DPS to further investigate Austin TV photographer arrested during pro-Palestine protest

AUSTIN, Texas – UPDATE (9:56 p.m., 4/25/24):

A TV photographer arrested during pro-Palestine protests at the University of Texas at Austin campus was released from the Travis County Jail, according to KTBC.

The man, who identified himself as a photographer for the Austin TV station, was arrested Tuesday, along with several others.

His release comes as others who were arrested during the protest were being released, a KTBC reporter said on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

KTBC also reported Thursday that their photographer’s criminal trespass charge has been dismissed.

KSAT reached out to DPS for comment on Wednesday. The agency released a statement on Thursday night.

“On April 24, 2024, a television photojournalist was arrested by a Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Trooper during protests at the University of Texas (UT) Austin campus and charged with criminal trespass.

“Multiple videos – many of which are readily available on social media – show the photojournalist among the protestors as law enforcement officers work to disperse the group. He is seen hitting a DPS Trooper in front of him with his camera before fellow Troopers pull him back and take him to the ground to arrest him.

“As a law enforcement agency, upholding the laws and freedoms of the people of this state is our number one priority. The department believes strongly in a journalist’s right to cover events of the day in a safe way; however, that does not except a person from following the law or the rules that have been put in place for the safety of others. While the department understands the need to be on-site, it is never acceptable to interfere with official police duties and assaulting an officer of the law – no matter the degree – will never be tolerated.

“This case has now been turned over to DPS’ Criminal Investigations Division for further investigation. No additional information will be released at this time.”

ORIGINAL:

A TV photographer was arrested during a pro-Palestine protest held Wednesday on the University of Texas at Austin campus.

The Austin protest was one of several that took place across college campuses in Texas, including UTSA, as well as California and Massachusetts.

Earlier this week, U.S. senators voted 79-18 to approve a $95 billion war aid package that would directly benefit Israel, Taiwan and Ukraine. Approximately $26 billion would go to “Israel and humanitarian relief to citizens of Gaza,” the Associated Press reported Tuesday.

Before the arrest in Austin, video shows multiple Texas Department of Public Safety troopers armed with helmets and batons attempting to move protesters back.

Around the two-hour, 35-minute mark in the video below, the photographer appears to fall down.

A trooper off-camera can be heard saying, “Get on the ground! Lay down!”

“I was moving!” the photographer was heard saying to the trooper.

The photographer was handcuffed. An unidentified person held onto the photographer’s camera and walked alongside him as it continued to roll.

A Twitter user, @Chris_Kuhlman00, posted a different video angle of the man falling down before he was placed in DPS custody.

After the arrest, local reporters already at the protest caught up with the photographer. He identified himself as “Carlos” and said he worked at KTBC Fox 7, a TV station in Austin.

“They were pushing me, and they said that I hit an officer,” the photographer told KXAN reporter Nabil Brent Remadna. “I didn’t hit an officer. They were pushing me.”

The photographer told reporters that he had never experienced something like this before.

“I told them I was the press,” the photographer said.

KTBC reporter Meredith Aldis said the station photographer was officially charged with criminal trespassing.

KXAN also reported that Texas DPS sent Houston-based troopers to Austin ahead of Wednesday’s protest on the UT campus.

The DPS response to the protest drew the ire of District 19 state Senator Roland Gutierrez, who represents Uvalde in addition to other areas along the Texas-Mexico border.

“The Department of Public Safety has pulled out all the stops to harass innocent college students, but wouldn’t lift a finger to help the victims in the Uvalde massacre,” state Sen. Gutierrez said in a statement Wednesday night. “Our broken state moved troopers all the way from Houston to Austin so they could quash students’ first amendment rights.

“The very force that you see beating and arresting these college students are the same ones that, for 77 long minutes, stood by as a lone teenage shooter massacred 21 precious lives in an elementary school. We live in a broken state where actual violence is met with fear and trepidation from those meant to protect and serve, and where exercising our rights is seen as a threat.

“I am demanding accountability for the actions carried out by DPS at the University of Texas today.”

According to a Texas Department of Public Safety tweet Wednesday night, troopers arrested more than 30 people in connection with the pro-Palestine protest.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.