PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Philadelphia Police Department detained over two-dozen people on Tuesday during a protest at the Municipal Services Building. One of them was a local journalist.
The people were in the building for a "defund the police" demonstration.
Police public affairs officials confirm 26 people were arrested and issued code violation notices for failure to disperse, but Inquirer reporter Samantha Melamed posted on Twitter that there was no order to disperse.
Police also confirm that a journalist was detained and released on location. Melamed declined to comment directly to KYW Newsradio, preferring to leave it at what was said on Twitter.
Video on Melamed's Twitter feed shows her being approached by a member of the counterterrorism unit with a baton while she told him "I'm a reporter" six times. The video drops out as another officer turns to her.
She writes on Twitter that she was then handcuffed tightly with zip ties and dragged backwards down two flights of stairs while being mocked by another officer.
Police say the reporter they detained was not transported from the Municipal Services Building and was not issued a code violation notice. They add the entire incident is under an internal affairs investigation.
