A journalist was arrested last week at a homeless encampment in Sausalito, according to reporting by the Pacific Sun.
Jeremy Portje, 43, is a Marin-based freelance journalist working on a documentary about homelessness in the area. While filming at an encampment at Marinship Park on Nov. 29, Sausalito police officers arrested him, confiscating his camera and equipment, the paper reported.
According to witnesses, when Portje started filming, a police officer stood in front of him, blocking the camera’s view. At some point, an officer seized Portje's camera and accidentally hit himself with it.
After that, the officer began striking Portje. Portje was made to kneel and then arrested, his camera thrown on the ground in the process, the paper reported.
Sausalito police arrest freelance journalist Jeremy Portje at a homeless encampment.
Portje was booked into Marin County Jail for misdemeanor and felony charges. According to a statement from Sausalito Mayor Jill Hoffman to KCBS Radio, Portje is facing three charges: battery on a police officer, battery on a police officer requiring medical treatment and resisting a law enforcement officer with violence.
One of the officers, Sgt. Thomas Georges was injured during the altercation, said Hoffman.
The incident has been sent to the District Attorney’s Office for review and prosecution, said Hoffman.
The incident occurred as relations between the homeless population and Sausalito police are particularly strained, the paper said. Some of the officers involved in the incident are also responsible for arresting a couple of homeless people for sleeping in a park recently. Portje was looking into that arrest.
The journalist was released Nov. 30 on $15,000 bail.
The Sausalito Police Department did not respond to KCBS Radio’s request for comment at the time of publication.
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