In November, New York police commissioner Raymond Kelly told officers to respect “the media's right of access to report” on the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations. The New York Times tells the story of Ryan Devereaux, reporter for “Demcracy Now!,” a broadcast news program who was used by a police officer as a “de facto battering ram to push back protesters.” Devereaux reports, “I yelled, 'I'm a journalist!' and he kept shoving his fist and yelling to his men, 'Push, boys!' “
The Times cites other incidents, including the arrests of some reporters. The police patrolmen's guide says that “members of the media will not be arrested for criminal trespass unless an owner expressly indicates [ ] that the press is not to be permitted.” The property owner made no such call in the case cited, and the arrests were dropped. State Senator Eric Adams, a former police captain, asks, “If the police and the mayor won't follow their own rules, whose rules will they follow? And very few people ask any questions.”