A Chilling Account Of One Journalist's Arrest In Ferguson

This Is What It's Like To Be A Journalist In Ferguson
FERGUSON, UNITED STATES - AUGUST 18: Protesters move away from tear gas fired by police officers during a demonstration on August 18, 2014 for Michael Brown, who was killed by a police officer on August 9 in Ferguson, United States. Captain Ronald Johnson of the Missouri State Highway Patrol, makes statements to reporters as the protests continue in Ferguson. Some of the protesters were detained by the police during the clashes on Monday. The 18 year-old Brown was killed in a confrontation with a police officer in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson, Missouri on August 09, 2014. Details of the fatal encounter continue to be disputed but racial tensions flared between the majority black community and predominantly white police force following his death. (Photo by Bilgin Sasmaz/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
FERGUSON, UNITED STATES - AUGUST 18: Protesters move away from tear gas fired by police officers during a demonstration on August 18, 2014 for Michael Brown, who was killed by a police officer on August 9 in Ferguson, United States. Captain Ronald Johnson of the Missouri State Highway Patrol, makes statements to reporters as the protests continue in Ferguson. Some of the protesters were detained by the police during the clashes on Monday. The 18 year-old Brown was killed in a confrontation with a police officer in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson, Missouri on August 09, 2014. Details of the fatal encounter continue to be disputed but racial tensions flared between the majority black community and predominantly white police force following his death. (Photo by Bilgin Sasmaz/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

The Intercept’s Ryan Devereaux wrote a chilling account on Tuesday of what happened to him in Ferguson, Missouri, while covering the protests surrounding the shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown.

Police arrested Devereaux after midnight on Tuesday and he stayed overnight in St. Louis County Jail. He said he was taken into custody for “refusal to disperse.”

In his post for The Intercept, Devereaux described the scene in Ferguson -- roads "filling with smoke" and "armored vehicles ... occasionally shooting tear gas" -- and said he was hit one time with what he thinks was a rubber bullet.

"The shooting left a mean bruise, but all the guns trained on us provided an ample distraction from the sting," he wrote. "We were frightened."

He said the people he met in prison have very strong convictions about what's happening in Ferguson.

"Not a single one of these men, through our hours of conversations, expressed any desire to let up," he wrote. "This will not end soon."

As tensions continue to build between protesters and authorities in Ferguson, police have arrested a slew of journalists, including The Huffington Post's Ryan J. Reilly and the Washington Post's Wesley Lowery. Two German journalists and Getty photographer Scott Olson were arrested on Monday night.

Read Devereaux's full account here.

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