On May 30, 2020, I was in Emeryville covering the George Floyd protests when a large crowd, mostly young people, began attacking local stores. Aware of the risks, I brought only one camera, securing the strap tightly around my wrist with several loops. I then approached the crowd and started taking photos. Just a few minutes later, I was struck hard in the head from behind and fell to the ground, hearing someone shout, “Take his camera!” They attempted to steal it, managing to drag me several feet. I eventually freed myself and ran to safety. Despite the injury, I returned shortly after to capture images of the police moving in and making arrests. The ordeal left me with a broken finder, a sore shoulder from the dragging and a damaged lens.
Protests, some of which turned violent, erupted nationwide following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, MN, who pleaded with arresting officers that he couldn’t breathe while one of them was captured on video In some cases, looters took advantage of the ongoing protests to rob stores, like this Best Buy.
