News crews in Brazil were attacked while covering a police clash with gang

In the Bahia city of Salvador, at approximately 11 am on February 1, two men fired warning shots at reporting teams for privately owned local broadcasters TV Aratu and Band, and assaulted a crew member, according to claims in multiple news reports.

The TV Aratu crew, which consisted of reporter Fabio Gomes and camera operator Carlinhos Silva, and the Band crew, which consisted of reporter Toni Júnior and camera operator Jefferson Alves, were in the area to report on a death earlier that morning when men fired into the air, ordered them to leave and assaulted Alves.

After the attack, both teams fled the scene and called the Military Police, which arrived 15 to 20 minutes later but has not made any arrests or identified any suspects, as CPJ reported. 

During a crossfire between police and gang members earlier that day, a person was killed on Santa Teresa Street, and the crews had been preparing to broadcast live from there in the afternoon.

The men allegedly hit Alves with a gun, punched him, and kicked him in the ribs before fleeing the scene, leaving their equipment behind. Police arrived soon after Júnior and Alves recovered their camera, which was lying on the ground, apparently damaged by the attackers.

The purpose of this assault on journalists is to intimidate them so they won't cover what's happening in those communities, Moacy Neves, president of the Bahia Journalists Union, told CPJ by phone.

*This article contains information sourced from the Committee to Protect Journalists.