MNSPJ responds to protest targeting WCCO reporter Liz Collin
Protesters gather outside Minneapolis Police Federation President Bob Kroll's home in Hugo on Saturday, Aug. 15, 2020.[KSTP]
In a statement issued Wednesday, the Minnesota Society of Professional Journalists expressed alarm over a protest last weekend that targeted WCCO reporter Liz Collin outside her home in Hugo.
Video of the protest shows demonstrators hitting a piñata replica of Collin at a Black Lives Matter protest demanding the resignation of Minneapolis Police Federation President Bob Kroll, Collin’s husband.
The MNSPJ said it supported the protesters’ First Amendment rights but considered destroying an effigy of Collin on her property "a direct threat against her as a journalist."
"In this current climate, journalists have been regularly disparaged and threatened while doing their jobs, and many have dealt with the abuse quietly while they proceed with their important work," the MNSPJ stated. "We encourage the general public to use respectful and peaceful means to communicate dissatisfaction with journalists’ coverage, such as contacting them or their supervisors directly or demonstrating outside of their place of work, rather than using threats and intimidation to attack them personally."
DFL House candidate John Thompson has also come under attack for his inflammatory speech at the rally in which he appears to berate a group of teenage girls.