Phoenix police have opened an internal investigation into the detention of a Wall Street Journal reporter who conducted interviews outside a Chase Bank in November.
The reporter, Dion Rabouin, who is black, reported outside the bank when he was handcuffed and placed in a police car, The Wall Street Journal said in a statement.
Mr. Rabouin’s arrest took place on November 23, but received a lot of attention after the television station ABC15 reported on the episode on Wednesday.
Images made by a bystander show how Mr. Rabouin is handcuffed in a police car. An officer is heard to tell him, “I’m not giving you any more chances.” Mr. Rabouin is heard to respond: “You don’t give me a single chance for what? I haven’t done anything wrong.”
In a statement, police said it had opened an “administrative investigation” after receiving a letter from the editor-in-chief of The Journal, which police say raised concerns about “interaction” between Mr Rabouin and one of their officers.
“Bank staff contacted police after receiving customer complaints that a man approached people as they entered the bank and asked them personal questions,” the department said. It added that the interaction between Mr Rabouin and the police officer took place on private property.
Once the investigation is complete, it will be made public, the department said. Mr Rabouin was not charged.
According to a police report posted by ABC15, a Chase Bank employee notified authorities of a “suspicious person outside the bank” who identified himself as a reporter and refused to leave.
The officer, Caleb Zimmerman, said in the report that he spoke to bank employees, who said they told Mr Rabouin that he made customers uncomfortable. Officer Zimmerman said he had come to the conclusion that Mr. Rabouin was trespassing.
“He stated that he had his ID with him but refused to show it,” the report said. “At that point I told Dion to turn around and put his hands behind his back, which he didn’t.”
The incident comes amid a sweeping federal investigation into the behavior of the Phoenix Police Department and whether it engaged in discriminatory, abusive practices and used excessive force.
The Journal said it was “deeply concerned” about the treatment of Mr Rabouin, who is based in New York and covers finances.
“We have asked the Phoenix Police Department to thoroughly investigate the incident and explain why their officers needlessly escalated the situation and took these aggressive steps,” The Journal said in a statement. “No journalist should ever be detained merely for exercising his First Amendment rights.”
Mr Rabouin did not immediately respond to requests for an interview on Sunday but has acknowledged the incident on Twitter.
“Things escalated quickly,” said Mr. Rabouin in an interview with ABC15.
He said he had been in Phoenix to spend time with family when he went to the bank to interview people and that he deliberately didn’t “dress up” — he wore shorts and a T-shirt — because he didn’t want to bank customers believed he was trying to sell them something.
He told the television station that he was working on a story and that he was looking for real people, not experts and economists. He has not identified the nature of the story.
He said he had been standing on the sidewalk next to the building when bank employees came out to ask what he was doing. Mr Rabouin told ABC15 that he had identified himself as a journalist and no one had asked him to leave.
Shortly afterwards, Mr Rabouin said, a police officer appeared. He said he offered to leave, but the officer grabbed him and told him, “This could get bad for you if you don’t comply.”
Maura Cordova, a spokeswoman for Chase Bank, declined to comment further on details surrounding Mr. Rabouin’s detention.
“We apologize to Mr. Rabouin,” she said on Sunday. “I have nothing more to add.”
According to the letter from The Journal’s editor-in-chief, Matt Murray, Mr. Rabouin had been interviewing passersby on a public sidewalk outside the bank when he was approached by an officer, who told Mr. Rabouin that he was trespassing.
“Until then, Mr. Rabouin had never been asked by Chase personnel or anyone else to leave the sidewalk outside the bank,” said Mr. Murray, adding that Mr. Rabouin had a “clear right” to be present on the sidewalk while reporting .
He said Mr Rabouin offered to leave but was then handcuffed and placed in a police car. Footage showed Mr Rabouin “remaining calm and professional throughout the episode”, Mr Murray said.
“I am relieved that Mr. Rabouin’s interaction with Phoenix police officers ended peacefully,” Mr. Murray added. “But I am appalled and concerned that officers from your department would attempt to interfere with Mr. Rabouin’s constitutional right to engage in journalism and claim to restrict anyone’s presence in a public location. Such behavior is an affront to civil liberties.”
