Turkish photojournalist faces police violence in New York

An Anadolu photojournalist faced police violence while covering pro-Palestinian protests in Brooklyn, New York, as shown by video of the incidents.

Fatih Aktas experienced police brutality on Friday as he was trying to capture images of the New York Police Department’s violent response to the protesters.

Footage taken by another journalist shows Aktas being forcefully shoved by a police officer while attempting to photograph the protests, causing him to fall hard to the ground.

"While I was trying to capture the police intervention in the protests, a police officer strongly pushed me backward," Aktas said. "To avoid damaging my camera, I had to fall on my back, hitting my elbow hard on the ground."

Aktas said that with the help of another police officer and his colleagues, he got back on his feet and continued his work, not noticing his injuries due to the heat of the moment. After the protests he saw bruising on his elbow and felt pain.

"I could have hit my head on the ground at that moment, which could have had more severe consequences. I also experienced the violent police intervention against the peaceful protesters," he said.

Violent police intervention

On Friday, police violently intervened in protests held in support of Palestine in front of the Brooklyn Museum.

The protesters occupied parts of the Brooklyn Museum to protest Israel's attacks on Gaza, particularly the recent Israeli attack on Rafah. New York Police detained dozens of pro-Palestinian supporters, and journalists captured moments of a police officer throwing a female protester to the ground and punching her.

More than 36,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in a deadly Israeli offensive on Gaza since last October 7 following a Hamas-led blitz. Most of those killed have been women and children, with over 82,000 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Vast tracts of Gaza lay in ruins amid Israel's crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), whose latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the genocidal war.