Seven Network correspondent Amelia Brace has spoken at a US congressional hearing about being “shot at” and “beaten” as police aggressively cleared out an area near the White House ahead of US President Donald Trump’s appearance at Lafayette Square.

Brace and cameraman Tim Myers were in Washington DC’s Lafayette Square on June 1 covering a Black Lives Matter protest when police suddenly stormed the area and forcefully pushed the crowd off of protesters to have them leave the area. Despite identifying themselves as journalists, Brace and Myers were shot with non-lethal rounds and beaten with batons and shields.

The violent scene was caught on camera and has since gone viral as social media users continue to highlight instances of police attacking the media during various Black Lives Matter protests across the US.

“A park police officer who was passing us stopped, turned towards Tim and rammed him in the chest and stomach with the edge of his riot shield, causing Tim to keel over and drop down,” Brace told the committee on Monday.

“The officer then took a step back, paused, then punched his hand directly into the front of Tim’s camera, grabbing the lens. As this happened, Tim and I were repeatedly shouting the word ‘media’,” she continued.

“A second officer appeared to intervene, giving us the opportunity to move. As I was running away a third officer pushed through the group, going out of his way to strike me with a truncheon.”

Brace then explained to the inquiry that she was shot in the legs and backside, while Myers was hit in the neck by non-lethal rounds from a police automatic weapon.

“When you were attacked by this police officer, were you resisting?” congressman Ruben Gallego asked Brace, who replied: “No”.

“Was your cameraman resisting?” Gallego asked.

“No,” Brace replied.

“You had your back to them, as I remember, and you were fleeing?” he asked.

“That’s correct,” she replied.

The incident followed Trump’s appearance in Lafayette Square soon after it was cleared, where he posed in front of St John’s Episcopal Church with a bible for photos.

Amelia Brace spoke for 2.5 hours alongside George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley, who told the committee he believed the attack was “unlawful”.

“From the video, it seems clear to me that any officer could have seen that the Australian journalists were in fact journalists. They identified themselves correctly as journalists” Turley said.

Brace also added during her testimony that she believed it was vital that journalists were able to safely report from the scenes of protests without fear of being attacked by police officers.

“As a reporter, I have no interest in becoming the story, but over recent weeks many of us have been left with no choice,” she said.

“I’ve been shocked to see how many journalists have been attacked, beaten and detained, just for doing their jobs. Covering protests does carry unavoidable risks, but the media’s role is essential – We don’t just have a right to be there, we have an obligation,” she continued.

“As Australian journalists, we are the eyes and the ears of our people.”

She added, “In this case witnessing civil unrest in the capital of our most powerful and closest ally. It is crucial to democracy that journalists be allowed to do their job freely and safely and that is certainly something we should expect in the world’s greatest democracy.”

Get unlimited access to the coverage that shapes our culture.
to Rolling Stone magazine
to Rolling Stone magazine