Video: Photographers identified themselves as journalists during arrest at Las Vegas protest

Body-camera footage of the arrests of two photojournalists during a Las Vegas protest shows that multiple officers and at least one supervisor knew they were members of the media, despite Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo’s assertion that the two didn’t identify themselves as press before being taken into custody.

In one of three videos released to the Review-Journal, photographer Ellen Schmidt is seen holding up her press badge as she’s being handcuffed, saying “I’m a journalist with the RJ.”

“I know,” says the officer before he handcuffs her, as photographer Bridget Bennett is being handcuffed on the ground by another officer. Neither officer is identified.

Schmidt and Bennett, a freelance photographer and former Review-Journal employee, were arrested May 29 near the end of an hourslong demonstration on the Strip, the first of many in Las Vegas protesting the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody.

The body-camera footage from the officer arresting Bennett shows the woman saying, “I’m a journalist, I’m a journalist!” The officer responds, “I don’t care.”

The footage also shows that before the women were arrested on misdemeanor charges of failing to disperse, the officer who arrested Schmidt shouted toward the crowd across the street and toward a man operating a TV news camera on the same side of the road as the officers.

“Last warning, even camera people, we make it to you, you’re going to jail, so disperse,” the officer yells.

But when police start advancing, officers approach the man as he’s putting the camera away. The officer who arrested Schmidt tells the cameraman to “take his gear,” and the man is allowed to walk away without being arrested. The same officer later tells Schmidt, “I’ve seen you all day and you’ve been doing nothing but taking pictures.”

The day after the arrests, Lombardo told The Nevada Independent the journalists were arrested after refusing to obey two orders to disperse, and that they did not identify themselves as members of the media until they were taken into custody. Body-camera footage shows both women telling officers multiple times that they are journalists, and Schmidt wore her press badge around her neck for more than 30 minutes as she waited to be taken to the Clark County Detention Center.

Neither Lombardo nor Metro’s public information office responded to multiple requests for comment about the body-camera footage.

‘I pled your case, they’re not hearing it’

The footage also shows the officer who arrested Schmidt saying he will talk to his supervisor about her and Bennett’s arrests.

“This is what I’m going to do for you because I respect journalism, OK? I don’t have an issue with journalism. I’m going to go talk to my boss and see what they want to do,” the officer tells Schmidt, later adding, “I’ve seen your credentials; I’ve been out here all day. I’ve seen you all day and you’ve been doing nothing but taking pictures. I have no issue with you.”

The video then shows the officer walk toward Assistant Sheriff Brett Zimmerman, who was seen multiple times throughout that night’s protest. He turns the camera off before speaking with Zimmerman.

In another video released to the Review-Journal, which started with the officer walking away from Zimmerman, Schmidt asks why she’s being taken to jail.

“I told you, refusal to disperse. I pled your case; they’re not hearing it,” the officer says, later adding, “again, like I said, I tried to do what I could do. They’re not budging; you just saw me try to do that.”

Review-Journal Executive Editor Glenn Cook condemned the arrests of the photojournalists.

“Press freedoms are protected under the First Amendment for good reason: Journalism is essential to democracy and human rights,” Cook said. “It’s understood around the world that journalists must be able to work without interference from the government — especially in times of social strife and when police are using force against the people they serve. Las Vegas police knew they were arresting and jailing working journalists who were no threat to public safety or the officers’ safety. The body camera video proves it. This should never have happened.”

During a subsequent meeting of the Clark County Commission, Metro lobbyist Chuck Callaway said there had been instances of journalists possibly “antagonizing” the crowd during protests and that a criminal case was ongoing.

‘We will leave if you let her go’

Bennett and Schmidt were arrested moments after a scuffle broke out as officers were attempting to arrest several protesters. Cellphone footage sent anonymously to the Review-Journal showed Schmidt and Bennett taking pictures of the arrests. Then an officer shoves Bennett, knocking her to the ground. He then shoves Schmidt.

The footage showed Schmidt walking away when an officer grabs her backpack and pulls her back. Bennett continued to attempt to take pictures when she was shoved again, then an officer hurries after her as she backs away.

The officer throws Bennett to the ground as he attempts to handcuff her.

“Get the f——— backpack off, get your arm out, get on the ground,” the officer screamed. The officer who arrested Schmidt then walks up to help hold Bennett down and says, “Stop resisting.”

At one point, Schmidt told the officer, “I was trying to leave.”

“No, you weren’t, because then when we arrested, when we arrested your colleague, what did you do? You went right through the line right by officers,” he said.

Each photographer faces a misdemeanor count of failure to disperse, although neither has been officially charged, court records show. They were released from the Clark County Detention Center early May 30 after posting a $1,000 cash bond. Their jailing violated a court order that prohibits most misdemeanor bookings during the coronavirus pandemic.

While Bennett was handcuffed and waiting to be led onto a police bus, she tells the officer who arrested her that she’s worried about her camera. He said the police have “bigger priorities right now.”

“That’s my livelihood,” Bennett says.

“Well, if that’s your livelihood, you should have been smart and should have just left when we told you to,” the officer replies.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.