one officer told Sparling — that they are engaged in journalism. 

Intended or not, this trend by Portland police appears to send a message that is both menacing and at odds with the U.S. Constitution: That people who engage in journalism and record police tactics during dispersals will be subjected to force. 

Moreover, this use of force appears to be occurring even when people engaged in journalism are clearly and explicitly complying with police orders. 

In addition to the earlier requests sent to you, we are now asking that you investigate and review the training or messaging from command staff that may be leading to different officers in different situations delivering the same highly objectionable and, we believe, unconstitutional message. 

We also request a review of the tactics that, due to conflicting or contradictory orders or just potential or apparent misconduct, put people engaging in journalism at risk of use of force even as they are fully complying with police orders. 

While the Portland Police Bureau has repeatedly pointed out that there is no exception in the criminal code for people engaged in journalism, it’s also true that applications of the criminal code can conflict with the U.S. Constitution and 42 U.S. Code § 1983. 

As a new legal analysis by the Reporter’s Committee for the Freedom of the Press points out, curfew orders that do not contain a media exemption may be unconstitutional, noting that “Journalists engaged in legitimate newsgathering do not present public safety issues,” and preventing them from reporting does not “serve a compelling government interest.” 

We are requesting your attention to the individual incidents, as well as the cumulative chilling effect they have created, which we believe is contrary both to the First Amendment and to the government transparency that Oregonians expect. 

We are also requesting a specific response from you to our individual requests, including that you issue a report to the public with the results of a full investigation of police use of force on journalists in Portland. 

Sincerely, 

Rachel Alexander, President, Oregon Territory Society of Professional Journalists 

Chris Passon, News Director, FOX 12 Oregon 

Greg Retsinas, News Director, KGW 

Anna Griffin, Vice President, News, Oregon Public Broadcasting 

Therese Bottomly, Editor/VP of Content, The Oregonian/OregonLive 

John Schrag, Executive Editor, Pamplin Media Group 

Wm. Steve Humphrey, Editor in Chief, Portland Mercury 

Aaron Mesh, News Editor, Willamette Week