{"id":30345,"date":"2016-05-19T18:34:21","date_gmt":"2016-05-20T01:34:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/?p=30345"},"modified":"2016-05-20T10:36:43","modified_gmt":"2016-05-20T17:36:43","slug":"journalists-file-complaint-against-sf-sheriffs-deputy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/en\/journalists-file-complaint-against-sf-sheriffs-deputy\/","title":{"rendered":"Journalists file complaint against SF Sheriff\u2019s deputy"},"content":{"rendered":"

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<\/b>Four journalists\u2014two who were on assignment for El Tecolote\u2014filed official complaints against San Francisco\u2019s Sheriff\u2019s Department, after being roughed up by sheriff\u2019s deputies while covering a protest at City Hall on May 6.<\/p>\n

El Tecolote photographers Joel Angel Ju\u00e1rez and Gabriella Angotti-Jones, City College of San Francisco photojournalism student Natasha Dangond, and 48hills reporter Sana Saleem filed complaints on May 10.<\/p>\n

Ju\u00e1rez, Angotti-Jones, Dangond, and Saleem were four of the journalists who were covering a Friday evening demonstration at City Hall, where protesters were showing support for the \u2018Frisco 5′ while calling for SFPD Chief Greg Suhr to be fired.<\/p>\n

At around 9 p.m., Angotti-Jones, 22, who was wearing her El Tecolote press pass visibly around her neck, was attempting to photograph of a protester getting arrested when she was grabbed by two sheriff\u2019s deputies. Angotti-Jones was pulled away from the group of protesters she was photographing to behind a line of sheriff\u2019s deputies.<\/p>\n

Ju\u00e1rez, who was able to capture a photo of Angotti-Jones being grabbed, began yelling that she was a member of the media. Angotti-Jones too began identifying herself as press, when a deputy told her to calm down. Once she confirmed her affiliation with El Tecolote, Angotti-Jones was pulled away from the deputy and pushed back into a group of protesters.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was not standing in the line [of protester],\u201d said Angotti-Jones, who was not physically injured. \u201cI was wearing a press pass. I had a camera; it was up to my face. I stepped forward to take a picture.\u201d<\/p>\n

About 20 minutes after Angotti-Jones\u2019 incident, Ju\u00e1rez\u2014who was visibly wearing two press credentials from El Tecolote and SF State\u2019s journalism department\u2014was photographing protesters when he was pushed without warning to the floor and down a short set of marble stairs by sheriff\u2019s deputy.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe told me to move as he was pushing me to the ground,\u201d said Ju\u00e1rez, who reported that he felt discomfort in his right knee, right hip and upper left shoulder later that night. \u201cI fell down a few stairs. My camera also hit the floor. And as soon as I got up, I started recording video on my iPhone to get the deputy\u2019s badge number and name.\u201d<\/p>\n

The video shows a deputy 2085 Emergency Services Unit Davidson walking away once realizing he is being recorded. Mission Local reporter Joe Rivano Barros witnessed the incident, and his voice can be heard in the video helping Ju\u00e1rez identify the deputy.<\/p>\n

Barros also witnessed Dangond\u2014photographer with City College of San Francisco\u2019s student newspaper The Guardsman\u2014being roughed by deputies.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe had been pushed by the deputy into the desk with a baton,\u201d Barros said. \u201cShe gave a high pitched scream.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Guardsman<\/a>
Guardsman photographer Natasha Dangond receives medical attention after being struck on the head by Sheriff\u2019s Deputy Osha. Dangond was covering a protest at City Hall on May 6 when she was struck with the baton. Photo courtesy of Natasha Dangond.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Video of Dangond\u2019s incident surfaced on social media showing her screaming after being pushed and struck on the head with a baton by a deputy Osha, Badge No. 1893. After the demonstration, Dangond received medical attention. She sustained a welt on her head and bruises on her arms.<\/p>\n

Saleem, who was on assignment with 48hills, suffered sore ribs after being pushed into a corner of a desk by a sheriff\u2019s deputy with his baton out.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe the actions taken against them were excessive,\u201d wrote Barros in his own complaint to the Sheriff\u2019s Department.<\/p>\n

According to Ju\u00e1rez, Chief Deputy Sheriff Albert Waters II clarified that the journalists were allowed to photograph so long as they didn\u2019t move beyond the top stair near the City Hall entrance. Waters also apologized after hearing about the incident involving the deputies.<\/p>\n

Hours after the complaints by the four journalists were filed, Sheriff Vicki L. Hennessy released a statement, saying she had \u201copened an investigation into the allegations.\u201d<\/p>\n

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@sanasaleem<\/a> from @48hills<\/a> pushed into desk by sheriff’s deputies at #Frisco5<\/a> #hungerforjusticesf<\/a> rally pic.twitter.com\/VzwPnv66tc<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Joe Rivano Barros (@jrivanob) May 7, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n