JOURNALISTS TARGETED: Kenya Police Carelessly Fire Tear Gas Canister And Rubber Bullets At Reporters
Journalists are under siege. As protests sweep through the streets, those tasked with covering the chaos find themselves in the crossfire, quite literally.
The scenes unfolding in Nairobi and other cities are more than just a reflection of the country’s political unrest; they also tell a disturbing story of media suppression through violence.
Larry Madowo, CNN’s International Correspondent and a familiar face to many Kenyans became the embodiment of this chilling reality on Thursday.
These guys kept deliberately throwing stun grenades to explode at us and other journalists who were behind them in Nairobi. They didn't want to be followed
— Larry Madowo (@LarryMadowo) August 8, 2024
📸 @festolang pic.twitter.com/fr9DB6v66y
Madowo was met with an unexpected and terrifying encounter while reporting from the heart of the protests in Nairobi’s Central Business District.
A police officer stood atop a pickup truck at the intersection of Wabera Street and Kenyatta Avenue and fired tear gas canisters directly at him.
“Ah… that was aimed directly at me. He’s aiming directly at me. He’s aiming directly at me,” stated Madowo moments after a canister flew passed his head narrowly missing his head.
BREAKING: Kenyan police targeted me directly today. I was hit by a fragment after officers aimed at me and my CNN team at least twice while covering protests in Nairobi pic.twitter.com/Nh8F7HOvjI
— Larry Madowo (@LarryMadowo) August 8, 2024
He added, “He’s shooting directly at me. Why are you shooting at me? Why are you shooting at me? Why are you shooting at me?”
“Why are you shooting at me?” Madowo shouted repeatedly, the pain and shock evident in his voice as a tear gas canister whisked past his chin.
The encounter was captured on video and later aired on CNN, revealing the harrowing conditions journalists face on the ground.
Madowo was not alone in experiencing such brutality. Stephen Letoo, a political reporter for Citizen TV, choked on tear gas and struggled to keep his emotions under control as he captured the chaotic scenes in Nairobi’s Central Business District.
Shame…! @MediaCouncilK pic.twitter.com/locD6P5kch
— STEPHEN LETOO (@SteveLetoo) August 8, 2024
“How police today have turned to harm journalists at the CBD is totally unacceptable,” Letoo wrote.
Many people who saw the video of Letoo struggling to keep his cool found his words to be meaningful.
The violence against journalists did not stop there. Cecilia Ngunjiri, another journalist covering the ongoing protests, is currently nursing injuries inflicted by police officers during the Nane Nane protests.
Police fire live ammunition at protesters, journalists during the ‘Nane Nane March’ protests pic.twitter.com/3fRdw3ZF7q
— Citizen TV Kenya (@citizentvkenya) August 8, 2024
Attacks on journalists have become so common that they almost appear routine, a sobering reminder of the dangers that come with telling the truth in volatile situations.
Despite a nationwide journalists’ protest last month demanding an end to the victimization of those covering pro-reform protests, the situation appears to have deteriorated.
A particularly disturbing incident occurred when a police officer was captured on video confronting and kicking a journalist outside the Nation Centre.
Police attack on Media pic.twitter.com/CVkPuRJFFs
— Chris Sambu (@the_sambu) August 8, 2024
Even as his colleagues attempted to restrain him, the officer continued to attack, forcing another journalist to kneel and plead for mercy.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has been closely monitoring the situation, documenting seven weeks of violence and intimidation directed at Kenyan journalists.
Arnaud Froger, RSF’s Head of the Investigation Desk, condemned the brutality, saying it was carried out with “total impunity.”
Froger highlighted the deliberate nature of the attacks, citing the case of journalist Catherine Wanjeri Kariuki, who was shot in the leg by a police officer.
The images of her lying on the ground bloodied and in pain, highlight the perilous environment journalists must navigate.
“The authorities’ failure to identify the perpetrators – despite instances where their acts of violence were caught on film – amounts to shameless impunity,” Froger stated.
“We have contacted the Kenyan police force and asked it to thoroughly investigate six cases of violence against journalists, to make their findings public, and to implement the appropriate sanctions against the perpetrators.”
JOURNALISTS TARGETED: Kenya Police Carelessly Fire Tear Gas Canister And Rubber Bullets At Reporters
