John Abernathy, a photographer from Minneapolis, lay flat on the ground. He had at least one federal officer’s knee on his back. He heard someone yell and put his hands behind his back, but his arms were half pinned beneath him. He was surrounded by dozens of police officers, who were deploying something — he thought it was tear gas — that made it difficult for him to see or breathe. He felt like he might vomit or pass out.
He worried about what would happen if federal agents got their hands on his equipment. So when he locked eyes with another photographer, he picked up his camera (a Leica M10-R with a 28mm lens) and threw it away, followed shortly after by his phone.
Photographer John Abernathy said he threw the camera to Pierre Lavie so it wouldn’t be confiscated by federal officials. Photo: Pierre Lavie/@just1dudewithacamera
Fellow photojournalist Pierre Lavey grabbed his Leica camera by its strap and held it close to his body. When he reached for Abernethy’s phone, it moved only a few feet and a federal officer repeatedly tried to stomp on it.
“I had to reach in and out to keep my hand from getting stepped on, and finally I managed to grab it and take it away,” Ravi told The Huffington Post.
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This is a scene familiar to both of them. Abernathy has done it before photography He, who works for advertising and magazines, said he began documenting the Immigration and Customs Enforcement crackdown in Minneapolis and the protests sparked by the killing of Renee Goode “just to show people who might see what was going on.” Ravi, a member of the National Press Photographers Association, traveled from New Orleans to cover the riots.
Both men were outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis on Thursday, January 15, which has recently been used to house people detained by ICE officials.When Abernathy saw what he called “agitators” — pro-ICE demonstrators — carrying bear spray, he grabbed a can from someone and tossed it aside to prevent it from exploding near him.
He speculated that’s why he was targeted by federal agents, who yelled that they saw him spraying the crowd, although he said he offered no evidence to support that after they handcuffed him and took him into the Whipple Building. (He received a subpoena but has not yet received a court date.)
Photographer John Abernathy was pushed to the ground as federal immigration officials confronted protesters outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis on January 15. via AP
He struggled to keep breathing as he struggled beneath the agent.
“I couldn’t breathe. I was screaming my name because I didn’t know what was going to happen, and I was subconsciously screaming ‘I can’t breathe,’ and right when it came out, I thought about George Floyd and I thought, ‘Oh my God, this is becoming a reality,'” he said.
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Ravi, who has documented ICE activities across the United States in recent months, said police officers working in Minneapolis are tougher than those he has seen elsewhere, doing things like spraying pepper spray into the air intakes of vehicles to force people to leave.
“They were immediately very threatening rather than de-escalating the situation,” he said.
He added: “As an observer, their unprofessional behavior worries me because I think it’s only a short distance away from someone actually getting hurt. “It’s reckless and dangerous.”
Despite suffering chemical burns to his eyes, gashes from pepper bullets and abrasions from the fall, Abernathy did not rush to the hospital after his release.
John Abernathy said he suffered multiple injuries after being shot with pepper bullets and restrained by federal officers. Photo: John Abernethy
Instead, he began searching for his phone and camera, although he had no idea who had picked them up because they were covered in chemicals.
“I found a guy with a megaphone and I asked him to walk around asking if anyone had my camera, but no one did,” he said.
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He enlisted the help of his wife to use the Find My iPhone feature. Meanwhile, Ravi handed the devices to another reporter traveling with him, who tried to find the owner using the contact information on the phone’s medical ID.
The two finally met again at the hotel where they first met.
“He jumped out of the car, gave me a handshake and a hug and said, ‘Thank you so much,'” Lavey said, adding that Abernethy was “a little frustrated, but he’s obviously a tough guy, quick-thinking, and he seemed fine.”
Abernethy retrieved the camera and headed to the hospital, where he discovered the last few photos taken before police took him away.
This was one of the last two photos photographer John Abernathy took before he was captured by ICE agents in Minneapolis. John Abernethy
This was one of the last two photos taken by photographer Abernathy before he was captured by ICE agents in Minneapolis. John Abernethy
Abernathy said he is fine now but is tired and shakes often.
“I don’t know if it’s a neurological response to stress or tear gas or something like that,” he said.
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Lavey said Abernethy didn’t stay long, noting he saw him take more snaps on Saturday after being tackled Thursday.
“We don’t want to stop,” Ravi said.
Abernathy noted that he had never been stopped, handcuffed or pepper-sprayed until last week, but he will continue to document what happened.
“The whole world needs to see this, not just people here,” he said, “because the whole world has to take this seriously.”
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Read the original article on The Huffington Post