The Dion Rabouin – the Phoenix Police Department: An Innocent Act of Journalism for a Black Independent Newspaper, KNXV News

The incident between The Journal reporter Dion Rabouin and the Phoenix officer occurred in late November, but just became public his week after ABC affiliate KNXV reported on the matter. In a statement, The Journal said that it is “deeply concerned” with how its reporter was treated and has asked the Phoenix Police Department to conduct an investigation.

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The Phoenix Police Department stressed to me that the incident on private property did not constitute a reprisal against people for their First Amendment rights, despite the fact that the department was being investigated by the Justice Department.

At the crux of this particular matter is a rather innocent act of journalism. While visiting family in Arizona for the Thanksgiving holiday, Rabouin, who is Black, attempted to interview passersby on a sidewalk outside a Chase branch for an ongoing story about savings accounts, he told the Phoenix affiliate.

In the video, which was captured by a bystander, a bystander shows an officer handcuffing a man and placing him in the back of a car. Despite several attempts, the man in the video named himself as a reporter for the Journal and didn’t reply.

After a number of minutes, the other officers arrived and allowed Rabouin to walk free. A representative for Chase told me Thursday that the bank did apologize to Rabouin over the incident. But the local police department has thus far refrained from doing so.

The incident is representative of many others that take place around the US each year. 218 journalists have been arrested in the country, according to the US Press Freedom Tracker.

The Phoenix police department is investigating a public sidewalk incident against a bank employee: Matt Rabouin allegedly told ABC15 about civil liberties

It was thanks to everyone who reached out that Rabouin wrote. “We’re hoping to hear back from the chief or someone at the department soon.”

As Rabouin was standing outside on a sidewalk, he told ABC15, two employees asked him what he was doing — and then walked back inside the building. Rabouin said he was unaware the sidewalk in front of the bank was private property and that the bank’s employees did not ask him to leave.

Matt Murray wrote a letter to the Phoenix Police Department imploring them to investigate the case because his actions were offensive to civil liberties.

Murray sought to know if Phoenix police will take any action to ensure no one else is subjected to such conduct again.

The professional standards bureau is looking into the letter after it was shared with them. Once the administrative investigation is complete, it will be made available as part of a public records request,” a department spokesperson said.