Police in Bolivia Pepper Spray Journalist 'On Purpose' During Live Coverage of Anti-Coup Protests
Published on
Saturday, November 16, 2019
byCommon Dreams
Police in Bolivia Pepper Spray Journalist 'On Purpose' During Live Coverage of Anti-Coup Protests
"I hate to be the story because we are here to report on what is happening to the people in the amazing country," said Al-Jazeera English senior correspondent Teresa Bo. "I hope it helps denounce that such practices cannot be tolerated. Not here not anywhere."
by Jon Queally, staff writer
Teresa Bo, a senior correspondent for Al-Jazeera was sprayed directly in the face—clearly "on purpose," she says—while covering anti-coup demonstrators in the city of La Paz, Bolivia on Friday, November 15, 2019. (Photo: Al-Jazeera/Screenshot)
Becoming part of the story she was seeking to cover, international news correspondent Teresa Bo was assaulted by Bolivian state security forces on Friday—shot directly in the face, while on camera, with tear gas or pepper spray.
Perpetrated while she was reporting for Al-Jazeera English in the city of La Paz—where ongoing streets protests erupted this week after a coup forced the resignation of the nation's president Evo Morales—the attack on Bo, which occurred while she was giving an on-camera account of the protests, was caught on film.
Teresa Bo, a senior correspondent for Al-Jazeera was sprayed directly in the face—clearly "on purpose," she says—while covering anti-coup demonstrators in the city of La Paz, Bolivia on Friday, November 15, 2019. (Photo: Al-Jazeera/Screenshot)
Link to tweet
"I was just thrown tear gas by the police, on purpose," Bo reports in the segment. "This is what is happening in the middle of a plaza where people have been protesting peacefully. A police officer just threw tear gas in my eyes. It is extremely difficult to speak. Very, very sorry."
More:
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/11/16/police-bolivia-pepper-spray-journalist-purpose-during-live-coverage-anti-coup
