The National Press Photographers Association says it “strongly condemns” the actions taken by the NYPD against journalists during Tuesday morning’s raid of Zuccotti Park.
In a press release sent out late Tuesday, the NPPA joined the New York Press Club in criticizing the aggressive maneuvers taken by police to limit journalists’ access to the area surrounding the park.
Condemning the NYPD’s “apparent targeting of journalists for detention and arrest,” the NPPA called the action “just another in the growing list of incidents across the country where visual journalists have been harassed, interfered with and arrested as they attempt to cover maters of public concern.”
Mayor Michael Bloomberg has defended the NYPD, claiming they were attempting to protect journalists from potential harm during the raid.
NPPA president Sean Elliott called Bloomberg’s comments “disingenuous at best and at worst, a thinly veiled attempt at prior restraint of the news media.”