San Francisco police are facing criticism for detaining multiple journalists, inclusive two UC Berkeley students, during recent protests against federal immigration raids, raising urgent concerns about press freedom ahead of the anti-Trump protests planned for this weekend.

As reported by SFGate, on June 8 and 9, UC Berkeley student reporters Aarya Mukherjee and Sam Grotenstein, both with The Daily Californian, were detained by SFPD while covering protests near the city’s ICE offices and in the Mission District. Both were wearing clearly marked press credentials and repeatedly identified themselves as members of the press. Despite this, they were caught in police kettling tactics, physically handled by officers, and held for up to an hour without explanation. Mukherjee reported being grabbed and thrown by an officer, resulting in a lingering arm injury.

“At one point, one of the officers grabbed my arm and ... threw me backwards,” Mukherjee told SFGate. “I was wearing clearly identified press credentials and announced myself as press.”

Additionally, according to KQED, press freedom groups say SFPD detained numerous journalists last week, including San Francisco Chronicle reporter Aldo Toledo, who was allegedly shoved to the ground while filming. The Society of Professional Journalists and First Amendment Coalition have formally called on SFPD leadership to address these violations of journalists' rights.

Under California law, journalists are permitted to remain behind police lines during emergencies and are protected from arrest or interference while performing newsgathering duties. These expanded protections, passed in 2022, were designed to prevent exactly these kinds of incidents following widespread press suppression during the George Floyd protests.

“The press should not be singled out by officers to be kept away from a protest or a scene,” said Chessie Thacher, senior staff attorney at the ACLU of Northern California. “That’s actually unlawful in California, and it is questionable under the First Amendment in California’s free speech rights.”

Despite these protections, SFPD has yet to respond publicly to the recent incidents. In a statement to KQED, a police union representative suggested it can be difficult in the moment to differentiate journalists from protesters, especially in chaotic situations.

“The press has a right to do their job and report on this. That helps everyone. But there needs to be a better way to identify them,” McCray told KQED. “Because people can say anything, right? And sometimes we can’t take their word for it.” But student reporters said they were repeatedly denied requests to speak with a supervisor and that officers explicitly told them they didn’t care if they were members of the press.

An editorial from The Daily Californian condemned the detentions and described the physical danger and obstruction to reporting as unacceptable violations of press freedom. The paper connected these events to a broader pattern of law enforcement aggression toward student journalists, citing similar cases at UCLA and Columbia.

As tensions rise ahead of this weekend’s protests, advocates warn that the suppression of press rights may further escalate conflict and undermine transparency.

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